PrintJanuary 4, 2007
Origin of Ellison's Jefferson Quran gambit
Keith Ellison has pulled off a PR masterstroke in using a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson to take his symbolic oath of office, Rick Moran writes today in American Thinker.
But Steve Gilbert, writing in Sweetness & Light, debunks the claim Ellison has made that it was suggested by an anonymous person. He cites a press release from the Muslim American Society dated December 21st, more than a week before Ellison announced his masterstroke.
The Muslim American Society's executive director Mahdi Bray is quoted in the press release as saying:
I hope when Congressman-elect Ellison takes his oath, he not only takes it on the Quran, but requests to use the one owned by Thomas Jefferson; one of America's founding fathers, kept at the National Archives. Perhaps such a move would educate the dear Congressman from Virginia concerning the longstanding contributions that Islam has made to American life.
So why would Ellison wish to obscure the origin of this brilliant suggestion? Steve cites an article from the Weekly Standard on the MAS's "little problem." It was founded as an offshoot of the radical terrorist Muslim Brotherhood, the group responsible for, among many other things, the assassination of Anwar Sadat.
...the Chicago Tribune recently published a story detailing how the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood operates in the United States as none other than MAS. So while most American Muslims don't want to see the United States governed by sharia, Bray's organization does. And while researching for the debate, I found that MAS-except in its most public of statements-is quite open about its agenda and allegiances. Even a brief review of various MAS chapters' websites provides a revealing look at what the national organization is teaching its members. [....]
The website for MAS Minnesota outlines the objectives of MAS's active member program. These objectives include:
(1) Continue building the correct unified comprehension of Islam as outlined in the Message of the Teachings by Imam Al-Banna. . . .
(9) Make the member fulfill his duties as outlined in the Message of the Teachings by Imam Al-Banna.
Although these objectives appear on MAS Minnesota's website, there is no suggestion that they apply only to the regional chapter. Instead, MAS Minnesota's website discusses the MAS curriculum in general terms that suggest that it is presenting the national organization's curriculum and objectives.
And the listed objectives are telling. Even a cursory review of The Message of the Teachings indicates that al-Banna's [founder of the Muslim Brotherhood] "unified comprehension of Islam" falls short of a call to defend the Constitution against enemies both foreign and domestic. In that book, al-Banna tells his fellow Muslims that they must work toward "[r]eforming the government so that it may become a truly Islamic government, performing as a servant to the nation in the interest of the people. By Islamic government I mean a government whose officers are Muslims who perform the obligatory duties of Islam, who do not make public their disobedience, and who enforce the rules and teachings of Islam." Moreover, al-Banna implores his followers to "[c]ompletely boycott non-Islamic courts and judicial systems. Also, dissociate yourself from organisations, newspapers, committees, schools, and institutions which oppose your Islamic ideology." [emphasis added in S&L]
As Paul Shlichta writes today in AT,
Mr. Ellison should be persuaded (though he cannot be required) to publicly declare the exact nature of his Islamic faith and whether or not it would conflict with his obligation, for example, to refrain from revealing U.S. secrets to our Islamic enemies.
If Rep. Ellison is following the guidance of the MAS, even if laundered through an "anonymous" source, he owes us an explanation of his aderence, or specific disagreements with its doctrines and aims.
