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September 5, 2023 MEMRI Daily Brief No. 518

Another Letter In The ISIS-MEMRI Exchange

September 5, 2023 | By Yigal Carmon*
MEMRI Daily Brief No. 518

In the most recent issue of ISKP’s English-language Voice of Khurasan publication,[1] Abu Muhammad Al-Italy responded to my open letter (see MEMRI Daily Brief No. 490 – An Open Letter to ISKP's Abu Muhammad Al-Italy), again proving that he cannot face truth.


The cover of Abu Muhammad Al-Italy's recent article, with a depiction of MEMRI President & Founder Yigal Carmon.

For instance, he pathetically seeks to find a point of agreement between me and him with regard to LGBTQ+ "ideological brain-washing" and "conversion to non-heterosexuality". As before, he attempts to conceal the violent and fanatic nature of the brand of Islam he adheres to by ignoring the fact that ISIS executes homosexuals by throwing them off of rooftops (see MEMRI TV Clips No. 5329 and No. 5042).

In the same vein, he responded to the video I referred to in my open letter in which a young woman is stoned to death for adultery by ISIS as her father rejects her pleas to hold her hand and forgive her[2] – a video which demonstrates that the believers in ISIS' form of Islam are worse than animals because they do not even protect their own offspring – by saying that the video was "filmed in a Jew-owned Hollywood studio." Any native speaker of Arabic knows without a shadow of a doubt that the video is authentic.

Indeed, Abu Muhammad Al-Italy's self-deception is further reflected in the Quranic verse which he translated as: "Allah is the best of planners [Al-Anfal, 30]." By contrast, the most reputable translators of the Quran into English[3] – who are themselves renowned Islamic scholars – translate the word makireen as "schemers" or "plotters", not as "planners". Abu Muhammad Al-Italy is not familiar with the debate among scholars about whether it can be said of Allah that He is a plotter or schemer, with the conclusion being: "Makr ['plot'/'scheme'], khadi'a [deception], and istihzaa [degradation] against the enemy are characteristics of Allah's perfection."[4] Apparently, Abu Muhammad Al-Italy instinctively understands that to refer to God as a "plotter" or a "schemer" is insulting, and he therefore distorts the translation to make it more palatable.

No less pathetic is Al-Italy's reference to the Palestinian cause, since every Palestinian knows that ISIS could not care less about Palestinian nationalism, and indeed fiercely opposes it, since it contradicts ISIS' dogma that the only legitimate political entity for Muslims is the Islamic State. He ignores the fact that in its heyday, ISIS readily killed Shi'ites, Christians, Kurds, Yazidis, Jews, and anybody else based solely on the names on their passport.

In a veiled threat, Abu Muhammad Al-Italy also attempts to remind me of ISIS' murderous nature by displaying at the end of his article photos of two men being beheaded over an Israeli flag. Abu Muhammad Al-Italy ought to know that I am very aware that he and those like him are fanatical murderers, and this is actually my point.

The accusations that I am a descendent of apes and pigs, as the Quran and Islamic tradition describes the Jews, are also a reminder of how insane people like Al-Italy are. Although, I must admit that I'm quite fond of the image published in the article, which I will share below as a game of spot-the-differences for the readers:


Top: MEMRI's logo. Bottom left to bottom right: Ape, ape, ape, pig, ape, Jew.

*Yigal Carmon is President & Founder of MEMRI.

 

[1] Voice of Khurasan, Issue No. 28, Safar 1445.

[3] Including Al-Maududi, Ghali, Abdul Haleem, Al-Hilali, and even Wahidduddin Khan.

[4] Islamqa.info/ar/answers/39803/%D9%87%D9%84-%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%B5%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%83%D8%B1-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B9, July 19, 2003.

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