JihadWatch‘s Robert Spencer, who has absolutely no academic qualifications that would make him so, has always tried to posit himself as a serious expert on Islam. As time went by, Spencer’s hatred for Islam bubbled to the surface and he could no longer help himself from partaking in kooky conspiratorial talk.
Spencer sees a “secret Muslim” behind every corner. We have him on record saying that he thinks President Obama may in fact be a secret Muslim. Now, he’s saying that Anthony Weiner, a Jewish congressman who recently admitted to ethically suspect behavior, may in fact be a secret Muslim too. (This, despite Anthony Weiner’s well-known pro-Israel, pro-Zionist, and anti-Palestinian views.) Spencer tried, with little success, to walk back his statement.
So, President Obama is a secret Muslim, Anthony Weiner is a secret Muslim, and oh yeah, don’t forget that Spencer has linked Adolf Hitler and Nazism to Islam too! Spencer, is the boogieman also Muslim?
After this, should anybody take Robert Spencer seriously?
Here’s Justin Elliott’s piece on Salon:
Anthony Weiner-converted-to-Islam meme spreads
A prominent right-wing Islam expert believes the Jewish congressman “most likely” converted in secret
This interview with Robert Spencer, the go-to Islam expert for the right wing, offers a taste of the worldview of the Shariah fear-mongering set:
Frontpage: I would like to talk to you today about Anthony Weiner’s marriage to his Muslim Brotherhood wife, Huma Abedin.
How is it exactly that a Muslim woman connected to the Muslim Brotherhood is married to a Jewish man? Something is not fitting here, right?
Spencer: Jamie, Islamic law prohibits a Muslim woman from marrying a non-Muslim man. A Muslim man may marry a non-Muslim woman, but not the other way around. This is yet another manifestation of Islamic supremacism: the idea is that a wife will become a member of her husband’s household, and the children will follow the religion of the father. Thus, Muslim men marrying non-Muslim women ultimately enriches the Islamic community, while the non-Muslim community must forever be made to diminish.
Consequently, when a non-Muslim man begins a relationship with an observant Muslim woman, he is usually pressured to convert to Islam, and such conversion is made a condition of the marriage. Of course, laws are often honored in the breach, and this is not always true. So while we know that Huma Abedin’s parents were devout and observant Muslims — indeed, her father was an imam — we don’t know what exactly is going on with her marriage to Anthony Weiner.
Certainly the most likely scenario is that Weiner did convert to Islam, as Abedin’s mother, a professor in Saudi Arabia, would almost certainly have insisted that he do so. Weiner has made no public statement of this conversion, but since it would almost certainly have cost him politically if he had announced it, this silence is not any indication that he didn’t actually convert.
However, it is also possible, given the recent scandal involving Weiner’s apparently frequent and sexually charged contact with other women, that the rumors that the Abedin/Weiner union is a political marriage of convenience are true. After all, in 2008, Hillary Clinton was running for president. There were widespread insinuations that she was involved in a romantic and/or sexual relationship with Abedin, her ever-present personal assistant. Those whisperings persisted into Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State. Abedin’s 2010 marriage to Weiner, at which Bill Clinton presided, put those rumors to rest.
In Islamic law, a Muslim must officiate a marriage ceremony; hence if Bill Clinton was the only one officiating, the marriage was not valid according to Islamic law. Huma Abedin would undoubtedly have known that. Thus, if no Muslim was officiating along with Clinton, Weiner would not have had to convert to Islam, as the whole thing was a charade from the outset, apparently entered into with the full awareness of all parties concerned.
Emphasis added.
This is the second time we’ve heard the baseless claim that the very Jewish Weiner might have converted to Islam when he married Huma Abedin.
The important point here is that Spencer is no fringe figure; he’s at the very center of the anti-Muslim movement in the United States. His bio describes the impressive access he has to both mainstream and right-leaning media sources:
His articles on Islam and other topics have appeared in the New York Post, the Washington Times, the Dallas Morning News, the UK’s Guardian, Canada’s National Post, Middle East Quarterly, WorldNet Daily, First Things, Insight in the News, National Review Online, and many other journals.
