For those who don't know, the Paris Saint German (PSG) football club is majority owned by the government of Qatar, which coincidentally owns Al-Jazeera TV, which used Hamas terrorists in Gaza as journalists.
In fact, the journalist in question kept an Israeli hostage (Noa Argamani) kidnapped by Hamas in his home.
The Qatari government was also one of the major investors, along with Iran, in the terrorist infrastructure built in Gaza by Hamas.
Qatar is also currently the LARGEST donor to major American universities, and this explains the recent violent university protests in the United States.
The Qatari government's sole objective is to use the Islamic strategy of manipulating the international community through the Muslim Arabs in Israel and Gaza, who in the recent past were called "Palestinians" in an attempt to destroy the legitimacy of the sovereign nation of Israel.
Muslims are also using entertainment to spread lies and hatred against the nation of Israel, trying to make the real aggressors, the pseudo-Islamic “Palestinian” governments, look like victims.
Anyone who has studied the history of the Roman Empire knows that “Palestine” is a pejorative term created by Emperor Hadrian to belittle the Jews and delegitimize the ancient nation of Israel during the Roman conquests.
At the time, the name of Jerusalem was changed to Aelia Captolina and even Roman coins were minted with the description Judea Capta.
At that time, there were no Palestinian Arabs, much less Muslims, anywhere on planet Earth.
If Palestine exists, then it must be disinfected and freed from Islamic terrorism.
By Lance Walnau Islamic terrorists dressed in Nigerian military uniforms assaulted a college inside the country Sunday, gunning down dozens of students as they slept in their dorms and shot others trying to flee, witnesses say. "They started gathering students into groups outside, then they opened fire and killed one group and then moved onto the next group and killed them. It was so terrible," one surviving students, told Reuters. 40 innocent students were killed and 30 other civilians a few days later. It is so shocking we almost become desensitized. Islam, more than any other religious ideology of the 21st century, breeds death.
I think the world was shocked on 9-11 by the discovery that the new face of terrorism could be clean-shaven, College educated and from an upper middle class family. The new terrorist is not just the wild-eyed man with a beard; it can also be the guy that looks like a hedge fund manager. Osama Bin Laden and many of his co-conspirators were raised with wealth, education and privilege. The same shocking realization came home again after the Boston Marathon bombing. Many were bewildered to discover that two educated immigrant brothers attending school in Boston developed this ghastly plot. So if economics and education is not a deterrent to terrorism, what is?
There is one virtually sure fired way to destroy a terrorist – raise him in a house filled with love. Let him experience an emotional bond with a caring parent who teaches healthy conflict resolution. I have never heard of a terrorist who could resist this type of assault. Daniel Goleman, best selling author in the field of Emotional Intelligence points out that a common characteristic of killers is the absence of “empathy,” the ability to feel what others feel. This sort or capacity to “care” is the byproduct of caring families.
Those who are indifferent to the suffering they cause to others fit the description Paul gave of people in the last days who are “without natural affection”…Peter called them ”brute beasts.” As the “love of many will grow cold” in the last days, you can be certain, the collapse of healthy families and loving parents is the root cause. It is not "money" or "education" that changes the human heart, but love. Without empathy, men can become better educated killers with money.
If you want to kill an adult terrorist, love the child terrorist before he becomes one.
For their part, Western liberals would do well not to sacrifice critical thinking to the god of political correctness, or look for reasons to bring other religion down to the level of Islam merely to avoid the existential truth that this it is both different and dangerous.
There are just too many Muslims who take the Quran literally... and too many others who couldn't care less about the violence done in the name of Islam.
The
Quran:
Quran
(2:191-193) - "And slay them wherever ye find them, and
drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution [of
Muslims] is worse than slaughter [of non-believers]... but
if they desist, then lo! Allah is forgiving and merciful. And fight
them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah." The historical
context of this passage is not defensive warfare,
since Muhammad and his Muslims had just relocated to Medina and were not under
attack by their Meccan adversaries. In fact, the verses urge offensive
warfare, in that Muslims are to drive Meccans out of their own city (which they later
did). The use of the word "persecution" by some Muslim
translators is thus disingenuous (the actual Muslim words for persecution -
"idtihad" - and oppression - a variation of "z-l-m" - do
not appear in the verse). The actual Arabic comes from "fitna"
which can mean disbelief, or the disorder that results from unbelief or
temptation. Taken as a whole, the context makes clear that violence is
being authorized until "religion is for Allah" -
ie. Unbelievers desist in their unbelief.
