Vilifying Islam
1. "Today Muslims and their religion are being increasingly and unfairly vilified......"
Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee (1)
2. " Brace yourselves, because the war with Muslims has just begun....We are only Muslims trying to defend our religion, people, homes and land....we will keep on terrorizing you until you leave our lands and people at peace..The Quran gives us the right to defend. And that's all I'm doing."
Faisal Shahzad, at sentencing for rigging a car bomb in NY (2)
According to Shahzad it was his religion, embodied in the Quran, that spurred him to try to kill people in Times Square in May of this year. Moreover, he claimed that Muslims commit terror in defense of their religion, along with their " people, homes and land." But if Islam inspires people to commit barbaric acts against their fellow citizens (as well as others), then Islam deserves to be vilified, and the Interfaith Conference is wrong to say that it is "unfairly vilified." But is Shahzad right, and does he speak for Islam?
If Shahzad were nothing but a "deranged loner" (like most American assassins), we could dismiss his claims as the rant of a lunatic. But he is not a loner----he was trained for his mission at a jihadist camp in Pakistan. Moreover, since the bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995, every significant terrorist act and attempt in the US (September 11, Fort Hood, shoe-bomber, underwear bomber, etc.) was committed by a Muslim. In addition, all the major terror attacks in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Mumbai, Madrid, London, Israel, Jordan and other countries were also perpetrated by groups of Muslims. Police investigating a series of crimes look for a common link; is there one here?
The nexus between Islam and world terrorism is too obvious to be ignored. Although the vast majority of Muslims have no connection to terrorism, most of those who do embrace terrorism today are motivated by Islam. But what about Islam, as opposed to Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism, impels people to commit these crimes? Are not all religions intolerant of other faiths? Why not Buddhist terror?
Islam teaches that all people should be Muslims, and those who reject Islam should be subservient (dhimmi) to Muslims. The struggle between Islam and the forces opposed to the faith is called jihad, and every Muslim is obligated to participate in jihad until the final victory of Islam over all other ideologies. These principles are not iconoclastic, or held by only one sect or group, but are at the very core of Islam itself, as expressed in the Quran and the hadiths (apocrypha). The idea that Western Civilization is inherently the enemy of Islam was taught by Sayid Qutb, the founder of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which inspired both Hamas and Osama bin Laden.
The United States is deeply involved in conflicts in the Muslim world: the Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, in particular. Although we are allied with moderate Muslim leaders in each country, the most vehement Islamicists are always our enemies. Therefore, we, along with the European democracies, are faced with the twin threats of external terrorism and violence perpetrated by Muslims within our own countries who sympathize with our enemies.
We must tread a fine line between legitimate defense against terrorism and religious discrimination. I do not agree with those who would have us adopt Saudi limitations on religious freedom, but apply them to Muslims; we must adhere to our own principles of religious freedom and equal protection of the laws. We have prevailed over the threats of secession, Fascism and Communism without abandoning these principles, and we will prevail against Islamic terrorism as well.
At the same time, we must draw a clear line between denouncing Islam for its triumphalism and intolerance (which is not bigotry) and denouncing certain people who happen to be Muslims (which is). There are plenty of good Muslims, and they deserve all the rights of American citizens, but there is no good Islam.
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(1) Quoted in the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, October, 2010, page 4.
(2) Associated Press, October 6, 2010.
Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee (1)
2. " Brace yourselves, because the war with Muslims has just begun....We are only Muslims trying to defend our religion, people, homes and land....we will keep on terrorizing you until you leave our lands and people at peace..The Quran gives us the right to defend. And that's all I'm doing."
Faisal Shahzad, at sentencing for rigging a car bomb in NY (2)
According to Shahzad it was his religion, embodied in the Quran, that spurred him to try to kill people in Times Square in May of this year. Moreover, he claimed that Muslims commit terror in defense of their religion, along with their " people, homes and land." But if Islam inspires people to commit barbaric acts against their fellow citizens (as well as others), then Islam deserves to be vilified, and the Interfaith Conference is wrong to say that it is "unfairly vilified." But is Shahzad right, and does he speak for Islam?
If Shahzad were nothing but a "deranged loner" (like most American assassins), we could dismiss his claims as the rant of a lunatic. But he is not a loner----he was trained for his mission at a jihadist camp in Pakistan. Moreover, since the bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995, every significant terrorist act and attempt in the US (September 11, Fort Hood, shoe-bomber, underwear bomber, etc.) was committed by a Muslim. In addition, all the major terror attacks in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Mumbai, Madrid, London, Israel, Jordan and other countries were also perpetrated by groups of Muslims. Police investigating a series of crimes look for a common link; is there one here?
The nexus between Islam and world terrorism is too obvious to be ignored. Although the vast majority of Muslims have no connection to terrorism, most of those who do embrace terrorism today are motivated by Islam. But what about Islam, as opposed to Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism, impels people to commit these crimes? Are not all religions intolerant of other faiths? Why not Buddhist terror?
Islam teaches that all people should be Muslims, and those who reject Islam should be subservient (dhimmi) to Muslims. The struggle between Islam and the forces opposed to the faith is called jihad, and every Muslim is obligated to participate in jihad until the final victory of Islam over all other ideologies. These principles are not iconoclastic, or held by only one sect or group, but are at the very core of Islam itself, as expressed in the Quran and the hadiths (apocrypha). The idea that Western Civilization is inherently the enemy of Islam was taught by Sayid Qutb, the founder of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which inspired both Hamas and Osama bin Laden.
The United States is deeply involved in conflicts in the Muslim world: the Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, in particular. Although we are allied with moderate Muslim leaders in each country, the most vehement Islamicists are always our enemies. Therefore, we, along with the European democracies, are faced with the twin threats of external terrorism and violence perpetrated by Muslims within our own countries who sympathize with our enemies.
We must tread a fine line between legitimate defense against terrorism and religious discrimination. I do not agree with those who would have us adopt Saudi limitations on religious freedom, but apply them to Muslims; we must adhere to our own principles of religious freedom and equal protection of the laws. We have prevailed over the threats of secession, Fascism and Communism without abandoning these principles, and we will prevail against Islamic terrorism as well.
At the same time, we must draw a clear line between denouncing Islam for its triumphalism and intolerance (which is not bigotry) and denouncing certain people who happen to be Muslims (which is). There are plenty of good Muslims, and they deserve all the rights of American citizens, but there is no good Islam.
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(1) Quoted in the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, October, 2010, page 4.
(2) Associated Press, October 6, 2010.
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 9:11 AM
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