Militant Islam

Submitted by Mitzi Alvin (United States), Aug 15, 2006 at 00:12

I recognize, Mr. Pipes, that you have been scrupulous about distinguishing "bad" Muslims from the "religion of peace." In my view, that is a distinction without a difference. Terms like "Islamofascist," "Islamist," "Jihadists," "Muslim terrorists," etc. suggest that true "Islam" is a benign, tolerant, irenic religion and only a small percentage of loonies are perverting its generally compassionate message.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The Koran is a text obsessed with punishment and its deity evinces the personality of a typical oriental despot. Mohammed was a petty war lord who used religious mouthings for the gaining of riches, self-aggrandizement, and naked power. One of his first major acts was to murder all the males of a Jewish tribe he had a quarrel with even after they sued for peace. His idea of tolerance was a form of blackmail in which he gave "protection" to those who paid off and subjected themselves to humiliation at the hands of his Muslim henchmen. His behavior set the pattern for traditional Islam that has waxed and waned in ferocity for 1400 years.

Islam was born by the sword, spread by the sword and maintained by the sword. The Koran states clearly that there are two communities, Dar al-Islam, the house of Islam, and Dar al-harb, the house of war. Muslims are adjured not to befriend "unbelievers" unless that friendship is a ruse meant as a tactical manoeuver. Peace is only for Muslims and only those Muslim who follow the injunction of "submission" to a theocratic oligarchy. Certainly, Most Muslims are not terrorists. But when they are not condoning Jihad, they are apologizing for it, and when they are not apologizing for it, they empathize with it. We should not confuse "moderation" with the inertia of the masses. Militant Islam gets its impetus from the implicit approval from a shame culture whose laws, traditions, history and sacred texts are totalitarian and imperialistic. The elephant in the room must be looked at squarely or else we are all, Muslims and non-Muslims, in deadly peril. We are living in an era of the resurgence of militant Islam and we must be aware that militancy is central to Islam and represents one of its highest ideals.

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