Responding to 19 Lies About Muslims and Islam

A rapid fire rebuttal of disinformation and hate, using education and facts

Below is a vile Islamophobic post from MAGA Republican Randy Fine. Following that is the verbatim copy of a note I recently received. It is painful, ignorant, bigoted—and sadly—what many believe about Islam and Muslims. Why do they believe such hateful propaganda? In part, it’s due to the supremacist rantings of politicians, like Republican Congressman Randy Fine. Rep Fine has made anti-Muslim hate his mission and brand, and faces no accountability from his fellow Republicans. And for that matter, he’s faced no real accountability from Democrats either. Consider this recent post, spewing pure hatred and ignorance.

Perhaps in one respect he’s right. ”Western values” as Fine describes them include genocide of Indigenous Peoples, enslavement of African and Black people, suppression of women’s rights, grotesque antisemitism, and violent demonization of marginalized and minority communities—all things Islam finds abhorrent.

Yet, as you can see from Fine’s post, as of the moment I captured it, more than 1.1 million people had viewed it. Thus, his hate radicalizes the masses and mandates response. I’ve launched Islam Today specifically to combat this hate and disinformation, and instead uphold justice, education, and humanity. The good news is your support is making a difference! This week, Islam Today hit #5 Rising in the entire Substack Faith and Spirituality Channel. That is outstanding!

And that brings us to the below email, inspired no doubt by the likes of Randy Fine and his ilk. I have written detailed responses to many of the below allegations, and I encourage you to look through the paywall-free archives of Islam Today to read them at your leisure. For now, I respond with my patented strategy—present their claim and rebut with receipts, in a rapid fire manner. Let’s dive in!

The email from one Scott Buchannan began with this quip. Note, all misspellings are his:

1. Try researching the truth of his background instead of relying on liberal biased opinion narritive.

“His background” referred to Zohran Mamdani. I did research his background, as did millions of voters in New York City. And as a result, we have Mayor Mamdani.

2. Then turn the page to America’s founding established on the moral values and principles of Judea Christianity.

Apparently, Scott never heard of the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli, unanimously ratified by the US Senate, and signed by President Adams, which declares while addressing Morocco (a Muslim majority nation):

As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion, as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religious or tranquility of Musselmen, and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

“Not in any sense founded on the Christian religion” followed up by “has no enmity against Muslims.” A one-two punch against bigotry and hate if I ever saw one.

3. Muslims rebuke Christianity and worship a prophet that is a pedophile and murderer, instilling a one world religion of superiority.

As I’ve written before, Muslims are commanded to fight to protect Christians, not rebuke them. Prophet Muhammad (sa) famously wrote in his letter to the Christians at St. Catherine’s Monastery at Sinai:

This is a message from Muhammad (sa) ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them.

This is but an excerpt of the full powerful letter (linked above) demonstrating the immense love and respect Prophet Muhammad (sa) had for Christians globally. The vile allegations Scott then makes against the character of Prophet Muhammad (sa) are just that—vile and baseless. Also, Muslims worship God, not Prophet Muhammad (sa).

4. Christian churches of any denomination are opened to all.

The irony of this statement is that throughout American history, white supremacists denied enslaved Africans access to churches, still forced them to convert to Christianity, even then forced them to build their own Black churches so they wouldn’t be allowed to worship with white Christians, and even then passed actual legislation justifying the enslavement of Christians who are Black. And yet to this day the famous quip of Malcolm X and James Baldwin is heard nationwide, “The most segregated hour in America is high noon on Sunday.”

5. One cannot enter a Mosque unless they are converted to Islam.

This is not only false, but I’m reminded of the famous incident during the life of Prophet Muhammad (sa) when he invited Christians to visit him at his mosque. The Christians of Najran were his guests as they discussed matters of faith. When Sunday came and the Christians asked his leave to go find a church in which to worship, Prophet Muhammad (sa) invited them to worship as they please in his very mosque. And history records as such, that the Christians of Najran worshiped as Christians, without any compulsion or hinderance, at the personal invitation and protection of Prophet Muhammad (sa). All people are welcome in mosques, period. Therefore, let this be an open invitation to anyone reading this nationwide (worldwide?). If you’d like to attend a mosque, you are most welcome to attend. Attend as a person of any faith or no faith, any race, color, creed, or background. And if you want guidance on which mosque to attend, you can email me and I will get you connected locally.

6. Islam is under the authority of Shira law, not the authority of God.

I don’t know what “Shira law” is but I assume he meant Shariah Law. And “Shariah Law” also doesn’t make sense because—as we’ve discussed before—Shariah means law. If you’d like an over view of what Islamic Shariah actually is, kindly read it here.

7. Think back with an open and unbiased mind to realize that Obama brought Muslims into this country while our soldiers were fighting them in a war that should never have happened, started by Bush Jr., a long time family friend of the Obama’s.

