[Khaled Abou El Fadl] and Radical Chic
Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

Catherine Mangu-Ward skillfully exposes Khaled Abou El Fadl's thinking in "The Muddle of the Moderate Muslim" (Dec. 22, 2003).

But one reference to me—"Calling Abou El Fadl a moderate, [Daniel Pipes] says, is like making a distinction 'between a moderate Nazi and a radical Nazi'"—is ambiguous. Adding a few words makes my meaning clear: "Calling Abou El Fadl a moderate Islamist as opposed to a radical Islamist [emphasis mine] ... is like making a distinction 'between a moderate Nazi and a radical Nazi.'"

Daniel Pipes
Philadelphia, PA