Quran
(2:244) - "Then fight in the cause of Allah, and know
that Allah Heareth and knoweth all things."
Quran
(2:216) - "Fighting
is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye
dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad
for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not." Not only does this
verse establish that violence can be virtuous, but it also contradicts the myth
that fighting is intended only in self-defense, since the audience was
obviously not under attack at the time. From the Hadith, we know that
this verse was narrated at a time that Muhammad was actually trying to motivate
his people into raiding
merchant caravans for loot.
Quran
(3:56) - "As to those who reject faith, I will punish
them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have
anyone to help."
Quran
(3:151) - "Soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of
the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had
sent no authority". This speaks directly of polytheists,
yet it also includes Christians, since they believe in the Trinity (ie. what
Muhammad incorrectly believed to be 'joining companions to Allah').
Quran
(4:74) - "Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell
the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he
slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward." The martyrs of Islam are unlike the early Christians, led meekly to the
slaughter. These Muslims are killed in battle, as they attempt to inflict
death and destruction for the cause of Allah. Here is the theological
basis for today's suicide bombers.
Quran
(4:76) - "Those who believe fight in the cause of
Allah…"
Quran
(4:89) - "They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as
they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from
their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But
if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them
Wherever
ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their
ranks."
Quran
(4:95) - "Not equal are those believers who sit (at home)
and receive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with
their goods and their persons. Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who
strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home).
Unto all (in Faith) Hath Allah promised good: But those who strive and fight
Hath He distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special
reward,-" This passage criticizes "peaceful"
Muslims who do not join in the violence, letting them know that they are less
worthy in Allah's eyes. It also demolishes the modern myth that
"Jihad" doesn't mean holy war in the Quran, but rather a spiritual
struggle. Not only is the Arabic word used in this passage, but it is
clearly not referring to anything spiritual, since the
physically disabled are given exemption. (The Hadith reveals the context
of the passage to be in response to a blind man's protest that he is unable to
engage in Jihad and this is reflected in other translations of the verse).
Quran
(4:104) - "And be not weak hearted in pursuit of the
enemy; if you suffer pain, then surely they (too) suffer pain as you suffer
pain..." Is pursuing an injured and retreating enemy really an
act of self-defense?
Quran
(5:33) - "The punishment of those who wage war against
Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this,
that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should
be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a
disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a
grievous chastisement"
Quran
(8:12) - "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who
disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of
them" No reasonable person would interpret this to mean a
spiritual struggle.
Quran
(8:15) - "O ye who believe! When ye meet those who
disbelieve in battle, turn not your backs to them. (16)Whoso on that day
turneth his back to them, unless maneuvering for battle or intent to join a
company, he truly hath incurred wrath from Allah, and his habitation will be
hell, a hapless journey's end."
Quran
(8:39) - "And fight with them until there is no more
fitna (disorder, unbelief) and religion should be only for
Allah" Some translations interpret "fitna" as
"persecution", but the traditional understanding of this word is not
supported by the historical context (See notes for 2:293, also). The Meccans were simply refusing Muhammad access to their city during
Haj. Other Muslims were allowed to travel there - just not as an armed group,
since Muhammad had declared war on Mecca prior to his eviction. The
Meccans were also acting in defense of their religion, since it was Muhammad's
intention to destroy their idols and establish Islam by force (which he later
did). Hence the critical part of this verse is to fight until "religion
is only for Allah", meaning that the true justification of violence
was the unbelief of the opposition. According to the Sira (Ibn
Ishaq/Hisham 324) Muhammad further
explains that "Allah must have no rivals."
Quran
(8:57) - "If thou comest on them in the war, deal with
them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, that haply they may
remember."
" Nigerian Christian - Persecution, destruction of churches and killing of Christians are commom"
Quran
(8:59-60) - "And let not those who disbelieve suppose
that they can outstrip (Allah's Purpose). Lo! they cannot escape. Make
ready for them all thou canst of (armed) force and of horses tethered, that
thereby ye may dismay the enemy of Allah and your enemy."
