During an interview on Monday’s “Kilmeade & Friends” on Fox News Radio, author Dr. Qanta Ahmed argued that it’s “rubbish” to claim that saying “Islamism” will tar all Muslims, and in fact, “individuals like me, Muslims, who have been combating Islamism can be so legitimized if we have a US president saying that there is an ideology called Islamism,” and “By not naming it, we all become tarred, we all become tainted.”
Ahmed said that the attack in Orlando, Florida was “blatant Islamism. This is violent Islamism. This is evolutionary jihadist terrorism. There is no other word for it. It is not like other extremism.”
She continued, “The announcement by President Obama, and Hillary Clinton, to say that they can use these words, ‘radical Islam,’ ‘Islamism,’ in a very patronizing manner, I felt, without recognizing individuals like me, Muslims, who have been combating Islamism can be so legitimized if we have a US president saying that there is an ideology called Islamism, it has a violent form, it has a non-violent form which incites people to violence, this is not legitimate Islam. The whole Muslim world can get behind this. But more specifically, in this country, Muslims in America can start to learn about Islamism. … Most Muslims are not that familiar with it. They would not even know its principles. So, they don’t know how to separate it from their own identity. And so, using this at the presidential level actually makes things healthier for Muslims in America.”
Ahmed later added that preventing terrorism before it happens can only be accomplished “if the Muslim community is engaged. And the Muslim community will be engaged when they understand, all Muslims are not being tarred by this. There is an extremist group which follows Islamism, and that’s our job to help everybody eliminate it.”
She then said, “The President has been hiding from naming this ideology, saying that it will impugn — it will tar all of us, that’s rubbish. By not naming it, we all become tarred, we all become tainted. We have to name it. And this is — even if it’s done out of being condescending, at least this is a first step, until the next president, I hope, will continue a war on Islamism.”
Ahmed later argued that not naming Islamism makes it “even more tantalizing.” And “And while I’ve said, often, including on the sofa in your studio in New York, that, guns are not central to this issue. Islamism is central to this issue. Because we have so many weapons in the United States. It’s like putting jihadism on steroids once it gets here.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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