In FrontPage Mag this morning, I explain why we are in a more precarious position than ever, thirteen years after 9/11.
Thirteen years after 9/11, there is one thing that virtually all our politicians, law enforcement officials, and mainstream media guardians of opinion know: that attack had nothing whatsoever to do with Islam, and neither does any other jihad terror attack, anywhere, no matter how often its perpetrators quote the Qur’an and invoke Muhammad. Islam, we’re told again and again, is a good, benign thing – indeed, a positive force for societies, and to be encouraged in the West. Jihad terror is an aberration, an outrage against the Religion of Peace’s peaceful teachings. These lessons from our betters are coming more and more often in light of the advent of the Islamic State.
The caliph Ibrahim, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has a PhD in Islamic Studies. But Barack Obama is unimpressed with his Islamic erudition: “ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents.” State Department spokesperson Marie Harf emphasized that Obama meant what he said: “ISIL does not operate in the name of any religion. The president has been very clear about that, and the more we can underscore that, the better.”
Secretary of State John Kerry said that for some members of the international coalition he hopes to build against the Islamic State, joining it “will mean demolishing the distortion of one of the world’s great peaceful religions.”
British Prime Minister David Cameron chimed in:
What we are witnessing is actually a battle between Islam on the one hand and extremists who want to abuse Islam on the other. These extremists, often funded by fanatics living far away from the battlefields, pervert the Islamic faith as a way of justifying their warped and barbaric ideology – and they do so not just in Iraq and Syria but right across the world, from Boko Haram and al-Shabaab to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Where is “Islam” actually battling these “extremists who want to abuse Islam”? Cameron didn’t say.
Showing as much grasp of the situation as Kerry, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond declared: “Isil’s so-called caliphate has no moral legitimacy; it is a regime of torture, arbitrary punishment and murder that goes against the most basic beliefs of Islam.” On the opposite side of the aisle, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper complained that Islamic State “extremists are beheading people and parading their heads on spikes, subjugating women and girls, killing Muslims, Christians and anyone who gets in their way. This is no liberation movement — only a perverted, oppressive ideology that bears no relation to Islam.”
Unfortunately, for every Islamic State atrocity she enumerated, there is Qur’anic sanction:
Beheading people: “When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks…” (Qur’an 47:4).
Subjugating women and girls: “Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them” (Qur’an 4:34).
Killing Muslims: “They wish that you reject Faith, as they have rejected (Faith), and thus that you all become equal (like one another). So take not Auliya’ (protectors or friends) from them, till they emigrate in the Way of Allah (to Muhammad SAW). But if they turn back (from Islam), take (hold) of them and kill them wherever you find them, and take neither Auliya’ (protectors or friends) nor helpers from them” (Qur’an 4:89).
Killing Christians: “Fight those who believe not in God nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by God and His Apostle, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued” (Qur’an 9:29).
Even if the Islamic State is misinterpreting or misunderstanding these verses, it is doing so in a way that accords with their obvious literal meaning. That should, at very least, lead to a public discussion about the possibility of Islamic reform, what is being taught in mosques in the West, and related issues. But such a discussion is not forthcoming; it would be “Islamophobic.”
And why does it matter, anyway? Why does it make any difference whether or not what the Islamic State is doing is in accord with Islamic texts and teachings?
It matters for many reasons. Aside from all the vague condemnations of the Islamic State that American Muslim groups have issued, how closely the Islamic State actually hews to the letter of Islamic law will help determine how much support it will ultimately get from Muslims worldwide. Two American Muslims have already been killed fighting for it; how many more will there be? Only by examining the Islamic State’s actions in light of an honest assessment of Islamic teachings will we be able to estimate to what extent we can expect to see its actions replicated by other Muslims elsewhere.
These dismissals of the Islamic State’s Islam, of course, are designed to assure us that we need not have any concerns about massive rates of Muslim immigration and the Muslims already living among us. One problem with this is that it prevents authorities from calling upon Muslim communities to teach against the doctrines that the Islamic State acts upon, and to work for genuine reform. And so the door remains open to the possibility that the actions of the Islamic State could be repeated in Western countries.
Barack Obama, David Cameron and the rest would do far better to confront the Islamic State’s Islamic justifications for its actions and call on Muslims in the U.S., the U.K. and elsewhere to teach against these understandings of Islam that they ostensibly reject. But they never do that, and apparently have no interest in doing it. Instead, they foster complacency among the people of the West. For doing so, they may never pay a price, but their people will almost certainly have to pay, and pay dearly.
