Muslim Polymath Chuck Connors Challenges ISIS to Fistfight at Inter-Faith Event (And Then Offers £5000 To Anyone Who Can Prove The Quran is ‘Violent’)

Clint

I thought Chuck Connors has been keeping a low profile lately – but he more than made up for that with a series of explosive comments following his appearance at an inter-faith event in North London, attended by the local mayor and community leaders.

Leaving the crowd with much to think about after his presentation, he went on the record backstage with some straight talking comments on both ISIS and violence in the Quran: when asked about whether Muslims were doing enough to combat ISIS Connors exploded:

‘Muslims have been doing nothing BUT combat ISIS – nearly all of the victims of this band of lunatics have been Muslims, though you wouldn’t know that with the press harping on only about Yazidis and Christians. And practically all of the people fighting them ‘on the ground’ are Muslims. They are ones, in the main, both killed by and resisting ISIS. On top of that, nearly all of the refugees created by the Syrian and now Iraqi conflicts have ended up in Muslim countries – Turkey alone has 2 million. How many has England taken? The US? Saudi? And if we have hate-mongering politicians in England complaining that some towns in the UK are ‘swamped’ by migrants [Ed: a reference to this foul political specimen:http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/26/british-towns-swamped-immigrants-michael-fallon-euthen%5D, then Turkey must be undergoing a Biblical catastrophe by that idiots standards. On top of that, Muslims are supposed to ‘solve’ and condemn a problem that the US, UK Israel and Saudi created. What are we, like international s@*t cleaners or something? Where is this moderate opposition that the US funnelled $500 million dollars of weapons to?’ [Ed: see below]

‘Nonetheless, like I just told you, Muslims have been doing nothing but criticise ISIS, which is at least better than arming them like the US and Saudi. I mean how much more clear can we make it? Muslim scholars have been denouncing Salafists in general let alone lunatics like ISIS. How much more obvious can we make it before the press takes notice and stops trying to act like ISIL actually is an ‘Islamic’ state? What do I have to say? How much more blatant can I make it?!

He then continued, appearently incandescent with rage: ‘F**K ISIS – is that clear enough? F~#K them and the horse they road in on. I’ll beat the crap out of them if I get the chance. I’ll fight them like Clint Eastwood in ‘Every Which Way But Lose’ if I have to – bare knuckle style, monkey and all’ [Editor: I think it was an Orang Utang].

But that was not all – he continued as alarmed bystanders stood spellbound:

‘I am totally sick and bloody tired of this whole Quran is a violent, ‘bloody’ book bullocks! What these a**holes who say crap like this are doing is taking humanity in general and Muslims in particular away from the one source which can guarantee peace and harmony between people, the one source which Muslims respect and will listen to. There is NO violent verse in the Quran which tells people to engage in aggressive jihad or warfare or whatever’.

‘Everything is defensive and for people who are provoked first. That’s it. There’s no ‘interpretations’ and no confusion, no translation issues, nothing: it is plain reading’

When  some bystanders reacted with disbelief Connors continued: ‘I have spent my whole life studying and reading the Quran. If there was some verse to justify wanton violence or aggression of any kind I would have bloody well found it by now’.

He then issued the following challenge:

‘I will give £5000 cash to anyone who can demonstrate pre-emptive violence of ANY kind from the Quran. My offer stands any time, any place – it can be done anonymously over the internet and I will pay up. I’ll pay by Google or Paypal or whatever. If the Quran is such a violent and bloody book like we are being told, this is an easy £5000. People should be lining up to get it. If I had £5,000,000 I would offer that. However much I had I would offer it. I would offer my life if I was allowed. That’s how confident I am they can’t bring me this ‘violence’ from the Quran. Because they are full of crap’.

I checked with Connors to see if he was still serious about his offer and if he was happy to extend it via the ‘asharisassemble’ site and he told me:

‘You bet. The Quran is the most peaceful book of any major world religion as far as I am concerned. If anyone can prove otherwise or show any aggression in the Quran let along ‘blood soaked violence’ then come at me. I’ll pay, I’ll leave Islam, whatever. I’m sick an tired of the same total fallacy of the Quran being a violent book being repeated over and over again. So I’m issuing this challenge and I’m serious’.