Quran
(8:65) - "O Prophet, exhort the believers to
fight..."
Quran
(9:5) - "So when the sacred months have passed away, then
slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them
and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up
prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them."
According
to this verse, the best way of staying safe from Muslim violence is to convert
to Islam (prayer (salat) and the poor tax (zakat) are among the
religion's Five Pillars).
This popular claim that the Quran only inspires
violence within the context of self-defense is seriously challenged by this
passage as well, since the Muslims to whom it was written were obviously not
under attack.
Had they been, then there would have been no waiting period
(earlier verses make it a duty for Muslims to fight in self-defense, even
during the sacred months).
The historical context is Mecca after the
idolaters were subjugated by Muhammad and posed no threat. Once the
Muslims had the power, they violently evicted those unbelievers who would not
convert.
Quran
(9:14) -"Fight them, Allah will punish them by your
hands and bring them to disgrace..."
Quran
(9:20) - "Those who believe, and have left their homes
and striven with their wealth and their lives in Allah's way are of much
greater worth in Allah's sight. These are they who are triumphant." The
Arabic word interpreted as "striving" in this verse is the same root
as "Jihad".
The context is obviously holy war.
Quran
(9:29) -"Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the
Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His
Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the
People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel
themselves subdued."
"People of the Book" refers
to Christians and Jews. According to this verse, they are to be violently
subjugated, with the sole justification being their religious status. This was one of the final "revelations" from Allah and it set in
motion the tenacious military expansion, in which Muhammad's companions managed
to conquer two-thirds of the Christian world in the next 100 years.
Islam
is intended to dominate all other people and faiths.
Quran
(9:30) - "And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah; and
the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of
their mouths; they imitate the saying of those
who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!"
Quran
(9:38-39) - "O ye who believe! what is the matter with
you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling
heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But
little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter. Unless ye
go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your
place." This is a warning to those who refuse to fight,
that they will be punished with Hell.
Quran
(9:41) - "Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and
strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for
you if ye but knew." See also the verse that follows (9:42)
- "If there had been immediate gain (in sight), and the journey easy, they
would (all) without doubt have followed thee, but the distance was long, (and
weighed) on them" This contradicts the myth that Muslims are to
fight only in self-defense, since the wording implies that battle will be waged
a long distance from home (in another country and on Christian soil, in this
case, according to the historians).
Quran
(9:73) - "O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers
and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil
is the destination."
Dehumanizing those who reject Islam,
by reminding Muslims that they are merely firewood for Hell, makes it easier to
justify slaughter.
It also explains why today's devout Muslims have
little regard for those outside the faith.
Quran
(9:88) - "But the Messenger, and those who believe with
him, strive and fight with their wealth and their persons: for them are (all)
good things: and it is they who will prosper."
Quran
(9:111) - "Allah hath purchased of the believers their
persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise):
they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in
truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Quran: and who is more faithful to
his covenant than Allah? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded:
that is the achievement supreme."
Quran
(9:123)- "O you who believe! fight those of the
unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness."
Quran
(17:16) - "And when We wish to destroy a town, We send
Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress
therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter
destruction."
Note that the crime is moral transgression,
and the punishment is "utter destruction."
(Before ordering the
9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden first issued Americans an invitation to
Islam).
Quran
(18:65-81) - This parable lays the theological groundwork for honor
killings, in which a family member is murdered because they brought shame to
the family, either through apostasy or perceived moral indiscretion.
The
story (which is not found in any Jewish
or Christian source) tells of Moses encountering a man with "special
knowledge" who does things which don't seem to make sense on the surface,
but are then justified according to later explanation.
One such action is
to murder a youth for no apparent reason (74).
However, the wise man
later explains that it was feared that the boy would "grieve" his
parents by "disobedience and ingratitude."
He was killed so
that Allah could provide them a 'better' son.
Note: This is one reason
why honor killing is sanctioned by Sharia. Reliance of the Traveler
(Umdat al-Saliq) says that punishment for murder is not applicable when a
parent or grandparent kills their offspring (o.1.1-2).)
