Talk:Ismail al-Faruqi

Old comments

Hi Menj, I read this page for the first time this evening, after being directed here from Anti-Zionism. I was a bit concerned with the section that says Faruqi said Zionism was a disease. Did he actually say that, and if so, could you put the entire quote from him in quotation marks? The reason I wonder about it is that it's very extreme, and to judge by the book reviews I've read of his work, does not sound like him. For example, he is quoted as saying: "The relation of Islam to Judaism is one of sympathy, even identity." I don't know anything about him and therefore can't correct it myself, but I hope you'll consider finding a quote. Slim 09:43, Nov 26, 2004 (UTC)

Hi SlimVirgin...yes, Faruqi really did say that (in fact the comments were harsher). If you wish to have a quote from the cited book ("Islam and the Problem of Israel"), I will definitely put it up in the article soon. And true, Faruqi was sympathetic to Judaism, but he distinguishes it from Zionism. In fact, he considers Zionism as a perverted travesty of Judaism. Best regards. Menj 04:18, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

---

I came here from Wikipedia:Peer Review, & my impression of this article is that it does not do a satisfactory job of explain why al-Faruqi is important. Obviously he embraced or advocated certain ideas, but these are not explained (beyond a nod towards Arabism, which is an unfinished link). And apparently his ideas were controversial, otherwise people would not suspect his death had a political angle. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon problem on Wikipedia: there are a lot of biographies on Wikipedia of philosophers or intellectuals which either lean too heavily on jargon to explain the subject's ideas -- or omit any discussion of them entirely.

I notice in earlier drafts that you do attempt to explain his philosophical/political beliefs, but later removed them. I hope you did so because you are reworking the material into a form you are more satisified with. -- llywrch 18:38, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Yes, I pulled down those paragraphs because I wanted to rework/add more details to them. Perhaps you could go through the previous Wiki edits and tell me whether they are relevant or what should be worked on? Even though I have never met him, I feel as though I am close to him, and working on this article is my small contribution to see that his efforts are remembered. Thanks. Menj 04:18, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Death

This section needs to be cleaned. The text is mostly taken from a Nov. 1986 article in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs [1]. Apparently in 1987 a Joseph Young, a Muslim convert, was convicted of the killing. Here's a link that mentions it. [2] Javadane 17:40, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

The 2001 Pottstown Mercury report link given by Javadane is now a dead link. There is exactly one useful Wayback Machine archive of it, and it's at [3]. This says that "Young was diagnosed as a paranoid psychotic", who "testified he had been 'picking up messages from voices'" and "had delusions that the prophet Mohammed ordered him to kill the Faruqis". It also states that, after being twice sentenced to death, "Young died of natural causes in the State Correctional Institution at Greene in February 1996 at the age of 50". I have no problems with the newspaper's neutrality, so feel it should be a reliable source. Are there others? yoyo (talk) 02:21, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Yes, and I've found a better source: Philadelphia's The Inquirer, available online at [philly.com], has a contemporary article reporting Young's conviction and sentencing, which also makes it clear that the jury weren't convinced by his defence claims of insanity. The source is available at [4] and I've archived it at [5]. Now we can update the article on Isma'il al-Faruqi. yoyo (talk) 02:55, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Also this from the Allentown, Pennsylvania Morning Call during the 1987 trial: Confession Details Stalking, Slaying Of Islamic Scholars and today's archive of it: [6]. yoyo (talk) 03:16, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

I found the following link that Young killed al-Faruqui because he was having homosexual relations with some of his students. http://pointdebasculecanada.ca/ismail-faruqi-muslim-leader-in-montreal-1958-1967-and-founder-of-the-main-muslim-brotherhood-research-institute-in-the-west-1981/

After an investigation by the local police and the FBI, Joseph Louis Young was arrested, tried and eventually convicted for the Faruqis’ murders. He was not a Jew but an American Muslim. He killed Faruqi because he suspected him of having homosexual relationships with his Malaysian students at Temple University.

At the beginning of Young’s trial, the prosecutor read a confession that he made to police shortly after his arrest. The judge in the murder trial ruled that it was acceptable as evidence.

In the first day of testimony in Montgomery County Court, Philadelphia Police Detective Carol Keenan read an eight-page, typewritten confession signed by Young when he was arrested Jan. 16.

According to his confession, Young, also known as Yusuf Ali, killed the Faruqis because he “found out that Dr. Faruqi and his wife were having homosexual relations with the Malaysian students.”

(…) Homosexuality is “a very degrading act for Muslims,” Young said in the confession.

(…) Young’s statement said he was prompted to commit the slayings by Ghulam Nabi Fai, acting president of the Muslim Student Association, a national organization. Young was sentenced to death in 1987 and died in prison of natural causes in 1996.

See Also NY Times article on Young's arrest: http://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/18/us/black-muslim-charges-in-slaying-of-islamic-scholar-and-his-wife.html Article on Young's Death: http://pointdebasculecanada.ca/inside-the-capitol-joseph-louis-young-dies-of-natural-causes-on-death-row/

96.241.36.49 (talk) 04:23, 2 August 2016 (UTC)

translator?

is this the same Ismail al-Faruqi who translated Hayat Muhammad ("The Life of Muhammad") by Musammad Husayn Haykal... http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/MH_LM/default.htm -- "Translated by Isma'il Razi A. al-Faruqi"

Yes, it is. Menj 17:24, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Inline citations & bio box

This article needs Infobox person and more inline citations. Ahendra (talk) 17:00, 20 November 2021 (UTC)

Sourcing

@Ibn Juferi: Regarding your edit summary here: if there is no other source that confirms the claim being made, that is not evidence of the reliability of that source - it is evidence that the claim should be excluded. See WP:BURDEN. Nikkimaria (talk) 00:01, 24 June 2024 (UTC)

I have already given my reasons. Just because FindAGrave is regarded as "unreliable" does not mean that it should be 100% excluded when there is something useful from it. No one is going to write an article journal or a book on the location of a grave. Ibn Juferi (talk) 00:21, 24 June 2024 (UTC)

Then it won't be included, because the belief that it is "useful" does not overcome the requirement for it to be reliably sourced. Nikkimaria (talk) 01:05, 24 June 2024 (UTC)