Hoodwinking The Kuffar

When long-standing Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas met US President Donald Trump on May 7, he came out with what we British call a whopper, a huge lie. Here is what Abbas said with a straight face:

"Mr. President, I affirm to you that we are raising our youth, our children, our grandchildren on a culture of peace. And we are endeavoring to bring about security, freedom and peace for our children to live like the other children in the world, along with the Israeli children, in peace, freedom and security."

We expect politicians to lie out of all sides of their mouths, to use doublespeak in order to seduce citizens to vote for them. Whether they be government officials or opposition hopefuls, a certain amount of economy with the truth is par for the course.

Political analysts and well-informed journalists know this, of course, and work hard to untangle these webs. Facts matter.

Sources make a difference. And in democratic countries that value free speech and the freedom of the press, politicians are held to account. Not many falsehoods get off Scot-free, and serial liars are regularly brought to book.

Politicians and their spokespeople know this, however, and do their best to keep their lies within reasonable bounds, even when making promises they have no real desire to fulfil. Abbas's lies, however, are so gargantuan as to be in a league of their own.

There, the exact opposite is true, and thousands of videos, texts, and recorded radio broadcasts show that the PA, the PLO, Fatah and Abbas himself have, over the years done their utmost to teach Palestinian children to hate and prepare themselves for violence against Jews.

There is a reason for this subterfuge. Muslims in general, especially those promoting extreme ideas, are growing more and more conscious of how they appear in the forum of public opinion.

Even the terrorist group Hamas has issued a new Charter from which they have removed the explicit anti-Semitic passages of its 1988 version, in order to make it look better in Western eyes.

In fact, Hamas has not changed its ways, and is still planning to use violence to eliminate Israel and replace it with an Islamic Palestinian state.

The more that Islam, Islamic terrorism, Muslim extremism, and anxieties in Europe about Muslim immigrants receive a bad press, the more many Muslim organizations and individuals see a need to make a better impression on the public in America, Europe, Canada and Australia.

This does not refer to genuine reformers who work hard to create a new Islam from which its most negative values -- jihad, corporal punishment, execution for adultery, female oppression and violence -- have been replaced by values closer to the Judaeo-Christian principles that inform Western civilization.

The target here is the extremists who have taken lessons from the world of public relations management, and who see advantage in adopting at least an outward style of liberalization and peace activism.

To a large extent, this desire to present a positive image while holding extremist and conservative ideas is linked to the Islamic doctrine of taqiyya, which may be defined as dissimulation, and is used to protect a believer from criticism or attack.

Historically, it was mainly used by Shi'i Muslims living in Sunni lands, who would pray, celebrate festivals, and speak as though they were Sunnis, to avoid persecution. Less commonly, it was and still is used by Sunni Muslims, especially when living in non-Muslim territory.

Given the large numbers of Muslims now living in and entering Western countries, its use has not surprisingly become more commonplace, even if some anti-Muslim bigots wildly exaggerate its scale.

With its roots in the Qur'an (3:28) -- "Let not believers take disbelievers as allies rather than believers" -- the term has also been interpreted to mean that a Muslim may be outwardly friendly to non-Muslims while remaining inwardly ill-disposed.

This in part explains why so many Salafi fundamentalist Muslims today engage in charitable and social work to assist their non-Muslim fellow citizens, stress their love for Jesus, and hold meetings to which they invite non-believers in order to learn what Muslims are really like.

If you look at the community section of the website of the London-based Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA), you will find links to the organization's several charity enterprises: "Helping the Homeless in London", "Warming up the Elderly in London", "Ongoing Neighbourhood Cleanup Efforts", "Good News from the 'Love Your Neighbour' campaign", "The Elderly Care Project: Winter Warmth Campaign", and "iERA at the Refugees Welcome here Rally".

My local Church of England vicar takes groups of his parishioners to visit Newcastle Central Mosque (a Salafi/Ahl-e Hadith institution), where they are regaled with warmth and good food. In return, members of the mosque have visited St. George's Church despite the presence of crosses and crucifixes and the vain images on the beautiful stained-glass windows.

All buddies on the surface. But the real reason the Muslims are acting like this is in order to attract Christians to Islam. They do not, however, invite the rabbi and his congregation from the local Orthodox synagogue near where I live.

The UK alone hosts a number of organizations that present a seemingly friendly face to the public while harbouring beliefs and supporting individuals whose hatred for non-Muslims is palpable.

I do not wish to condemn this charitable work: quite possibly they do much good. It is quite likely that many homeless, elderly, and refugee people benefit from what they do, or that local neighbourhood campaigners appreciate their cleanup efforts.

Superficially, their devotion to the needy is commendable, and much the same as the devotion shown by Christian charities such as the Salvation Army. In fact, a 2013 poll by ICM found that Muslims are far ahead of Atheists, Christians and Jews in the amounts they give to charity, something they deserve to be proud of.

At the same time, "JustGiving said religious charities such as Muslim Aid and Islamic Relief benefited most from money donated by Muslims, but many of their donations also went to the likes of Cancer Research, Macmillan and the British Heart Foundation."

Here, though, is the problem: Muslim Aid and Islamic Relief have been closely linked to funding Islamic terrorism around the world. Giving to cancer research is one thing, but giving to Hamas and other groups is quite another.

iERA, a British charity, was set up in 2009 by a Muslim convert called Abdur Raheem Green (formerly Anthony Green), and its purpose from the beginning was to carry out da'wa, or proselytization, to win converts for Islam. That remains its primary purpose. On their website, where you will find references to "Dawah Training" and "Dawah Campaigns".

A range of visual images appears on the screen, showing various missionary activities, notably giving out literature to Christians, with a link to "Giving Dawah to Christians". There is a photograph of a group of iERA workers sporting bright blue hoodies with the name "Jesus" prominently displayed next to a large box containing the book Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah, part of a Prophetic Legacy Series featuring books on Abraham and Moses.

This is itself disingenuous. The implication is that Muslims too love Jesus -- an approach that is bound to attract Christian passers-by (including priests and nuns, as shown in photographs) if only out of curiosity. But the Jesus of the Qur'an is not the Jesus of the New Testament.

For Muslims, he is not the Son of God, not one third of the Trinity, did not die on the cross, was not resurrected after death, and is not God incarnate. He is simply one of a long line of prophets, important -- yet inferior to Muhammad.

If the deceptions used in da'wa work were the only cause for concern about iERA, it might not appear worrying; but iERA has long been censured for its extremist Salafi/Wahhabi basis. The several preachers who sit or have sat on its advisory board or its board of trustees are among the most hardline exponents of radical Islam in the UK and abroad. Many have been banned from the UK and other countries.

Many unsuspecting people, little understanding just what and who stand behind the movement but impressed by the appearance of disinterested good works on behalf of the needy, given handouts on Muslim love for Jesus, or invited to iERA barbecues and get-togethers, will take everything at face value. A number of them will convert, assuming they have joined a religion of love, peace and charitable works.

Some sociologists of religion have pointed out that neophytes attracted by friendly faces and warm words convert with little or no knowledge of the cults or faiths they join. But once inside, they are introduced slowly to the new beliefs they must hold, the rituals they must perform, and the laws they must obey.

This is one of the several paths that lead to radicalisation and all it entails. Charity may begin at home, but in instances such as these, it not infrequently leads to death.

Originally published by the Gatestone Institute - reposted with permission.