Quran
(21:44) - "We gave the good things of this life to these
men and their fathers until the period grew long for them; See they not that We
gradually reduce the land (in their control) from its outlying borders? Is it
then they who will win?"
Quran
(25:52) - "Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers, but
strive against them with the utmost strenuousness..."
"Strive against" is Jihad - obviously not in the personal
context. It's also significant to point out that this is a Meccan verse.
Quran
(33:60-62) - "If the hypocrites, and those in whose
hearts is a disease, and the alarmists in the city do not cease, We verily
shall urge thee on against them, then they will be your neighbors in it but a
little while. Accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with
a (fierce) slaughter."
This passage sanctions the
slaughter (rendered "merciless" and "horrible murder" in
other translations) against three groups: Hypocrites (Muslims who refuse to
"fight in the way of Allah" (3:167)
and hence don't act as Muslims should), those with "diseased hearts"
(which include Jews and Christians 5:51-52),
and "alarmists" or "agitators who include those who merely speak
out against Islam, according to Muhammad's biographers.
It is worth
noting that the victims are to be sought out by Muslims, which is what today
terrorists do is.
If this passage is meant merely to apply to the city of
Medina, then it is unclear why it is included in Allah's eternal word to Muslim
generations.
Quran
(47:3-4) - "Those who reject Allah follow vanities, while
those who believe follow the truth from their lord. Thus does Allah set
forth form men their lessons by similitude. Therefore when you meet in
battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome
them, then make (them) prisoners,"
Those who reject Allah
are to be subdued in battle.
The verse goes on to say the only reason
Allah doesn't do
the dirty work himself is in order to test the faithfulness of
Muslims.
Those who kill pass the test.
"But if it had been
Allah's Will, He could certainly have exacted retribution from them (Himself);
but (He lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But those who
are slain in the Way of Allah,- He will never let their deeds be lost."
Quran
(47:35) - "Be not weary and faint-hearted, crying for
peace, when ye should be uppermost (Shakir: "have the upper
hand") for Allah is with you,"
Quran
(48:17) - "There is no blame for the blind, nor is there
blame for the lame, nor is there blame for the sick (that they go not forth to
war). And whoso obeyeth Allah and His messenger, He will make him enter Gardens
underneath which rivers flow; and whoso turneth back, him will He punish with a
painful doom." Contemporary apologists sometimes claim that
Jihad means 'spiritual struggle.' Is so, then why are the blind, lame and
sick exempted? This verse also says that those who do not fight will
suffer torment in hell.
Quran
(48:29) - "Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those
with him are hard (ruthless) against the disbelievers and merciful among
themselves"
Islam is not about
treating everyone equally. There are two very distinct standards that are
applied based on religious status. Also the word used for 'hard' or
'ruthless' in this verse shares the same root as the word translated as
'painful' or severe' in verse 16.
Quran
(61:4) - "Surely Allah loves those who fight in His
way" Religion of Peace, indeed! The verse explicitly
refers to "battle array" meaning war. This is followed by (61:9): "He
it is who has sent His Messenger (Mohammed) with guidance and the religion of
truth (Islam) to make it victorious over all religions even though the
infidels may resist." (See next verse, below).
Infidels who resist Islamic rule are to be fought.
Egyptin Youth praying for their Nation - October 2012
Quran
(61:10-12) - "O You who believe! Shall I guide you to a
commerce that will save you from a painful torment. That you believe in Allah
and His Messenger (Muhammad ), and that you strive hard and fight in the
Cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives, that will be better for you, if
you but know! (If you do so) He will forgive you your sins, and admit you into
Gardens under which rivers flow, and pleasant dwelling in Gardens
of 'Adn - Eternity ['Adn (Edn) Paradise], that is indeed the
great success."
This verse refers to physical battle in order to
make Islam victorious over other religions (see above). I It uses the
Arabic word, Jihad.
Quran
(66:9) - "O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and
the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless
journey's end." The root word of "Jihad" is used
again here. The context is clearly holy war, and the scope of violence is
broadened to include "hypocrites" - those who call themselves Muslims
but do not act as such. From the Hadith:
Bukhari
(52:177) - Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be
established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew
will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so
kill him."
