Louay M. Safi
Encyclopedia
Louay M. Safi is a Syrian
-American, a scholar of Islam and the Middle East, and an advocate of Arab and Muslim American rights. He published on such issues as social and political development, modernization
, democracy
, human rights
, and Islam and Modernity
. He is the author of 11 books and numerous papers, and speaker on questions of leadership, democracy, Islam and the Middle East.
Louay Safi is also chairman of the Syrian American Council
and testified in front of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on Syria.
where he received his early education. He moved to the United States in the early eighties where he received his B.Sc. in civil engineering
, and later a M.A.
and a Ph.D.
in Political Science from Wayne State University
in Detroit, Michigan
. He has written books on social and political development, modernization
, democracy
, human rights
, and Islam
and the Middle East.
Safi has served as Executive Director and Director of Research for the International Institute of Islamic Thought
(IIIT), editor of the Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, and President of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (1999–2003). He has also taught at Wayne State University
in Detroit, Michigan
, the International Islamic University
in Malaysia and George Washington University
in Washington, DC.
Safi served as Executive Director of ISNA Leadership Development Center (ILDC) (2004–2008), later he served as Director of Communications and Leadership for year 2009. He serves on the board of Muslim organizations, including the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), and the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS). He is a fellow with the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) and serves on the steering committee of the Muslim-Christian Initiative on the Nuclear Weapons Danger(MCI).
He has appeared on radio and TV programs, including BBC
, C-Span
, CNN
, Monte Carlo, Fox News, PBS, Wish TV, Middle East TV (MBC), Al-Jazeera TV, Voice of America
, Malaysian television, and others.
. A cultural change is required for any democratic reform, and such a change, he insistes, is impossible without appealing to more fundamental values. That's where Islam comes in. As it is difficult to imagine the modern West without the Religious Reformation in Europe, it is also difficult to expect democratic reform in the Middle East without Islam being a big part of that. "Turkey can probably give us some clues as how a positive Islamic reform can bring about true democracy without resorting to violence," he argues.
Safi further argues that micro-managing the reform process is counterproductive, and is likely to play into the hands of anti-democratic forces intent on stemming out the fledgling democratic forces under the rubric of safeguarding national independence and countering foreign interference. He, therefore, proposes that rather than pressuring autocratic government to change school curricula and superimpose a set of abstract criteria through state apparatus, US government should use its influence to increase the margin of freedom for political expression and action by civil society organizations. The forces of reform and modernization
are already at work in Muslim societies, and have, despite severe limitations imposed by the state on their actions, made considerable strides to effect educational, cultural, and political reforms.
The flaw is evident, he insists, when one considers the relationship between the early Muslim community and the Christian Abyssinia
. He recalls that the Islamic prophet Muhammad
himself had sent the earliest group of his followers from Mecca
to seek refuge from persecution in Abyssinia. They lived there in peace, and some of them did not return, even after Muslims were in power in Mecca. Moreover, the peaceful coexistence continued for over a millennium up until modern times.
He, nonetheless, rejects the effort to repudiate the right of people to use force to repel aggression. Jihad is a struggle for just peace using peaceful means. He, though, insists that Jihad as an armed struggle can be legitimately employed to repel aggression and lift oppression, but only as the last resort.
in modern times without considering the impact of historical social conditions on the promulgation of law in historical Muslim society. He, for instance, opposed the application of apostasy rules in modern Muslim society, and argued that a proper reading of Islamic sources would affirm religious freedom. Individuals, he insisted, should be able to accept or reject a particular faith on the basis of personal conviction, and that no amount of external pressure or compulsion should be permitted.
authorities to reflect the leading role Muslim American women play by ensuring that they are represented on the mosque boards and join the rank of leadership. The importance of women taking active part on the executive boards and in executive committees is further underscored, he argues, by the need to represent concerns that can not be expressed except by women, who feel the impact of decisions made by the mosque on the quality of life and participation of other women.
" strategy advanced by the Bush administration
He attributes the rise of terrorism to the authoritarian regimes that stifle debate in the Middle East, and that consistently use iron fist policies to silence opposition. Such policies, he contends, have had the effect of silencing moderate voices, and the only voices that are heard today are the voices of those who can make noise through violent actions.