‘But if people fail to prove it, then shame on them for talking total rubbish this whole time and being a bunch of hatemongering xenophobic crypto-fascists. And shame on those non-Muslims who believed them’.

Strong words. So how about it – anyone want to earn £5000 by showing the Quran to be a violent book? Or even just one statement allowing unprovoked attack on non-Muslims?

{BTW, this guy is no friend of religion, but did make a host of good points – like how the US and others supported ISIS and how many of the Muslim population of Iraq and Syria is have died recently}

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9 thoughts on “Muslim Polymath Chuck Connors Challenges ISIS to Fistfight at Inter-Faith Event (And Then Offers £5000 To Anyone Who Can Prove The Quran is ‘Violent’)

  1. I write this know that the Day of Ashura will come soon and pass but I hope the meaning of this special Day will not pass.

    We celebrate this Day because the victory of Moses and the end of mass murder and mass slavery of the Children of Yakub (whose other name is Israel) and we also mourn

    this Day because of mass murder and mass slavery of the Children of Muhammad.

    3000 years ago, the Children of Israel were freed from slavery. But let us not forget the same oppression committed by ISIS/ISIL/IS on the Yazidis.
    The Yazidis did not fight at all, they are innocent from the beginning. The Yazidis did not fight Muslims because of religion nor did they fight at

    all. Yazidis did not expel any Muslims form their homes. Of course the Christians did not either.

    Obviously, ISIS has torn out and crumpled and thrown in the garbage numerous verses of the Qur’an, in particular Surah 60, verse 8:

    Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes – from being kind toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.

    The Yazidis who never attacked the Muslims are being massively oppressed simply by being who they are.

    And to compound that Muslims, especially ignorant Muslims in Iraq misunderstand the Yazidi religion. They do NOT worship satan. They are far, very far from that. They

    believe in one God. I am not an expert but I think that they worship God and they also worship an angel (or angels). The angel they particularly focus on

    is who they refer to as the Peacock Angel.

    May Allah guide them to focus only on God and to pray to only God and not to pray to any angel(s). Ameen. But again, they do NOT worship any being that is evil nor do

    they think that they are worshipping anything that is evil but on the contrary they believe that the Peacock Angel is devoted to God.

    I read some scholarly articles on their religion and again, Muslim Iraqis know about Yazidis much less than what Islamophobic bigots knows about

    Muslims.

    Some influence on Yazidi religion has actually been

    by the 10th century Sufi, Shaikh Adi ibn Musafir (who Yazidis say was influenced by the famous Hasan Al Basri).

    I don’t know what Shaikh Musafir exactly taught them and whatever it is, I assume some of it was wrong. But the point is that the Yazidi religion has been influenced by

    multiple sources.

    Interestingly, Yazidis believe they are descendant only of Adam and not Adam and Eve.

    Although, according to Islam, the Yazidi beliefs have distortions, I read interesting statement by one Yazidi at

    http://www.yeziditruth.org/yezidi_religious_tradition

    La ilaha ila lah, Al shamis nur alah, Al huq habib alah

    “We say this prayer when we first get up in the morning facing the Sun and when we put our head down to sleep.” – A Yezidi

    But back to my point, the Yazidi males are getting killed and thousands of their sisters, daughters, wives, and even mothers have been

    enslaved so ISIS monsters can have sex with these innocent women.

    It is estimated that 5000 Yazidi males have been murdered and 7000 Yazidi women and girls have been enslaved.
    Killing males and keeping the females alive. Hmmm. Does this sound familiar? It should. It is EXACTLY what the Pharoah did and explicitly

    stated by Allah more than once in the Qur’an to be the biggest suffering the Israelites suffered.

    And it is the freeing of the slaves is why we celebrate the 10th of Muharram by fasting on it. And there is hadith

    As we fast and pray and make duas on this 10th of Muharram, more than remembering the past enslavement and oppression of the Israelites,

    let us contemplate on the predicament of thousands of Yazidis who are enslaved by the evil ISIS as I speak and who are being raped by the

    same people who killed their husbands, killed their fathers, even killed their sons.

