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Robert Spencer

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Robert Spencer

Born 1962 (age 46–47)
Nationality American
Genres Religion
Subjects Jihad, Islamic terrorism
Official website

Robert Bruce Spencer (born 1962) is an American author of articles and books relating to Islam and Islamic terrorism. He has published seven books, including two bestsellers. He is a contributor to the FrontPage magazine, directed by David Horowitz. He founded and currently directs the Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch Web sites that focus on Islamic terrorism-related events and various Jihad-activity worldwide.[1]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Robert Spencer holds a Master's degree in the department of Religious Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1986. His M.A. thesis is entitled The Monophysite in the Mirror and concerns the Christological controversies of the early Church, and their connection to various ecclesiological models. Spencer says it led him to study the Eastern Churches in depth, which "coalesced nicely" with his study of Islam.[2]

According to the biography at one of his Web sites,[1] Spencer began studying Islam in 1980 during his first year as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina. He wrote freelance articles for various publications between 1980 and 2001 on Catholic religious issues. In 2002, he became an adjunct fellow with the Free Congress Foundation. He wrote seven monographs on Islam for the Free Congress Foundation in 2002 and 2003. In 2006, he joined the Advisory Board of the American Council for Kosovo, a lobby group which opposes independence from Serbia for the mainly Muslim state.[3] He is a regular columnist for FrontPageMagazine.com, and Human Events.

In 2006, he participated in a workshop on terrorist threats, jointly sponsored by the German Foreign Ministry and the United States Embassy Berlin.[4] In the same year, he conducted a workshop at the United States Central Command.[5] He has discussed jihad, Islam, and terrorism on a variety of television networks, as well as on numerous radio programs.

His writings on Islam and other topics have been published in the New York Post, the Washington Times, the Dallas Morning News, Canada's National Post, FrontPage Magazine, WorldNetDaily, Human Events, National Review Online, and in other publications. He has consulted with United States Central Command and the U.S. State Department and the German Foreign Ministry, and frequently appears on global media networks such as the BBC, CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, PBS, C-Span, as well as on numerous radio programs including Michael Savage's Savage Nation, The Alan Colmes Show, The G. Gordon Liddy Show, The Neal Boortz Show, The Michael Medved Show, The Michael Reagan Show, The Andrew Wilkow Show, The Larry Elder Show, The Barbara Simpson Show, and Vatican Radio.

[edit] Spencer's Views

Part of a series on
Controversies related to Islam and Muslims
Criticism of Islam

Islam · Muhammad · Qur'an · Islamism
Issues

Dhimmi · Eurabia · Islamism · Sharia
Jihad · Pan-Islamism · Qutbism
Intolerance · Hate Crimes
Divisions of the world in Islam
Persecution of Bahá'ís
Persecution of Shia Muslims
Freedom of religion in Iran
Religious minorities in Iran
First Sikh Holocaust (1746)
Islamophobia · Attitudes towards terrorism
Activities

Apostasy in Islam
Islamic terrorism
Homosexuality and Islam
The Satanic Verses controversy
Islam and domestic violence
Namus Death by stoning
Notable modern critics

Ayaan Hirsi Ali · Irshad Manji
Daniel Pipes · Ibn Warraq
Alexandre del Valle · Philippe de Villiers
Geert Wilders · Oriana Fallaci
Robert Spencer · Theo van Gogh
Atatürk
Afshin Ellian · Salman Rushdie
Ahmad Kasravi · Taha Hussein
Muslim related events since 2001

September 11 attacks
War on Terrorism
Mecca girls' school fire
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons
Qur'an desecration controversy
Beheadings of three Christian girls
CPT hostage crisis
Fox journalists kidnapping
Egyptian ID card controversy
Qatif girl rape case
Flying Imams controversy
French headscarf ban
Imam Rapito affair
Knighthood of Salman Rushdie
Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy
Sudanese teddy bear blasphemy case
Muhammad cartoons
Fitna (film)
The Jewel of Medina

