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| 10/1/06 the Daily Interlake printed the opinion written by Max Boot, Special to Los Angeles Times, entitled “Islamism, not Islam, is the real global foe.” Since September 11, 2001 politicians, political analysts, and news reporters have flooded the U.S. media with descriptions of Islam as a peaceful religion—stating that groups like al-Qaeda are fanatical minorities that do not represent true Islam. By thus annulling academic objectivity, they ignore or minimize the truth about the life and traditions of Islam’s prophet Mohammed, the brutal 1400 year history of Islam, and the founding book of Islam, the Koran.
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| If Islam is a peaceful religion, why do Muslim factions slaughter each other? Why have their armies throughout history slaughtered in the name of Allah those who would not convert to Islam? Why is it that, at any given time in this century, Muslims are involved in most of the major wars? Why is it that so many of the Muslim dictators have ruled under a reign of terror? Why do the Muslim countries invariable oppress women and forbid freedom of speech and religion? Why does mere criticism of their “prophet” or Koran predictably spawn violence?
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| The source of the violence is the founder of Islam, Mohammed, and his foundational book of Islam, the Koran. Muslims universally regard Islam as Koran-based. The Koran spells out what the god of Islam, Allah, requires and the great heavenly reward that awaits His submissive followers, especially those that die fighting for Him. We must confront radical Islam by gaining knowledge that exposes Mohammed as the self-discredited prophet and the Koran as a self-discredited book.
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| Muslim sources verify the violence perpetrated by Mohammed and his followers. They plundered homes and sexually exploited female captives. Mohammed married his second wife when she was six years old, and consummated the marriage when she was nine. He raided caravans, engaged in dozens of battles, and assassinated individuals who opposed him intellectually or challenged his status as prophet. His battles were not fought in self-defense but destroyed people because they refused to believe that God would send a person like Mohammed to represent Him. For this rejection he exiled, slaughtered, and enslaved them. The Koran contains rare, scattered verses of kindness and good advice. The purpose of the good verses appears to be to disguise and make more palatable the ghastly portions that are more prominent and common. The more tolerant and compassionate verses come chronologically earlier when Mohammed thought Jews and Christians would welcome him as their prophet. When they rejected his claim, he became progressively more violent.
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| We can’t expect a theology coming from so violent and perverse a man to inspire peace. The general principles of the Koran are preeminence of Islam as the true religion of Allah (3:17) that should reign over all mankind (34:27). The pursuit of holy war, until this goal is achieved, is an obligation of Muslims (Koran 2:216 “Fighting is obligatory for you.” 2:193, 8:39, 40: “Fight against them until idolatry is no more and God’s religion reigns supreme.”). There are 109 verses encouraging war (one out of every 55 verses), and many more condoning beheadings, slavery and sexual exploitation. Perusing just a few of the war verses (4:89 Seize them and put them to death wherever you find them. 8:12 God revealed His will to the angels, saying: …I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers! 48:29 Muhammad is God’s apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another.”), their intent is clearly to arouse Muslims to violence.
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| There are many great books and articles written about Islam, and it is difficult to sift through the biases. The average person can, however, read the Koran. It is a short book and difficult only because it is tediously repetitive, shockingly violent and amoral, and roughly a fifth of it doesn’t make sense. The illiterate Mohammed dictated the Koran to scribes in the early 600s. Having limited intellectual capability, he filled it with repetition, including inaccurate depictions of Bible stories and Jewish folklore and threats of hell mentioned one in every 7.9 verses (compared to the Old Testament once for every 774 verses and the New Testament that is once for every 120 verses). In the Koran, the basis for damnation to hell includes anyone who rejects his claim to be a prophet or questions the divine inspiration of the Koran (ex 2:174).
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| Because the Koran authorizes violence, atrocities committed by Muslims are not discordant with their religion. This contrasts with members of other religions that violate their founding scriptures when they pillage, molest, and slaughter innocents. Millions of Muslims do not practice the violence and hatred the Koran commands and thereby live on a much higher moral plane than Mohammed and the Koran they are taught to revere. Peace-loving Muslims must step outside their religion to support their stance since the Koran insists that Muslims accept it in its entirety. Millions of Muslims credit the Koran with divine inspiration without knowing its contents, and millions of others accept the Koran out of fear. Muslims interested in peace and truth are Islam’s first victims and deserve our greatest compassion. Informed Muslims know the Koran does not advocate moderation. If known that their revered book makes amoral demands in the name of God, rather than becoming a “moderate” Muslim, a more rational and moral approach would be to doubt its divine inspiration and cease their devotion. Promotion of “moderate” Islam cannot bring lasting peace any more than placating the extremists because both are founded upon falsehood.
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| An estimated 1.3 billion people worldwide are Muslims. 40 million male youth in the Muslim religious schools, called madrasas, are memorizing both the Koran and a violent body of related traditions, called the hadiths. Most of these are poor, otherwise uneducated boys kept ignorant of the world. Muslim teachers focus on the Koran’s militant war verses plus other texts that assure martyrs of their reward in Allah’s brothel paradise of perpetual virgins (supported by the Koran 38:51, 44:54, 55:55-74, 56:22, 34-36)). Deeply instilled are hatred for Jews and Christians and general disdain for all non-Muslims. There have always been Muslims answering the Koran’s call to violence, and these schools are breeding grounds for terrorism of epic proportion.
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| Our attempt to show noble religious tolerance, appease violent lunatics, and protect oil interests is inviting our own destruction. Combining political cunning and enormous wealth with religious zeal, Islam represents a huge threat to peace and the very survival of the free-world. Truth is powerful. Facing the reality that fanatical Islam is the true Islam will go a long way to maintaining peace and freedom. We can speak this truth in love and thereby triumph over this enemy without becoming like them.
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| As Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
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Annie Bukacek MD |
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