“Ex-Muslims,” Bible Prophecy, and Islamophobia: Rhetoric and Reality in the Narratives of Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem, Ergun and Emir Caner

Christopher Cameron Smith, null

doi:10.13169/islastudj.2.2.0076

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Islamophobia Studies Journal

Volume 2, Issue 2

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“Ex-Muslims,” Bible Prophecy, and Islamophobia: Rhetoric and Reality in the Narratives of Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem, Ergun and Emir Caner

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Author(s): Christopher Cameron Smith

Publication date (Print): Fall 2014

Journal: Islamophobia Studies Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

The connection between Christian dispensationalism (“rapture” theology) and anti-Muslim sentiments is an understudied topic often missing from the scholarship on Islamophobia. This paper is an attempt to fill this gap by focusing on the problematic narratives of four prominent “ex-Muslim” converts to Christianity: Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem, Ergun and Emir Caner. I argue that these men have used their Middle Eastern heritages to coax the public into believing that they are former terrorists in order to sell books, demonize Islam, and promote their particular interpretation of Christianity.

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Christopher Cameron Smith

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): islastudj

Title: Islamophobia Studies Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 23258381

ISSN (Electronic): 2325839X

Publication date (Print): Fall 2014

Volume: 2

Issue: 2

Pages: 76-93

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MA in Religion from Wake Forest University

Article

Publisher ID: islastudj.2.2.0076

DOI: 10.13169/islastudj.2.2.0076

SO-VID: 40b1a23e-1cce-45a1-aaae-e8dd0c4dda66

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Social & Behavioral Sciences

References

Allen, Chris. Islamophobia . Burlington: Ashgate, 2010.
Aslan, Reza. “Apparently terrorism pays. It pays very well.” Anderson Cooper 360. February 27, 2008. http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/27/apparently-terrorism-pays-it-pays-very-well/ (accessed April 11, 2014).
Bleich, Erik. “Defining and Researching Islamophobia.” Review of Middle East Vol. 46, No. 2, Winter 2013: 180–189.
Bulliet, Richard. The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization . New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
Caner, Ergun, and Emir Caner. Unveiling Islam: An Insider's Look at Muslim Life and Beliefs 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2009.
Colley, Linda. Captives: Britain, Empire, and the World, 1600–1850 . New York: Anchor Books, 2002.
Daniel, Norman. Islam and the West: The Making of an Image . London: Oneworld, 1993.
Davis, Robert C. Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500–1800 . New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
Esposito, John L., and Ibrahim Kalin. Islamophobia: The Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century . New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Allen, Chris. Islamophobia . Burlington: Ashgate, 2010.

[2] Aslan, Reza. “Apparently terrorism pays. It pays very well.” Anderson Cooper 360. February 27, 2008. http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/27/apparently-terrorism-pays-it-pays-very-well/ (accessed April 11, 2014).

[3] Bleich, Erik. “Defining and Researching Islamophobia.” Review of Middle East Vol. 46, No. 2, Winter 2013: 180–189.

[4] Bulliet, Richard. The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization . New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.

[5] Caner, Ergun, and Emir Caner. Unveiling Islam: An Insider's Look at Muslim Life and Beliefs 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2009.

[6] Colley, Linda. Captives: Britain, Empire, and the World, 1600–1850 . New York: Anchor Books, 2002.

[7] Daniel, Norman. Islam and the West: The Making of an Image . London: Oneworld, 1993.

[8] Davis, Robert C. Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500–1800 . New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

[9] Esposito, John L., and Ibrahim Kalin. Islamophobia: The Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century . New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

[10] Fletcher, Richard. The Cross and the Crescent: The Dramatic Story of the Earliest Encounters between Christians and Muslims . New York: Penguin Books, 2003.

[11] Gade, Anna M. The Qur'an: An Introduction . New York: Oneworld, 2010.

[12] Gottschalk, Peter, and Gabriel Greenberg. Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy . New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008.

[13] Griffin, Drew, and Kathleen Johnston. “Ex-terrorist' rakes in homeland security bucks.” CNN . July 14, 2011. http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/11/terrorism.expert/ (accessed December 10, 2012).

[14] Hall, Stuart. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices . Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1997.

[15] Herman, Edward S., and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media . New York: Pantheon Books, 2002.

[16] King Jr., Martin Luther. “A Time to Break Silence.” A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr . Edited by James M. Washington. New York: Harper One, 1986. 231–252.

[17] Lean, Nathan. The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims . London: Pluto Press, 2012.

[18] Luyken, Jorg. “The Palestinian ‘terrorist’ turned Zionist.” The Jerusalem Post . March 30, 2008. http://www.jpost.com/Features/The-Palestinian-terrorist-turned-Zionist (accessed December 10, 2012).

[19] MacLean, Gerald. The Rise of Oriental Travel: English Visitors to the Ottoman Empire 1580–1720 . New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

[20] Matar, Nabil. Islam in Britain, 1558–1685 . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.

[21] Matar, Nabil. Turks, Moors, and Englishmen in the Age of Discovery . New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.

[22] Mattson, Ingrid. The Story of the Qur'an: Its History and Place in Muslim Life . Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2008.

[23] Murphy, Tim. “I Was a Terrorist…Seriously!” Mother Jones . March/April 2012. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/kamal-saleem-former-terrorist-islamophobia (accessed March 29, 2014).

[24] Richardson, Joel. Mideast Beast: The Scriptural Case for an Islamic Antichrist . Washington: WND Books, 2012.

[25] Rodinson, Maxime. Europe and the Mystique of Islam . New York: I.B. Tauris, 2002.

[26] Sacirbey, Omar. “Skeptics challenge life stories offered by high-profile Muslim converts to Christianity.” The Washington Post . June 26, 2010. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/25/AR2010062504435.html (accessed April 11, 2014).

[27] Said, Edward W. Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World . New York: Vintage Books, 1997.

[28] Saleem, Kamal. The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption . New York: Howard Books, 2009.

[29] Shoebat, Walid. Why I Left Jihad: The Root of Terrorism and the Rise of Islam . Top Executive Media (self-published), 2005.

[30] Shoebat, Walid, and Joel Richardson. God's War on Terror . Top Executive Media (self-published), 2008.

[31] Shooman, Yasemin, and Riem Spielhaus. “The concept of the Muslim enemy in the public discourse.” In Muslims in the West after 9/11: Religion, Politics, and Law , Edited by Jocelyne Cesari, 198–228. New York: Routledge, 2010.

[32] Snader, Joe. Caught Between Worlds: British Captivity Narratives in Fact and Fiction . Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2000.

[33] Starr, G.A. “Escape from Barbary: A Seventeenth-Century Genre.” Huntington Library Quarterly , Vol. 29, No. 1, November 1965: 35–52.

[34] Vitkus, Daniel. Piracy, Slavery, and Redemption: Barbary Captivity Narratives from Early Modern England . New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.

[35] Vitkus, Daniel. Turning Turk: English Theater and the Multicultural Mediterranean . New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

[36] Volf, Miroslav. Allah: A Christian Reponse . New York: Harper One, 2011.

[37] Wan, William, and Michelle Boorstein. “Liberty U. removing Ergun Caner as seminary dean over contradictory statements.” The Washington Post . June 30, 2010. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/29/AR2010062905331.html (accessed Decenber 2012, 2012).