Jihad
:
More than 109 verses in
Qur'an exhort all Muslims to
violent jihad,
without exception,
against unbelievers,
until all unbelievers are converted, subdued (dhimmitude) or dead. It is not necessary that Westerners go on Crusade, invade Iraq, or support Israel, in order to justify jihad. Allah commands violent jihad in any case and as a universal and timeless command. Examples of
Qur'anic violent verses:
- 9:29--"Fight those who do not believe in Allah..."
- 9:73--"O Prophet! Strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them."
- 9:111: "Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah's way, so they slay and are slain."
- 9:123--"O you who believe! Fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness."
- 9:5--"...slay the idolaters wherever you find them..."
Main point: The Muslim requires no justification for violent jihad or oppression of the unbeliever other than the
existence of the unbeliever. And Allah
commands violent jihad.
144,000 Adult U.S. Muslims Sympathetic to Terror:
Pew Research about U.S. Muslims reveals
8% of U.S. Muslims
believe violence and suicide bombings against civilians are sometimes or often justified. With 1.8 million adult Muslims in the U.S., this translates to
144,000 Muslim adult terror supporters in the U.S
. See
http://www.people-press.org/2011/08/30/muslim-americans-no-signs-of-growth-in-alienation-or-support-for-extremism/.
Jihad Keys to Heaven:
The
Qur'an is explicit: Being slain in battle (ex. including using a suicide vest) against the
unbeliever is the
ONLY way to
guarantee entrance into Paradise (4:74, 3:167). Other exhortations to jihad and violence against
the unbeliever include: 2:244, 2:216, 3:56, 3:151, 4:76, 4:89, 5:33, 8:39, 8:67, 8:65, 9:38-39,17:16, and 33:60-62, 48:17, 66:9, 4:95.
Peaceful Islam:
The first two-thirds of the
Qur'an (the
peaceful Qur'an) were revealed to Mohammad during the 13 years he preached in Mecca. This material is the source of the oft-quoted passages:
5:32: "...whoever kills a soul... - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely,"
and 2:256: "There shall be no compulsion in religion." Sadly, the concept of
abrogation (see below) replaces these peaceful verses with the
violent Qur'anic verses Allah revealed to Mohammad in Medina.
Abrogation:
Abrogation explains Jihad. Jihad is based upon the violent
Qur'anic verses revealed to Mohammad in Medina. The earlier peaceful verses are
abrogated, i.e. replaced by the violent verses. Notably, not all Muslim clerics and imams endorse the concept of abrogation. For details, see:
Abrogation, by David Burkay, Middle East Quarterly, 2007, Vol 14: No 4, pp. 3-11. [url=http://www.meforum.org/1754/peace-or-jihad-abrogation-in-islam]http://www.meforum.org/1754/peace-or-jihad-abrogation-in-islam[/url].
Mohammad, from preacher to warlord:
Mohammad was born in 570 and died in 632. Mohammad received his first vision when he was 40 years old. He preached in Mecca for 13 years, winning about 100 converts. Eventually, he slandered the Meccans; they exiled him to Medina, 200 miles to the north. Mohammad became involved in politics in Medina. He received increasingly violent revelations in Medina, Allah commanding he and his followers to violence against unbelievers, including terror, murder, assassination, torture, rape, slaughter of women and children, slavery, sex slaves, relations with children, theft, subjugation, and empire-building. Eventually Mohammad became a hugely successful warlord in Medina. By the time of his death in 632 Mohammad had converted everyone in Arabia to Islam. Unfortunately, Allah instructs
all Muslims that Mohammad is the
most excellent example (of a human being) and commands Muslims to pattern their lives upon Mohammad. All Muslims are guided to imitate
all of Mohammad's behaviors, including the warlord behaviors.
