Date: 9/7/2006
THANK YOU ROBERT SPENCER. THE IRONY IS, WHY DOESN'T ANY HINDU COW WARRIOR OUT OF ONE BILLION WEAK NATION TELL THE WORLD ABOUT MOHAMMED? THEIR HINDUSTAN IS IN THREE FRAGMENTS. THEY CANNOT RAISE THEIR HEADS IN AYODHYA AND THE HINDU REFUGEES CANNOT RETURN TO THEIR HOMES IN SRINAGAR. ISLAMIC TERRORISM IS FLOURISHING IN BROKEN BHARAT (PARTITIONED INDIA) AS NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH. ===================== /////////////// A brief interview with Robert Spenser about his forthcoming book The Truth About Muhammad. ///////////// Robert Spencer: The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion by David Klinghoffer, Religion BookLine -- 9/6/2006 //////////////// The author of the bestselling Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) takes on the most sacred figure in Muslim history.//////////////// RBL: In your first chapter you note that, in writing a frank biography of Muhammad, you are “fully aware of the risks involved.” Are you afraid? What precautions can you and your publisher take for your safety? ////////////////////// Spencer: I am aware of the risk, but I’m not afraid. Everyone dies, no one knows when or how he will, and I would rather do what I think must be done rather than bow to intimidation in a bid to live longer. We are taking precautions, but of course if I detailed what they were, they’d be less effective. ////////////////// RBL: What about a book tour? ///////////// Spencer: I don’t think this is planned—not because of the nature of this book in particular. Regnery has always preferred TV and radio interviews. //////////////// RBL: Did you consider including any amusing cartoons of your biographical subject in the book? Spencer: No, although I respect the Danish cartoonists’ courage in defense of free speech. My intention is not to satirize, but to present solid evidence about Muhammad from Muslim sources. /////////////// RBL: Is there any recent precedent for an unapologetic bio of the prophet, or is yours the first modern one? Spencer: There is a great deal that’s useful in books by Rodinson, Lings, and others. Other modern books are flawed in relying on sources Muslims do not consider authoritative. Mine is the first one I know of in many decades to rely solely on sources Muslims rely on most to show what they really say about Muhammad. ////////////// RBL: What, from a faithful Muslim’s perspective, might be the most provocative (or offensive) thing you report about Muhammad? /////////// Spencer: Strictly speaking, a Muslim who accepts the authority of the siras Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Sa'd, and the hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim—in other words, a knowledgeable traditional Muslim—should find nothing offensive about this book in what I report about Muhammad, because it is all from those sources and others just as authoritative. What may offend them is that I hold Muhammad to a moral standard other than the one he delineated for himself. ///////////// RBL: Will faithful Muslims be reading this book? Spencer: I hope so. This is my sixth book; when I wrote my first I hoped it would lead to fruitful discussions with honest Muslims. Instead it was greeted with vitriol and invective. This has become a recurring pattern, but I still always hope. ////////////// RBL: How does understanding Muhammad better help us in the war on terror? //////////// Spencer: Jihadists see themselves as following the example of Muhammad in word and deed. Most Western analysts assume they are doing things that would outrage Muhammad. Whether or not they are will reveal a great deal about the overall prospects for the democracy project in Iraq, the war on terror, and more. ////////////// RBL: Is Islamic fascism a departure from the main body of classical Islam? ////////// Spencer: I show in this book that it is not a departure at all. ////////////////// 0000000000
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