    Let us pray to Allah for all, including the Muslims, the Christians, etc but let us not forget those who are suffering the most, let us pray for the

    Yazidis to be freed until we cry as much as Prophet Jacob did for his son Joseph.

    Slavery is worse than being killed.

    Allah sent Prophet Muhammad who was sent as a mercy to all mankind.

    Contrary to extremists understanding, slavery is NOT endorsed by Islam. Quite the contrary.

    Allah says in Surah 47, verse 4…

    “So when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners, and afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom (themselves) until the war terminates. That (shall be so)….”

    So if there were people who deserve to be fought, they cannot be enslaved according to this verse which was revealed very late in the Prophet’s life.

    But with regards to Yazidis, they should not have been fought as Surah 60, verse 8 says but instead treated with kindness and justice.

    The worst of all oppression is being enslaved by those who killed your family members.

    Let us pray this 10th of Muharram by thanking God of ending the slavery of the Children of Israel and let us remember the sacrifices of the Prophet’s family under the

    massacre of many male descendants of the Prophet and enslavement of many of his female descendants under the dictator in Damascus, Yazid,

    Let us beg Allah to end the tyranny of the current dictator of Syria, Assad and his mafia regime.

    And let us beg Allah to free the women and girls enslaved by ISIS and to end the continued killing of Yazidi males by ISIS and to end the opression of ISIS on all others also

    whether Muslims (Sunnis and Shias), Christians, etc.

    May Allah guide all peoples in every way and guide the evil oppressors to stop their oppression and for them repent to Allah.

    And let us add this dua to all our other duas after the 10th of Muharram as well.

    Please forward this to all your contacts for them to make duas and ask them to forward this to all…ad infinitum.

    Also please see the following couple points extracted from an open letter written by Ulama all over the Muslim world addressed to the leader of ISIS.

    from http://lettertobaghdadi.com/

    Below are relevant points signed on by eminent and very highly respected scholars of Islam throughout the Muslim world.

    11. Yazidis: You fought the Yazidis under the banner of jihad but they neither fought you nor Muslims. You considered them satanists and gave them the choice to either be killed or be forced into Islam. You killed hundreds of them and buried them in mass graves. You caused the death and suffering of hundreds of others. Had it not been for American and Kurdish intervention, tens of thousands of their men, women, children and elderly would have been killed. These are all abominable crimes. From the legal perspective of Shari’ah they are Magians, because the Prophet  said: ‘Treat them as you treat People of the Scripture43.’ Thus they are People of the Scripture. God  says: ‘Truly those who believe, and those of Jewry, and the Sabaeans, and the Christians, and

    40 Narrated by Muslim in Kitab Sifat al-Qiyamah wal-Jannah wal-Nar, no. 2812. 41 Al-Tabari says in his Tafsir (Vol. 6, p. 157): ‘In God’s  words: “Fight those who do not believe in God, nor in the Last Day …” there is no negation of the meanings of pardon and amnesty … If they agree to being subdued and pay the jizyah after combat, it is permissible to order that they be pardoned for intended treachery or oaths they planned to break as long as they do not wage war without paying the jizyah or refuse to follow laws that apply to them. 42 Jurists permitted the lifting of the jizyah if some of them joined the Muslim army, as happened in the time of Omar bin Al-Khattab. 43 Narrated by Al-Imam Malik in al-Muwatta’, in Kitab al-Zakat, no. 617, and by Al-Shafi’i in his Musnad, no. 1008.

    the Magians and the polytheists – God will indeed judge between them on the Day of Resurrection. Assuredly God, over all things, is Witness.’ (Al-Hajj, 22: 17). Even if you doubt that they are People of the Scripture, from the legal perspective of Shari’ah, many scholars of the Pious Forebears considered them to be commensurate with Magians based on the aforementioned Hadith. The Umayyads even considered Hindus and Buddhists to be dhimmis. Al-Qurtubi said: ‘Al-Awza’i said: “Jizyah is levied on those who worship idols and fire, as well as on unbelievers and agnostics.” This is also the Maliki position, for Imam Malik’s opinion was that jizyah is levied on all idol worshippers and unbelievers, be they Arab or non-Arabs … except for apostates44.’