Bukhari
(52:256) - The Prophet... was asked whether it was permissible
to attack the pagan warriors at night with the probability of exposing their
women and children to danger. The Prophet replied, "They (i.e. women and
children) are from them (i.e. pagans)." In this command,
Muhammad establishes that it is permissible to kill non-combatants in the
process of killing a perceived enemy. This provides justification for the
many Islamic terror bombings.
Bukhari
(52:65) - The Prophet said, 'He who fights that Allah's Word,
Islam, should be superior, fights in Allah's Cause. Muhammad's
words are the basis for offensive Jihad - spreading Islam by force. This
is how it was understood by his companions, and by the terrorists of
today.
Abu
Dawud (14:2526) - The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Three
things are the roots of faith: to refrain from (killing) a person who utters,
"There is no god but Allah" and not to declare him unbeliever
whatever sin he commits, and not to excommunicate him from Islam for his any
action; and jihad will be performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as
a prophet until the day the last member of my community will fight with the
Dajjal (Antichrist)
Abu
Dawud (14:2527) - The Prophet said: Striving in the path of
Allah (jihad) is incumbent on you along with every ruler, whether he is pious or impious
Muslim
(1:33) - the Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to
fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that
Muhammad is the messenger of Allah
Bukhari
(8:387)- Allah's Apostle said, "I have been ordered to fight
the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but
Allah'. And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and
slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us
and we will not interfere with them except legally."
Muslim
(1:30) - "The Messenger of Allah said: I have been
commanded to fight against ..He (the Messenger of Allah) did that and said:
There is another act which elevates the position of a man in Paradise to a
grade one hundred (higher), and the elevation between one grade and the other
is equal to the height of the heaven from the earth. He (Abu Sa'id) said: What
is that act? He replied: Jihad in the way of Allah! Jihad in the way of
Allah!"
Muslim
(20:4696) - "the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon
him) said: 'One who died but did not fight in the way of Allah nor did he
express any desire (or determination) for Jihad died the death of a
hypocrite.'"
Muslim
(19:4321-4323) - Three separate hadith in which Muhammad shrugs over
the news that innocent children were killed in a raid by his men against
unbelievers. His response: "They are of them (meaning
the enemy)."
Saudi Arabian Youth
Muslim
(19:4294) - "When the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him)
appointed anyone as leader of an army or detachment he would especially exhort
him... He would say: Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight
against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war... When you meet
your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If
they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from
doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you,
accept it from them and desist from fighting against them... If they refuse to
accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from
them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help
and fight them."
Tabari 7:97The morning
after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared, "Kill any Jew who falls
under your power."
Ashraf was a poet, killed by Muhammad's
men because he insulted Islam. Here, Muhammad widens the scope of his
orders to kill. An innocent Jewish businessman was then slain by his
Muslim partner, merely for being non-Muslim.
Tabari 9:69"Killing
Unbelievers is a small matter to us" The words of Muhammad,” people so long as
they do not declare that there is no god but Allah."
Bukhari
(11:626)- [Muhammad said:] "I decided to order
a man to lead the prayer and then take a flame to burn all those, who had not
left their houses for the prayer, burning them alive inside their homes."
Muslim
(1:149) - "Abu Dharr reported: I said: Messenger of
Allah, which of the deeds is the best? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: Belief in
Allah and Jihad in His cause..."
400 thousand muslins students at the largest University of the world in Egypt
Tabari 17:187"'By
God, our religion (din) from which we have departed is better and more correct
than that which these people follow. Their religion does not stop them from
shedding blood, terrifying the roads, and seizing properties.' And they
returned to their former religion."
The words of a group of
Christians who had converted to Islam, but realized their error after being
shocked by the violence and looting committed in the name of Allah.
The
price of their decision to return to a religion of peace was that the men were
beheaded and the woman and children enslaved by the caliph Ali.
Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 327:- “Allah said, ‘A prophet must slaughter before
collecting captives. A slaughtered enemy is driven from the land. Muhammad, you
craved the desires of this world, its goods and the ransom captives would
bring. But Allah desires killing them to manifest the religion.’”
Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 990: - Lest anyone think that cutting off someone's
head while screaming 'Allah Akbar!' is a modern creation, here is an account of
that very practice under Muhammad, who seems to approve.
Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 992: -"Fight everyone in the way of
Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah." Muhammad's
instructions to his men prior to a military raid.
