Khalim Massoud & Muslims against sharia

Muslims against Sharia has two websites at http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/ and http://www.reformislam.org/

The article Non muslims against sharia notes:

Muslims Against Sharia burst onto the scene last week with its announcement of a counter-bounty on the head of the probably-imaginary Abu Omar al-Baghdadi (al Qaeda’s own version of Keyser Soze). Bearing the slogan “Acknowledging Mistakes, Accepting Responsibities, Moving Forward” they seemed almost too good to be true. Unfortunately, they almost certainly are – as it is not clear that any of their members are actually Muslims!

The MASh manifesto sets out their stall quite explicitly:
- “We, as Muslims, find it abhorrent that Islam is used to murder millions of innocent people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.”
- “Twenty-first century Muslims have two options: we can continue the barbaric policies of the seventh century [...], or we can reform Islam to keep our rich cultural heritage and to cleanse our religion from the reviled relics of the past.”

So far so good. MASh appears to do exactly what it says on the tin: they are Muslims, and they are against sharia.

So it was surprising to see, buried away in their Blogger profile, that one of their main “Team Members” was Atlas Shrugs (aka Pamela Geller) – the right-wing, Bushier-than-Bush blogger who only last month was calling for Islam to be banned. Had Pamela “reverted” to the one true religion?

And why would MASh take on such a high-profile blogger and keep her hidden away? Did they think having an anti-Islam neocon on board might undermine their credibility? Or are they actually anti-Islam neocons themselves, and they simply forgot to cover their tracks by tidying up their Blogger profile?

The Freethinker asked MASh spokesman “Khalim Massoud” outright: “Are you in any way connected with American neocons?” – thereby giving him the chance to come clean and explain the Atlas connection. He answered:

Neocon is a vague term. If it means that neocon is a former Liberal who became a Conservative after 9/11, then, in a way, we are all neocons. We get blamed from both sides. There are people that see us as Islamic conspiracy to decrease non-Muslim vigilance. Others see us as a neocon conspiracy to divide the Ummah. There is no point in trying to convince either; they already made up their minds. But since most of those people probably believe that Bush and the Jews orchestrated September 11 attacks, we don’t want to waste our time alleviating those concerns.

Oh dear. Concerns not really alleviated, Khalim. Concerns somewhat intensified.

What about Atlas herself? Although a prominent Team Member, she had made no mention of them on her blog – and she is prolific, to say the least – in spite of their headline-grabbing counter bounty earlier in the week. Why so coy?

The Freethinker: I notice that Muslims Against Sharia is one of the 4 Blogger blogs you administer [actually, ‘author’ is more accurate]. Was it your idea?
Atlas Shrugs: NO but I love it.
The Freethinker:How did you become involved with them?
Atlas Shrugs: They asked me …
The Freethinker: What exactly did they ask you for?
Atlas Shrugs: Uh… to join them. What is it you are getting at?

Uh… just wondering what a conservative Jew was doing in a group called Muslims Against Sharia.

An hour after that first question was answered, Atlas Shrugs broke its silence on MASh with a hasty post:

Why didn’t Khalim mention his high-flying team member when he was given the opportunity? He responded much later in the day (hey, it was Sunday – maybe he was in church):

We consider Ms. Geller an exemplary anti-Dhimmi and are honored by her involvement with Muslims Against Sharia. If every American felt about terrorism the way Ms. Geller does, we would be much farther ahead in the fight against terror than we are now. So, to make it absolutely clear, we would be happy to publicize our association with Ms. Geller.

Well, there you go. It’s public now.

I received a invitation to contribute to the MASh blog yesterday evening. I joined, but I won’t be contributing. It seems the only qualification necessary to join this group is to be “against sharia” – but it does raise the question of what the “Muslim” part of the name is for.

The latest member of the team is Ted Belman of Israpundit. Whatever their true motivations, MASh are laying themselves wide open to accusations of being a “Zionist conspiracy” – and a fair proportion of Muslims need no prompting to throw that one about.

