Raymond Ibrahim
{{Short description|American critic of Islam (1973-)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Raymond Ibrahim
| website = {{URL|raymondibrahim.com}}
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1973}}
| birth_place = U.S.
| occupation = Writer, author, translator, columnist
| education = California State University, Fresno (MA)
}}
Raymond Ibrahim (born 1973) is an American author, translator, columnist, critic of Islam, and a former librarian. His focus is Arabic history and language, and current events.{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/oct/18/20051018-095334-5433r/ |title=Terrorist letter's validity doubted|newspaper=The Washington Times| date=October 18, 2005}}{{cite journal|url=http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/290/html|title=Denying the Link between Islamist Ideology and Jihadist Terrorism: "Political Correctness" and the Undermining of Counterterrorism|first=Jeffrey M. |last=Bale|journal=Perspectives on Terrorism|volume=7|issue=5| year=2013|pages=5–46}}[https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/1359108451.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Oct+7%2C+2007&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=T.5&desc=In+Their+Own+Words%3B+Bin+Laden+and+al-Zawahiri+explain+their+bloody+actions. "In Their Own Words; Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri explain their bloody actions."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103085600/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/1359108451.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Oct+7,+2007&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=T.5&desc=In+Their+Own+Words%3B+Bin+Laden+and+al-Zawahiri+explain+their+bloody+actions. |date=2012-11-03 }}, The Washington Post, October 7, 2007
Early life and education
Ibrahim was born in the United States to Coptic immigrants from Egypt. He is fluent in Arabic and English. Ibrahim studied at California State University, Fresno, where he wrote a master's thesis under Victor Davis Hanson on the Battle of the Yarmuk. Ibrahim also took graduate courses at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and studied toward a PhD in medieval Islamic history at Catholic University.{{cite web|url=http://www.hoover.org/profiles/raymond-ibrahim|title=Raymond Ibrahim|accessdate=April 21, 2017|work=Hoover Institution}}
Career
Ibrahim was previously an Arabic language specialist for the Near East section at the Library of Congress,[https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-01-20-bin-laden-translations_x.htm "Bin Laden writings to be translated"], USA Today, Associated Press, January 20, 2005 and the associate director of the Middle East Forum. {{As of|2023}}, he is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, which multiple watchdogs describe as an anti-Muslim outlet that promotes conspiracy theories,{{Cite web |title=Gatestone Institute {{!}} Factsheet: Islamophobia {{!}} The Bridge Initiative |url=https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-gatestone-institute/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Bridge Initiative |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2018-06-22 |title=Anti-Muslim round-up: 6/22/18 |url=https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/anti-muslim-round-62218/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Greenblatt |first=Jonathan A. |date=2018-04-12 |title=Opinion {{!}} Don’t overlook John Bolton and Mike Pompeo’s anti-Muslim ties |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dont-overlook-john-bolton-and-mike-pompeos-anti-muslim-ties/2018/04/12/6a4ce456-3dc3-11e8-a7d1-e4efec6389f0_story.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-05-11 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}} and the Judith Friedman Rosen Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum, a right-wing anti-Islam think tank.{{cite web|url=http://www.meforum.com/fellows|title=Fellows|work=Middle East Forum}}{{Cite web |title=Middle East Forum {{!}} Factsheet: Islamophobia {{!}} The Bridge Initiative |url=https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-middle-east-forum/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Bridge Initiative |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2018-04-18 |title=Anti-Muslim figure Daniel Pipes advocates partnering with far-right political parties |url=https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/anti-muslim-figure-daniel-pipes-advocates-partnering-far-right-political-parties/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en-US}} He has been described as a part of the counter-jihad movement.{{cite book|title='Green Crescent, Crimson Cross': The Transatlantic 'Counterjihad' and the New Political Theology|url=https://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3780/1/Pertwee__green-crescent-crimson-cross.pdf|page=268|last=Pertwee|first=Ed|date=October 2017|publisher=London School of Economics|doi=10.21953/lse.xx0e1p4w3f3y|doi-access=free}}
Ibrahim is the editor and translator of The Al Qaeda Reader, which he published after discovering a hitherto unknown Arabic al-Qaeda document; Ibrahim believes the document "proves once and for all that, despite the propaganda of al-Qaeda and its sympathizers, radical Islam's war with the West is not finite and limited to political grievances — real or imagined — but is existential, transcending time and space and deeply rooted in faith".
Reception
An article Ibrahim wrote on taqiyya, which was commissioned and published by Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst on September 26, 2008,{{cite web|url=http://www.meforum.org/2094/taqiyya-revisited|title=Taqiyya Revisited: A Response to the Critics|first=Raymond|last=Ibrahim|date=26 February 2009 |publisher=}}{{cite web |url=http://jiaa.janes.com/public/jiaa/special_reports.shtml |title=Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst - Special Reports |accessdate=2009-08-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303150030/http://jiaa.janes.com/public/jiaa/special_reports.shtml |archivedate=2009-03-03 }} was later characterized by another author in Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst as being "well-researched, factual in places but ... ultimately misleading".[https://web.archive.org/web/20110811212138/http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Islamic-Affairs-Analyst-2008/Interpreting-Taqiyya.html "Interpreting Taqiyya: Special Report"], Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst. IHS Jane's Information Group. November 12, 2008. Ibrahim responded to this charge in his rebuttal, "Taqiyya Revisited: A Response to the Critics".{{cite web|url=http://raymondibrahim.com/2009/02/26/taqiyya-revisited-a-response-to-the-critics/|title=Taqiyya Revisited: A Response to the Critics|date=26 February 2009|website=Raymond Ibrahim}}
In April 2020, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) criticized Ibrahim for an article in FrontPage Magazine, claiming he stated Muslims were "encouraging other Muslims to come into contact with each other”, that Muslims were “protesting the idea of temporarily closing mosques,” and that Muslims believed “nothing associated with Islam and especially Islamic worship can get them sick.”{{cite web|url=https://www.adl.org/resources/article/islamophobes-react-coronavirus-pandemic-anti-muslim-bigotry|title=Islamophobes React to Coronavirus Pandemic with Anti-Muslim Bigotry |date=April 30, 2020|publisher=Anti-Defamation League}} The ADL also accused Ibrahim, among other writers, of claiming that Muslims adhere to theological doctrines which encourage “irrational aversion for infidels,” making Muslims more likely to willingly spread the disease to non-Muslims.
Publications
- {{cite book|title=Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam|publisher=Post Hill Press|year=2022|isbn=978-1642938203}}
- {{cite book|title=Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=2018|isbn=978-0306825552}}
- {{cite book|title=Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians|publisher=Regnery|year= 2013|isbn=978-1621570257}}
- {{cite book|title=The Al Qaeda Reader|publisher=Doubleday|year= 2007|isbn=978-0-385-51655-6}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{wikiquote}}
- {{Official website|https://www.raymondibrahim.com}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahim, Raymond}}
Category:21st-century American male writers
Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers
Category:American counter-jihad activists
Category:American critics of Islam
Category:American male non-fiction writers
Category:American people of Coptic descent
Category:American people of Egyptian descent
Category:California State University, Fresno alumni
Category:Catholic University of America alumni
Category:Christian critics of Islam