Saifur Rahman, The Sealed Nectar p.227-228 - "Embrace
Islam... If you two accept Islam, you will remain in command of your country;
but if your refuse my Call, you’ve got to remember that all of your possessions
are perishable. My horsemen will appropriate your land, and my Prophet hood
will assume preponderance over your kingship."
One of several
letters from Muhammad to rulers of other countries. The significance is
that the recipients were not making war or threatening Muslims. Their
subsequent defeat and subjugation by Muhammad's armies was justified merely on
the basis of their unbelief.
Other
than the fact that Muslims haven't killed every non-Muslim under their domain,
there is very little else that they can point to as proof that theirs is a
peaceful, tolerant religion. Where Islam is dominant (as in the Middle
East and Pakistan) religious minorities suffer brutal persecution with little
resistance. Where Islam is in the minority (as in Thailand, the
Philippines and Europe) there is the threat of violence if Muslim demands are
not met. Either situation seems to provide a justification for religious
terrorism, which is persistent and endemic to Islamic fundamentalism.
The
reasons are obvious and begin with the Quran. Few verses of Islam's most
sacred text can be construed to fit the contemporary virtues of religious
tolerance and universal brotherhood. Those that do are earlier
"Meccan" verses which are obviously abrogated by later ones.
This is why Muslim apologists speak of the "risks" of trying to
interpret the Quran without their "assistance" - even while claiming
that it is a perfect book.
Far
from being mere history or theological construct, the violent verses of the
Quran have played a key role in very real massacre and genocide. This
includes the brutal slaughter of tens of millions of Hindus for five centuries
beginning around 1000 AD with Mahmud of Ghazni's bloody conquest. Both he
and the later Tamerlane (Islam's Genghis Khan) slaughtered an untold number
merely for defending their temples from destruction. Buddhism was very
nearly wiped off the Indian subcontinent. Judaism and Christianity met
the same fate (albeit more slowly) in areas conquered by Muslim armies,
including the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Europe, including today's
Turkey. Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of a proud Persian people is
despised by Muslims and barely survives in modern Iran.
So
ingrained is violence in the religion that Islam has never really stopped being
at war, either with other religions or with itself.
Muhammad
was a military leader, laying siege to towns, massacring the men, raping their women, enslaving their
children, and taking the property of others as his own. On several
occasions he rejected offers of surrender from the besieged inhabitants and
even butchered captives. He actually inspired his
followers to battle when they did not feel it was right to fight, promising
them slaves and booty if they did and threatening them with Hell if they did
not. Muhammad allowed his men to rape traumatized women captured in
battle, usually on the very day their husbands and family members were
slaughtered.
It
is important to emphasize that, for the most part, Muslim armies waged aggressive campaigns,
and the religion's most dramatic military conquests were made by the actual
companions of Muhammad in the decades following his death. The early
Islamic principle of warfare was that the civilian population of a town was to
be destroyed (ie. men executed, women and children taken as slaves) if they defended
themselves. Although modern apologists often claim that Muslims are only
supposed to attack in self-defense, this is an oxymoron that is flatly contradicted by the accounts of
Islamic historians and others that go back to the time of Muhammad.
Consider
the example of the Qurayza Jews,
who were completely obliterated only five years after Muhammad arrived in
Medina. Their leader opted to stay neutral when their town was besieged
by a Meccan army that was sent to take revenge for Muhammad's deadly
caravan raids. The tribe killed no one from either side and even
surrendered peacefully to Muhammad after the Meccans had been turned
back. Yet the prophet of Islam had every male member of the Qurayza
beheaded, and every woman and child enslaved, even raping one of the captives
himself (what Muslim apologists might refer to as "same day marriage").
One
of Islam's most revered modern scholars, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, openly
sanctions offensive Jihad: "In the Jihad which you are seeking,
you look for the enemy and invade him. This type of Jihad takes place only
when the Islamic state is invading other [countries] in
order to spread the word of Islam and to remove obstacles
standing in its way."
Elsewhere, he notes: "Islam
has the right to take the initiative…this is God’s religion and it is for the
whole world. It has the right to destroy all obstacles in the form of
institutions and traditions … it attacks institutions and traditions to release
human beings from their poisonous influences, which distort human nature and
curtail human freedom. Those who say that Islamic Jihad was merely for the
defense of the 'homeland of Islam' diminish the greatness of the Islamic way of
life."