    12. Slavery: No scholar of Islam disputes that one of Islam’s aims is to abolish slavery. God  says: ‘And what will show you what the obstacle is?, the freeing of a slave, or to give food on a day of hunger’ (Al-Balad, 90: 12-14); and: ‘… then [the penalty for them is] the setting free of a slave before they touch one another …’ (Al-Mujadilah, 58: 3). The Prophet Muhammad’s  Sunnah is that he freed all male and female slaves who were in his possession or whom had been given to him45. For over a century, Muslims, and indeed the entire world, have been united in the prohibition and criminalization of slavery, which was a milestone in human history when it was finally achieved. The Prophet  said regarding the pre-Islamic ‘League of the Virtuous’ (hilf al- fudul) during the time of Jahiliyyah: ‘Had I been asked to fulfil it in Islam, I would oblige46.’ After a century of Muslim consensus on the prohibition of slavery, you have violated this; you have taken women as concubines and thus revived strife and sedition (fitnah), and corruption and lewdness on the earth. You have resuscitated something that the Shari’ah has worked tirelessly to undo and has been considered forbidden by consensus for over a century. Indeed all the Muslim countries in the world are signatories of anti-slavery conventions. God  says: ‘… And fulfil the covenant. Indeed the covenant will be enquired into.’ (Al-Isra’, 17: 34) You bear the responsibility of this great crime and all the reactions which this may lead to against all Muslims.

    13. Coercion and Compulsion: God  says: ‘you are not a taskmaster over them’ (Al-Ghashiyah, 88: 22); and: ‘There is no compulsion in religion. Rectitude has become clear from error …’ (Al- Baqarah, 2: 256); and: ‘And if your Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together. Would you then compel people until they are believers?’ (Yunus, 10: 99); and: ‘And say, “The truth [that comes] from your Lord; so whoever will, let him believe, and whoever will, let him disbelieve”.’ (Al-Kahf, 18: 29); and: ‘You have your religion and I have my religion’ (Al- Kafirun, 109: 6).
    It is known that the verse: ‘There is no compulsion in religion’ was revealed after the Conquest of Mecca, hence, no one can claim that it was abrogated. You have coerced people to convert to Islam just as you have coerced Muslims to accept your views. You also coerce everyone living under your control in every matter, great or small, even in matters which are between the individual and God . In Al-Raqqa, Deir el-Zor and other areas under your control, armed groups who call themselves ‘al-hisbah’ make their rounds, taking people to task as though they were assigned by God  to execute His commandments. Yet, not a single one of the Companions did this. This is not enjoining the right and honourable and forbidding the wrong; rather, it is coercion, assault, and constant, random intimidation. If God  wanted this, He would have obliged them over the minutest details of His religion. God  says: ‘… Have they not realised, those who believe, that had God willed, He could have guided all mankind? …’ (Al-Ra’d, 13: 31); and: ‘If We will We will send down to them a sign from the heaven before which their necks will remain bowed in humility.’ (Al-Shu’ara’, 26: 4).

    Again, please see full letter on link above and thanks for all your duas on this issue. May Allah accept good from us. Ameen.

    Wasalam,

    Brother Omer

  2. This website has helped me loads in my faith, making me realise the vast intellectual tradition that Islam has, along with there always being a rationale behind rulings. Before, I used to think that the Islamic religion was angry bearded men in thawbs issuing rulings and never having a reason or rationale behind what they say, simply just telling people “you have to do it because God told you”. So firstly thank you for making me realise there is so much complexity and beauty in this tradition, and the complexity makes it beautiful and meaningful. You helped me find my faith beneath all the dogma.

    I would love to know which books the authors recommend – perhaps a blog post on recommended reading / a book list? It can be difficult trying to find good books by reputable authors, given that these days, anyone who is anyone can overnight become a self styled cleric and worryingly become a spokesperson for Islam, despite not having the faintest clue of what they were talking about. It gets a bit tiring trying to separate the wheat from the chafe all the time, and a recommending authors list / book list would be invaluable.

