A More Accurate Perspective

Submitted by Factual (United States), Dec 26, 2003 at 21:23

For several days now, this website has featured a diatribe of Yarun Nahar, (comment found at http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/7622) who emphatically proclaims that Islam is a religion of peace. It is "ridiculous", he says, to believe that the Koran perpetrates anything other than goodness. But for a moment, let's be politically direct, instead of politically correct.

Historically, Islam is the only religion to have created and sustained a theocratic empire by overrunning the Christians, the Jews, and the Hindus. Never in history do we hear of a Jewish Empire, or a Hindu Empire, or even a Vatican Empire. (We hear of "Christendom" as a collage of countries with predominantly Christian populations). Muslims overran Spain in 712 and maintained governance until 1492, when they were finally ousted by Spaniards. At the time of their departure from Spain, however, Muslims had conquered (and were still ruling) Egypt (the Mamiukes), India (the Moghuls), and Persia (the Abbasi). The Ottomans took Constantinople (originally a Christian city) by force in 1553. And far prior to that, they overran Israel to plant an illustrious mosque in the heart of Jerusalem, homeland of the Jews. Up until the 20th century, Hindus of India were struggling to oust their Muslim invaders, and to this day, maintain suspicious relations toward them. More wars have been conducted in the name of "Allah" than in the name of "Jehovah", and considering the reactionary measure of the Christian Crusades (to wrest Israel from foreign grasp), one cannot help but see a degree of justification for the Crusaders.

Very few pro-Islamic advocates have ever read the Koran, which is why Muslims are so capable of pulling the wool of the eyes of John Q. Public. The Koran itself teaches animosity and aggression to all non-Muslims. Here are some examples:

---66.9: "O Prophet! strive hard against the infidels and the hypocrites, and be hard against them; for their abode is hell; and evil is their resort."

---48.29: "Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah, and those with him are firm of heart against the infidels, compassionate among themselves".

---48.13: "Whoever does not believe in Allah and His Apostle, then surely WE have prepared burning fire for the infidels".


Although other religions may have perpetrated various atrocities throughout the span of history, the Old and New Testaments teach a message of love and reconciliation between God and the "unsaved". The Koran, conversely, is the only religious text to imbue its followers with the right to take vengeance on all unbelievers of Islam. Furthermore, the Hebrew-Christian Bible teaches that hell was created by God, who alone is responsible for judging the world. The Koran, as we previously saw, states that "WE (humans) have prepared burning fire for the infidels" (48.13). In other words, they are taking the divine agency of condemnation, into their own hands.

While members of various religions have similarly taken a kind of "vigilante" attitude for God, it is a simple fact that only the text of Koran actively encourages such behavior. It is also a simple fact that no other religion currently has a ring of terrorists.

In an age when hedonism is prized over truth, it is difficult to draw the line between toleration and intolerance. But one thing is certain: Muhammad did not ride a horse into heaven, as per Newtonian physics.

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