On Wednesday, Australian police raided an Islamic bookstore and arrested two Muslims on terror charges relating to their activities in recruiting Muslims for the jihad in Syria. Australian Federal Police National Manager Counter Terrorism Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan insisted: “This has got nothing to do with Islam, this is criminal behaviour by Australians involved in terrorist activity.”
Gaughan could have uttered the epitaph of the West: “This has nothing to do with Islam.” As the jihadist’s knife slices through their necks, Western officials like him will use their dying breaths to gasp it out one more time: “This has nothing to do with Islam.”
Jaladhi says
It is a sad story of the loss of character and integrity of our media, politicians and academics. The law enforcement people are not at fault, they have to follow what the government pushes them to do, e. g., all references to Islam/Muslim terrorism playing part in 9/11 and other terror attacks have been eliminated from their training manuals, thanks to the present administration which is pro-Muslim. Just look at how many Muslims are working in this administration who have influenced the course of this government for the wose. It is sickening!!
Shane says
Obama and the dhimmi twits in his administration are aiding the enemy by refusing to acknowledge that Islam is a religion of war, and Islamic terrorists are acting in accordance with the teachings and life example of Muhammad. To Obama and his ilk – Stop lying to us about Islam being a peaceful religion.
Fred says
ISIS are simply criminals. They have no front, no future.. Nothing more. 60% of males in Iraq are unemployed .. iraq has no have no future either. Busch left it in a prime state for a civil war. weak gvmt, unable to defend itself from it’s own population. ..so when a force appears with money to fed them and offer some sort of hope of course they join up. Looks just like 1920, post WWI Germany ..
Jay Boo says
As ISIS hoists a jihad flag over the White House and the no longer useful Obama is needed, Obama while kneeling with hands tied behind his back will say “This has nothing to do with Islam) followed by ARRG, GLIRK,GURGLE, SPLIRT!
Jerry says
Maybe he will eventually say:
La Allah Illa YAHWE ue Muhammad bin Sharmutta bin Jinn Rassoull Shaitan.
Jay Boo says
Maybe Obama will become an apostate Muslim like the Bangladeshi apostates living in the UK that Saleem Smith mentioned here recently and say about Muhammad,
“One who claims to be a messenger of God is expected to live a saintly life. He must not be given to lust, he must not be a sexual pervert, and he must not be a rapist, a highway robber, a war criminal, a mass murderer or an assassin. One who claims to be a messenger of God must have a superior character.”
Jay Boo says
followed by his profession of faith that
“This is no god in Allah and Muhammad is his jinn worshipping inventor.”
Tradewinds says
After the Mohammedans have mass-murdered all the infidels as commanded in the Koran the last leftist with his head about to be separated from his body will say as his final words, “Islam is peace.”
Reminds me of Winston in “1984” and how Orwell ended the novel, “He loved Big Brother.”
Judi says
Inshallah!
Judi says
Was meant in reply to Jay Boo
Jay Boo says
Islam cannot survive without enemies.
Even if ISIS takes over the White House and kills Obama they will have to deal with a much, much bigger foe.
The soul-crushing emptiness of Islam and its blasphemy against God.
Jaladhi says
All these imams – Imam Obama, Imam Cameron, Imam Bush Jr., and then there are some Christian Pastor Imams who know Islam more than Muslim themselves such as Osama bin Laden, al- Jawahiri, caliph abu bakr al Baghdadi, etc.. Whereas our imams have been trained by likes of CAIR and other liars, the real Muslims have learned Islam from the age of six in their mosques.
Who you gonna believe your lying eyes or… I think I will call ghostbusters they can be more effective in fighting Muslims !!
Jerry says
Statement of fact released 1/4:
9/11 was not about Islam and HBO is not a Muslim.
duh_swami says
It’s amazing how many kuffar in responsible position have drank from the cup of Allah. The cup of the blood of countless innocents. I can see why it benefits the Mahoundians to layer on the BS of taqiyya and kitman, they strive to get into Paradise when they die. But what kuffar get out of it, is a mystery to me.
mortimer says
We get lower oil prices…or so our politicians believe.
sidney penny says
Yes the most famous sentence of our current time “This has nothing to do with Islam.”
Almost as famous as the phrase “Peace for Our Time” by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
Lucky he did not say “Religion of Peace” for our times.