Speaking in Dublin, Ireland before the College Historical Society, Safi stressed the need to have clarity in defining terrorism and consistency in prosecuting the war on terrorism. He pointed out that the current definition of terrorism adopted is oblivious to violence committed by suppressive governments against civilian populations under their control. He stressed the need to adopt universal criteria rooted in international humanitarian law, and then consistently apply the criteria to both state and non-state actors. This is not only the right thing to do, he argued, but the most effective way to counter terrorism. He suggested that terrorism should be defined as "the use of violence against civilians and non-combatants for achieving political ends."
Focusing on the Global War on Terrorism, he illustrated how the lack of clarity and the absence of consistency have led to increase, rather than decrease, in the incidents of terrorism. Referring to recent statistics released by the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT), a federally funded organization, he pointed out that the number of terrorist incidents increased worldwide from 2,013 in 2002 to 3,646 in 2004, to a staggering figure of almost 6,500 in 2006.
Safi argues that overreliance on military power has been counterproductive in fighting terrorism, as it has deepened the divide between the United States and Muslim countries on the one hand, and reduced the ability of Muslim Americans to "promote dialog between the Muslim world and the West."
Safi blames the Far Right
for promoting and harboring Islamophobia
with the hope to turn the war on terrorism into a war on Islam and Muslims. The Far Right, he insists, wants to see deep rift between Islam and the West, and has turned Muslim Americans into targets and suspects, thereby reducing their ability to play the bridge-building role.
Robert Spencer
complained in a posting on his Jihadwatch blog about Safi's visit to Fort Hood to speak to soldiers on the subject of Islam and for giving "a check to families of the victims of the Major Hasan jihad killings.". Spencer disagreed with The Fort Hood leadership whom, he says, "was overheard commenting that Safi was 'really nice.'" He accused Louay Safi, who serve with the Islamic Society of North America
as executive director, of working with an organization linked to the Muslim Brotherhood
. Dr. Safi responded to Mr. Spencer's accusation in an article in which he described ISNA as "an independent Muslim American organization governed by an elected council and led by an elected president." He stressed that ISNA "has no affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, and has a membership that is too diverse in its religious orientation and so broad in its political views to be boxed into a singular ideological profile."
Safi has been outspoken about what he has described as a "concerted attack on the Muslim American organizations by the members of the far right
." He decried the 2002 raids on mainstream Muslim organizations in Northern Virginia, which included the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA), the highest Muslim religious authority in North America, the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences
(GSSIS), a Muslim institution for training Muslim chaplains, and the International Institute of Islamic Thought
(IIIT), a research organization focusing on reform of Islamic thought. Safi accused the Custom Service agent who led the raids of relying heavily on information provided by the Steven Emerson
’s Investigative Project and his former assistant Rita Katz
’s SITE Institute.
In July 2005, Michael Fichter, reporting for the Tampa Tribune, made a vague reference to a conversation Safi had in 1995 with Sami Al-Arian
. Fichter contended that Safi asked Al-Arian whether an Executive Order issued in early 1995 by President Bill Clinton
would affect the latter. According to Fichter, Al-Arian responded mockingly by calling the order "a war waged by the Zionists." Fichter alleged that Safi agreed with Al-Arian's assessment that zionist lobbying activities were behind the Executive Order.
Al-Arian, a former computer engineering professor at the University of South Florida
, “was acquitted on eight counts of aiding the Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” s the jury deadlocked on nine other counts. He pleaded guilty in 2006 to one count of providing services to members of the terrorist group the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He was sentenced to prison, and will be deported after completing his four-years-and-nine-months sentence.
In May 2007, Fichter left the Tribune to join Emerson's organization. The Tribunes article that reported Fichter’s departure quoted Ahmed Bedier as saying: “Fechter's move confirms our suspicious all along that Michael Fechter has been acting as an agent for Steven Emerson, unethically acting as an agent for Steven Emerson, and saw Emerson more than just as a source but also as a mentor."
In an article published in the National Review Online (June 18, 2007), Emerson accused Safi of saying that the “assertion by ‘world leaders’ that the war on terrorism is not a war on Islam is nothing but a piece of propaganda and disinformation that was meant to appease Western Muslims and to maintain the coalition against terrorism.”
Safi responded in an article published in the CounterPunch
(July 2, 2007) by pointing out that the statement quoted by Emerson was made by Salman Rushdie, and that Emerson unfairly used it to distort his views.
While critics like Emerson and Daniel Pipes
have censored Safi for his involvement with, and defense of, Muslim American organizations, others have commended his work for promoting forward looking understanding of Islam. Muqtedar Khan, University of Delaware Professor and Brookings Institute fellow, identified him among leading moderate Muslims involved in reforming Islamic thought. He has been called a Muslim reformer in an analysis by Barnabas Fund
. Ed Brayton called Safi an advocate of freedom and democracy and a strong voice against Islamic radicalism.