    Thank you for all you do, it is very much appreciated

    • I second that! You guys really need to have a recommended books list. You keep teasing us with bits of knowledge with your articles, show us the main meat!

  3. Sleil and AMB: thanks a lot, everyone here really appreciates your comments.

    I understand where you are coming from: it seems to us lay Muslims that SURELY there must be some institution, some syllabus or course and at the very least some books (preferably in English) that sort out all these issues from the ruling on apostasy, to a methodology of hadith etc.

    I have to be blunt with you: if there were such courses and books easily accessible, I would not bother with this site, it would then merely be an exercise in egoism. As I am sure you know, from dawah to Islamic courses to publishers, virtually all are dominated by a sectarian agenda, or, more rarely, in trying to be completely non-sectarian, which in fact falsifies Islam by trying to argue that everyone, from Sufis to Salafis and everything in between, are all right, which is nonsense and much like Christians arguing that Jehovah’s witnesses, Catholics, Protestants, Unitarians are all equally true.

    Nearly all of the famous speakers are funded by Saudi money or they are trying to get it, and therefore will not tell the truth. Many others are not funded or looking for funding but have a hidden ‘angle’. A good example is Jonathan Brown: a brilliant university prof and hadith expert, he wrote a whole chapter on wife beating in his new book and came up with some good research, but what he failed to include in his ‘research’ was that Imams like Qurtubi and Zamakhshiri [a Hanafi] (and recently even Pakistani scholar Tahir Al Qadri), never translated that ayat as ‘to beat’ anyway. The reason he did not include these and other guys in his account is because basically he is ‘kind-of’ Salafi and does not regard these guys as acceptable. So even if they have a better and more traditional or authentic answer than his preferred sources, he will not include them. If we have this problem with such an intelligent guy, imagine the rest of these Nouman Ali Khan, Nadwi, Tzortzis and Co. They are telling you not even half of a story – yes, they will tell you the ‘answer’ to a problem, but only from the ‘allowed’ sources (*Salafi usually). Often, this answer sucks worse than your original doubt when you think about it.

    For example, when you were reading Brown’s book, if you did not know about the opinion of Zamakhshiri ALREADY, then you would be stuck. And how were you supposed to know if no-one tells you or translates his book etc?

    When it comes to books it is sufficient to know that 60% of the Ummah claims to follow the creed of Imam Maturidi and NONE of his books have been translated into English [or even Urdu I think] EVER, whereas the books of latter day Gujarati scholars from India or Ibn Taymiyyah or whatever flood the market in cheap English translations. This in addition to the fact that the only translation of Imam Al Ghazzali’s most famous work, ‘The Incoherence of the Philosophers’ was paid for and published by Mormons. Examples can be multiplied almost indefinitely.

    Likewise, mosques in the UK and US are controlled by Salafis or Deobandis or Brelwis, there is effectively nowhere to study, experience or live traditional Islam. Sorry if I sound bleak, but you guys deserve a straight answer. It is just that money buys marketing and marketing buys access. ‘Transformers Age of Extinction’ was not the best film released last year, but it has the biggest budget (including for marketing) and therefore was one of the most popular. And who has money in the Ummah?

    I am a born Muslim and it took me many years and a large disposable income to get at the truth. In a way, it can help if you understand Arabic, but even then the same problem is there.

    If I may be so bold, I can recommend some books and courses to you that I benefited from. When we put up stuff, such as about apostasy etc, we do give sources and try to make ‘part 2’ to answer criticism. [We will do a talk and article of adultery and why there is not stoning punishment for it soon too]. I will stick to the English books.

    First a warning: Salafi groups have the bad habit of not admitting they are Salafi groups. for my money, most of the problems that young Muslims face are caused by Salafis and their proclivities: from not voting, FGM, age of Aisha, Apostasy killing, killing gays and a lot of the issues which cause people to have doubts about Islam. I hope to whatever extent I could, I have shown that they are linked with Salafi groups and to those influenced by them. You can call them puritans if you like. In my twenty years of experience with crypto – salafis, I have found the litmus test on how to identify a Salafi is simply anyone who approves of Ibn Taymiyyah. This does not mean there is nothing worthwhile or good said by these people, but there is an angle. So it includes violent jihadi Salafis like ISIS, alleged non-violent Wahhabi salafis like the state funded clerics of Saudi and Qatar as well as Ikhwaanis (Muslim brotherhood) and HT as well as most Deobandis.