Yes the Muslims are right,if “This has nothing to do with Islam”why should Muslim communities teach against the doctrines that the Islamic State acts upon, and work for genuine reform?
No need for education or genuine reform.
R Davis says
Regarding the Australian FED’S arrests last Wednesday.
Neil Gaughan said ‘it had nothing to do with Islam.’
Robert I am Australian.
I hope it had nothing to do with Islam.
Australia has & still is The Second Israel, Jews in Australia hold high office, they fill the seats of the public service, the banks, theirs is the policy that will win out regardless of the consequences to Australia & it’s people & has done so almost since day one. Even today financial & business policy favors MOTHER GERMANY, the womb where these financial ghouls were conceived.
Today Australia has sacrificed it’s 3 foreign auto makes – creating anything up to 200 job losses – in favor of Germany.
ROBERT –
YOU HAVE TO KNOW CRIMES AGAINST AUSTRALIA & IT’S PEOPLE ARE CONTINUOUSLY BEING COMMITTED HERE – TREASON –
WE DO NOT SAY THEY WERE ARRESTED BECAUSE THE WERE JEWS.
WE SAY CORRUPTION WAS RIFE & AUSTRALIANS WERE ARRESTED
because they committed crimes against our BELOVED nation & it’s people.
mortimer says
The DENIALISM of Western politicians regarding the militancy of 65% of Muslims is based on the assumption that the Golden Rule is a guiding principle of Islam. The guiding principle of Islam is in fact SUPREMACISM.
Islam is the only religion without a version of the Golden Rule. Islam’s ‘Supremacist Rule’ is the following: “Mohammed is the messenger of Allah; those with him are VIOLENT (ashidaa) against the Disbelievers, but compassionate BETWEEN ONE ANOTHER.”
Islam ethics are tribalistic, rather than universal.
Daniel Borchers says
A failure to correctly identify the enemy prevents engaging that enemy and ensures defeat. We must name it and wage war against it. Let’s stop this deadly foolishness of being politically incorrect, all inclusive, and culturally relativistic. Obama, Kerry, and Carter need to stop their Islamic proselytizing and speak the truth. See “Jimmy Carter’s ‘Principles of Allah’” at http://t.co/qhby3mnRp3.
Anushirvan says
The whole denial mechanism today is simply related to our fear of things not having panned out like we had imagined decades ago: the world is de facto NOT developing like we had envisioned back then, and the consequences have to be denied for the sake of soothing every one’s mind.
That’s why our leaders and the MSM are trying their hardest to skew reality itself: “IS has nothing to do with Islam”, “There is such a thing as moderate Islam”, “Most muslims in the West are ‘moderates’”, “Terrorist groups don’t understand true Islam, they misunderstand it.”, “What IS is doing doesn’t resemble a coherent doctrine in any way.”, and the like.
Taking things a bit further, the scope of denial has widened to negating the damning consequences of muslim immigration in Western societies: Sharia courts in the West, muslim pedophile rape gangs, Mutawwin enforcers patrolling the streets of London to “command what’s right and forbid what’s wrong”,…etc. All of this evidence pointing to Islam being incompatible with the way we live has to be denied, parallel to the rejection of what’s happening abroad. (Syria, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria,…etc.) That is, until reality starts playing up to the point where it forces itself upon us every day, and the horrors become plain for all of us to see !
In our minds, the very realization that the world has not changed according to our plans makes it equally horrendous to contemplate what the future will hold for the West, because we can neither expect that muslims in our own midst have changed for the better.
The minorities of Iraq and Syria (or elsewhere in muslim-dominated countries) are simply not allowed to loom large in our minds, because we have been told time and time again, that muslims are victims of socio-economic deprivation, racism or oppression. Which has been the largest part of the politically correct eulogizing of muslim ‘virtue’. What’s happening over there (and in the rest of the world) clearly demonstrates that muslims are, first and foremost, the worst of PERPETRATORS, rather than genuine victims. Again, a notion too horrendous to contemplate, so it has to be denied, because the truth is too inconvenient with regards to the damning consequences on our own turf in the West ! To openly admit that such a thing is true, will disassemble the very foundations of PC MC in the 21st century. And that’s why politicians will never admit to it !
