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May
16
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And there’s the rub: Not that our cultural relativists would admit to it, but the concept of truth in Arab culture is extremely elastic. Al-Ghazzali, “the famous 11th-century Muslim theologian, claimed that the lie is not wrong in itself. If the lie is the way to achieve good results, then it is permissible. It is necessary to lie when the truth might lead to unpleasant or undesired results,” writes Dr. David Bukay. More recently, Arab sociologist Sania Hamady (Katz, 2002) has documented the low value attached to truth in Arab culture. Feelings, flights of fancy and fabrications are integral to Arab discourse. Lies are also potent political weapons, having successfully achieved the delegitimization of Israel, for instance. Clearly, Muslim leaders have learned that Westerners demand nothing more than a denunciation of terrorism. So they denounce – and get on with the business of Jihad (which is, like Shari’a, an essential tenet of true Islam).
Since two-facedness is both a way of life and a political strategy, there’s nothing extraordinary about the countless Muslim leaders who pose as moderates, forswear terrorism, and then do what the Quran commands: “instill terror in the hearts of unbelievers” (8:12). Both Serge Krifkovic (author of “The Sword of the Prophet”) and Paul Sperry (“Infiltration”) have traced the trajectory of these “moderate” Muslims, as they’ve gone from “the White House to the Big House.” Embraced by American presidents, Sami Al-Arian, Abdurahman M. Alamoudi and Muzammil H. Siddiqi, to name but a few, represent a sample of the crème de la crème of “moderate” Islam in America. The first now awaits trial for heading the U.S branch of Islamic Jihad. The second “pleaded guilty of plotting terrorist acts with Libya.” The third is a dyed-in-the-wool radical (or simply true to The Faith), advising Muslims to work to establish Shari’a in the U.S.