Confronting CAIR at the local level: Meet Kevin Montavon

 D.C. Watson

We’ve witnessed what the Council on American Islamic Relations is willing to post on their website. We spar with them on a continual basis, and will do so until they cease to be. While we spend our time dealing with these spin artists, it’s very important to remember that they also utilize local news publications to push their Islamic propaganda. Thus, they should also be countered at this level. A colleague of mine who lives in the Ohio area, recently called CAIR out for their distortions about Islam and the Quran. This occurred in Ohio ’s largest newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch, and began with a column written by Mahmoud El-Yousseph entitled “Sacred Quran valuable to all of mankind”. Thursday May 26, 2005.
http://www.dispatch.com/indexes/editorialsindex.php 

In some capacity, El-Yousseph appears to be affiliated with the Council on American Islamic Relations. Perhaps I drew this conclusion due to the fact that in his letter, he invited anyone who was interested in a free Quran to contact CAIR. 

For any of the Islamic apologists that visit this site and attempt to defend Islam by categorizing anyone who confronts it as ignorant, my colleague and friend, Kevin Montavon, possesses a Communications degree, attended twelve years at a Catholic school, and has read both the Holy Bible and the Quran from cover to cover. 

The following is content from both articles, beginning with El-Yousseph’s, followed by Montavon’s rebuttal. 

”Sacred Quran is valuable to all of mankind”
 Mahmoud El-Yousseph: Posted 5/26/2005 

“If a Muslim-American and retired Air Force veteran may speak out on the issue of the desecration of the Holy Quran, as reported on May 9 by Newsweek, here goes:” 

“I have not yet recovered from the sadistic images from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq . God only knows whether Newsweek’s story, that a copy of the Holy Quran was flushed down the toilet at the U.S. detention center at Guantanomo Bay , Cuba , was true.” 

“At this juncture, I feel that it is more productive and beneficial to learn about Islam and the Quran from a Muslim than from a biased and unreliable news organization that has only profit in mind. For that reason, I share basic information about the Holy Quran with non-Muslim readers.” 

“˜The Quran is the complete book of guidance for mankind. It is the sacred book of the Muslims and the main source of law in Islam. It is considered God’s words, which the angel Gabriel brought to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. This took place in the year 610, when the Prophet was 40 years old, and the revelations lasted for 23 years. It starts for the first 10 years in Mecca and continues for another 13 years in Medina . Both cities are in present-day Saudi Arabia ”. 

“The Quran is written in Arabic, to be read from right to left. It orders Muslims to do good and to avoid evil. The Quran consists of 114 chapters, called suras, and 6236 verses, called ayahs, according to the book Islam: Beliefs and Teachings, by Ghulam Sarwar.” 

“In the Quran, one can find stories of many other prophets who came before Islam, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Jesus, peace be upon them.” 

“A Muslim also believes in all the revealed books that are mentioned in the Quran: the Torah of Moses, the Psalms of David and the Gospel of Jesus. The Quran also mentions the Scrolls of Abraham.” 

“The Quran mentions many events that occurred prior to Islam, events that took place during the prophet Mohammed’s life and events that will take place in the future.” 

“It might even surprise readers to know that the Virgin Mary, peace be upon her, is the only woman mentioned by name in the Quran, and that her name is mentioned 34 times. Jesus’ name is mentioned 33 times. The Prophet Muhammad’s name is mentioned only five times. The Quran recognizes and respects other faiths and prophets. Such a faith deserves respect, not public insults.” 

“Anyone who is interested in a free copy of the Holy Quran translated into English can visit the Web site of the Council on American Islamic Relations at www.cair-ohio.com.”  

“Quran has little value to people who are not Muslims”
 Montavon’s rebuttal: Posted 6/18/2005
 http://www.dispatch.com/indexes/editorialsindex.php 

“Is Mahmoud El-Yousseph the self-appointed spokesman for all Muslims in central Ohio ? It seems that every time a sensitive issue arises that in any way involves Islam, he is the first to fire off a letter to The Dispatch.”
”In his letter to the editor of May 26, El-Yousseph engaged in some distortions that render his basic premise (that The Koran is valuable to all humankind) meaningless.” 

“The Koran is not valuable to all humankind. It is not valuable at all to non-Muslims. To non-Muslims (who make up the majority of the world's population), The Koran is nothing more than a book. And it is not a very good one, at that.”
 
”El-Yousseph went on to state that Islam respects the revelations of other faiths such as the Torah and the Gospels. What he failed to mention is that the Koran also teaches that these books are deficient, and that the Koran is the only true word of God. It also teaches that Christians and Jews have received revelation from God, but they have distorted that revelation.” 

“Perhaps El Yousseph would like to explain the verses in the Koran that condone wife-beatings, hand-chopping, deception in the name of protecting Islam, and other behavior that is abhorrent to modern society”: 

4.34 (on wives), "admonish them, leave them in their beds apart, and beat them") 

5.51 ("don’t take Jews and Christians as friends, they are friends of one another")

8.12  ("I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, Smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger tips of them"). 

9.5 (Slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush") 

9.29 ("Fight those who do not believe in God, ... until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection".) 

“Perhaps he would like to explain why societies that are based on Islamic law provide little or no equal rights to women, little or no religious freedom to practice a non-Islamic faith, and little or no progress in the way of assimilating into modern society.” 

“When Americans see people who claim to be civilized engaging in riotous and murderous behavior simply because they think that pages from a "holy" book were flushed down a toilet, we can analyze these events and come to conclusions on our own. We do not need the Mahmoud El-Yousseph filter to explain everything to us. Thanks but no thanks.” 

Kevin Montavon