No difference

Submitted by Tony Iveson (United Kingdom), Jun 23, 2007 at 11:25

There is no distinct Islamism - the religious and the political in Islam are synonymous. Ever since Mohammed invented Islam as a hotchpotch between Judaism, Christianity and earlier Arab beliefs, he linked it with Arab imperialism. Islam was nothing more than a tool to spread Arab power throughout the world.

Nothing has changed - it can't change. The Koran is supposedly the revealed word of God and cannot be changed, except by God (see below). It is full of instructions to kill and maim non-muslims. It also tells muslims that they can lie to non-muslims to expand the borders of Islam and to protect themselves. Some suras (chapters/verses) in the Koran are kinder but they have for the most part been abrogated (cancelled) by later suras. This is supposed to be Allah improving on what he has already revealed to Mohammed.

This is rather odd - Allah is supposedly omnipotent, omnipresent and everlasting throughout time. In a period of 20 years in which he supposedly revealed his word to Mohammed, he kept changing his mind. Funny that the old suras/instructions were inconvenient to Mohammed in his military expansion throughout Arabia, but the new, replacement ones enabled him to prosecute his military campaign more effectively. For example earlier suras dealt more gently with non-muslims, the later ones instructed muslims to kill them. At best in Islam, those who do not not convert are required to pay the Jeziyah (a tax). Those who refuse to pay are killed.

Do not think that this is old stuff and things have changed. Islam cannot change. Any attempts by muslims to change or modernise are dealt with severely and are seen as challenging the faith and apostasy (denying Mohammed is the prophet of Allah) - death is the usual outcome.

When muslims are in western societies, they use liberalism and democracy to object if they perceive their faith is being challenged. In Saudi Arabia, it is illegal to attempt to convert a muslim to another religion, it is illegal to build churches, it is illegal to attempt to evangelise Christianity.

... The West needs to wake up to the fact that there is no moderate Islam. The Koran permits muslims to soft pedal when they are in a minority - they are encouraged to fit in and spread peacefully. When they are stronger, they are encouraged to become bolder until they can drop the pretence that they were after total power all along. Islam is not a true religion, it is a form of totalitarianism that has lasted longer than any other form and we are all in big trouble if we do nothing about it.

Mohammed said that Mecca and the Kabba (a meteorite they all scamper round) would never suffer and would always be there for muslims. This is supposedly a promise made by their Allah. It has been suggested in the past that this could be disproved finally by flattening Mecca with nuclear bombs. Because the West is liberal and democratic, no-one takes this seriously in the West But the islamic world should not assume that it will never change its mind. Another 9/11 would make many more westerners consider it as a viable option. After all, it would not be the first time! The West will only be pushed so far. Watch this space.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".