According to The Washington Examiner, the report entitled "Shari'a and Violence in American Mosques," studied 100 randomly selected American mosques contains a wealth of peer-reviewed data attesting to the presence and promotion of literature advocating violence, as well as imams who promote this literature.
The new data was amassed by Israeli scholar Mordechai Kedar and lawyer David Yerushalmi of the Center for Security Policy.
"For me, the six tables of data boil down to two simple and stunning facts. Eighty-one percent of the mosques in the study feature Islamic literature that advocates violence," writes Examiner columnist Diana West, co-author of Shariah: The Threat to America. "The authors divide the 'violence-positive material' into two categories: 30 percent 'moderate' violence, and 51 percent 'severe' violence."
In addition, 85 percent of the imams in the studied mosques openly recommend this literature.
"It is a slim 19 percent of the mosques that don't feature such violent materials, and an even slimmer 15 percent of the imams who don't recommend it," West writes, and calls these peace-loving centers of worship "the real tiny band of extremists." Only four imams instructed their congregations not to study violence-positive material.
Study authors also looked for signs of a correlation between the promotion of violence and adherence to Shari'a law within the mosques, such as sex-segregated prayer and bearded imams. Almost all of the mosques (95%) where men and women prayed separately contained violent literature. A similar number (94%) of imams who preside over these sex-segregated congregations promote the study of violence-positive material.
Unfortunately, there is nowhere near a comfortable distance between these mosques/imams and those where the presence of Shari'a law is less pronounced. Of those mosques that allowed men and women to pray together, 74 percent promote violence-positive literature, as do 80 percent of their imams.
"So, yes, Shariah-adherence is a sure-fire indicator, but it's not the only indicator," West summarizes.
The authors call the study's conclusion "dismal at best," but West accuses them of "throwing it all away" by making weak recommendations, such as calling upon Muslim community leaders to "take a more active role in educating their own faith community . . ."
"The data may be new, but this is the same old mistake we've made since 9/11: outsourcing our response to the ideological threat posed by Islam to 'Muslim community leaders' - and usually linked to the Muslim Brotherhood," West writes.
"This isn't an internal Islamic problem. These alarming data on the promotion of violence within Islam in American mosques are for the wider, still non-Islamic society to address, and before it's too late."
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
Study: 81% of American Mosques Promote Violence
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A new study published in the Middle East Quarterly has uncovered solid evidence that the majority of mosques in America are promoting moderate to severe violence.
According to The Washington Examiner, the report entitled "Shari'a and Violence in American Mosques," studied 100 randomly selected American mosques contains a wealth of peer-reviewed data attesting to the presence and promotion of literature advocating violence, as well as imams who promote this literature.
The new data was amassed by Israeli scholar Mordechai Kedar and lawyer David Yerushalmi of the Center for Security Policy.
"For me, the six tables of data boil down to two simple and stunning facts. Eighty-one percent of the mosques in the study feature Islamic literature that advocates violence," writes Examiner columnist Diana West, co-author of Shariah: The Threat to America. "The authors divide the 'violence-positive material' into two categories: 30 percent 'moderate' violence, and 51 percent 'severe' violence."
In addition, 85 percent of the imams in the studied mosques openly recommend this literature.
"It is a slim 19 percent of the mosques that don't feature such violent materials, and an even slimmer 15 percent of the imams who don't recommend it," West writes, and calls these peace-loving centers of worship "the real tiny band of extremists." Only four imams instructed their congregations not to study violence-positive material.
Study authors also looked for signs of a correlation between the promotion of violence and adherence to Shari'a law within the mosques, such as sex-segregated prayer and bearded imams. Almost all of the mosques (95%) where men and women prayed separately contained violent literature. A similar number (94%) of imams who preside over these sex-segregated congregations promote the study of violence-positive material.
Unfortunately, there is nowhere near a comfortable distance between these mosques/imams and those where the presence of Shari'a law is less pronounced. Of those mosques that allowed men and women to pray together, 74 percent promote violence-positive literature, as do 80 percent of their imams.
"So, yes, Shariah-adherence is a sure-fire indicator, but it's not the only indicator," West summarizes.
The authors call the study's conclusion "dismal at best," but West accuses them of "throwing it all away" by making weak recommendations, such as calling upon Muslim community leaders to "take a more active role in educating their own faith community . . ."
"The data may be new, but this is the same old mistake we've made since 9/11: outsourcing our response to the ideological threat posed by Islam to 'Muslim community leaders' - and usually linked to the Muslim Brotherhood," West writes.
"This isn't an internal Islamic problem. These alarming data on the promotion of violence within Islam in American mosques are for the wider, still non-Islamic society to address, and before it's too late."
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
According to The Washington Examiner, the report entitled "Shari'a and Violence in American Mosques," studied 100 randomly selected American mosques contains a wealth of peer-reviewed data attesting to the presence and promotion of literature advocating violence, as well as imams who promote this literature.
The new data was amassed by Israeli scholar Mordechai Kedar and lawyer David Yerushalmi of the Center for Security Policy.
"For me, the six tables of data boil down to two simple and stunning facts. Eighty-one percent of the mosques in the study feature Islamic literature that advocates violence," writes Examiner columnist Diana West, co-author of Shariah: The Threat to America. "The authors divide the 'violence-positive material' into two categories: 30 percent 'moderate' violence, and 51 percent 'severe' violence."
In addition, 85 percent of the imams in the studied mosques openly recommend this literature.
"It is a slim 19 percent of the mosques that don't feature such violent materials, and an even slimmer 15 percent of the imams who don't recommend it," West writes, and calls these peace-loving centers of worship "the real tiny band of extremists." Only four imams instructed their congregations not to study violence-positive material.
Study authors also looked for signs of a correlation between the promotion of violence and adherence to Shari'a law within the mosques, such as sex-segregated prayer and bearded imams. Almost all of the mosques (95%) where men and women prayed separately contained violent literature. A similar number (94%) of imams who preside over these sex-segregated congregations promote the study of violence-positive material.
Unfortunately, there is nowhere near a comfortable distance between these mosques/imams and those where the presence of Shari'a law is less pronounced. Of those mosques that allowed men and women to pray together, 74 percent promote violence-positive literature, as do 80 percent of their imams.
"So, yes, Shariah-adherence is a sure-fire indicator, but it's not the only indicator," West summarizes.
The authors call the study's conclusion "dismal at best," but West accuses them of "throwing it all away" by making weak recommendations, such as calling upon Muslim community leaders to "take a more active role in educating their own faith community . . ."
"The data may be new, but this is the same old mistake we've made since 9/11: outsourcing our response to the ideological threat posed by Islam to 'Muslim community leaders' - and usually linked to the Muslim Brotherhood," West writes.
"This isn't an internal Islamic problem. These alarming data on the promotion of violence within Islam in American mosques are for the wider, still non-Islamic society to address, and before it's too late."
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