Spencer has discussed jihad, Islam, and terrorism at a workshop sponsored by the U.S. State Department and the German Foreign Ministry. He has also appeared on the BBC, ABC News, CNN, FoxNews’s O’Reilly Factor, the Sean Hannity Show, the Glenn Beck Show, Fox and Friends, and many other Fox programs, PBS, MSNBC, CNBC, C-Span, France24 and Croatia National Televison (HTV), as well as on numerous radio programs including Bill O’Reilly’s Radio Factor, The Laura Ingraham Show, Bill Bennett’s Morning in America, Michael Savage’s Savage Nation, The Sean Hannity Show, The Alan Colmes Show, The G. Gordon Liddy Show, The Neal Boortz Show, The Michael Medved Show, The Michael Reagan Show, The Rusty Humphries Show, The Larry Elder Show, The Barbara Simpson Show, Vatican Radio, and many others. He has been a featured speaker at Dartmouth College, Stanford University, New York University, Brown University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Virginia, the College of William and Mary, Washington University of St. Louis, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and many other colleges and universities.
I asked Spencer about his claim, and he emailed: “If [Weiner] converted, it was almost certainly for convenience, not out of conviction.” Spencer also amended his statement that Weiner “most likely” converted to “most immediately obvious”:
“‘Most likely’ is a bit overstated. That is the most immediately obvious scenario, given Abedin’s background and self-identification as a Muslim. It is, as is obvious from the rest of what I said, not the only possible scenario,” he wrote.
Justin Elliott is a Salon reporter. Reach him by email at jelliott@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustin More:Justin Elliott
June 21st, 2011 at 6:43 pm
The stupidity is mind-boggling. I mean I keep thinking someone’s going to say idiots like spencer and his ilk are all part of some sick joke.
June 21st, 2011 at 6:58 pm
One of the more elaborate taqiyya plots, no doubt.
Further evidence of Weiner’s Islamicness is the Turkish flag in the background — Turkey being the recent victim of a Muslamic sharia jihad takeover.
And am I reading that correctly? Is Spencer insinuating that Hillary Clinton and Abedin had a homosexual relationship? This loon has gone off the deep end.
June 21st, 2011 at 6:59 pm
I should go up to New York and slip him the secret Muslim handshake, if he knows it, than we’ll have concrete evidence of his secret conversion… (Though now I’ve mentioned the secret handshake, that could be bad…)
June 21st, 2011 at 7:29 pm
I want to know what spencer was smoking when he came up with this crap.
June 21st, 2011 at 8:14 pm
After all, in 2008, Hillary Clinton was running for president. There were widespread insinuations that she was involved in a romantic and/or sexual relationship with Abedin, her ever-present personal assistant.
NassirH, yes, he is. Off the deep end completely. It’s funny, because I’ve never heard of Huma Abedin, and I actually make an effort to follow the news.
I guess Robert Spencer actually believes that plotlines to lesbian skinflicks are actually based on fact
June 21st, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Lesbian and Zionist Muslims “on the downlow”….Wow! Spencer has a pretty vivid (sick) imagination!
June 21st, 2011 at 8:31 pm
“”Lesbian and Zionist Muslims “on the downlow”….Wow! Spencer has a pretty vivid (sick) imagination!”"
Robert Spencer is actually a secret convert to the religion of cognitive dissonance ;-}
June 21st, 2011 at 8:41 pm
Ah, good old Bobby never fails to amaze me.
June 21st, 2011 at 11:35 pm
I think Spencer needs to be investigated. His hatred of Muslims is really scary. I think he is the one radicalizing others and being funded by radicals. Be afraid, be very afraid!
June 21st, 2011 at 11:41 pm
Why our flag though? Was that the picture Spencer used?
June 22nd, 2011 at 12:43 am
How do we know Spencer isn’t a secret Muslim trying to create sympathy for Muslims by setting up an anti-Muslim hate site?
June 22nd, 2011 at 2:04 am
“His Muslim Brotherhood wife” What the hell was that? Is every public Islamic Figure that holds any postion now part of the Muslim brotherhood?
He talks about Islamic Supremacism because Islam doesn’t allow marriage to non-muslim men. How about the fact that it is the exact same ruling for Jews as well?
Infact last year, a Prominent Jewish Rabbi in Israel warned Israeli Supermodel Bar Rafaeli against marrying the Non-jewish Leonardo DiCaprio – reasons are obvious. Is he going to rail on him for Jewish supremacism?
Or maybe it never occured to these racist bigot that she was never a “devout” muslim as people like him love to claim of others. And that she married him regardless of what rulings are.
In the UK we had that Taj Hargey a secularist muslim Imam, marrying muslim women to Non-muslim in an “Islamic ceremony” Now of course – that is invalid, but he was sanctioning it so……to act like she didn’t like just marry him for love is BS.