Louay Safi is identified as one of several leading Muslim American reformers in a new book edited by Shireen Hunter and published in October 2009 by M.E. Sharpe under the title Reformist Voices of Islam. Tamara Sonn
identified Safi as a leading Muslim American reformer whose influence “goes beyond the scholarly and intellectual communities and is being felt within the Muslim community at large, as shown by the changing character of the leadership of the Islamic Society of North America
.”
Dec 9, 2009, The Dallas Morning News inquired about Louay Safi, and was told "He has not been the subject of any indictment. His presentations have always [met] the high standards expected." In January, the newspaper was informed by the military that that Safi was under investigation and that his lectures had been suspended after complaints after Safi concluded lectures at Fort Hood. Thirteen Republican members of Congress asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Dec. 17 to halt lectures by anyone affiliated with ISNA on military bases.
ISNA published a refutation of Dallas Morning News' article, accusing the newspaper of painting "the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and Dr. Louay Safi, the Director of Communications and Leadership Development, in a negative light, and presented a distorted picture of ISNA that belies its actual work and contribution to society." The newspaper also published a response by Dr. Safi in which he charged DMN of mischaracterizing his views and publishing unsubstantiated claims borrowed from right-wing detractors.
Demographics of Syria
Syrians today are an overall indigenous Levantine people. While modern-day Syrians are commonly described as Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history...
-American, a scholar of Islam and the Middle East, and an advocate of Arab and Muslim American rights. He published on such issues as social and political development, modernization
Modernization
In the social sciences, modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by...
, democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, and Islam and Modernity
Islam and modernity
Islam and modernity is a topic of discussion in contemporary sociology of religion. Neither Islam nor modernity are simple or unified entities. They are abstract quantities which could not be reduced into simple categories. The history of Islam, like that of other religions, is a history of...
. He is the author of 11 books and numerous papers, and speaker on questions of leadership, democracy, Islam and the Middle East.
Louay Safi is also chairman of the Syrian American Council
Syrian American Council
Syrian American Council is a grassroots organization in the United States devoted to promoting educational, civic, economic, and human development, as well as advancing civil liberties and human dignity in Syria. It also aspires to build bridges of understanding and cooperation between American...
and testified in front of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on Syria.
Biography
Safi was born in DamascusDamascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
where he received his early education. He moved to the United States in the early eighties where he received his B.Sc. in civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
, and later a M.A.
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
and a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Political Science from Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. He has written books on social and political development, modernization
Modernization
In the social sciences, modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by...
, democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and the Middle East.
Safi has served as Executive Director and Director of Research for the International Institute of Islamic Thought
International Institute of Islamic Thought
The International Institute of Islamic Thought is a privately held non-profit organization.The Institution is concerned with issues of Islamic thought...
(IIIT), editor of the Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, and President of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (1999–2003). He has also taught at Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
in Detroit, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, the International Islamic University
International Islamic University
International Islamic University may refer to:*The International Islamic University Malaysia *The International Islamic University, Islamabad *The International Islamic University, Chittagong...
in Malaysia and George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
in Washington, DC.
Safi served as Executive Director of ISNA Leadership Development Center (ILDC) (2004–2008), later he served as Director of Communications and Leadership for year 2009. He serves on the board of Muslim organizations, including the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), and the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS). He is a fellow with the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) and serves on the steering committee of the Muslim-Christian Initiative on the Nuclear Weapons Danger(MCI).
He has appeared on radio and TV programs, including BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, C-Span
C-SPAN
C-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Monte Carlo, Fox News, PBS, Wish TV, Middle East TV (MBC), Al-Jazeera TV, Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
, Malaysian television, and others.
Views and Positions
Safi advocates reform of Islamic thought, culture, and law by appealing to the universal Islamic values. He supports democratic reform in Muslim countries, rejects interpretations of Islamic sources that instigate interreligious hostility, calls for the development of more inclusive societies in the Muslim world, and has frequently defended the fledgling Muslim American community against attacks from the far right.Democracy
Safi believes that Democracy as a system of self governance, accountability of holders of public office, and the rule of law is fully compatible with Islam. He has argued that Islam is essential for the transformation of Muslim societies from autocratic rule to democracyDemocracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
. A cultural change is required for any democratic reform, and such a change, he insistes, is impossible without appealing to more fundamental values. That's where Islam comes in. As it is difficult to imagine the modern West without the Religious Reformation in Europe, it is also difficult to expect democratic reform in the Middle East without Islam being a big part of that. "Turkey can probably give us some clues as how a positive Islamic reform can bring about true democracy without resorting to violence," he argues.