    But this is not the only problematic group, and I have found many Shafis, Sufis and even A’sharis to be problematic. If you want a group to ‘follow’, I would say Hanafis/Maturidis. Sadly, they are nearly extinct. and you shouldn’t follow anyone: you have to use your brain to see if what people are telling you makes sense. there is not way out of this, as Quran tells you.

    COURSES: The only institution teaching traditional Islam with any honesty is Avicenna academy (avicennaacademy.com). I recommend anything by them, from modules up to the full alim course. They tell the truth.

    BOOKS; Anything by Gai Eaton especially ‘Remembering God’ and ‘Islam and the Destiny of Man’. ‘Losing My Religion’ By Jeffrey Lang is an incredible attempt by a non-scholar to get at the real Islam and he basically worked out Hanafi madhab from first principles (though to this day he does not realise it). He really made a superb attempt to clear up the mess around hadith caused by Salafis. He also came to the correct Hanafi conclusion about wife beating in the Quran (though again, he does not know it). Khaled Abou el Fadl is also hugely knowledgeable and his books ‘The Great Theft’ and ‘Speaking In Gods Name’ are great. The work of Muhammad Al Ghazzali, the Egyptian scholar from the last century is also useful, especially this

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunna-Prophet-People-Fiqq-Hadith/dp/1870582519/ref=asap_B00O5XIJO2_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417108490&sr=1-2

    Hisham Kabbani and his responses to the Salafi movement are also great and you can find books by him in English

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Encyclopedia-Islamic-Doctrine-Vol-Beliefs/dp/1871031486/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1XS8VZ23WZ0WNP6W4EMV

    His short book ‘Domestic Violence In Islam’ is excellent and available for free online.

    I also recommend Syed Hossein Nasr, regardless of whether people say he is this or that, he has huge knowledge of Islam and Islamic philosophy.

    What you can get of Imam Al Ghazzalis work in English, especially on creed and refuting anthropomorphism. Imam Al Juwaynis Al Irshad is a great aqeeda book and available in English here:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-Conclusive-Proofs-Principles-Belief/dp/1859641571/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417108902&sr=1-2&keywords=juwayni%5D

    I also recommend Tim Winter; he is Hanafi and very well informed and smart.

    Shabir Ally is one of the few public speakers with good intentions and good knowledge.

    There are also many books by non-Muslims which are excellent, like the work of people like Oliver Lehman, John Grey (on modern ideologies, such as ‘Al Qaeda and What It Means to Be Modern’) as well as people like Chris Hedges and too many others to mention here.

    Connors and I are also publishing books on Quran authenticity and hadith methodology this year, I would be happy to send you complimentary copies.

    If you want to ask me what I wish I had most to guide me twenty years ago, I would say the ‘Mishkaat’ or ‘Mustalah of Hadith’ course that Avicenna teach. I think they are sufficient actually and can be done online in a year or so.

    [as well as knowing the truth about the seven or eight issues that are used to destroy Muslims faith nowadays, which are 1) Age of Ai’sha & other weird hadith 2) Wife beating in the Quran 3) Violence against non-Muslims for no reason 4) Apostasy killing 5) Do we kill gays 6) Were Jews of Banu Qurayza killed by Prophet in collective punishment 7) all the things that sap the fun out of life like music being haraam, segregation etc. 8) FGM being ‘allowed’ in Islam 9) Sex with slaves, how come, 10) polygamy and or divorcing your wife unilaterally. You can find our take on some of these on this site and other in better qualified peoples books.]

    Connors and I will be publishing books on Quran Authnticity and the correct usool of Hadith withinn the year and I would be glad to send you copies if you e-mail me.

  4. Thank you so much for your reply, this means so much. This post also gives me amply opportunity to exercise my book addiction, so thanks!

