Colonization by the West vs by Islam

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Aug 3, 2021 at 00:28

Dear Dr Pipes,

Debanjan Banerjee is not entirely wrong when he says that some of the prosperity and success that we see in the West is due to colonization. But, Islam also colonized. The difference is that West has something to show for its colonization (in terms of West's contribution to the fields of literature, arts, sciences, music, and economics) but Islam has nothing to show except murders, subjugation, never ending wars, and violence. Plus, the West learned from her mistakes but Islam is doctrinally committed to not learning and not changing.

Coming back to Mr Banerjee's original point that Western model will not work in Islamic regions, I will stick to my point: the fault is not with the Western model. The fault is with Islam.

No model can be called entirely Western or Eastern or Buddhist or Christian or whatever. We are creating a syncretic culture which adopts ideas from all over and respects every one. Islam is the only exception. It adopts from no one, respects nothing, and tries to destroy everything (just check what ISIS did to the Yezidis). My message to Mr Banerjee and all other Islam-sympathizers is that they should read Nadia Murad's memoirs. Their eyes might open a bit.

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".