v • d • e

Spencer holds the view that "traditional Islam contains violent and supremacist elements," and that "its various schools unanimously teach warfare against and the subjugation of unbelievers," and he calls for Muslims to fashion an interpretation of Islam that rejects violence and supremacism.[6]. Although Spencer believes Islam has violent elements in its traditional teachings, he rejects the idea that all Muslims must be violent people as a common misunderstanding of his position. He asserts that "Islam is not a monolith, and never have I said or written anything that characterizes all Muslims as terrorist or given to violence. I am only calling attention to the roots and goals of jihad violence. Any Muslim who renounces violent jihad and dhimmitude is welcome to join in our anti-jihadist efforts. Any hate in my books comes from Muslim sources I quote, not from me. Cries of "hatred" and "bigotry" are effectively used by American Muslim advocacy groups to try to stifle the debate about the terrorist threat." [7]

Spencer has expressed strong criticism of the Council on American-Islamic Relations as well as numerous other Muslim advocacy groups, in particular relating to their alleged close ties with jihadist organisations such as the Muslim Brotherhood[8] and their employment of a number of Muslims who were later convicted on charges relating to terrorism.[9]

Spencer notes that among moderate Muslims "there are some who are genuinely trying to frame a theory and practice of Islam that will allow for peaceful coexistence with unbelievers as equals," [10] but he also argues that many so-called reformers are not interested in genuine reform, but instead aim to deflect scrutiny of Islam. Spencer posits that anyone pursuing his called-for reforms will face a difficult task, because "the radicals actually do have a stronger theoretical, theological, and legal basis within Islam for what they believe than the moderates do."[11]

[edit] Views on Spencer and his works

[edit] Views of those who have a positive view of Spencer

Those with a positive view of Spencer's works include Daniel Pipes, Frank Gaffney, Ibn Warraq[12], Ann Coulter, Dennis Prager, Steven Emerson, Don Feder, Walid Phares, Michelle Malkin, R. James Woolsey, Jr., David G. Dalin[13] and Bat Ye'or,[14].

Daniel Pipes has said: "Robert Spencer and I have discussed the perceived differences in our view of Islam. He and I concluded that, although we have different emphases - he deals more with scriptures, I more with history - we have no disagreements."[15] He has also endorsed Spencer's books The Truth About Muhammad, and Onward Muslim Soldiers.

Dennis Prager has said that Spencer's website, JihadWatch "is one of most honorable Web sites that I know of monitoring jihad in the world today."[16]

Walid Phares says that Spencer, "an expert on historical Jihad, responds with a 'politically incorrect' but academically sound and challenging work. Spencer displays enourmous amount of well research material [sic]." [17]

Michelle Malkin says that "the courageous and indefatigable Robert Spencer busts myths and tells truths about jihadists that no one else will tell. [18]

R. James Woolsey, Jr. said of Spencer's Book "Stealth Jihad," "Robert Spencer makes a solid case that the major threat to our way of life does not come solely from those radical Islamists who embrace violence and terrorism. It also comes from those who do not accept that they must live side-by-side on a basis of equality with those of other faiths in a civil society." [19]

[edit] Views of those who have a negative view of Spencer

Dr. Robert D. Crane upon reviewing Spencer's books found that Spencer's explanations invert Islam's teachings; Crane notes that Spencer did this by either omitting context or using unreliable sources.[20] For example, Crane shows that Spencer, interpreting a key Quranic passage (chapter 9, verses 1-6), on pages 160-162 of his 2006 book "The Truth About Muhammad," completely omits verse 4 from his reference which qualifies the verse that Spencer does share to allow warfare in defensive cases only. As stated in the Quran 9:4, "But excepted shall be with whom you [O believers] have made a covenant and who thereafter have in no wise failed to fulfill their obligations towards you, and neither have aided anyone against you. Verily, God loves those who are conscious of Him."(Quran 9:4). Crane concludes: "The message here is to respect the rights of those who have not embraced Islam, rather than to exterminate them."[21] [22]

The late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in her book Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West, called Spencer a Radical Intellectual and grouped him with extremists such as Sayyid Qutb "for falsely constructing a divide between Islam and West." About Spencer's website JihadWatch, she added that he uses the Internet to spread misinformation and hatred of Islam and that he presents a skewed, one-sided, and inflammatory story that only helps to sow the seed of civilizational conflict.[23]

