Raymond Ibrahim (born 1973) is an American author, translator, columnist, critic of Islam and a former librarian. His focus is Arabic history and

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

, and current events. He is the author of four books, ''Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam'' (Post Hill Press, 2022), ''Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West'' (

Da Capo Da capo (, also , ) is an Italian musical term that means "from the beginning" (literally, "from the head"). It is often abbreviated as D.C. The term is a directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space, and thus is a ...

, 2018), ''Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians'' ( Regnery, 2013) and ''The Al Qaeda Reader'' ( Doubleday, 2007).

Early life and education

Ibrahim was born in the United States to

Copt Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are Co ...

ic immigrants from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

."In Their Own Words; Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri explain their bloody actions."
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', October 7, 2007 He is fluent in Arabic and English. Ibrahim studied at

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

, where he wrote a master's thesis under

Victor Davis Hanson Victor Davis Hanson (born September 5, 1953) is an American commentator, classicist, and military historian. He has been a commentator on modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics for ''The New York Times'', ''Wall Street Journal'', ...

on an early military encounter between Islam and Byzantium based on medieval Arabic and Greek texts. Ibrahim also took graduate courses at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Center for Contemporary Arab Studies The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., United States is an academic center "distinguished by its emphasis on study of the contemporary Arab world and its rigorous Arabic language training." Part of t ...

and studied toward a PhD in medieval Islamic history at Catholic University.

Career

Ibrahim was previously an

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

specialist for the Near East section of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

, and the associate director of the

Middle East Forum The Middle East Forum (MEF) is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who serves as its president. MEF became an independent non-profit organization in 1994. It publishes a journal, the ''Middle East Quarterly''. A ...

. He is currently the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the

Gatestone Institute Gatestone Institute is a far-right think tank known for publishing anti-Muslim articles. It was founded in 2008 by Nina Rosenwald, who serves as its president. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former national security advisor, J ...

and the Judith Friedman Rosen Writing Fellow at the

, an American conservative think tank. 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". Ibrahim has appeared on and been interviewed by

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...

, C-SPAN,

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, and

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

, and "regularly lectures, briefs governmental agencies, provides expert testimony for Islam-related lawsuits, and testifies before Congress." He has been identified as part of the

counter-jihad Counter-jihad, also spelled counterjihad and known as the counter-jihad movement, is a self-titled political current loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, street movements and campaign organisations all linked by apocalyptic bel ...

movement.

Reception

An article Ibrahim wrote on

taqiyya In Shi'ism, ''Taqiya'' or ''Taqiyya'' ( ar, تقیة ', literally "prudence, fear")R. STROTHMANN, MOKTAR DJEBLI. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "TAKIYYA", vol. 10, p. 134. Quote: "TAKIYYA "prudence, fear" ..denotes dispensing with th ...

, which was commissioned and published by '' Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst'' on September 26, 2008, was later characterized by another author in ''Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst'' as being "well-researched, factual in places but ... ultimately misleading". Ibrahim responded to this charge in his rebuttal, "Taqiyya Revisited: A Response to the Critics.

Publications

* * * *
"How Taqiyya Alters Islam's Rules of War"
''

Middle East Quarterly The Middle East Forum (MEF) is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who serves as its president. MEF became an independent non-profit organization in 1994. It publishes a journal, the '' Middle East Quarterly''. ...

'', Winter 2010, pp. 3–13
"Are Judaism and Christianity as Violent as Islam?"
''

'', Summer 2009, pp. 3–12
"An Analysis of Al-Qa'ida's Worldview: Reciprocal Treatment or Religious Obligation"
''

Middle East Review of International Affairs ''Middle East Review of International Affairs'' (MERIA) was a quarterly, peer-reviewed, journal on Middle East issues founded by the late Barry Rubin and edited by Dr. Jonathan Spyer. The journal is no longer active; the last published issue wa ...

'', Vol. 12, No. 3, September 2008
"Studying the Islamic Way of War"
'' National Review Online'', September 11, 2008
"Islam's Doctrines of Deception"
'' Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst'', The Middle East Forum, September 26, 2008
"Jesus and Mohammad, Version 2.0"
'' National Review Online'', September 10, 2007
"The Two Faces of Al Qaeda"
''

The Chronicle of Higher Education ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals (staff members and administrators). A subscription is required to re ...

'', Vol. 54, Issue 4, p. B3, September 21, 2007
"Islam gets concessions; Infidels get conquered"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', December 5, 2006

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahim, Raymond 1973 births Living people American critics of Islam Middle Eastern studies in the United States American people of Coptic descent American people of Egyptian descent California State University, Fresno alumni Catholic University of America alumni Christian critics of Islam Counter-jihad activists