Safi further argues that micro-managing the reform process is counterproductive, and is likely to play into the hands of anti-democratic forces intent on stemming out the fledgling democratic forces under the rubric of safeguarding national independence and countering foreign interference. He, therefore, proposes that rather than pressuring autocratic government to change school curricula and superimpose a set of abstract criteria through state apparatus, US government should use its influence to increase the margin of freedom for political expression and action by civil society organizations. The forces of reform and modernization
Modernization
In the social sciences, modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by...
are already at work in Muslim societies, and have, despite severe limitations imposed by the state on their actions, made considerable strides to effect educational, cultural, and political reforms.
War and Peace
Safi insists that war is not an instrument for advancing Islam, but for repelling aggression and, in limited cases for rescuing a brutally oppressed minority. He criticized the classical doctrine of jihad as being seriously flawed since it violates some of the essential Islamic principles on the Islamic ethics of war. Safi has recently written objecting to the classical doctrine; “Evidently, the classical doctrine of war and peace has not been predicated on a comprehensive theory. The doctrine describes the factual conditions that historically prevailed between the Islamic state, during the ‘Abassid and Byzantium era, and thus, renders rules which respond to specific historical needs.”The flaw is evident, he insists, when one considers the relationship between the early Muslim community and the Christian Abyssinia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. He recalls that the Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
himself had sent the earliest group of his followers from Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
to seek refuge from persecution in Abyssinia. They lived there in peace, and some of them did not return, even after Muslims were in power in Mecca. Moreover, the peaceful coexistence continued for over a millennium up until modern times.
He, nonetheless, rejects the effort to repudiate the right of people to use force to repel aggression. Jihad is a struggle for just peace using peaceful means. He, though, insists that Jihad as an armed struggle can be legitimately employed to repel aggression and lift oppression, but only as the last resort.
Apostasy Controversy
Safi has not shied away from controversial issues, and has taken clear positions on hot questions, including the question of apostasy. He rejects efforts to implement traditional ShariaSharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
in modern times without considering the impact of historical social conditions on the promulgation of law in historical Muslim society. He, for instance, opposed the application of apostasy rules in modern Muslim society, and argued that a proper reading of Islamic sources would affirm religious freedom. Individuals, he insisted, should be able to accept or reject a particular faith on the basis of personal conviction, and that no amount of external pressure or compulsion should be permitted.
Muslim Women’s Rights
Safi advocates women's right to assume public role and calls on the mosqueMosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
authorities to reflect the leading role Muslim American women play by ensuring that they are represented on the mosque boards and join the rank of leadership. The importance of women taking active part on the executive boards and in executive committees is further underscored, he argues, by the need to represent concerns that can not be expressed except by women, who feel the impact of decisions made by the mosque on the quality of life and participation of other women.
War on Terror
Safi believes that force can be used legitimately and effectively against terrorism, but he disagreed with the "War on TerrorWar on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
" strategy advanced by the Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
He attributes the rise of terrorism to the authoritarian regimes that stifle debate in the Middle East, and that consistently use iron fist policies to silence opposition. Such policies, he contends, have had the effect of silencing moderate voices, and the only voices that are heard today are the voices of those who can make noise through violent actions.
Speaking in Dublin, Ireland before the College Historical Society, Safi stressed the need to have clarity in defining terrorism and consistency in prosecuting the war on terrorism. He pointed out that the current definition of terrorism adopted is oblivious to violence committed by suppressive governments against civilian populations under their control. He stressed the need to adopt universal criteria rooted in international humanitarian law, and then consistently apply the criteria to both state and non-state actors. This is not only the right thing to do, he argued, but the most effective way to counter terrorism. He suggested that terrorism should be defined as "the use of violence against civilians and non-combatants for achieving political ends."
Focusing on the Global War on Terrorism, he illustrated how the lack of clarity and the absence of consistency have led to increase, rather than decrease, in the incidents of terrorism. Referring to recent statistics released by the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT), a federally funded organization, he pointed out that the number of terrorist incidents increased worldwide from 2,013 in 2002 to 3,646 in 2004, to a staggering figure of almost 6,500 in 2006.
