Below, Letter yesterday to BBC re their worldservice interview by Lawrence Pollard of Tariq Ramadan. Ramadan is beloved of lefties in the west for he appears moderate. But he's only "moderate" in quotes, as in reality his sympathies are with the expansion of Sharia law and radical Islam through the likes of Hamas. He could not bring himself even to condemn execution by stoning, when last year he was asked his view about the stoning of a woman in Iran.
Your journalist Lawrence Pollard was pretty pally in his interview of “philosopher” Tariq Ramadan on BBC World Service: “Tariq” he called him. Perhaps he should have called him “Brother Tariq”, for he was clearly in awe of the man. He summed up “Tariq’s” observations as being “counter intuitive”.
Perhaps that’s because they were untrue.
Example (1): “Non violence”. Ramadan claims his grandfather set the Brotherhood up as a non-violent organisation. But that’s simply untrue. In the 1940s — during the time Ramadan’s grandfather Hassan al-Banna, was in charge — it was particularly violent. Its very slogan — and banner with crossed swords — says “Jihad is our way and dying in God’s cause is our supreme objective”. The chief theorist of the Brotherhood, Sayyid Qutz, defined “jihad” to include violent offensive warfare against countries ruled by non-believers.
Example (2) Belief in democracy. Ramadan claims the Brotherhood believes in a kind of British Parliamentary Model. But the Brotherhood was and is against democracy, since that involves the Rule of Man. It is a fundamental, deeply held and unwavering belief of the Brotherhood, that the only law under which mankind should live is the “Rule of Allah”. So much for Ramadan’s absurd statement that the Brotherhood believes in British-style parliamentary model.
In this morning’s International Herald Tribune, “Tariq” further claims — disingenuously — that his grandfather “strongly criticised” the “fascist government” of Germany during WWII. In fact, he did nothing of the sort, as both he and his brother in arms, the execrable Mufti Amin al-Husseini, were enthusiastic fellow Nazi travellers. If indeed there was criticism of the Third Reich, it can only have been that they were not proceeding with the extermination of Jews quickly enough.
Yours, etc,
References:
Your journalist Lawrence Pollard was pretty pally in his interview of “philosopher” Tariq Ramadan on BBC World Service: “Tariq” he called him. Perhaps he should have called him “Brother Tariq”, for he was clearly in awe of the man. He summed up “Tariq’s” observations as being “counter intuitive”.
Perhaps that’s because they were untrue.
Example (1): “Non violence”. Ramadan claims his grandfather set the Brotherhood up as a non-violent organisation. But that’s simply untrue. In the 1940s — during the time Ramadan’s grandfather Hassan al-Banna, was in charge — it was particularly violent. Its very slogan — and banner with crossed swords — says “Jihad is our way and dying in God’s cause is our supreme objective”. The chief theorist of the Brotherhood, Sayyid Qutz, defined “jihad” to include violent offensive warfare against countries ruled by non-believers.
Example (2) Belief in democracy. Ramadan claims the Brotherhood believes in a kind of British Parliamentary Model. But the Brotherhood was and is against democracy, since that involves the Rule of Man. It is a fundamental, deeply held and unwavering belief of the Brotherhood, that the only law under which mankind should live is the “Rule of Allah”. So much for Ramadan’s absurd statement that the Brotherhood believes in British-style parliamentary model.
In this morning’s International Herald Tribune, “Tariq” further claims — disingenuously — that his grandfather “strongly criticised” the “fascist government” of Germany during WWII. In fact, he did nothing of the sort, as both he and his brother in arms, the execrable Mufti Amin al-Husseini, were enthusiastic fellow Nazi travellers. If indeed there was criticism of the Third Reich, it can only have been that they were not proceeding with the extermination of Jews quickly enough.
Yours, etc,
References:
- Brother Tariq. The Doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan, Caroline Fourest, Encounter Books, 2008. Here.
- "Whither the Muslim Brotherhood", BoT, 9 Feb. Here.
- Icon of Evil, Hitler's Mufti and the Rise of Radical Islam, John Rothmann and Alan Dershowitz, Transaction, August 2009
