Jesse Jackson Recognizes Boko Haram is motivated by Shariah, Why Can’t Media Matters?

Even as some in Hollywood are beginning to pay attention to the threat posed by shariah law, the Soros-funded Media Matters for America (MMA) is choosing to blame the “right wing”, rather than Boko Haram themselves, for the negative impression of Islam created by Boko Haram’s vile threats of enforced sexual slavery and child marriage for hundreds of kidnapped Christian girls.

Not included in MMA’s report are such “right-wing” notables as Jesse Jackson, who wrote,

“The kidnappers of the girls, Boko Haram, pose a growing threat. Violence in the isolated and impoverished northeast is spreading. Boko Haram indicts the government for corruption and violence. It promises to enforce Sharia law across the territories [Emphasis added]. To date this year, according to United Nations figures, Boko Haram has killed more than 1,500 people. It is well funded, well organized and deadly. It will take significant international assistance and coordination to root it out.”

Media Matters cited a number of high profile Muslim rejections of Boko Haram’s kidnapping effort, including by groups which, as already noted in this space, have signed off on Sharia manuals like Reliance of the Traveller, which include Islamic legal approval for sex slavery and capturing women and children as prizes in war. They derided a quality piece by the Daily Caller’s Neil Munro, when he noted that when offered an opportunity to formally declare takfir against Boko Haram (that is, declare them apostates because of their “un-Islamic” activities of kidnapping, slavery and murder) Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups like CAIR and others declined.

The reality is that, despite what MMA would like us to believe, such denunciations are pro forma only, as Munro’s aggressive journalism proved. They are not based on an Islamic legal disagreement, but merely a tactical one. Boko Haram’s actions are embarrassing to the Islamic Movement and so must be disapproved of, as one writer on a jihadist forum recognized:

“Know that not everything that is permitted in Islam is proper to do at all times and in any manner without considering its advantages and disadvantages (emphasis added). Know that imprisonment and enslavement resulting from war between Muslims and infidels are part of reciprocity, and that this was the norm among peoples in ancient times. Today, however, as the act of enslavement between the nations of the world has ceased to exist, and the exchange of prisoners has become the custom, we as Muslims should not initiate this toward our enemy, since it has grave repercussions. Preventing harm takes precedence over making gains, according to famous jurisprudential principle. We do not know what advantage for Islam and the Muslims will be gained if you do this…” (Translation from MEMRI:)

This is a rejection of a tactic based on how it creates a perception problem. It is not a denunciation on an Islamic legal basis. Ironically despite this, there was still fierce debate on the topic from among the online-jihadists, many of whom called for enslaving more Christian girls.

By  muzzling discussion on how Boko Haram operates in adherence to it’s stated threat doctrine, shariah, Media Matters is  reinforcing the same tired and incorrect analysis which led to the failure of the State Department under Hillary Clinton to label Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organization despite evidence of Al Qaeda ties.