How do you know that you are a bad Muslim?

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Nov 7, 2021 at 15:11

Dear Dr. Pipes, we have all heard the phrase 'bad muslim'. Bad Muslims are those who commit terrorist acts in cities and kill men, women, and children. Everyone else is a good Muslim. But, borrowing a term from the finance industry, killing innocent people in terrorist acts is a 'trailing indicator' of the Muslims' badness. It indicates only after the act of badness has already occurred.

What is a 'leading indicator' of Islamic badness? This question is pertinent because it is really easy for bad Muslims to look good: they just have to publicly support democracy, the constitutions(s), local laws, and interfaith dialogs and they will look as cool as any one else.

Recently the entire elected town council of a little town in Michigan became Muslim because all elected council members were Muslims by religion. This town is a land-locked Muslim-majority region surrounded by Detroit from most sides. All these elected people vouched for the US constitution and democracy. How do we know that none of these people is a bad Muslim? How do we know that any Muslim is going to turn out to be a bad Muslim?

I will hazard guessing a few potential leading indicators of Islamic badness. My list certainly will be an incomplete list. I might be missing many other indicators. I say that you are probably a bad Muslim if:

1. You demand democracy in non-Muslim societies while saying nothing about lack of democracy in Islamic nations.

2. You consider Islamic nations legitimate and think that in the lands occupied by Muslims, they have a right to rule over non-Muslims.

3. You think that separation of church and state is a principle designed for non-Muslims.

4. You think Islamic violence against non-Muslims is justified if non-Muslims do "mischief" (I am using the Islamic terminology when I use the word mischief).

5. You believe that Jews and other infidels are not worthy of true friendship and respect.

6. You vote in democratic elections as a voting block and not based on the merits of the issues.

7. You either talk about Islam's violent past with pride or ignore as if it never existed.

8. You believe that the Bible is a corrupted version of the God's word not just for you but also for others.

9. You think that a person should be judged by their Islamic vs non-Islamic religion more than by their character and deeds.

10. You believe that Muslims have a right to establish their own private Caliphates everywhere they want to make one.

There are many other indicators of badness but they are more nuanced. These are the simple ones and if you check five or more of these, you may be a bad Muslim. Sorry.

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