Friday, February 6, 2015

ISIS was sending a message to Muslims by burning that Jordanian pilot alive...we should send a message back to ISIS

That brutal murder of the captured Jordanian pilot was not a random act of barbarity.  As Bob Belvedere notes, such behavior is not completely foreign in Islamic jurisprudence:
Bukhari :: Book 1 :: Volume 11 :: Hadith 626Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "No prayer is harder for the hypocrites than the Fajr and the 'Isha' prayers and if they knew the reward for these prayers at their respective times, they would certainly present themselves (in the mosques) even if they had to c awl." The Prophet added, "Certainly I decided to order the Mu'adh-dhin (call-maker) to pronounce Iqama and order a man to lead the prayer and then take a fire flame to burn all those who had not left their houses so far for the prayer along with their houses."
Sahih Bukhari Volume 001, Book 011, Hadith No. 626 حَدَّثَنَا عُمَرُ بْنُ حَفْصٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي قَالَ، حَدَّثَنَا الأَعْمَشُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو صَالِحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ لَيْسَ صَلاَةٌ أَثْقَلَ عَلَى الْمُنَافِقِينَ مِنَ الْفَجْرِ وَالْعِشَاءِ، وَلَوْ يَعْلَمُونَ مَا فِيهِمَا لأَتَوْهُمَا وَلَوْ حَبْوًا، لَقَدْ هَمَمْتُ أَنْ آمُرَ الْمُؤَذِّنَ فَيُقِيمَ، ثُمَّ آمُرَ رَجُلاً يَؤُمُّ النَّاسَ، ثُمَّ آخُذَ شُعَلاً مِنْ نَارٍ فَأُحَرِّقَ عَلَى مَنْ لاَ يَخْرُجُ إِلَى الصَّلاَةِ بَعْدُ ‏"‏‏.‏
President Barack Obama notes that Christianity did bad things too (in the past). Such equivocation by the President is both offensive and counter productive (because the vast majority of Christians absolutely refute such practices today), but like all big lies there is a grain of truth--what he states is true historically. The Inquisition did occasionally burn heretics and we all heard the story of what happened to accused witches in Salem, Massachusetts. So what? Are there any Christian groups promoting such practices today? It is a specious argument.  

Where the President misses the mark is ISIS, in the name of Islam, seriously wants to turn back the clock. They are actively burning who they deem to be heretics, killing gays, and taking sex slaves. We do not have to equivocate about Islam, we just have say we will not tolerate this sort of behavior and will destroy those who embrace such barbarity. King Abdullah was spot on in how to respond to this.  Let other Muslims define what their religion is and isn't. Joe Biden and Barack Obama are not experts on Islam (or Christianity for that matter). Say what you will about King Abdullah, but he is a direct descendant of Mohammed (and a Deerfield Academy man). I do not need the President trying to distinguish (or in this case equate) Christianity with Islam. What I expect the President to do is to be way simpler than that. All he needs to do is define what our national culture is and what it will accept and not accept:
Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs.

Charles James Napier , Napier, William. (1851) History Of General Sir Charles Napier's Administration Of Scinde. (P. 35). London: Chapman and Hall

By being clear, by responding to ISIS, al Qaeda, and Boko Haram barbarity with appropriate directed and swift lethal force, you help Muslims who oppose such excesses.  We help those Muslims who are fighting against barbarity by being direct and unequivocal ourselves.  Let Islam fight its own internal battles.

Wombat: Twitchy: Equivocate Much
Instapundit: If only Obama was less like his is and more like King Abdullah
Mark Steyn: Taking a Joke

1 comment:

  1. No need to look across the pond.

    You can always quote Phil Sheridan. "The only good one is a dead one"

    Or Bull Halsey, "When we finish with them, the only place Japanese will be spoken will be Hell".

    And, of course, there's the example of George Washington.

    ReplyDelete

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