Safi argues that overreliance on military power has been counterproductive in fighting terrorism, as it has deepened the divide between the United States and Muslim countries on the one hand, and reduced the ability of Muslim Americans to "promote dialog between the Muslim world and the West."
Safi blames the Far Right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
for promoting and harboring Islamophobia
Islamophobia
Islamophobia describes prejudice against, hatred or irrational fear of Islam or MuslimsThe term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States....
with the hope to turn the war on terrorism into a war on Islam and Muslims. The Far Right, he insists, wants to see deep rift between Islam and the West, and has turned Muslim Americans into targets and suspects, thereby reducing their ability to play the bridge-building role.
Criticism and Praise
Safi has been criticized for his involvement with Muslim organizations, and for his views on US foreign policy towards the Middle East. He accused his critics of exploiting the climate of fear in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks to marginalize Muslim American organizations and activists.Robert Spencer
Robert Spencer
Robert Bruce Spencer is an American author and blogger best known for critiques of Islam and research into Islamic terrorism and jihad. He has published ten books, including two New York Times bestsellers, and is a regular contributor to David Horowitz's FrontPage Magazine and Human Events...
complained in a posting on his Jihadwatch blog about Safi's visit to Fort Hood to speak to soldiers on the subject of Islam and for giving "a check to families of the victims of the Major Hasan jihad killings.". Spencer disagreed with The Fort Hood leadership whom, he says, "was overheard commenting that Safi was 'really nice.'" He accused Louay Safi, who serve with the Islamic Society of North America
Islamic Society of North America
The Islamic Society of North America , based in Plainfield, Indiana, USA, is a Muslim umbrella group. It has been described in the media as the largest Muslim organization in North America.-History:...
as executive director, of working with an organization linked to the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
. Dr. Safi responded to Mr. Spencer's accusation in an article in which he described ISNA as "an independent Muslim American organization governed by an elected council and led by an elected president." He stressed that ISNA "has no affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, and has a membership that is too diverse in its religious orientation and so broad in its political views to be boxed into a singular ideological profile."
Safi has been outspoken about what he has described as a "concerted attack on the Muslim American organizations by the members of the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
." He decried the 2002 raids on mainstream Muslim organizations in Northern Virginia, which included the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA), the highest Muslim religious authority in North America, the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences
Cordoba University
Cordoba University is an Islamic university located in Ashburn, Virginia. The university is made up of the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences and Cordoba School of Professional Studies...
(GSSIS), a Muslim institution for training Muslim chaplains, and the International Institute of Islamic Thought
International Institute of Islamic Thought
The International Institute of Islamic Thought is a privately held non-profit organization.The Institution is concerned with issues of Islamic thought...
(IIIT), a research organization focusing on reform of Islamic thought. Safi accused the Custom Service agent who led the raids of relying heavily on information provided by the Steven Emerson
Steven Emerson
Steven Emerson, is an American journalist and author, who writes about national security, terrorism, and Islamic extremism.Emerson is the author of six books, and co-author of two more. His television documentary Jihad in America won the 1994 George Polk Award for best Television Documentary, and...
’s Investigative Project and his former assistant Rita Katz
Rita Katz
Rita Katz is a terrorism analyst and the co-founder of the Search for International Terrorist Entities Institute , a private intelligence firm based in Washington, DC....
’s SITE Institute.
In July 2005, Michael Fichter, reporting for the Tampa Tribune, made a vague reference to a conversation Safi had in 1995 with Sami Al-Arian
Sami Al-Arian
Dr. Sami Amin Al-Arian , is a former resident of Temple Terrace, Florida, now living in Northern Virginia, who is a Muslim activist, and former University of South Florida professor of computer engineering...
. Fichter contended that Safi asked Al-Arian whether an Executive Order issued in early 1995 by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
would affect the latter. According to Fichter, Al-Arian responded mockingly by calling the order "a war waged by the Zionists." Fichter alleged that Safi agreed with Al-Arian's assessment that zionist lobbying activities were behind the Executive Order.
Al-Arian, a former computer engineering professor at the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
, “was acquitted on eight counts of aiding the Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” s the jury deadlocked on nine other counts. He pleaded guilty in 2006 to one count of providing services to members of the terrorist group the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He was sentenced to prison, and will be deported after completing his four-years-and-nine-months sentence.
