Nathan Lean

cultural historian of religion | here: Islam, jazz, and American life | challenging Islamophobia | @georgetown alum | views mine.

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

Breaking: Man whose acting career took off after he played a male prostitute would like you to know that he's now an expert on Islam.

[Rob Schneider 🇺🇸 @RobSchneider]

Islam is not a religion.
It is a violent political ideology intent on domination and is incompatible with American Values, Freedoms and our Constitutional Republic.🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸👇👇

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

Five months later, and it seems that things are worse. I'm astounded by how pervasive anti-Muslim prejudice is on this platform. It's not just the trolls, but actors, educators, and public figures with large followings. This political moment has licensed their unchecked hate.

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

I've studied Islamophobia for more than 15 years, and I've never seen it as explicit, unchecked, and out in the open as it is today, on this platform. Disgusting stuff. Tuberville should be censured and run out of town.

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

Two weeks ago in Michigan, Trump referred to President Obama as “Barack Hussein Obama.” They do this intentionally — to draw attention to Muslim identity, and to “otherize” it among mostly white audiences.

https://t.co/3SbyzXOcXK

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

RAJU: Why use El-Sayed's full name in attack ads? Are you trying to say, 'Hint hint, he's Muslim'?

TIM SCOTT: Not at all

RAJU: But why not just use the name he goes by?

TIM SCOTT: Listen, I go by Timothy Eugene. I get called that all the time.

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

No, you contemptible bigot. This has NOT happened. It’s an Internet rumor that has circulated for months — years, even — on end. No source. No link. No news report. No evidence of it at all. But because you hate Muslims so badly, you launder the lie.

[Gad Saad @GadSaad]

I warned you that this is EXACTLY what would happen. You scoffed...

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

You’re exceptionally bad at this. The use of this name does not mean that humiliation or debasement is a characteristic of God himself, but rather refers to his possible action towards humanity, i.e., the one who abases whom he wills, or the one who gives esteem to whom he wills.

[Brother Rachid الأخ رشيد @BrotherRasheed]

In Islam, it’s haram to call God “Father,” but it’s perfectly acceptable to call Him “Al-Mudill” (المُضِلّ), “the deceitful”

[Nader Hashemi @naderalihashemi]

Absolutely must see on Islamophobia in the USA.

Wow.

Just Wow.

@mehdirhasan @nathanlean @bridgeinit

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

I'll see your "Islamic ruling on dogs," and raise you a "Dogs in the Hebrew Bible."

[Gina Milan @ginamilan_]

Google the Islamic rulings on dogs. They’re treated as impure, angels refuse to enter any house that has one, keeping them as pets is mostly forbidden, and the early hadiths contain clear commands to kill them. The religion of peace and love, everyone.

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

Morocco, Lebanon, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan.

Next question, please.

[Afghan Zoroastrian @AfgZoroastrian]

Show me a single Muslim country where a non Muslim holds a position?

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

If someone were to say exactly this but replace the word “Muslim” with “Jew,” their reputation and livelihood would be wrecked forever. The double standard is impossible to ignore, as is the impunity afforded to those who target Muslims.

[Rep. Nancy Mace @RepNancyMace]

Every single Muslim holding public office in America is a trojan horse, and a threat to both national security and our republic.

We refuse to be silent.

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

I'm sorry about what happened to you and your family. That's terrible and should not happen to anyone. But using your particular situation as a license with which you justify abject bigotry and prejudice towards Muslims is reprehensible. "Islam" did not want to kill you or your family, and "Islam" has not killed anyone — ever — in all of history. Your problem is that you willfully conflate the actions of extreme *people* with an *entire religion*, and then, when you're called out on it, retreat behind your personal experience as though that suffering grants you immunity from criticism. Your harassment of Muslims on this platform is vile.