Islamic Empire:
Mohammad's companions and followers conquered almost all of the Eastern Roman, Far East and Persian Empires in only about one hundred years, from Spain and southern France, to north Africa, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, much of India, China and Southeast Asia. Notably, the Roman Empire and contiguous areas were
Christian and had been Christian for
300 years before they fell to Islam. Significantly, and as counterpoint to the various "Golden Ages" of Islam, the Christian Roman Empire, at the time it was conquered by Islam, was at the height of culture, sophistication, literacy, and scientific advancement of Western Civilization.
The Defensive Crusades:
The Crusades (1095 and on) were a
reaction by the West to
400 years of Islamic conquest of Christian lands, in particular the destruction of 300,000 churches, in1071, by the Muslim Ottoman Empire.
Islamic Reform:
Islam Reform Movements usually fail because the
Qur'an is not "inspired"--it is
literal. Accordingly, "reform" is essentially impermissible. Worse than this, mere
discussion of reform is considered criticism of Islam--which carries the death penalty--literally--just ask Charlie Hebdo.
Sharia Law
:
Sharia Law is based upon the
three texts, e.g. the
Qur'an,
Sira and
Hadith, and as noted these three texts are
all based upon Allah's literal commands and Mohammad's words and deeds. Most important: Islam is far more than a religion. It is a political, military, legal, economic, and social system controlling every single aspect of life. Islamic Sharia Law codifies all these aspects of Islam.
Fundamental Sharia:
The shorthand version of Sharia Law is
perfect imitation of Mohammad. The
Qur'an commands the Muslim to do whatever Mohammad did. The
Qur'an celebrates Mohammad as the "exalted standard of character" (68:4), and "an excellent example to follow" (33:21). The problem is Mohammad's "excellent example" includes
all of Mohammad's behaviors, i.e. the raping and pillaging stuff.
Some Sharia Particulars:
Sharia Law exhorts subjugation of women (beatings, forced sex, mandated compliance for wives - 4:34), and
requires the
death penalty for free speech - 33:57, 33:61 (criticizing or satirizing Islam, Allah or his Prophet), apostasy, 4:89, (leaving Islam), and adultery.
Reliance of the Traveler provides a good review of Sharia Laws.
Answering the Charge of "Racism" when one criticizes Islam:
The charge is preposterous. Muslims are of all races and ethnicities in the world. There is no Muslim "race." In fact, Indonesians are the largest ethnic group of Muslims in the world--not Arabs. Only 20% of Muslims live in Arab countries; and, only 50% of Arab-Americans are Muslim. True.
Charge of Islamophobia:
The charge is preposterous. Phobia means "extreme or irrational fear." Healthy fear of radicalized Muslims is extremely rational--even for Muslims. Unfortunately, since Muslims do not wear labels identifying them as either "moderate" or "radicalized," some portion of fear of
all Muslims is neither extreme nor irrational. As horrible as this sounds--generic mild fear of all Muslims - it is nonetheless rational given Paris, San Bernardino, and the 25,000 Islamic terrorist attacks since 9/11.
Muslims ARE the Most Frequent Victims of Muslim Violence:
Muslims are the most frequent victims of Muslim violence. This is because more "devout" Muslims define less devout Muslims as hypocrites--who are always to be killed. ISIS demonstrates this principle well. Moreover, ISIS also highlights the delight with which Sunni Muslims kill Shia Muslims as readily as they kill Christians.
"Muslim backlash," i.e. "backlash" against Muslims:
The ruling class interminably raises fears of "a Muslim backlash" after every instance of terror. In almost every case, no such attacks materialize. In fact, in the U.S., Jews are the targets of hate crimes and hate speech 400% more than Muslims. Where is the similar outrage about hate towards Jews? Nowhere. Hypocrisy? Certainly.
Jews:
The percentage of Jew-hating material in the
Qur'an,
Sira and
Hadith (8%) is
greater than in Hitler's
Meinkampf (7%).
