Sheik Kabbani 11/22/01 

     Savage   Lets go immediately to an honored guest, a Sheik Kabbani I welcome you to the Savage Nation, welcome welcome welcome.

     Sheik    Thank you very much thank you 

     Savage   Sheik I saw you speak today on Fox news channel and I was so impressed with your words and I don’t want to put words in your mouth, nor do I want to lead you in any way but I just want to introduce you. You head up the Islamic Supreme Council of America is that correct? 

     Sheik    That’s correct 

     Savage  And what does that organization, what does that body basically do? 

     Sheik    That is an educational organization that speaks about anything about Islamic authority and knowledge and expressions and building bridges with the administration and with different offices introducing them the real message of Islam the traditional Islam and the main stream Islam. 

     Savage  What impressed me was when you were on Fox Sheik you said that there are 1 billion people on planet Earth who ascribe to Islam, but you said that a small number I think you said 500,000 have sort of misinterpreted what Islam is, isn’t that more or less what you said? 

     Sheik    Nearly that is what I said, that the there are the majority of Muslims around the world the 1 billion and something are peaceful Muslims and following the traditional Islam but there are a very minority that are inventing for their own purposes and their own interests and benefit a new sect of Islam at the beginning of this century, and its becoming more developed today that its was becoming more radical and more violent of suiting the purposes of these terrorists to use it and cutting and pasting from the holy Koran or cutting and pasting the holy of prophets of Allah so…

     Savage  Cutting and pasting I like what you mean by that, of course other religions have done the same and will continue to do so, I saw an article Sheik in the Telegraph of London which I read earlier on the Savage Nation, from a person who was a torturer who worked with the Taliban but he said something interesting and I would like to read one sentence, he was talking about the rules called the Taliban and Mullah Omar in particular and he said it’s the first time in Afghanistan’s history that the lower classes are governing and by force, he said that there are no educated people in this administration, totally backward and illiterate, he said and although they call themselves Mullahs they have no idea of Islam, is that a factual statement? 

     Sheik    He might he might, you know today with all this internet access and with all this different movement around the world that they’ve claiming themselves that they are speaking on behalf of Muslims, now becoming every student or every uneducated person he read a little bit of Koran or read a little bit of Islamic knowledge and he consider himself becoming an authority and he becoming to give verdict and wants to people to follow him and establish for himself a group of people following him. 

     Savage  He says no where does it say men must have beards or women cannot be educated, in fact the Koran says people must seek education is that correct? 

     Sheik    The first verse that was revealed to prophet in the holy Koran means educate yourself and read, the first word in holy Koran means read all prophet read learn your people how to read learn them how to write and that’s why prophet Mohammed at the beginning of the time he asked his companion that who knows how to read and write, let him teach the others how to read and write because knowledge is very important and he said seek knowledge even if it is in China means even if its afar where ever the knowledge can exist go after knowledge and education. 

     Savage  But certainly a modern American Muslim or a modern Muslim in any part of the world would not prohibit women from an education, I think we would agree on that. 

     Sheik    Its not only modern Muslim in any part of the world or in America, Islam in general does not prohibit but it encourage women to study and the wife of prophet was the one of the best scholar in her time and she was teaching all the men in the time of prophet. 

     Savage  Well frankly I am relived to be honest with you, I can’t say I am knowledgably about Islam, I am not, but the fact of the matter is we’re facing individuals who’ve declared war on America, who have put the statement that we are doing it for Allah, you certainly wouldn’t agree with that would you? 

     Sheik    That’s the problem, it’s very easy to say I am doing it for Allah but he is doing it for the devil for Satan not for Allah. 

     Savage  Sheik, boy do we need to hear your voice more than ever before, I have a request as one American to you. 

     Sheik    Yeah. 

     Savage  I think it could go such a long way to soothing peoples fears and uniting the American people of all faiths even people who are atheists, is it possible that as a major figure for Islam in America that a Muslim Manifesto against this kind of intolerance could be written and published somewhere is that in the works? 

     Sheik    We have published a lot of articles we have published a lot of brochures we have published a lot of paper and many other organizations in the United States have published already before since many many years speaking about the religion of Islam how its peaceful and so on, but unfortunately these things might not be, you know these facilities are not so finance is not so strong so what ever we can reach we have already given but might be many people didn’t get these brochures and flyers about the real.  

     Savage  No I understand completely so in other words your publications already state this, what I am suggesting and certainly there is no attempt on my part coheres anyone to do it, I think it would be a superb idea for the leading figures of Islam in the world to take a full page ad in America’s major newspapers with such a manifesto, maybe it would go a long way to take some these young children off the path of violence. 

     Sheik    I agree with you that, I think that’s what now a days there are many authority figures around the world especially from Egypt especially Saudi Arabia and many other countries they took that initiative and they already produced articles and papers that Islam condemn that and they spoke and they wrote it as the highest authority in their countries and it is on the website on many websites and its been circulated in many Arab countries and Muslim countries. 

     Savage  Well Sheik I won’t keep you longer nor will I press you any further your probably being deluged with requests because you are the voice of sanity and moderation frankly that we desperately need to hear and I know the strain must be awesome on you right now because there aren’t many people speaking out as you are, you’re an expert in Islamic law you hold a law degree I believe in Islamic jurist prudence. 

     Sheik    Yeah.

     Savage  And you are authorized to give Fatwa’s or legal rulings which is also very important, and you have also written reports on the Jihad and things of that nature but you are an American citizen and if we ever needed the words of peace we need them today Sheik and I thank you so much for being a guest on the Savage Nation and I just wanna say Alechem Salam to you. 

     Sheik    Thank you thank you. Salam Alechem.