This is just another story among hundreds that come across the transom all the time: a local Muslim group sponsors a meeting in which a Muslim spokesman explains that, contrary to appearances, Islam is actually a peaceful religion, when properly understood. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about this one in particular; it features the usual claim that the 9/11 jihadis hijacked Islam, with the usual paucity of evidence given to back up that claim.
But what is interesting about this piece is that Dr. Nibal Zaghloul recommends that in response to jihad attacks, “a greater number of Muslims need to be on TV informing people about the true tenets and principles of the religion.” And yet this is all we get now: when there is another Islamic jihad attack, Muslims are on TV in abundance, assuring us that the latest Qur’an-spouting, Muhammad-invoking murderer really wasn’t a true Muslim and his attack has nothing to do with Islam, and don’t forget Tim McVeigh, etc. etc. etc. We’re inundated with this nonsense all the time, and yet Zaghloul says we need still more of it.
One reason for that is that it is a species of dawah, Islamic proselytizing, and as a believer Zaghloul wants to see more of that. But another reason why he may want to see more of this fog pumped into the public sphere is because people are beginning to see clearly, despite the best efforts of Islamic supremacists to obscure their vision. The more jihad attacks there are, the more Muslim spokesmen have to talk talk talk talk talk so as to make people go back to sleep.
They never, you’ll notice, say that it’s time for the Muslim communities to clean house. They never say that in response to Islamic jihad attacks, Muslims need to do some serious soul-searching and reject jihad and Islamic supremacism. No, all that we ever hear from Muslims in response to jihad activity is that non-Muslims have to clear away their “misconceptions” of Islam, and realize that it really is peaceful and benign despite all those bristling knives, bomb belts, threats of blood and death, and vows to take over. It is up to non-Muslims to alter their perceptions and deny the evidence of their eyes, rather than up to Muslims to reform.
And although this scenario has played out thousands of times over the last few years, as we have chronicled ad nauseam at Jihad Watch, people still fall for it. I’m certain that Dr. Nibal Zaghloul was not challenged on this by anyone in his doubtless polite, attentive audience, which went home grateful to have been reassured.
“Muslim center in Valley holds open house to open minds about Islam,” by Sean Barron in Vindy.com, October 10:
YOUNGSTOWN – When 19 Muslim extremists hijacked four planes and killed several thousand peo ple [sic] during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, they also did major damage to a major religion, as far as Dr. Nibal Zaghloul is concerned.
“Those people also were hijacking my religion,” Zaghloul explained during Sunday’s open house at the Masjid Al-Khair mosque and school, 1670 Homewood Ave., on the city’s South Side.
Sponsoring the four-hour gathering was the Islamic Society of Greater Youngstown.
The fifth annual event was designed to give people a better idea of what the Islamic faith stands for and to allow them to meet Muslims and learn more about their traditions, organizers said.
Zaghloul, a Youngstown oncologist and hematologist, noted that the vast majority of Muslims advocates [sic] peace and submission to the will of God. Nevertheless, he said, the religion has seen occasional setbacks since 9/11, such as the actions of Faisal Shahzad, who recently drew a life prison sentence after being convicted in a federal courtroom in New York City of planting a car bomb in Times Square.
Yeah, you could call that a setback.
It’s not enough to condemn violent acts and rhetoric by the few extremists who receive a lot of publicity, he said. A greater number of Muslims need to be on TV informing people about the true tenets and principles of the religion, Zaghloul continued.
Jihad Watch
