Americans for Intelligence Reform

Brad Johnson, President, and retired CIA Senior Officer and Chief of Staff. Insight into current events from an intelligence angle.

Barry Webb, retired NSA Arabist, author and senior fellow at AIR. Origins of Islam part 1

https://youtu.be/zmPksdveyTs

For the entire transcript of this interview, please continue reading

0:00:00.060,0:00:08.099
very web Arabist translated from arabic

0:00:03.470,0:00:14.280
former NSA analyst on matters

0:00:08.099,0:00:15.750
middle-eastern you have some angles if

0:00:14.280,0:00:18.210
you if you liked or some to some new

0:00:15.750,0:00:21.300
perspectives on the origins of islam

0:00:18.210,0:00:23.010
that i guess from what i saw are not

0:00:21.300,0:00:24.810
things people normally think of since

0:00:23.010,0:00:27.660
you know there’s this sort of standard

0:00:24.810,0:00:31.250
legend about this guy who had a vision

0:00:27.660,0:00:34.079
and spoke to angels what can you tell us

0:00:31.250,0:00:35.280
well the reason i do this series well i

0:00:34.079,0:00:42.780
think we can call it something like

0:00:35.280,0:00:44.640
origins and oddities of islam is you

0:00:42.780,0:00:47.760
know they they one thing they tell you

0:00:44.640,0:00:49.980
when you study quranic arabic from an

0:00:47.760,0:00:53.699
arabic-speaking muslims they tell you

0:00:49.980,0:00:56.309
that the quran is nothing but the pure

0:00:53.699,0:00:58.469
arabic okay which is a flat-out lie

0:00:56.309,0:01:04.500
because a lot of long words you know

0:00:58.469,0:01:06.890
from other cultures was maybe yeah parts

0:01:04.500,0:01:08.939
of it were yeah because didn’t exist

0:01:06.890,0:01:11.070
well yeah i mean there’s always been

0:01:08.939,0:01:13.170
arabic i mean yeah arabic is probably

0:01:11.070,0:01:15.210
closer to the original Oporto semitic

0:01:13.170,0:01:19.200
language than any other so many points

0:01:15.210,0:01:20.970
are just okay still have the on itself

0:01:19.200,0:01:23.460
has a lot of you know these lone words

0:01:20.970,0:01:26.070
so that’s one big lie they tell you the

0:01:23.460,0:01:29.909
other big lie they tell you is that the

0:01:26.070,0:01:33.329
quran in its entirety was always

0:01:29.909,0:01:37.290
pre-existing in heaven as coexistent

0:01:33.329,0:01:38.520
with allah himself okay so what we’re

0:01:37.290,0:01:41.070
going to do in this area says

0:01:38.520,0:01:44.970
demonstrate a home illustrate a whole

0:01:41.070,0:01:49.200
bunch of different aspects of islam that

0:01:44.970,0:01:50.850
were brought into islam from other

0:01:49.200,0:01:52.799
surrounding cultures use most of the

0:01:50.850,0:01:54.840
older cultures but that evolved

0:01:52.799,0:01:58.020
naturally here on earth and we’re not

0:01:54.840,0:02:00.719
coexistent with with all up in heaven so

0:01:58.020,0:02:04.320
today i want to start with the very word

0:02:00.719,0:02:06.329
of allah itself because it appears

0:02:04.320,0:02:11.730
hundreds of times in the quran and it’s

0:02:06.329,0:02:14.140
at the most basic entity of all in in

0:02:11.730,0:02:17.000
all of islam

0:02:14.140,0:02:19.070
so to give it the audience a little bit

0:02:17.000,0:02:21.170
of background when I first started

0:02:19.070,0:02:24.170
studying Arabic I also was studying

0:02:21.170,0:02:27.110
Biblical Hebrew for a few years and I

0:02:24.170,0:02:30.650
had a couple years of katie.in.kenya

0:02:27.110,0:02:32.750
form which is a kind of the when shake

0:02:30.650,0:02:36.590
young system of writing using ancient

0:02:32.750,0:02:38.360
Mesopotamia indicating was a related

0:02:36.590,0:02:40.910
language you know it’s a somatic is

0:02:38.360,0:02:43.250
related to Hebrew and Arabic and when

0:02:40.910,0:02:45.590
you study Akkadian you also learned a

0:02:43.250,0:02:48.620
little Sumerian because they adopted a

0:02:45.590,0:02:51.350
lot of the Sumerian words and and

0:02:48.620,0:02:54.350
deities whatnot and one of the deities

0:02:51.350,0:02:58.250
they adopted was the god Enlil so here’s

0:02:54.350,0:03:02.000
where we want to start because because

0:02:58.250,0:03:05.060
the word and means heaven in Sumerian it

0:03:02.000,0:03:09.880
also means star and they use kind of a