Whether they really are brave reformists or just the product of some neocon fantasy is impossible to say. Only one thing can be stated with any certainty: Muslims Against Sharia is a misnomer.

NEXT WEEK: The Freethinker investigates “Atheists Against Secularism” – what exactly is Pope Benedict XVI’s role in this organisation?

UPDATE: (11th Oct) MASh founder Khalim Massoud is interviewed here by All American Blogger.

Pamela Geller was very upset about this Freethinker article.  She posted Libtard Against Muslims Against Sharia in which she said: “Muslims Against Sharia, the blog that is being smeared and snarked is a wonderful idea.  An important step. Enormous. And any Muslims that take such a courageous stand, puts himself in harms way. But “free thinkers”  can not stand anyone who stands up for the West.”

Regarding the charge that “it is not clear that any of their members are actually Muslims!”, Geller responded “So what? Some are. We are all in this together brother.”    

Massoud does not appear in public or conduct interviews.  In addition to the interview by All American Blogger, I fround this one at the Libertarian Republican Blogspot, and this one by Jamie Glazov on David Horowitz’ Frontpage Magazine.

In 2009, Massoud’s name turned up on a letter titled American Muslims Commend FBI for Rejection of CAIR from Stephen Schwartz’ Center for Islamic Pluralism to the FBI.  The letter was signed by:  Dr. Kemal Silay, Supna Zaidi, M. Zuhdi Jasser, Imaad Malik, Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour, Khalim Massoud, Nawab Agha Mousvi, Kiran Sayyed, Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, and Dr. Jalal Zuberi.  I wonder if any of these people actually met the mysterious Khalim Massoud - or did they simply correspond with someone. 

UPDATE July 15, 2012

This article Right Wing Hate Site ‘Muslims Against Sharia’ Terminated After Investigation by Sarasota PI Bill Warner, Lawsuit Continues reports: ““Muslims Against Sharia” website http://www.reformislam.org/  has been shut down!  ...  From informaton obtained from a Federal Subpoena served on Enter.net inc it has been revealed that the owner of the http://www.reformislam.org/ website that used the phony name of “Muslims Against Sharia” with a phony president listed as Khalim Massoud is actually American Starlex Inc run by a Alex Dobin (possibly Alex Porter) out of Omaha NE, see above verification from Enter.Net web hosting company.  There are no “Muslims” at “Muslims Against Sharia”.

A site called 19.org published an article A new Qur’an? by Jamie Glazov  about a “symposium” on this “new Qur’an” which says:

The organization Muslims Against Sharia is creating a new Koran with the violent verses removed. How legitimate and wise is this action? There is an effort in Turkey, for instance, to also revise Islamic texts. What real hope can these acts offer to bring Islam into the modern and democratic world? To discuss this issue with us today, Frontpage Symposium has assembled a distinguished panel. Our guests are: Khalim Massoud, Edip Yuksel, Thomas Haidon, Abul Kasem, Robert Spencer, and Bill Warner.  ...

This entire project, and the participants are quoted as saying all sorts of truly bizarre things.  They talk a lot about the “dangers of Islamists masquerading as moderates”, but reading this, I am more concerned about the dangers of Islamophobes masquerading as Muslims. 

All of this is very fishy.  The only names associated with the mysterious Khalim Massoud are: Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, Jamie Glazov, David Horowitz, Ted Belman.  This is a veritable Who’s Who of the Islamophobia industry.  See A Who’s Who of the Anti-Muslim/Anti-Arab/Islamophobia Industry for more on these individuals and organizations.  The only two Muslim names associated with Khalim Massoud are Stephen Schwartz, and Dr. Zuhdi Jasser.  See Stephen Schwartz and the Center on Islamic Pluralism and Zuhdi Jasser-AIFD/AILC - Identified by Rep. King as Ideal American Muslim Leadership for more on these individuals.

There has been nothing new posted on the Muslims Against Sharia webpage since June of 2011. 

First published October 3, 2007