In May 2007, Fichter left the Tribune to join Emerson's organization. The Tribunes article that reported Fichter’s departure quoted Ahmed Bedier as saying: “Fechter's move confirms our suspicious all along that Michael Fechter has been acting as an agent for Steven Emerson, unethically acting as an agent for Steven Emerson, and saw Emerson more than just as a source but also as a mentor."
In an article published in the National Review Online (June 18, 2007), Emerson accused Safi of saying that the “assertion by ‘world leaders’ that the war on terrorism is not a war on Islam is nothing but a piece of propaganda and disinformation that was meant to appease Western Muslims and to maintain the coalition against terrorism.”
Safi responded in an article published in the CounterPunch
Counterpunch
Counterpunch can refer to:* Counterpunch , a punch in boxing* CounterPunch, a bi-weekly political newsletter* Counterpunch , a type of punch used in traditional typography* Punch-Counterpunch, a Transformers character...
(July 2, 2007) by pointing out that the statement quoted by Emerson was made by Salman Rushdie, and that Emerson unfairly used it to distort his views.
While critics like Emerson and Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
have censored Safi for his involvement with, and defense of, Muslim American organizations, others have commended his work for promoting forward looking understanding of Islam. Muqtedar Khan, University of Delaware Professor and Brookings Institute fellow, identified him among leading moderate Muslims involved in reforming Islamic thought. He has been called a Muslim reformer in an analysis by Barnabas Fund
Barnabas Fund
The Barnabas Fund is an international, interdenominational Christian aid agency that supports Christians who face discrimination or persecution as a consequence of their faith...
. Ed Brayton called Safi an advocate of freedom and democracy and a strong voice against Islamic radicalism.
Louay Safi is identified as one of several leading Muslim American reformers in a new book edited by Shireen Hunter and published in October 2009 by M.E. Sharpe under the title Reformist Voices of Islam. Tamara Sonn
Tamara Sonn
Dr. Tamara Sonn is the Kenan Professor of Religion and Humanities at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Sonn received a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Santa Clara, an M.A. in philosophy from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D...
identified Safi as a leading Muslim American reformer whose influence “goes beyond the scholarly and intellectual communities and is being felt within the Muslim community at large, as shown by the changing character of the leadership of the Islamic Society of North America
Islamic Society of North America
The Islamic Society of North America , based in Plainfield, Indiana, USA, is a Muslim umbrella group. It has been described in the media as the largest Muslim organization in North America.-History:...
.”
Dec 9, 2009, The Dallas Morning News inquired about Louay Safi, and was told "He has not been the subject of any indictment. His presentations have always [met] the high standards expected." In January, the newspaper was informed by the military that that Safi was under investigation and that his lectures had been suspended after complaints after Safi concluded lectures at Fort Hood. Thirteen Republican members of Congress asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Dec. 17 to halt lectures by anyone affiliated with ISNA on military bases.
ISNA published a refutation of Dallas Morning News' article, accusing the newspaper of painting "the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and Dr. Louay Safi, the Director of Communications and Leadership Development, in a negative light, and presented a distorted picture of ISNA that belies its actual work and contribution to society." The newspaper also published a response by Dr. Safi in which he charged DMN of mischaracterizing his views and publishing unsubstantiated claims borrowed from right-wing detractors.
Books
- Palestine: Prophetic Principles Over Prophecies" (Outskirts Press, 2009)
- The Qur'anic Narrative (Pragaer, 2008)
- Leading with Compassion (Outskirts Press, 2008)
- Blaming Islam: Examining the Religion Building Enterprise (Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 2006)
- Tensions and Transitions in the Muslim World, (University Press of America, 2003)
- Peace and the Limits of War (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2001)
- The Foundation of Knowledge (International Islamic University of Malaysia, 1996)
- Al-‘Aqidah wa al-Syiasah (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1996)
- Truth and Reform (The Open Press, 1998)
- I’mal al ‘Aql (Dar al-Fikr, 1998)
- The Challenge of Modernity (University Press of America, 1994)
External links
- Louay Safi Home Page
- Bio of Louay M. Safi
- Leading with Compassion
- Palestine: Prophetic Principles Over Prophecies
- INSIGHT – Louay Safi's Commentary on Islam and current affairs
- Article by Louay Safi at Media Monitors Network
- Articles by Louay Safi
- Muslim-Christian Initiative on Nuclear Weapons Danger (MCI)
- ISNA Leadership Development Center (ILDC)
- Articles by Louay Safi at Naseeb Vibes
- The College Historical Society of Trinity College