Muslim Women: Gender Inequality in Islam:
Islam is the most misogynistic religion on earth. See Sharia Law. Women are required to comply with all demands of their husbands, including forced sex (rape), beatings, stoning for adultery, and the requirement of four male witnesses of a rape to prove a woman has been raped. Absent the four witnesses, a Muslim woman who reports rape is often arrested for adultery.
Taqiyya--the Doctrine of "Sacred Deception":
The
Qur'an permits/commands Muslims to lie/dissimulate for the purpose of deceiving unbelievers, or hostile Muslims (Sunni to Shia, etc.), about their true intentions. Reportedly practiced mostly by Shia Muslims. (
Qur'an16:106, 3:28, 9:3, 40:28).
Shia/Sunni Islam:
Sunni (90% of Muslims) and Shia (10% of Muslims) believe members of the other group to be "heretics," for the most part. More or less, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq are Sunni and Iran and parts of Syria are Shia.
Violence in the Old Testament vs. New Testament:
Violence in the Old Testament is "
descriptive," i.e. informs us about horrible violence commanded
of Jews, by God, prior to Christ. In contrast, the
Qur'an's violent passages are "
prescriptive," i.e. exhorting Muslims to violence
now and into the future. Consequently, the attempts to conflate historic Christian violence with contemporary Muslim violence are illegitimate.
The Great Dilemma:
The great dilemma, then, the defining dilemma, is there is no way to differentiate between the one in ten American Muslims who support terror against U.S. citizens vs. the nine in ten Muslims who merely wish to peacefully live their lives and contribute to U.S. society. Actually, it is often hard for Muslims to differentiate between these two groups as well.
So, until peaceful vs. dangerous Muslims wear name-tags (abhorrent idea of course--think Holocaust) indicating allegiance to one or the other of the peaceful/dangerous categories, the non-Muslim unbeliever is in a bind: Should the unbeliever treat
all Muslims as potentially dangerous (knowing one in ten might be), risking alienating
all Muslims, or treating
all Muslims as "good person" Muslims, i.e. regular guys and gals, risking exposing themselves to the next suicide attack? (Ex. San Bernardino)?
No Clear Answer:
Clearly, there is no clear answer. But just as clearly, if we unbelievers fail to understand Islam and the history of Islam, if we fail to understand the crucial nature of our dilemma (see above), neither we, nor the Muslim Community, can productively address how we might best live together productively.
End Material:
For more about Islam, see the written material and You Tube videos of: Robert Spencer, David Wood, Bill Warner, Pamela Geller, Geert Wilders, Mark Steyn, Brigitte Gabrielle, Nonie Darwish, Nigel Farage, Paul Weston, and...even Bill Mahr. And, certainly, there are many excellent Muslim apologists to be found on You Tube as well.
One of the most colorful, charming, and frightening apologists for Islam, is cleric Anjem Choudary. Anjem is one of the few clerics willing to speak plainly about Islam, about his support for terror initiatives, and to do so on America's largest media networks. For example, on the
Sean Hannity Show, he told U.S. anti-Islamist Pamela Geller he was certain any Islamic court would find her guilty of slandering the Prophet, and sentence her to death--and that he, personally, believed she deserved the death penalty as well. And, he said all of this, directly to Pamela, and to Sean, with his characteristic impish grin, warm smile, and deadly sincerity.
Finally, of course, one can gain greater understanding of Islam by reviewing its three foundational texts, the
Qur'an, Sira, and
Hadith. Fortunately, a man named Dr. Bill Warner has developed a comprehensive series on these texts, as well as condensed versions of each.
Challenge:
If you can recall most of the foregoing information about Islam you will know more Islam than 90% of the non-Muslims who speak about Islam on TV, and 99% more than your friends and neighbors. Perhaps you should read "Essential Islam" one more time, and share it with your family and friends.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. -- George Santayana
Islam: The word, Islam, means submission, not peace. (Yes, Bush got it wrong). Allah commands believers to submit but also to compel unbelievers into submission.