And that’s why Nigerian, Egyptian, Syrian or Iraqi Christians (or other non-muslim minorities) don’t seem to exist in the mainstream media today. Keep them well out of sight, or the PC myths will start falling apart at the seams. The mass media’s credibility is at stake ! And although they’ve already lost it altogether, they are still trying to do the utmost to regain it by lying through their teeth. Our leaders have egg on their faces, and they know it !
This is all about damage control to them, but there is nothing to control anymore, things have been getting out of hand for decades under the auspices of PC, and now we are forced into repairing the damage our leaders have done.
And still they’re dragging their heels !
Walter Sieruk says
With the thirteenth anniversary of that vicious jihad attack that occurred on September 11, 2001 by those Al Qaeda operatives who hijacked those planes. It should be stated that they Islamic hijackers were both evil and deluded. They were evil because the violent and heinous actions results in the murder of so many people. They were deluded because they believed that they would receive a lust fill paradise with many virgins, houris, in it . Each virgin for his own use only. This is the outcome of this outlandish, bizarre and far-fetched [Islamic] doctrine of a sex filled place with virgins. This strange and weird Islamic belief ,in part, inspired the brutal and deadly actions by those Al Qaeda thugs. Such a dangerous mindset just might be very well explained by the French philosopher, Voltaire,. For he wrote “As long as men continue to believe in absurdites they will continue to commit atrocities. “
Walter Sieruk says
With the thirteenth anniversary of the jihad affront on humankind and America happened on September 11, 20001 it would be wise to have both Fortitude and Vigilance. For the enemy is still scheming for a future attack. Moreover, this can be further explained by the wisdom of Thomas Jefferson. For he said it well when he stated. “Fortitude…teaches us to meet and surmount difficulties; not to fly from them.” and Let the eye of vigilance never be closed.”
ebonystone says
As Mark Twain put it: “The problem is not what people don’t know; it’s what they do know that ain’t so.”
Notably: we “know” that Islam is a “religion of peace”, but it ain’t so.
And we “know” that the thousands of jihadist acts, and the hundreds of thousands of jihadist murders over the last 15 years have nothing to do with Islam, but it ain’t so.
Anushirvan says
True, that’s what we have been told and that’s what we desperately WANT to believe. Despite all the evidence to the contrary.
CornHolio says
“ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents.”
————-
Now there’s a couple of carefully-worded political statements that suggest something placatory, but actually say nothing at all.
Of course ISIS “speaks for no religion”. This statement is meant of course to assure Americans that the precepts of ISIS have no basis in Islamic doctrine (which of course they do), but is really just stating a simple truth – that NO group “speaks for” an entire religion, in the sense of having complete authority over and support of the entire faith. Even the Pope can’t be said to “speak for” Christianity, only for one sect of it – Catholicism.
“No faith teaches it’s OK to kill innocents”.
Really, Barack? Is the Sun hot as well?
No organization has EVER taught it’s OK to kill “innocents”. The people your group tells you to kill are ALWAYS “guilty” of something.
But kudos to Obama’s speech writer. He probably assuaged the fears of plenty of jittery Americans with those two sentences, preempted the inevitable Islamophobia protests from CAIR, while all the while NOT saying anything that was technically untrue.
TH says
Catholicism is not a sect. The word sect implies being split off from some other group and being a small group. Catholicism has about a billion members, and it began with Jesus and the Apostles, as did also Eastern Orthodoxy, whilst Protestantism is a Jonnny come lately of the 16th century. Didn’t St, Paul write to a church in Rome around 57 A.D?
CornHolio says
Didn’t mean anything negative by “sect”. I was using the word as a synonym for “denomination”. I simply meant subset of a larger religious group.
I’m aware of the history and I’m certainly not bashing Catholicism I was raised Catholic and attended 12 years of private Catholic schools. 🙂
EYESOPEN says
Gaughan could have uttered the epitaph of the West: “This has nothing to do with Islam.” As the jihadist’s knife slices through their necks, Western officials like him will use their dying breaths to gasp it out one more time: “This has nothing to do with Islam.”
Robert, your last paragraph stated the problem succinctly. Those who wish to put the sheeple to sleep with regard to the very real threat of izlam against the Judeo-Christian culture of the civilized West will still say: “This has nothing to do with Islam.”
fair_dinkum says
“the terrorists.” “the rebels”.” the militants” (my personal favourite)
religious violence. sectarian violence. war on terror.
war on terror. war on islamic terror. nothing else. not war on
fundamentalism? on an area or region?
islam is the most common denominator.