When it comes to their new spiritual hero the "wrongly demonized and hated" New Age Imam Abdul Rauf the Left has serious reality problems and won't tolerate any facts about his radicalism, fundamentalism and regressive 7th century world view (see below). Summing up the view on the Left Fareed Zakaria said on CNN "Rauf is a true moderate and peace loving man; a progressive Imam with a liberal interpretation of Islam." Indeed, to prove their point that Rauf is a moderate, progressive, liberalizing force in Islam Leftists like Zakaria point to his practice of Sufism or Islamic mysticism which is anathema to fundamentalist and Wahabi extremists like bin Ladin and the Taliban-they believe it's unIslamic, heretical and from the devil. Noting a recent deadly al Qaida suicide attack on a Sufi shrine in Lahore, Pakistan (
see), which killed 41 and injured 175, Zakaria said:
"Why would al Qaeda attack a holy place at a time of prayer? Because it is a Sufi shrine, part of a sect that al Qaeda despises and regards as a deadly foe in the real battle it is fighting, the battle within Islam. The Sufis are a sector of Islam originating in South Asia. They're all about mysticism, love, brotherhood and devotion, with very little attention to dogma. They believe in saints, shrines, music, dance, and follow a very liberal interpretation of the Koran. Sufi poets routinely extol the virtues of wine and song, both forbidden in the purer versions of Islam. Sufism has always believed in tolerance towards other people and religion, and in peace. You can see why al Qaeda views Sufism with alarm as its mortal enemy. The more Muslims accept some version of Sufi Islam, the more dangerous for al Qaeda and its extreme jihadist philosophy."
In other words, Zakaria sees the spread of Sufi tolerance, peace and love throughout the Moslem world as the answer to the dangerous, poisonous jihadi radicalism spread by al Qaida and other extremists. On the basis of Rauf's Sufism alone Zakaria and the Left believe that the anti-mosque movement has him all wrong and that he's a valuable ally in the war against al Qaida and Islamic fundamentalism-"bin Ladin's worst nightmare," Zakaria says.
But this view of Sufism has no more depth than a rain puddle. Like all conventional Moslems Sufis identify themselves along sectarian lines as Sunnis and Shiites, and many like Rauf are radical fundamentalists. That Rauf is both a Sufi and reactionary fundamentalist is proved by his high regard for history's first and most fundamental Moslem state as the model for today's Islam (and the entire world): the oppressive, intolerant 7th century theocracy of terror and fear established by Mohammed in Medina (
see). In other words, progress for the mystical Sufi Abdul Rauf means returning to the fundamentals of the faith: to the pure, undefiled Islam of its barbaric freedom hating totalitarian founder.
But to put to rest any notion that Sufism is necessarily synonymous with compassion, peace, tolerance and love read the words of al Ghazali perhaps the most revered Sufi master and jurist in Moslem history-a model of the true Moslem Sufi according to Rauf who praises Ghazali in his book What's Right With Islam":
"At its core, Islam is a religious mission to all humanity," says Ghazali. "Muslims are religiously obliged to disseminate the Islamic faith throughout the world. "We have sent you forth to all mankind" (Q. 34:28). If non-Muslims submit to conversion or subjugation, this call (da’wa) can be pursued peacefully. If they do not, Muslims are obliged to wage war against them. In Islam, peace requires that non-Muslims submit to the call of Islam, either by converting or by accepting the status of a religious minority (dhimmi) and paying the imposed poll tax, jizya. World peace, the final stage of the da’wa, is reached only with the conversion or submission of all mankind to Islam…Muslims believe that expansion through war is not aggression but a fulfillment of the Qur’anic command to spread Islam as a way to peace. The resort to force to disseminate Islam is not war (harb), a word that is used only to describe the use of force by non-Muslims. Islamic wars are not hurub (the plural of harb) but rather futuhat, acts of "opening" the world to Islam and expressing Islamic jihad. Relations between dar al-Islam, the home of peace, and dar al-harb, the world of unbelievers, nevertheless take place in a state of war, according to the Qur’an and to the authoritative commentaries of Islamic jurists. Unbelievers who stand in the way, creating obstacles for the da’wa, are blamed for this state of war, for the da’wa can be pursued peacefully if others submit to it. In other words, those who resist Islam cause wars and are responsible for them. Only when Muslim power is weak is "temporary truce" (hudna) allowed (Islamic jurists differ on the definition of "temporary").....*"
* al-Ghazali's Website
This excerpt from Ghazali's masterwork on Islamic ethics and jurisprudence called al-Wajiz could have been written by bin Ladin or Ayatollah Khomenie (who was believed to be a Sufi). It is the doctrine of Jihad, eternal war against mankind, which goes back to Islam's ruthless, power mad founder, and is practiced by al Qaida and all fundamentalists in both its violent or non-violent forms.
In short, Imam Rauf's Sufi cultural center at Ground Zero is a radical jahdist mosque at war with America proved by Rauf's uncompromising defiance of the American people and his trampling on their sensitivities regarding al Qaida's deadly attack.
Also see my ISLAM, SUFISM AND THE GROUND ZERO MOSQUE OR HOW TO STOP THE ISLAMIZING OF AMERICA
Postscript
My thanks to Left Turn for the above quote from Zakaria. I pray that he has learned something from this piece.