House of Glass – New publications by Al-Maqdisi
Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi was not only the mentor and teacher of Al-Zarqawi but his texts also played a major role in several Dutch jihadi circles, in particular that of the Hofstad network. The murderer of filmdirector and writer Theo van Gogh translated several texts of Al-Maqdisi such as Millat Ibrahim.
My colleague Joas Wagemakers at Radboud University referred me to a new book published by Al-Maqdisi: Man Kana Baytahu min Zujaj fa-la Yarmi ghayrahu bi-Hajar – Qira’a wa-Ta’ammul fi Asfar al-‘Ahd al-Qadim wa-Muqarana bayna Akhbariha wa-bayna l-Qisas al-Qur’an al-‘Azim (He whose house is made of glass should not throw stones at others – A reading and contemplation on the books of the Old Testament and a comparison between its message and the stories of the magnificent Qur’an), www.tawhed.ws, February 2008.
The book is dedicated to:
Dedication
- to the Pope of the Vatican Benedict XVI, who claims that our religion is spread solely by the sword.
- to Geert Wilders, the Dutch MP who criticizes Islam, demands a ban on the Koran and describes it as a fascist book.
- to Kurt Westergaard, the Danish cartoon illustrator whose pen only ridicules those who are different from the Westergaard family. In fact, all of Europe is a stone in his shoe.
- to Van Gogh, the Dutch director who connects rape with the laws of Islam.
- to Wafa’ Sultan, who speaks evil of Islam and the Koran but turns a blind eye to the extreme manifestations of insanity in the books of the Jews and the Christians!
- to all “ye who turn judgment to wormwood”
You are ignorant of your religion or you ignore it …
I will make you understand it through these contemplations..
I say to you and those like you:
He whose house is made of glass should not throw stones at others
Abu Muhammad
The last in the list, “Ye who turn judgment to wormwood” is an excerpt from the book Amos (5:7) from the Old Testament ( “Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth.”). The sentence pertains to justice which is the result of righteousness and seeking good. For more on this see HERE and HERE. This refers Al-Maqdisi’s critique on Wilders, Wafa Sultan and others that Islam is different from the Islam as they present it. With reference to the Old Testament, he points out that ‘Christians’ should not distort the ‘truth’. Al-Maqdisi states that he will give a thorough analysis of the most sacred book of the Christians (but in his account its only the Old Testament). By comparing the Bible texts with those of the Koran, Al-Maqdisi tries to show that in the Bible the original revelations of Moses and Jesus have been distorted.
Al-Maqdisi explains in the book how, according to his interpretation of Islam, people should reflect about God and how he is being described in the Old Testament. He suggests that God in the Bible God is described rather antropomorphic, as a God with human characteristics; something that is inconsistent with Salafi thought. The same, according to Al-Maqdisi, can be said about how angels and prophets in the Bible are represented. In his book Al-Maqdisi gives examples of angels and prophets who would do things such as wine drinking, which according to Islam are prohibited. Also in the Bible King David is presented as very human, while in the Quran he is an almost perfect man. The end of the book contains several issues ( “Several rarities”) that struck him during reading the Bible, he writes about biblical names and addresses the “Texts I do not understand.” Furthermore, he tries to show how texts in the Bible predict the prophet Muhammad.
According to Wagemaers Al-Maqdisi has written the book in prison following the remarks of the pope during his infamous speech in Germany. On Al-Maqdisi’s website the book is presented along with an essay in which he attacks the pope: To the slave of the Cross … The English translation can be found on Tibyan or on Jarret Brachman’s website.
I do not know whether this book will reach the same popularity in jihadi circles as other writings of Al-Maqdisi, but the sneer to Wilders, Van Gogh and his analysis of the ‘distortion’ of the original message of Jesus and Moses will (although not new) undoubtedly be praised. We will probably have to wait for the English translation since the English version of To the slave of the Cross has been widely disseminated already (also among Dutch circles).
I would like to thank my colleague Joas Wagemakers for giving me the information. The information about the book of Al-Maqdisi in this post is based upon his information but the content and the representation in this post is my responsibility.
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