Pointe de Bascule Reponds to MAS (Edmonton)

"Opposing Hassan Al-Banna and the Muslim Brotherhood is not some kind of racism."

No, in fact, many good folks the world over consider it to be self-defense and common sense.

The Muslim Association of Canada announced its intention to open a mosque, an Islamic community centre and an elementary school in a vacant strip mall in the Lessard/Gariepy neighbourhood of Edmonton's west end. Local residents initially expressed concerns about increased traffic flow, parking issues, and zoning considerations.

However, before long the MAS itself became an issue for residents as certain vexing declarations on its web site came to light. A petition opposing the project was signed by 60% of local residents

Marc Lebuis and Étienne Harvey, for Pointe de Bascule, explain:

The MAC is the Canadian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), an organization whose motto concludes with "Jihad is our way" and "Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope". A previous article published on Point de Bascule exposed the totalitarian ideology of the organization and ithat of its founder Hassan al-Banna. On its own website, the MAC pledges to implement al-Banna's ideology as "the best representation of Islam".

[Note: Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928. It's motto was “Allah is our objective; the Qu'ran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.” The MB has since developed a global presence as the ideological face and the activist arm of political Islam, insinuating itself wherever communities of the Muslim diaspora settle. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood remains a banned political organization.]

According the an article in the Edmonton Sun, this affair could become peculiarly litigious:

The chairman of the Muslim Association of Canada's Edmonton chapter says the organization is considering suing a tiny handful of "people exhibiting Islamophobia" who are spreading distortions and outright falsehoods about the organization.

The degree to which the Muslim Association of Canada does or does not have direct links to the Muslim Brotherhood may be a matter for a proper debate. But explicit evocations of the 'teachings' of Hassan al-Banna, in the absence of such a proper debate, should certainly elicit grave concerns. Can such concerns properly be described as "Islamophobia", particularly when those concerns arise from declarations found on the MAS's own web site? (And can allegations of such 'thought crimes' as "Islamophobia" ever be considered the basis of actionable torts?)  Or is this threat merely a strategy to silence critics -- i.e., an example of what some critics of the MB have come to call "stealth jihad"?

Back to the response by Pointe de Bascule:

The very notion of Islamophobia has been developed in the late eighties by Islamists to make their critics pass for irrational haters of Muslims. The MB's recourse to this concept is flawed for the simple fact that many of its critics are Muslims themselves. Many of the most eloquent expositions written against the MB's ideology have been produced by Muslims. Many of the most courageous stands against the MB have been taken by Muslims. Consequently, condemning the MB cannot be equated to condemning Muslims in general.

Just so.

Read the rest of the response here.  Marc Lebuis and Étienne Harvey flesh out their pointed response with a great deal of background material related to the MB and its affiliates.

h/t Catfur for the push on this.