The fact is, many people claim they are devout practicing muslims and yet openly drink alcohol, have marriages that are forbidden in Islam…..
June 22nd, 2011 at 5:01 am
Is he for real????? *shock*
June 22nd, 2011 at 6:24 am
^nah, but he’s a scary, hateful guy who’ll say or do anything for $$. There’s a word for that…
June 22nd, 2011 at 8:56 am
Defenders of Spencer should realize by now what a Loon he is. Taqiyya plots involving Zionism, Lesbianism, and sexting? What a stupid, stupid idea. Spencer is an embarrassment to bigots everywhere.
June 22nd, 2011 at 9:05 am
What’s the connection to Turkey though? Why put the Turkish flag as the background?
June 22nd, 2011 at 9:12 am
Oh btw, you should check the comments section of that article for some laughs. I just found this post from some buy commenting on the article, I’m not sure if he was serious or just being sarcastic but it’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all week:
“Mr. Spencer Is Obviously Right
Everyone knows that nice Jewish boys don’t send depictions of their genitalia to younger females they have not met. Thus the answer is clear: Mr. Weiner is not Jewish. Mr. Spencer has stumbled upon a requirement under Sharia law that mandates that Muslim men send pictures of their genitalia to younger women they have never met. Don’t believe me? Just ask Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson, Dennis Ross, and other acknowledged experts on Islam.”
haha..
June 22nd, 2011 at 9:51 am
I like Dr.M’s perspective. Robert Spencer, like Anthony Wiener, must actually be a Muslim practicing Taqiyya!
June 22nd, 2011 at 3:50 pm
Hey Spencer, How about the option that Weiners wife is just not a practicing muslim and thus married a non muslim man in total dis-regard for the Quranic teaching against it? Ever considered that one?
June 22nd, 2011 at 8:18 pm
@Safak
I think Weiner is just photoshopped in front of a generic crescent and star. I don’t think it has anything to do with the actual country of Turkey or their flag.
June 23rd, 2011 at 1:01 am
Just wait, Islamophobes will transform the next controversy even remotely related to Islam into a secret Muslim Brotherhood plot to takeover the US and install shari’a, etc.
June 23rd, 2011 at 3:10 am
I’ve submitted a paper on the issue of interfaith marriage in Islam to Al Azher. I’ve also recieved approval from the Al Rasheed mosque in Edmonton.
People, especially Muslim men, don’t understand what it means when the Quran said Muslim men could marry CHRISTIAN and JEWISH women (notice Spencer didn’t say that).
[5:5] Today, all good food is made lawful for you. The food of the people of the scripture is lawful for you, [and your food is lawful for them]. Also, you may marry the chaste women among the believers, as well as the chaste women among the followers of previous scripture, provided you pay them their due dowries. You shall maintain chastity, not committing adultery, nor taking secret lovers. Anyone who rejects faith, all his work will be in vain, and in the Hereafter he will be with the losers
The reason Islam allows men to marry Christian or Jewish women is because:
1) They have to be CHASTE (and what percentage of Christian or Jewish women do we find today that are virgins? No offence or disrespect to Christian or Jewish women who are chaste, or plan on being chaste until marriage). Numerous reports, like Buzzle, showed 95% of Americans had premarital sex. AND 25-30 percent of teen girls have HIV.
(A small note, permissble for marriage are also divorced or widowed Christian and Jewish women.)
Being chaste means also not being immoral in any way. Bilal Philips, a renowned scholar and former Christian has said that many Muslim men in Asia where Muslim countries are swamped with westernization (like Pakistan) get the idea of a Christian or Jewish woman being blond haired and blue eyed with the perfect body. That is AGAINST what Islam says. The sheikh also said these men go to bars and nightclubs to find these women. How disgusting? It should be noted that Christian scholars are outright fine with nightclubs and bars, even nude pageants (like Carrie Prejean who got praise from Christian groups for defending her nude pics with the Bible). These women are OFF LIMITS TO MUSLIM MALES.
2) The children of the interfaith couple will have to grow up Muslim so the wife has no choice but to convert (since her knoweledge will rub off onto her kids as they grow).
3) Islam tells to tolerate and repect Christian and Jewish faiths. They have rights and freedoms which Islam grants. These women can find life better with a Muslim husband.
