THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XII, Issue # 164, August 21, 2010
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
TOP MUSLIMS CONDEMN GROUND ZERO MOSQUE
AS A "ZIONIST CONSPIRACY"
By Raymond Ibrahim
GREAT POTENTIAL OF THE GROUND ZERO MOSQUE TO BACKFIRE ON ISLAM: IF MUSLIM SCHOLARS AT AL-AZHAR
UNIVERSITY ARE FULLY AWARE OF HOW DETRIMENTAL TO ISLAM THE ERECTION OF THE PROPOSED GROUND ZERO
MOSQUE CAN BE, WHY ARE AMERICAN MUSLIMS STILL RELENTLESSLY PURSUING IT? HOW THE MINDSET OF THE
WESTERNIZED MUSLIM DIFFERS FROM THAT OF THE MIDDLE EASTERN, OR INDIGENOUS," MUSLIM -- ISLAMISTS & THE
TRIUMPHALIST OVERTONES OF A MEGA-MOSQUE BUILT ON OR NEAR GROUND ZERO -- THE GROUND ZERO MOSQUE AS A
PERMANENT REMINDER OF A CLEAR CONNECTION BETWEEN ISLAM & THE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, ISLAMIST TERROR STRIKES
ON THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FULL STORY:
In a recent article, I argued that the Ground Zero mosque is counterproductive to Islam. The following day, on August 5,
2010, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that none other than Al-Azhar University (Cairo,
Egypt) — one of Sunni Islam's most authoritative institutions — agrees. My translation of the relevant excerpt follows:
A number of Al-Azhar ulema expressed their opposition to building a mosque near [where] the events of September 11
[occurred], convinced that it is "a conspiracy to confirm a clear connection between the strikes of September [11] and
Islam." Dr. 'Abd al-Mu'ti Bayumi, a member of the Islamic Research Academy [of Al-Azhar] told Al-Masry Al-Youm
that he rejects the building of any mosque in this area [Ground Zero], because the "devious mentality" desires to connect
these events [of 9/11] with Islam, though he maintains that Islam is innocent of this accusation. Instead, it is a "Zionist
conspiracy," which many are making use of to harm the religion. Likewise, Dr. Amna Nazir, Professor of Doctrine and
Philosophy at Al-Azhar, expressed her rejection that a mosque be built near the World Trade Center, saying:
"Building a mosque on this rubble indicates bad intention
— even if we wished to shut our eyes, close our minds, and
insist on good will. I hope it is a sincere step, and not a new
conspiracy against Islam and Muslims."
Aside from the hackneyed "Zionist conspiracy" charge, Al-Azhar has it right: from negative media attention to subliminal
associations with the 9/11 strikes, the "9/11 mosque" has great potential to backfire on Islam. Many other Muslims agree.
That Al-Azhar has labeled it a "Zionist conspiracy" — an appellation usually reserved for especially heinous charges
attributed to fellow Muslims, such as the strikes of 9/11 — is indicative of how absurd the mosque project must appear to
them.
Lest Al-Azhar be accused of feigning disapproval, bear in mind that its reaction is not a product of sensitivity to, or the
desire to peacefully coexist with, the United States (which would be suspect). Indeed, Dr. Bayumi is an open advocate of
suicidal jihad: "I say in all honesty that we recruit the people of Islam, and instill in them the spirit of the true Jihad, which
is death for the sake of Allah, for the sake of our faith, and of the Al-Aqsa Mosque."
Now, here's the question: if Al-Azhar scholars are fully aware of how detrimental the erection of a 9/11 mosque can be,
why are American Muslims (such as of the Cordoba Initiative) still relentlessly pursuing it?
Much of this, I believe, has to do with the differing mentalities of Western, as opposed to Middle Eastern, or "indigenous,"
Muslims. The latter, who have had little experience of the West, simply cannot believe that Muslims would be so foolhardy
as to pursue such an obvious affront to their host nation; put differently, they cannot believe a non-Muslim nation would
tolerate such effrontery. Used to seeing, and treating, "infidels" as second-class citizens, it is only natural that the
indigenous Muslim mentality expects reciprocity when on infidel soil.
Westernized Muslims, on the other hand, have learned that they can get away with almost anything — so long as they slap
the words "tolerance," "pluralism," "dialogue," or "bridge-building" to their endeavors, as the 9/11 mosque supporters do
regularly. In short, a correlation exists between how well or how little a Muslim knows the West, and how aggressive or
passive their Islamism becomes.
Moreover, religious buildings are seen as symbols of supremacy by many Muslims; hence the reason mosques are
ubiquitous to the Muslim world, whereas churches are all but — and in some Muslim nations totally — banned. It is
precisely because of this ingrained view regarding the significance of religious buildings that Al Azhar is convinced that
no sane Muslim would adamantly pursue the construction of a 9/11 mosque, which must, instead, be "a new conspiracy
against Islam and Muslims."
Incidentally, how does one interpret President Barrack Hussein Obama's recent support for the 9/11 mosque? He certainly
spent enough time growing up in the Muslim world to have a better understanding of the Muslim mindset — including its
take on religious buildings as symbols of supremacy — than the average American. Far from approving it, then, he, of all
American Presidents, should appreciate the triumphalist overtones a mega-mosque so near to Ground Zero conveys to
Islamists.
Either way, especially now that Obama has gotten himself into the mix — even if he did try to backpedal — the potential for
the 9/11 mosque project to backfire on Islam continues to grow. At a time when nearly 70 percent of Americans already
oppose the mosque plan, continued media attention and 9/11 rallies may well help realize Al Azhar's worst fears: that the
9/11 mosque will serve as a permanent reminder of "a clear connection between the strikes of September [11] and Islam."
(That Muslims will be seen celebrating this coming September 11 as part of Eid al-Fatr probably won't help either.)
In closing, should the mosque be built, it will be an Islamist triumph. However, at the rate things are going — this issue is
set to be a hot topic for upcoming elections — time may well reveal that the victory of erecting a mega-mosque near
Ground Zero was as much symbolic as it was pyrrhic, not just for Islamists, but their political supporters as well.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Islamist Fifth Column -- America's Internal Enemies:
Disloyalty, Subversion, Sedition, & Treason
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Raymond Ibrahim, a historian of Islam, Islamism and the Middle East, is the Associate Director of the Middle East Forum,
a guest lecturer at the National Defense Intelligence College, and the editor of The Al-Qa'ida Reader, a collection
of tranlations of key texts and documents of the Islamist movement. Ibrahim's translations of the religious texts and
political propaganda comprising this collection help readers comprehend the origins, development, history, and serious
danger of the Islamist war doctrines of Usama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Founders of Al-Qa'ida and
implacable enemies of the U.S.A. and the West.
The foregoing article by Raymond Ibrahim was originally published in Pajamas Media, August 19, 2010, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(URL: http://www.meforum.org/2724/ground-zero-mosque-zionist-conspiracy)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
August 21, 2021
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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