0:03:05.060,0:03:12.920
star-shaped symbol to represent it and

0:03:09.880,0:03:13.430
it means also our deity our God in

0:03:12.920,0:03:16.850
heaven

0:03:13.430,0:03:20.450
and I’m saying in and star so in

0:03:16.850,0:03:24.730
Sumerian mythology Emmylou was the under

0:03:20.450,0:03:29.690
the offspring of a primal God called an

0:03:24.730,0:03:32.360
okay but over time he evolved into

0:03:29.690,0:03:34.760
becoming kind of a Supreme God even

0:03:32.360,0:03:36.650
Sumerians believed that he was even the

0:03:34.760,0:03:38.989
God of foreign lands he was on his way

0:03:36.650,0:03:42.709
to being almost at Universal God

0:03:38.989,0:03:44.840
although the Sumerians always had dozens

0:03:42.709,0:03:47.900
and dozens of other deities you know

0:03:44.840,0:03:52.730
gods this is not over the place but n

0:03:47.900,0:03:56.180
Leia was a big one now as someone that

0:03:52.730,0:04:00.320
was studying Arabic and Akkadian at the

0:03:56.180,0:04:02.360
same time I could not help but be struck

0:04:00.320,0:04:04.160
by the similarities linguistic

0:04:02.360,0:04:10.610
similarities between the Sumerian god

0:04:04.160,0:04:18.470
Enlil and the Arabic Allah and here’s

0:04:10.610,0:04:20.930
the way that this happened the when the

0:04:18.470,0:04:24.590
Acadie the Americas speaking Acadians

0:04:20.930,0:04:26.960
moved into Mesopotamia 2300 BC like I

0:04:24.590,0:04:27.780
said before they adopted the Sumerian

0:04:26.960,0:04:29.160
right

0:04:27.780,0:04:32.009
because they didn’t have a writing

0:04:29.160,0:04:34.550
system of their own and they adopt a lot

0:04:32.009,0:04:38.280
of the deities and a lot of the words

0:04:34.550,0:04:41.130
but in all of the Semitic languages

0:04:38.280,0:04:44.250
including Akkadian they believe that

0:04:41.130,0:04:49.800
there are certain consonants that are

0:04:44.250,0:04:56.190
weak the N is a weak consonant and so

0:04:49.800,0:04:59.539
we’ll say L now whenever you have a weak

0:04:56.190,0:05:01.199
consonant followed by a strong consonant

0:04:59.539,0:05:02.669
immediately followed by a strong

0:05:01.199,0:05:04.680
consulate that weak consonant will

0:05:02.669,0:05:08.250
alight into the strong consonant and

0:05:04.680,0:05:13.349
they double the the strong consonant in

0:05:08.250,0:05:15.630
pronunciation head in writing but now

0:05:13.349,0:05:17.520
here the word ended only have two weak

0:05:15.630,0:05:20.069
letters at the end and the L are both

0:05:17.520,0:05:24.000
weak well again according to the rules

0:05:20.069,0:05:25.949
of semitic grammar when you have two

0:05:24.000,0:05:29.009
weak vowels that are side by side

0:05:25.949,0:05:30.569
the first one will alight into the

0:05:29.009,0:05:33.270
second one so the second one then

0:05:30.569,0:05:38.490
actually becomes a stronger consonant

0:05:33.270,0:05:42.539
and then no not a diphthong you just

0:05:38.490,0:05:46.979
double the consonant and so Enlil then

0:05:42.539,0:05:51.210
becomes an Akkadian a little if you have

0:05:46.979,0:05:55.020
that sign that other pic I showed you of

0:05:51.210,0:05:56.789
how how Enlil became a little there

0:05:55.020,0:06:00.659
would be helpful for the for the

0:05:56.789,0:06:04.349
audience so there’s something somatic

0:06:00.659,0:06:08.130
speaking Acadians pronounced it a lil or

0:06:04.349,0:06:11.219
all because again in these ancient

0:06:08.130,0:06:13.080
languages they didn’t distinguish the

0:06:11.219,0:06:14.940
vowels so that were almost

0:06:13.080,0:06:18.330
interchangeable it could be either Enlil

0:06:14.940,0:06:25.020
or are an allele and in Akkadian either

0:06:18.330,0:06:27.270
a little or a little now some of the

0:06:25.020,0:06:32.370
command McKenna night was Semitic

0:06:27.270,0:06:37.469
dialects like Hebrew Phoenician etc this

0:06:32.370,0:06:39.089
L bill or a lil became ill and those who

0:06:37.469,0:06:40.560
have studied Biblical Hebrew who are

0:06:39.089,0:06:44.930
familiar with the

0:06:40.560,0:06:48.810
Donelle the pearl to that in Hebrew is

0:06:44.930,0:06:51.210
Elohim with an H and you also see the

0:06:48.810,0:06:52.889
singular in several places in the Old

0:06:51.210,0:06:54.860