So much to unpack here. I don’t know what Muslims Obama “brought into this country.” Also, the Afghan and Iraq Wars are now pretty well recognized as illegal, having killed 4.5-4.7 million Muslim civilians according to numerous studies. Also, I can honestly say I have never heard the claim that Bush and Obama conspired together to start the Afghan and Iraq Wars, yet here we are.

8. Obama banned the term Muslim Extremist, saying there was good Muslims and bad Muslims, yet he never brought them in as refugees or fleeing from persecution.

Fact Check: Obama did not ban speech, even incendiary hateful speech, because the First Amendment protects hate speech.

9. He proudly claimed to be a member of the Muslim Brotherhood before the public, aired from MSM news, now designated as a terrorist organization, which was unknown to anybody then.

Fact Check: Obama did no such thing, and Scott’s evidence of his claim is his meritless opinion.

10. He used millions, if not billions, of taxpayer money to build Mosque while starving the citizens with killing jobs in an attempt to drive us to government dependence.

Fact Check: No, he did not. Also, a billion dollar mosque would be pretty remarkable. I’m just imagining what a gold plated bidet would look like?

11. The very reason we have Palestinian supporters over supporting Americans in our Congress.

Fact Check: Palestinians in America are Americans. There’s no contradiction between the two. Moreover, people of conscience support not committing genocide in Gaza and likewise ensuring all people in America regardless of differentiating background have human dignity and human rights.

12. The reason we had Hammas supporting rioters allowed to riot on our university campuses, spitting on and burning our flag with theirs raised on our home soil, chanting death to America, death to Isreal, denying Jewish students the right to their paid for education.

Fact Check: There were no riots on university campuses. There were peaceful protests as protected by the First Amendment.

13. Our universities have been infiltrated with Muslim professors.

Fun Fact: The world’s oldest university is Al-Qarawiyyin University in Morocco, built by an African Muslim princess named Fatimah al-Fihri. Prophet Muhammad (sa) taught “Education is incumbent upon every Muslim male and every Muslim female.” He likewise taught, “Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.” I’m not actually going to try to refute this claim that “Muslim professors are infiltrating universities” because I love how he’s admitting that Muslims are well informed and love education. Oh the humanity!

14. Zohran’s role is to initate the take over of Shria law starting in the most prominent state, called the heartbeat of America, from marking their terrorists claim on 9/11.

Fact Check: Zohran Mamdani’s role is to serve as the democratically elected Mayor of New York City, which he won with record turnout.

15. Look how far they’ve advanced into the UK and filtering into Europe.

I looked. Muslims are still the vast minority in the United Kingdom and Europe.

16. BTW, did anyone notice the Muslim communities standing against the surprise slaughter of Isreal’s citizens, taking hostages and killing many with torture, or the rioting of Hammas supporters on our universities? Me nethier, nor any Democrat, come to think about it.

Fact Check: We did stand against 10/7 and my posts calling it a war crime are still up for everyone to read. And at that time I was running for office as a Democrat. Scott reminds me of the old Indigenous wisdom, “You cannot wake up someone pretending to be asleep.”

17. If that’s Islamophobia, then so be it.

Fact Check: Yes, creating fear and hate of Islam and Muslims through overt lies and bigotry is Islamophobia.

18. I will never turn from my faith in the one and ONLY Heavenly Father, Creator of all things, who sent His Only Begotten Son to save whosoever believes in Him.

And you’ll be happy to know that Islam and Prophet Muhammad (sa) specifically command Muslims to protect Christians from attack, and to ensure Christians can always worship as they wish without compulsion. It’s literally in writing per Islamic Shariah—the one you claim to fear so much.

19. I will gladly bow my head in prayer, exposing my neck to the sword if that’s my destined way to be with Him.

By all means bow your head and prayer, but also take action and read a book about Islam written by actual Muslims. Might I recommend Introduction to the Study of the Holy Qur’an? It’s linked here for free. Pray, then take action, as James the Righteous tells us in James 2, “Faith without works is dead.”

Conclusion—Fight Hate With Facts, Find Faith With Courage

This email isn’t unique. It’s not even rare. It’s a product of deliberate disinformation, religious chauvinism, and centuries-old bigotry—now supercharged by politicians like Randy Fine and echoed across social media platforms without consequence. What makes it dangerous isn’t just the ignorance—it’s the silence that often follows.

That’s why Islam Today exists: to disrupt that silence. To meet hate with truth. To combat lies with history. And to push back against fear with faith, justice, and receipts. Because if we don’t tell our own story, someone else—like Scott Buchanan—will do it for us. And they will lie.

Your support is the engine behind this work.

If you believe in confronting bigotry head-on, in correcting falsehoods about Islam, and in fostering real understanding through honest dialogue—then please subscribe, share this piece, and help us keep building.

An image screenshot of the message from Scott Buchanan.