Insulting nonbelievers is part of Islamic jihad. Hence, Muslim scholars get a pass on spewing insults at others on Twitter and elsewhere, while the rest of us are held to higher standards. I'm sure I will be insulted just for passing this information along: The honour of Islam lies in insulting kufr and kafirs [infidels]. One who respects the kafirs dishonours the Muslims… The real purpose of levying jiziya [infidel tax] on them is to humiliate them to such an extent that they may not be able to dress well and to live in grandeur. They should constantly remain terrified and trembling. It is intended to hold them under contempt and to uphold the honour and might of Islam. - Sufi saint Ahmad Sirhindi (1564-1624), letter No. 163 We also read about various hadiths, non-Quranic Islamic writings that are often viewed as sahih or "authorized" as part of the sunnah or Mohammed's behaviors to be followed by devout Muslims. Ubayy b. Ka'b told that he heard God's messenger say, "If anyone proudly asserts his descent in the manner of the pre-Islamic people, tell him to bite his father's penis, and do not use a euphemism." It is transmitted in Sarah [sic] as-sunna. -<a title="Mishkat Al-Masabih, Volume 2" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=22wwAAAAYAAJ&q=%22If+anyone+proudly+asserts+his+descent+in+the+manner+of+the+pre-Islamic+people,+tell+him+to+bite+his+father%27s+penis,+and+do+not+use+a+euphemism%22&dq=%22If+anyone+proudly+asserts+his+descent+in+the+manner+of+the+pre-Islamic+people,+tell+him+to+bite+his+father%27s+penis,+and+do+not+use+a+euphemism%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=owW_UveGDInroASixoDIBg&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Mishkat Al-Masabih , 2.1021 Then Urwah said: "Muhammad, tell me: if you extirpate [i.e. exterminate] your tribesmen, have you ever heard of any of the Arabs who destroyed his own race before you? And if the contrary comes to pass, by God I see both prominent people and rabble who are likely to flee and leave you." Abu Bakr said, "Go suck the clitoris of al-Lat! [فقال له أبو بكر رضي الله عنه امصص ببظر اللات] Would we flee and leave him?" - The History of al-Tabari: The Victory of Islam , tr. Michael Fishbein; vol. 8, p. 76 And in the words of Abu Bakr As-Sideeq to 'Urwah: "Suck Al-Lat's clitoris!" – there is a permissibility of speaking plainly the name of the private parts if there is some benefit to be gained thereby, just as he [Muhammad] permitted a plain response to the one who made the claims of the Jahiliyyah (i.e. claims of tribal superiority), by saying: "Bite your father's penis!" And for every situation there is a (fitting) saying. Provisions for the Hereafter ( Mukhtasar Zad Al-Ma'ad ) by Imam Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah, summarized by Imam Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab At-Tamimi, p. 383. Note that al-Lat or Al-lāt was a pre-Islamic Semitic goddess revered since at least the second millennium BCE. She is mentioned in the Quran and traditionally is one of Allah's "daughters," reflecting her pre-Islamic status as a goddess. This derogation of "sucking her clit" is an attack on her followers, obviously, as the male-dominant cult of Islam destroyed and suppressed all things female. Real scholars? One of the Muslim scholars who engages in this vulgar abuse is Reza Aslan, author of Zealot , a book about Jesus causing a firestorm of controversy, especially following a FOX interview in which the Christian interviewer lost her cool, thus making Aslan an overnight sensation. When people asked me about Aslan and Zealot , I responded that I had not read the book but that Aslan is a Muslim apologist and a member of an organization accused of lobbying for the Islamic Republic of Iran, <a title="In 2007, Arizona-based Iranian-American journalist Hassan Daioleslam began publicly asserting that NIAC was lobbying on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In response, Parsi sued him for defamation. As a result of the lawsuit, many internal documents were released, which Washington Times national security correspondent Eli Lake stated "raise questions about whether the organization is using that influence to lobby for policies favorable to Iran in violation of federal law."" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Iranian_American_Council" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NIAC . He has been accused by Iranian freedom activists as stumping for the Islamic Republic and for pushing Islamic propaganda and sharia law. I merely advised to consider the source and suggested that his book would present a standard Islamic view of Christ - the Muslim Jesus, demoted from son of God and God himself to a prophet of Islam. From what I have read about the book, that's exactly what it does. While claiming to have been emulating Christ for the past 20 years and to revere him as a role model, Aslan emphasizes Jesus's violent nature, which fits in with Islamic jihad: 1. Jesus was a violent revolutionary Many scholars have argued that Jesus was a political figure. After all, he was crucified by Rome, and crucifixion was at the time a punishment for political offenses. But these scholars often claim, as John Dominic Crossan did in "Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography," that Jesus was a nonviolent revolutionary. Aslan portrays Jesus as a man of war who worshiped the "blood-spattered God of Abraham, and Moses, and Jacob, and Joshua” and who knew full well that “God’s sovereignty could not be established except through force.”... At least as Aslan sees it, Jesus probably didn’t tell his followers to turn the other cheek. He probably did say, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I have not come to bring peace, but the sword” (Matthew 10:34). "Should I act violently in defense of my religion, absolutely." -- Reza Aslan Let the Third Intifada commence. — Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) February 25, 2013 For my assessment of Aslan's Muslim take on Jesus, I was attacked rather viciously with all manner of insults, as well as what amounts to cyberstalking, with people assailing me on my book pages and attempting to post online what they believed was personal information. Yet, another commentator, Rob Asghar, had the same questions and observations : A salient issue arises: Does Aslan represent his own particular religious and political agenda clearly? In his Zealot book, he opens by noting that he was born and raised culturally and nominally Muslim, later found Jesus, then left evangelicalism and began, vaguely, "to rethink the faith and culture of my fathers," while still obsessing on Jesus. Such fudging suggests he is trying to minimize his Islamic credentials (the only time he's sought to minimize any of his credentials, mind you), while hyping his role as a "follower of Jesus" who intends to proclaim the message of his real (and really angry) Jesus with newfound passion. But when confronted (clumsily) by Fox News, he cleverly shape-shifted from label-less spiritual omnivore to persecuted Muslim. When I wrote my analysis, I was aware that Aslan has a habit of spewing rather nasty insults and vulgar curses at people who disagree with him. When some of his many hateful tweets were exposed in an article on BuzzFeed , he gleefully defended his behavior , which his "leftist" followers thought was hilarious and well deserved, heaping on their own pile of insults. Above is an attack by Aslan on another Muslim, both individuals using the sexist term "twat" to insult each other. There are many other tweets by Aslan tossing around the words "shit," "fuck," "dumbass" and "idiot." I highly doubt that any other scholars would receive the same kid-gloves treatment - would a Christian or Jewish scholar get a pass for such vulgarity and antisocial behavior? One may ask why Muslim scholars would not be held to the same academic standards as are the rest of us, standards established centuries to millennia ago? When analyzing such a situation, it is important to understand that slinging insults at nonbelievers has a long tradition within Islam as part of jihad , and it appears that it will now be acceptable within academia as well. Does any of this sound "moderate?" How about this? "American Muslims can build whatever they want wherever they want in this country. Period." -- Reza Aslan Or this? Aslan also has participated in defamation of Sam Harris by retweeting an out-of-context quote to make him appear to be a "genocidal fascist maniac." http://youtu.be/gKjcvZoxT9Q http://youtu.be/dWC3iqYhVTE Further Reading Reza Aslan is Wrong About Islam and This is Why Reza Aslan Misrepresents His Scholarly Credentials Is Reza Aslan Off the Hook? How Reza Aslan Became A Media Messiah Reza Aslan, a Media Martyr and a Bully Muslims insult French critic The Lies and Misrepresentations of Reza Aslan More love from the peaceful and tolerant ones Sunnis, why did Abu Bakr use foul language in front of Prophet Muhammed? Why Do Muslims Get to Insult Other Religions? Muhammad's Own Words What is Islamic insult jihad? Why do Muslims get to insult others to uphold their faith? http://t.co/dMexFK7k4w #islam #jihad — Religion and History (@AcharyaS) December 28, 2013