Testament in there in the Hebrew form

0:06:52.889,0:06:59.130
you see Allah

0:06:54.860,0:07:04.530
hello like Allah you too shall I am the

0:06:59.130,0:07:08.220
God of Jerusalem now this word did not

0:07:04.530,0:07:11.730
exist in Arabic until they learned it

0:07:08.220,0:07:13.200
from either the Jews or other Semitic

0:07:11.730,0:07:16.710
speakers that had learned it from the

0:07:13.200,0:07:18.990
Akkadians because in I’ve looked at a

0:07:16.710,0:07:22.860
lot of the inscriptions of in

0:07:18.990,0:07:30.180
pre-islamic Arabia and the deities they

0:07:22.860,0:07:33.240
have our coghill and Musa and things

0:07:30.180,0:07:37.620
like that but you never see Allah not

0:07:33.240,0:07:39.840
until the Jews came in in their suits me

0:07:37.620,0:07:43.440
Aramaic speaking Jews who used the term

0:07:39.840,0:07:46.260
adore eloheem and Allah came in in this

0:07:43.440,0:07:51.270
accessory BC when the king of Babylon

0:07:46.260,0:07:52.620
made Tama his capital so the word under

0:07:51.270,0:07:56.669
what I’m trying to say here is that the

0:07:52.620,0:07:58.650
word Allah that you know the Arabs think

0:07:56.669,0:08:00.900
is the the title for their God and they

0:07:58.650,0:08:02.640
think was always pre-existing in heaven

0:08:00.900,0:08:05.340
you know before the universe is created

0:08:02.640,0:08:08.910
is so term that they actually learned

0:08:05.340,0:08:10.380
from Jews my gosh the Jews who in turn

0:08:08.910,0:08:12.500
had learned it you know from older

0:08:10.380,0:08:17.070
cultures like the Acadians and

0:08:12.500,0:08:21.419
ultimately from the Sumerians so again

0:08:17.070,0:08:23.460
that shows you what you know that that

0:08:21.419,0:08:26.789
kills two of the lives that Islam must

0:08:23.460,0:08:29.090
tell all the time and well you know

0:08:26.789,0:08:31.020
there’s a commonly held belief now

0:08:29.090,0:08:35.719
that’s going to point forward through

0:08:31.020,0:08:40.709
this story that when Muhammad attacked

0:08:35.719,0:08:43.740
Mecca Mecca had the Kaaba which had I

0:08:40.709,0:08:46.230
don’t know 300 and change deities

0:08:43.740,0:08:48.660
statues of deities and he smashed them

0:08:46.230,0:08:50.980
all but one of the significant ones was

0:08:48.660,0:08:53.829
a lot which was the moon god

0:08:50.980,0:08:56.920
which is why the Muslims use depressive

0:08:53.829,0:09:00.399
moon as its symbol and that they were it

0:08:56.920,0:09:03.250
was a distortion of the God a lot sir is

0:09:00.399,0:09:05.139
there any connection there oh yeah there

0:09:03.250,0:09:09.790
might be I mean the our lab is obviously

0:09:05.139,0:09:12.399
a feminine of about law and of L and so

0:09:09.790,0:09:16.449
the banana or myself is probably

0:09:12.399,0:09:19.649
borrowed from the other Semitic speakers

0:09:16.449,0:09:26.980
you know North the Jews the Aramaic sand

0:09:19.649,0:09:28.149
phoenicians Acadians etc okay so that

0:09:26.980,0:09:30.790
makes a great deal of sense so it does

0:09:28.149,0:09:32.079
tie together yeah so it was like

0:09:30.790,0:09:35.250
everything else in Islam just

0:09:32.079,0:09:39.820
plagiarized and distorted to sue

0:09:35.250,0:09:42.370
Mohammad own personal game yes yeah

0:09:39.820,0:09:43.690
right yeah thanks very much I think we

0:09:42.370,0:09:46.540
should explore that more next time

0:09:43.690,0:09:49.329
because it looks to me like just about

0:09:46.540,0:09:53.399
everything in the Quran is trying to

0:09:49.329,0:09:57.519
convince adolescent boys to fight for

0:09:53.399,0:10:01.569
Mohammad to get more money more power

0:09:57.519,0:10:04.180
and more opportunity yes as a matter of

0:10:01.569,0:10:06.899
fact next week and the second edition of

0:10:04.180,0:10:11.529
this series the origins and oddities of

0:10:06.899,0:10:14.620
Islam I want to do the 72 virgins yes

0:10:11.529,0:10:17.260
because yes because it must be great to

0:10:14.620,0:10:19.060
promise things to people to fight for

0:10:17.260,0:10:21.160
you that they get after they get killed

0:10:19.060,0:10:24.060
let’s talk about that next week thank

0:10:21.160,0:10:24.060
you very much very well

0:10:52.410,0:10:55.549
[Music]

Share:

More Posts

Send Us A Message