Dinesh D'Souza, of the Heritage Foundation, who debated Spencer on the cause of terrorism, said that "Spencer is an effective polemicist" and that he downplays the passages of the Quran that urge peace and goodwill. He also noted that Spencer applies moral standard to Muslim empires that could not have been met by any of the European empires, such as the British, the French, or the Spanish. For example, Spain gave its Jews choices to either convert to Christianity, leave the country, or die. Contrasting that with history of Muslim empires, D'Souza noted: "For example, the Muslims ruled North India for two centuries before they were displaced by the British. The Muslim emperors could have killed the tens of millions of Hindus under their control or at least forced them to become Muslims? They did nothing of the sort."[24].

Louay M. Safi, Khaleel Mohammed, and Carl Ernst assert that Spencer's scholarship and interpretations of Islam are fundamentally flawed - that he supports preconceived notions through selection bias - that he lacks genuine understanding and; that 'he has no academic training in Islamic studies whatsoever; his M.A. degree was in the field of early Christianity'.[25][26][27] For example, critics have objected to what they describe as Spencer's method of taking a position they deem to be radical (on apostasy, women, etc.) and then attribute that position to all of Islam, rather than situating it within ongoing discussions.[28].

Karen Armstrong,[29] Cathy Young,[30] Stephen Schwartz (journalist),[31] and organizations such as CAIR,[32], ADC[33] and FAIR[34] also hold negative views.

Professor Khaleel Mohammed and Spencer have had detailed discussions on FrontPage Magazine.[26][35][36][37] Professor Khaleel Mohammed wrote that as a scholar he prefers to engage in discussion where facts, rather than fictions and prejudgments are presented. And not where the interpretation of Islam is by those whose agenda is based on hate.[38]

Carl Ernst and William Kenan have called him an "Islamophobe".[39] Ernst notes that Spencer's articles have never been published in peer-reviewed academic journals, nor are his publications similarly reviewed or edited by a qualified scholar and published by an academic or university publishers but by conservative presses such as Regnery Publishing.[39]

French academic historian, Ivan Jablonka, from École Normale Supérieure in Paris, in his study of similarities between the approaches to Islam of authors like Bat Ye'or, Robert Spencer, David Pryce-Jones and Daniel Pipes[40], argues that, to Spencer, "Islamist integrists drive European politics" to such a point that "Zapatero's victory in Spain after Madrid blasts is presented by Spencer as an ultimate victory of jihadists." Such declarations, according to Jablonka, underline the similarities between Spencer's work and Bat Ye'or's views on "Eurabia." Jablonka notes that Spencer or Bat Ye'or's views lack of academic seriousness: their purported historical and interpretative continuity between some data picked up from Middle Age Islamic civilization and modern activism is a political construction poorly substantiated. For Jablonka, writings of authors like Spencer or Bat Ye'or relentlessly intent to designate "new enemies for wars to come"[41].

[edit] Spencer's responses to some critics

In response to criticism, Spencer states that none of his critics have substantiated their claims of inaccuracy in his work, but content themselves with broad and vague accusations. He says:

"I present the work not on the basis of my credentials, but on the basis of the evidence I bring forth; evaluate it for yourself. One example: after I spoke at the University of North Carolina, Professor Carl Ernst of the university wrote a piece about me warning that my books were non-scholarly and were published by presses that he believed reflected a political agenda of which he did not approve. That kind of approach may impress some people, but Carl Ernst did not and cannot bring forth even a single example of a supposed inaccuracy in my work. I would, of course, be happy to debate Carl Ernst or any other scholar of Islam about Islam and jihad; this is a standing invitation."[1]

Spencer has criticized academics at his Web site writing that he opted not to enter any PhD program because he "could see [in 1986] that Middle East Studies and other departments were becoming highly politicized and retreating from genuine academic work".[1][42] About charges of "bigotry" and "hatred" from Ernst[43] and others he says:

"It is not an act of hatred against Muslims to point out the depredations of jihad ideology. It is a peculiar species of displacement and projection to accuse someone who exposes the hatred of one group of hatred himself: I believe in the equality of rights and dignity of all people, and that is why I oppose the global jihad. And I think that those who make the charge know better in any case: they use the charge as a tool to frighten the credulous and politically correct away from the truth."[43]

