Center for the Study of Political Islam

OVERVIEW

The Center for the Study of Political Islam (CSPI) was founded in 2006 by Bill Warner (pen name of Bill French, born 1941), a former Tennessee State University physics professor with no formal training in law, Islam, or Sharia. The SPLC named Warner as one of a core group of 10 anti-Islam hardliners in the United States. CAIR lists CSPI as part of the "US-based Islamophobia network's inner core."

KEY FIGURES

Bill Warner / Bill French (Founder) — Former physics professor. His framework — that Islam should be analyzed as a political system rather than a religion — has been widely adopted in counter-jihad circles internationally.

Milan Podlipny — Co-founded the international branch (CSPII) with Warner in 2014, based in Brno, Czech Republic.

ACTIVITIES

Publishes books, self-study courses, and lectures characterizing Islam as primarily a "political ideology." Key publications include Sharia Law for Non-Muslims (2010). CSPII translates Warner's books worldwide. A Czech researcher noted that Warner's "apparently scientific approach impresses many people, including otherwise educated and politically influential personalities" but stated he should only be cited "as relevant source material for the study of contemporary Islamophobia."

NETWORK CONNECTIONS

• SPLC's 2011 list: Named alongside Frank Gaffney, Robert Spencer, and Pamela Geller as core anti-Muslim hardliners
• ACT for America, Jihad Watch, DHFC — Connected through speaking engagements and ideological alignment