    When I began to question book sources, realising that many books or speakers are bought with Saudi money, it did not shock me at all. I had read so many arguments made that were illogical yet I could see everyone around me subscribing to them because “this is islam”. This disturbed me and led to an existential crisis which lasted three years and I am only just managing to recover from. The fact that I have even managed to get to my final year of university with the difficulties Ive encountered is quite the miracle. Trying to figure this all out has been extremely exhausting and an uphill struggle to say the least.

    University Isocs are not the best place as a revert to learn Islam, no one has a clue what they are talking about (in my experience) and they put forward illogical arguments about “what Islam is” constantly and it makes me cringe. Going to Isoc speaker events is not something I would recommend to anyone who doesn’t want their faith ruined, most speakers are Salafi orientated and the atmosphere of misogyny is unfortunate yet evident.

    Seyyed Hossein Nasr is excellent, I attended a talk by him last week and am currently reading his Young Muslims guide to Islam, its a brilliant book.

    I look forward to your book being released, thank you for the complimentary copy, I really appreciate it. If you could let me know which address to drop an email to that would be great

  5. ISOCS are an existential and spiritual disgrace, at least in the UK. I have been involved with them as a speaker, and as a helper while in uni and they are little more than machines to spread a false sense of security (just like Christian socs) and a chance to pick up girls (but only for those brother involved in ‘organising’). This article pretty much sums up what I think of them too: https://asharisassemble.com/2013/11/13/bruv-at-first-sight-how-young-muslim-men-sabotage-their-love-lives/

    Most Dawah and ISOC stuff is self – congratulatory nonsense and falls apart at the slightest examination of any kind (not just rational but even emotional critique is enough to destroy most of the arguments). It is entirely foreseeable that most converts can (and do) loose their faith. I mean the main message of Islam being the ‘Five Pillars’. Come on. Nonsense. But everyone believes this. Hadith abrogating Quran – absurd, but again, practically everyone follows this.

    Of all the books I have read, I think the only one that can really help converts in the West is ‘Losing My religion’ By Jeffrey Lang (as well as Gai Eaton’s work but his is more spiritual and not as practical and controversy clarifying).I am 100% confident that he will get a huge reward from God for this work, since he is the only one who did it properly.

    BTW, you probably know, but Thomas Arnolds’ famous ‘The Preaching of Islam’ is much better than anything written by Muslims on the subject. Ibn Khaldun’s ‘Muqaddima’ (Franz Rosenthal edition, I just read the abridged one) is also good (but confusing in parts).

    Said Nursi is excellent as well. To be honest, most of the books by the non-Islamophobic Orientalist types such as Olivier Roy, Bruce Lawrence etc are very good. They seem to be more honest than most self professed Muslims. I found Sachiko Murata’s work to be excellent too (though she is probably Muslim). A student of Syed Nasr called Yamin Cheng did an excellent little book called ‘Islam and the Wisdom of Eastern Religions’:http://ibtbooks.com/product.php?cat=CR&pid=9789839541809

    The only book I found on Maturidi aqeeda – which is the most coherent one in Islam and properly addresses the issues of the fate of non-Muslims in a just way (you are rewarded for searching for the truth, not what your final state is, so even an atheist can go to paradise as long as he was honestly looking at the evidence) is by the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Mustafa Ceric:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roots-Synthetic-Theology-Islam-Al-Maturidi/dp/9839900226/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417119249&sr=1-1&keywords=the+roots+of+synthetic+theology

    Helpfully, it is out of print and spectacularly expensive. I am going through it now and it seems good.

    For anyone looking for a generally good book, but not necessarily religious, this was one of the most evocative and well written books I have read, a hidden gem by an English Islamophile called Lesley Blanch:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sabres-Paradise-Lesley-Blanch/dp/B000OKU358/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417119495&sr=1-2&keywords=sabres+of+paradise

    Our book is at the editing stage and suppose to be ready in the next month or so – but in the book business that means more like six months but you can e-mail me at mmmclmru@hotmail.com

  6. Pingback: Violence In Islam (Or: ‘Chuck Connors and ISIS, The Cult of Doom’) | Asharis: Assemble

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