In response to Khaleel Mohammed, Spencer says:

"A few years ago Khaleel Mohammed said this about me: "He misquotes verses of the Qur'an, takes things out of context, and shamelessly lies." Since I do not misquote verses of the Qur'an, take things out of context, or shamelessly lie, I contacted him and asked for either documentation of his charges or a retraction...He refused to retract, even though he did not (and could not) produce even one example of my misquoting verses of the Qur'an, taking things out of context, or shamelessly lying." [44]

In response to Benazir Bhutto Spencer asserts that at least some of what she wrote is a case of mistaken identity. In her book Bhutto quotes Ibn Warraq but then mistakenly asserts that those words were written by Spencer:

"So while excoriating me for allegedly quoting the Qur’an out of context, Benazir Bhutto attributed to me words written by someone else. And that someone is, like Bhutto, a Pakistani who was raised a Muslim." [45]

Concerning this version of his Wikipedia biography, dated March 5, 2008, Spencer said "it is relentlessly biased, and the negative spin is thoroughgoing." [2] However, on March 6, 2008, Spencer specified revisions he would like to see made to his bio.[2]

[edit] Book-ban

The government of Pakistan announced on 20 December 2006 its ban on Robert Spencer's book, The Truth About Muhammad, citing "objectionable material" as the cause.[46]

[edit] "Invitation to Islam" from Al Qaeda

On 2 September 2006 a video called "Invitation to Islam" surfaced. It featured Adam Gadahn, spokesman for the Islamist terrorist group Al Qaeda, with a brief appearance also by Ayman al-Zawahiri. [47] In the video, Gadahn named Spencer in a list of "Zionist crusader missionaries of hate and counter-Islam consultants" which included George W. Bush, and that if he "were to abandon their unbelief and repent and enter into the light of Islam and turn their swords against the enemies of God, it would be accepted of them and they would be our brothers in Islam."[48]

Spencer responded with an article in Frontpage Magazine in which he publicly rejected Gadahn's offer and responded with his own counter-offer:

I invite you [Gadahn] to accept the Bill of Rights, and enter into the brotherhood of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. My invitation does not focus on my religion, although I invite you to that also, but rather on a framework within which people of differing faiths can live in peace, harmony, and mutual respect–provided that none of the groups involved cherishes supremacist ambitions to subjugate the others.[49]

[edit] Affiliations

In 2002, Spencer was appointed by Paul Weyrich to the Free Congress Foundation and asked to write on Islam. In 2002 he named Spencer an Adjunct Fellow of the Free Congress Foundation and asked him to write a series of monographs on Islam. [50] Spencer named Weyrich, also a Melkite, as a mentor. [51].

Spencer stated that he traveled to Europe to attend an Anti-Islamization Conference, where he met with leaders of Vlaams Belang, in 2007.[52]. Spencer wrote that his meeting "herald(ed) a new phase of cooperation between European and American Anti-Jihadists."[53].