[Gad Saad @GadSaad]

My family and I escaped execution in Lebanon because Islam wanted to kill us. My parents were kidnapped by Fatah and were severely mistreated. Our home in Beirut was stolen by Palestinian Muslims. My wife's family escaped Lebanon because Islam wanted to kill them. Her ancestors escaped the Armenian genocide because Islam wanted to kill them. My grandparents escaped Syria because Islam wanted to kill them. My brother-in-law's family escaped Alexandria (Egypt) because Islam wanted to kill them. My family and I are leaving Montreal because Islam wants to kill us (the number of threats that I've received forced me to take a two-year leave from my home university). I'm moving to @olemiss /@umdeclaration to defend American liberties and freedoms from ideological threats. @LibyaLiberty, a vile Islamist who despises Jews, is now "reporting" me to my new institution because I dare criticize Islam. Imagine the chutzpah. I will NEVER stop defending the West from the dangers that it faces. Long live the United States.

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

An 820-word op-ed repeatedly accusing Abdul El-Sayed of antisemitism, from start to finish, without offering 1 shred of evidence of antisemitism, not one anti-Jewish quote. Lots of anti-Israel rhetoric. Not a word about Jews or Judaism.

Such low standards on the WSJ op-ed page.

[Hend Amry @LibyaLiberty]

I’m sorry someone told you hell and hanging by your hair was your fate. Very disturbing and something I’ve never heard of, it seems to be a local or cultural belief. But your experience is no global Muslim standard and spreading your experience as a norm is a driver of anti Muslim bigotry and violence against women in hijab. I wear hijab by choice, always have. Family members have taken it off with zero consequence. Millions wear it, millions take it off. Stop obsessing about the practice of Muslim women who choose their path.

[Hend Amry @LibyaLiberty]

“When we said we want Muslim women to assimilate we didn’t mean civic engagement, we meant show us your body.”

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

There was a moment in American history when people like you claimed that Catholics hated America and took their orders from the Pope, who would take over the country.

[Nancy Mace @NancyMace]

Michigan Democrats just nominated an America-hating socialist who takes orders from the Ayatollah. If this is the future of our nation, we are finished.

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

@bennyjohnson And the only reason you’re posting about is because you’re an anti-Muslim bigot.

[Ambereen Dadabhoy 🪬 @DrDadabhoy]

Who killed them?

[James Surowiecki @JamesSurowiecki]

This is the definition of bigoted.

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

This is beyond-the-pale racism, directed at El Sayed for one reason: he is a Muslim. And bigots can’t fathom the possibility of Muslims in elected office in America. Too bad. This land has always been religiously diverse, and Muslims have always contributed to its glory.

[Laura Loomer @LauraLoomer]

Today Abdul El Sayed, a Muslim Brotherhood supporting jihadist candidate for Senate, will win his Democrat primary in Michigan because the GOP and the Democrats were too afraid to call him what he is:

A jihadist.

The whole country is being taken over by Muslims who are likely going to encourage their supporters and voters to murder non-Muslims when they hold power in Congress.

The GOP won’t even say the word “jihadist” because our party is so influenced by Qatar.

America is becoming a very dangerous place to live thanks to Muslims and Communists.

[Nathan Lean @nathanlean]

That’s a slimy point, particularly because Esposito never claimed to speak on behalf of all Muslims. If your argument is merely that extremists believe they represent “true Islam,” fine. But moral consistency (which you lack) requires two further acknowledgments.

First, the overwhelming majority of Muslims are nonviolent. At a minimum, this undermines any attempt to treat extremists as the uniquely authentic or representative expression of Islam.

Second, the same standard must be applied to other religions. Violent Jewish settlers may also believe that they are acting in accordance with the true teachings of their faiths. Their belief does not, by itself, establish that they genuinely represent Judaism.

Your recurring problem is a tendency to apply this reasoning selectively by singling out Islam.

[Martin Kramer @Martin_Kramer]

@JonathanACBrown True for the perpetrators and their sympathizers. I’m not a Muslim, and certainly not a Muslim religious authority (neither was Esposito). Not for us to say.

[Mobashra @mobbiemobes]

"A tireless lecturer, an institution builder, and a prolific writer, John Esposito built a body of literature and founded centers of learning that helped replace ignorance, prejudice, and hate with understanding." via @jjz1600

https://t.co/fQF5EEbJK6