Islam and Terrorism: What the Quran Really Teaches About Christianity, Violence and the Goals of the Islamic Jihad

Submitted by Roger Olsen (Norway), Jan 7, 2007 at 14:30

Islam and Terrorism:
What the Quran Really Teaches About Christianity,
Violence and the Goals of the Islamic Jihad (by Mark Gabriel)

Gabriel Book Review
Having been released from the bondage of Islam, a demonic ideology to the freedom of a new life in the Messiah of G-d, the L-rd Jesus, Dr Gabriel boldly reveals the Quranic goals of world dominance by Islamic Jihad.

Fascinating read!
I found Islam and Terrorism to have amazing insight. His story is riveting. Readers must understand that he is addressing the issues of fundamental Islam and not the cultural aspects of most Muslims. He gives us an urgency and depth to our world wide struggle against Fundamental Muslims in their quest to bring world wide Islamic domination through commanded Jihad in the Qur'an.

I have studied Islam and the Qur'an for years, I have traveled throughout the Islamic world. My current Qur'an is marked from front to back with notes and highlights. I have a great love and respect for Muslims. His teaching is correct and his sources are authoritative within Islam. For those who are studying the current conflict within Islam this is a must read.

This Book Preaches Hatred
Readers who are interested in finding out why the West has been targeted by some extremist Muslims as well as why so much anti-western sentiment exists in not only the Islamic world but the developing world at large (and more recently almost the entire world) would be better off reading the works of Edward Said - an Arab Christian who was a true scholar of Middle Eastern and European/American history and documented in several of his works many of the reasons the West is not held in high esteem - and with good reason as anyone would understand if they were on the receiving end (if you are not on the receiving end thank God or your lucky stars whatever works for you).

Mark Gabriel's book is a sad story about a man who experienced persecution that should never have happened, however, it does nothing to help the reader understand the true roots of anti-western sentiment, or the violence perpetrated by a small number of Muslim extremists. I can understand his bitterness given his experiences. However, given his negative experiences and his rejection of Islam personally it is reasonable to infer (as the book demonstrates) that his views of Islam and its history are quite tainted. This book provides the reader with nothing but a very biased and stereotypical account of Islam and its history - IT WILL NOT HELP ANY WESTERNER UNDERSTAND THE REALITIES THAT EXIST IN THE MIDDLE EAST TODAY.

By the way I believe you if you read Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" you will see that there is no civiliation, Islamic, American, or otherwise that does not have violent blemishes in its past and present. However, these violent blemishes should not be used to characterize entire civiliations in their entirety which Gabriel's book unfortunately does.

If you want to truly understand the roots of violence perpetrated by a very small group of Muslims (remember there are 1 billion Muslims in the world and those committing acts of violence are drop in the bucket compared to the immense size of the total population - also let's not forget that plenty of violence has been perpetrated by some groups of Christians and Jews both in contemporary times and in the past) than read books by scholars who understand the pain and suffering of the Palestinians, the Iraqis, the Afghanis, and the ongoing humiliation, torture, and death, these people have suffered at the hands of the West, not to mention the humiliating history of European colonization and imperialism that has left its mark on the region. Also be reminded that the U.S.'s support of oppressive dictators in the region is not lost on the people who live and suffer under those oppressive regimes such as Bush's good friends the Saudi royal family. And of course Sadam Hussain, a current villian in the U.S., was once highly favored by the U.S. government who supplied him with arms and other types of aid during the eight year Iran-Iraq war. He lost his popularity with the U.S. government after he decided he no longer liked being a puppet.

For a more accurate in-depth view of the history of the influence of the West on the East read Edward Said's foundational book "Orientalism," "the Question of Palestine," or Arhandati Roy's "An Ordinary Persons Guide to Empire." Here you will read words and truths from scholars who come from colonized peoples, scholars who are/were not only great writers and scholars but who also write/wrote from a non-western perspective. If you want to understand the perspectives of Arabs and Muslims than reading books written by biased Westerners such as Gabriel is not the way to go. On the other hand if your true motive in reading about Islam is to reinforce your existing hatreds, biases, and stereotypes, by all means read his book with relish - it will serve your intended purpose well.

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".