4) Theres many Christian women specifically, that are living in dangerous area’s of the world. For example the Democratic Republic of Congo has the highest rape rate in the world. In Uganda and Kenya, women are burned for being ‘witches’. The LRA, a Christian terror group often target women and kidnap them. Marrying these women saves them from oppression, and we all know what Islam says about helping those who are oppressed (4:15, 5:8, 16:90, 4:58, 4:105, 6:115, 6:152 57:25). This could also be said for Christian women in Pakistan and India where they’re frequently assaulted from so called ‘Muslims’ and ‘Hindu’s’. Another example is war torn places like Palestine and Iraq. There’s some Christian women who lost their husbands and have a hard time feeding their kids. They might end up as prostitutes so their children might have a chance to live and go to school. Marrying them takes care of the finances, food, clothing and shelter.
5) Fiqh Law has stated that marrying Christian and Jewish women from the West is not Islamic (reasons are above).
6) Every scholar agree’s marrying a Muslim woman is the BEST. The Prophet Muhammed pbuh said the best woman is the one who’s most religious. I’ve personally heard and I’m sure many of you have as well that Muslim men can only marry a Christian or a Jew if no Muslim woman can be found. This seems quite correct and tends to agree with what’s above.
7) This type of marriage is ONLY RECOGNIZABLE BY ISLAMIC LAW (i.e Sharia Courts)
Mufti Ikram in response to my question wrote that is it PERMISSIBLE, not mandatory or recommended to marry Christian or Jewish women: http://www.askamufti.com/Answers/ViewQuestion.aspx?QuestionId=1201&CategoryId=23&CategoryName=Nikah
9) We obviously are told to follow the entire Quran. Throughout the Quran and hadith we’re told away to stay away from anything that can shake our faith. There’s special dua’s for this. A Christian or Jewish woman who will cause men to be distracted from Islam is not allowed for marriage.
10) EVERY SINGLE WOMAN in ARAB LANDS WORE HIJAB!!!!! Yes, ALL CHRISTIAN AND JEWISH women wore this from the time of the Prophet to the end of the 19 century. So obviously this verse was not revealed so Muslim men can go choose any non-Muslim woman who showed their hair and beauty.
June 23rd, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Yes, I agree with some of the comments above that Spencer may be a secret Muslim trying to encourage us to speak out against Islamophobes, i.e. Loonwatch. Good job Spencer! It’s working. You’re not a boob afterall.
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:19 pm
@Ali: A nice paper with some good points. I’d just like to point out a couple of things. First, about the term “chaste.” Most dictionaries define “chastity” as not partaking in unlawful/immoral sexual intercourse. This is not necessarily the same thing as virginity (i.e. before marriage). A married, divorced, or widowed woman (or man) can also be “chaste” so long as they never have/had sex outside of marriage. So “chaste” is not the same thing as “virgin.” I know you touched on that a bit in your post, I’ve just seen a lot of other Muslims who do not realize there is a distinction.
The second thing is, you mentioned the general topic of your paper was interfaith marriage in Islam. You could have mentioned a bit more about why Muslim women are not permitted to marry non-Muslim men. Though I think you did a really good of exploring and detailing the circumstances and requirements for Muslim men to marry women of the book.
Hope you find my comments useful Inshallah.
June 25th, 2011 at 9:07 pm
I find it ironic that many of those who pedal in conspiracies are very quick to point the conspiracies in others. One notable example is Daniel Pipes. He wrote a book on this subject and yet he peddles in many conspiracies of is own including the charge that Obama and Prince Charles are Muslim.
June 26th, 2011 at 11:37 am
With Spencer’s logic, HE COULD BE A SECRET CONVERT TO ISLAM FOR ALL WE KNOW!!!!!!!
June 28th, 2011 at 10:02 pm
I take the same view that Colin Powell did in one of his few rare morally correct positions regarding Obama’s supposed Islamic beliefs….so what? It is not illegal to be Muslim, yet, neither is it anything anyone should be ashamed of or fear, although that’s what people who throw that accusation around want. What Americans should be repulsed by is people who try to “out” someone’s religious faith as if it’s an anathema; our religious tradition has always been one of an individual’s right to choose as well as practice privately without fear of any repercussion their religious beliefs. Spencer, et.al are trying to do away with that tradition by trying to embarass people into admitting something others can then ridicule. That’s what we should be up in arms about. If Weiner professes an Islamic value system, that’s his right that he should not be ashamed of nor humiliated for,and that would be my response to Spencer and the crazies who follow him.
July 10th, 2011 at 9:21 am
This picture is so racist that an apology is in order. So what if hes Muslim and whats with the pointing at a guy being Muslim? Responsible and ethical reporting please?