The
widely respected Dictionary of Islam defines
Jihad as "A religious war with those who are unbelievers in the
mission of Muhammad. It is an incumbent religious duty, established in the
Qur'an and in the Traditions as a divine institution, and enjoined specially
for the purpose of advancing Islam and of repelling evil from Muslims…[Quoting
from the Hanafi school, Hedaya, 2:140, 141.], "The destruction of the
sword is incurred by infidels, although they be not the first aggressors,
as appears from various passages in the traditions which are generally received
to this effect."
Muhammad's
failure to leave a clear line of succession resulted in perpetual internal war
following his death. Those who knew him best first fought to keep remote
tribes from leaving Islam and reverting to their preferred religion (the Ridda
or 'Apostasy wars'). Then, within the closer community, early Meccan
converts battled later ones. Hostility developed between those immigrants
who had traveled with Muhammad to Mecca and the Ansar at Medina who had helped
them settle in. Finally there was a violent struggle within Muhammad's
own family between his favorite wife and favorite daughter - a jagged schism
that has left Shias and Sunnis at each other’s throats to this day.
The largest comtenporay prayer meeting in the history of Egypt
The
strangest and most untrue thing that can be said about Islam is that it is a
Religion of Peace.
If every standard by which the West is judged and
condemned (slavery, imperialism, intolerance, misogyny, sexual repression,
warfare...) were applied equally to Islam, the verdict would be devastating.
Islam never gives up what it conquers, be it religion, culture, language or
life.
Neither does it make apologies or any real effort at moral
progress.
It is the least open to dialogue and the most
self-absorbed. It is convinced of its own perfection, yet brutally shuns
self-examination and represses criticism.
In downtown Cairo, near Tahrir Square, sits the largest Evangelical Church in the Middle East, Kasr El Dobara, with 7,000 members, having seven weekend services
This
is what makes the Quran's verses of violence so dangerous.
They are given
the weight of divine command. While Muslim terrorists take them as
literally as anything else in their holy book, and understand that Islam is
incomplete without Jihad, moderates offer little to contradict them - outside
of opinion. Indeed, what do they have? Speaking of peace and love
may win over the ignorant, but when every twelfth verse of Islam's holiest book
either speaks to Allah's hatred for non-Muslims or calls for their death,
forced conversion, or subjugation, it's little wonder that sympathy for
terrorism runs as deeply as it does in the broader community
- even if most Muslims personally prefer not to interpret their religion in
this way.
Although
scholars like Ibn Khaldun, one of Islam's most respected philosophers,
understood that “the holy war is a religious duty, because of the
universalism of the Muslim mission and (the obligation to) convert everybody to
Islam either by persuasion or by force", many other Muslims are
either unaware or willfully ignorant of the Quran's near absence of verses that
preach universal non-violence. Their understanding of Islam comes from
what they are taught by others. In the West, it is typical for believers
to think that their religion must be like
Christianity - preaching the New Testament virtues of peace, love, and
tolerance - because Muslims are taught that Islam is supposed to be superior in every way.
They are
somewhat surprised and embarrassed to learn that the evidence of the Quran and
the bloody history of Islam are very much in contradiction to this.
Others
simply accept the violence.
In 1991, a Palestinian couple in America was
convicted of stabbing their daughter to death for being too Westernized.
A family friend came to their defense, excoriating the jury for not
understanding the "culture", claiming that the father was merely
following "the religion" and saying that the couple had to
"discipline their daughter or lose respect." (source).
In 2011, unrepentant Palestinian terrorists, responsible for the brutal murders of
civilians, women and children explicitly in
the name of Allah were treated to a luxurious "holy pilgrimage" to
Mecca by the Saudi king - without a single Muslim voice raised in protest.
For
their part, Western liberals would do well not to sacrifice critical thinking
to the god of political correctness, or look for reasons to bring other
religion down to the level of Islam merely to avoid the existential truth that
this it is both different and dangerous.
There are just too many Muslims who
take the Quran literally... and too many others who couldn't care less about
the violence done in the name of Islam.
