By J.M. Phelps (One News Now)
A prominent U.S. scholar on radical Islam is blasting a distinguished imam’s suggestion that Islam is the “one thing” that America needs.
In a 2020 interview, Yusuf Ziya Kavakci – a Turkish-American Islamic cleric – revealed his strategy for a century-long strategy for the “Islamization of America.” The interview, however, has gone essentially unnoticed by U.S. media outlets. Translating the interview from Turkish to English uncovers Kavakci’s Islamic vision for America.
“The world, especially America, needs Ottoman, Turkish and Islamic knowledge and wisdom,” said Kavakci. “The Islamic world is not contributing to the Islamization of America. There’s only one thing America needs – and that’s Islam.”
He compels Muslims to “think strategically in the Islamic world” and advises that “a 100- to 150-year program strategy … of spreading Islam in America should be initiated.” To the imam, the United States is “soft” on Islam. As a result, he urges all Muslims should gather to participate in what he calls a “strategy of Islamization of the USA.”
The significance of that Kavakci interview didn’t escape the attention of historian and author Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum (MEF). In a commentary written just weeks after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Pipes argued that before 9/11, Islamists openly proclaimed their intentions to Islamize the United States – [but] “hardly anyone paid attention to such statements.”
In the years following those coordinated terrorist attacks on the U.S., Pipes says, the “spotlight” was put on Islamists – resulting in them becoming “far more discreet.” More recently, he indicates, “with the spotlight again removed, they have resumed speaking more frankly” – and Kavakci’s words are but one example.
The MEF president addresses Kavakci’s statement pertaining to a “soft” America.
“To oversimplify only a bit,” he says, “the non-Muslim Left globally is ‘soft’ and the Right is not – [and] this applies as much to Japan, India, and Brazil, as to the United Kingdom and United States.” According to Pipes, “the American Right [is] one of the most robust, [and as a result], the United States is less ‘soft’ than most other non-Muslim-majority countries.”
But there’s a caveat, he says.
“The Left has just taken over in the United States and is avid to undo Trump’s policies, especially with regard to Islamism and immigration.” And as Pipes recently tweeted, he offers a dire warning for America: “Expect immigrant violence – especially by jihadis – soon to increase.” And that, he admits, “will be a painful lesson.”
J.M. Phelps is a counter-terrorism specialist, suicide bombing expert, and freelance journalist, focusing on national security for OneNewsNow. He is also editor and publisher of the website Lantern of Liberty.
Originally published by One News Now on Friday, January 29, 2021.
This column is printed with permission. Opinions expressed in columns published by Lantern of Liberty are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support Lantern of Liberty.