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Best sellers

[edit] Others

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "Bio from Jihadwatch.org". http://jihadwatch.org/spencer/. 
  2. ^ a b c "Jihad Watch: Wikipedia and Robert Spencer". http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/020205.php. 
  3. ^ Jihad Watch: Announcing the American Council for Kosovo
  4. ^ "012304.php". www.jihadwatch.org. http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/012304.php. 
  5. ^ "011546.php". www.jihadwatch.org. http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/011546.php. 
  6. ^ [http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021661.php
  7. ^ http://www.jihadwatch.org/spencer/ Robert Spencer
  8. ^ http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016754.php
  9. ^ http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26676 Cair's Continuing Mystery
  10. ^ What is a moderate Muslim?
  11. ^ An Interview With Robert Spencer - Right Wing News (Conservative News and Views)
  12. ^ Ibn Warraq contributed to The Myth of Islamic Tolerance: How Islamic Law Treats Non-Muslims, edited by Spencer
  13. ^ Books by Jihad Watch Director Robert Spencer
  14. ^ Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis, Bat Ye'or, p. 31, 107, 206
  15. ^ Reply to Pipes' reply to Rick H. - Reader comments at DanielPipes.org
  16. ^ [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0707/31/pzn.01.html
  17. ^ http://www.jihadwatch.org/books/
  18. ^ http://www.jihadwatch.org/books/
  19. ^ http://www.conservativebookclub.com/products/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c7292
  20. ^ [1]
  21. ^ [2]
  22. ^ [3]
  23. ^ Benazir Bhutto, Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West, Harper, 2008, p.245-6
  24. ^ Dinesh D'Souza (2009-01-17). "Letting Bin Laden Define Islam". http://newsbloggers.aol.com/2007/03/02/letting-bin-laden-define-islam/. 
  25. ^ Louay M. Safi (December 29 2005). "Will the Extreme Right Succeed? Turning the War on Terror into a War on Islam". http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/24568. 
  26. ^ a b "Response to Spencer's "Muslim Feminism?"". FrontPage Magazine. http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17727. 
  27. ^ "Home page of Muhammad Khaleel". http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~khaleel/.  - Comments on his discussions with Spencer accessible at 8/28/2006 - The comments are "archived in a prior version of this article". http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ARobert_Spencer&diff=72355508&oldid=72338443. 
  28. ^ "Home page of Muhammad Khaleel". http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~khaleel/.  - Comments on his discussions with Spencer accessible at 8/28/2006 - The comments are archived here
  29. ^ Armstrong, Karen (April 27 2007), "Balancing the Prophet", FT.com (Financial Times), http://www.ft.com/cms/s/4a05a4a4-f134-11db-838b-000b5df10621.html  Armstrong writes "he makes basic and bad mistakes of fact", concentrating on what she says are omissions.
  30. ^ "The Jihad Against Muslims". http://www.reason.com/news/show/36677.html. 
  31. ^ "A Schwartz-Spencer Exchange". http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID={23602E93-CF37-484E-8E40-2B07B239C1DB}. 
  32. ^ "CAIR press release". November 11, 2005. http://www.cair-net.org/default.asp?Page=articleView&id=1853&theType=NR. 
  33. ^ "ADC Op-ed: "Violence is a human, not an Islamic trait"". American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. February 3, 2004. http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=2153&type=100. 
  34. ^ "The Smearcasters: Robert Spencer". Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. October, 2008. http://www.smearcasting.com/smear_spencer.html. 
  35. ^ "Muslim Feminism? by Spencer". http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17696. 
  36. ^ "Response to Khaleel Mohammed". http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17769. 
  37. ^ "Spencer vs. Mohammed, Round II". http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=18001. 
  38. ^ "Khaleel's home page". http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~khaleel/. 
  39. ^ a b "Notes on the Ideological Patrons of an Islamophobe, Robert Spencer" (html). http://www.unc.edu/~cernst/courses/2004/026/001/spencer.htm. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. 
  40. ^ La peur de l'Islam, Bat Ye'or et le spectre de l'Eurabie, [4].
  41. ^ ibid.
  42. ^ "005715.php". www.jihadwatch.org. http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/005715.php. 
  43. ^ a b "012899.php". www.jihadwatch.org. http://jihadwatch.org/archives/012899.php. 
  44. ^ http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/022881.php
  45. ^ http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.aspx?GUID=74FC0798-8F4F-45CC-B1AB-F26D17333D91
  46. ^ "Pakistan bans Roberts' book about Prophet Muhammad". http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=936032. 
  47. ^ Allahpundit (2006-09-02). "Video: Al Qaeda tells U.S. to convert or die". HotAir.com. http://hotair.com/archives/2006/09/02/video-al-qaeda-tells-us-to-convert-or-die/. 
  48. ^ "Special Dispatch Series - No. 1281". memri.org. http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP128106. 
  49. ^ Robert Spencer (September 6, 2006). "My Invitation From al-Qaeda". Frontpage Magazine. http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=24227. 
  50. ^ Robert Spencer. "A Tribute: Paul Weyrich Has Died". http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=31171. Retrieved on 3 January 2009. 
  51. ^ [Ibid]
  52. ^ [5]
  53. ^ [6]
  54. ^ Best Sellers - Hardcover Nonfiction - NYT
  55. ^ Paperback Nonfiction - NYT

[edit] External links

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