Here is an interview I did recently with the Italian publication L’informale:
“Robert Spencer: ‘Time is growing short,” by Niram Ferretti, L’informale, August 20, 2016:
A clear voice like that of Robert Spencer, the director and founder of Jihad Watch, author of countless articles and numerous bestselling books on Islam and jihadism, among which the most recent are The Complete Infidel Guide to ISIS and The Complete Infidel Guide to Iran, is an antidote to the time of deception and fuzziness we are living in. After the interview he gave us in March he has kindly accepted to answer our new questions. As usual he pulls no punches.
Mr. Spencer, there is a mainstream notion nowadays that ISIS is not truly Islamic but an ideology which has hijacked Islam to put forward its own agenda. You have explained again and again that ISIS is Islam at its most hardcore. This is what Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his followers think it is. What are, according to you, the good reasons to think that ISIS belongs to Islam?
Its beheadings (47:4), sex slavery (4:3, 4:24, 23:1-6, 33:50, 70:30), subjugation of Christians (9:29), global imperative (8:39) and more are all based upon the Qur’an. Indeed, everything ISIS does is scrupulously based on the Qur’an and Sunnah.
In 1954, in what is considered to be his masterpiece, Sad Tropes the great French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss wrote quite disparagingly about Islam. Among other considerations he wrote, “This religion is based less on evidence of a revelation than on the inability to forge links outside itself…Muslims do not always seek brutality to bring the other to share their truth, yet they are unable to bear the existence of others as others”. Would you agree on this statement and what would you add to it?
I agree with it insofar as it is noted that Muslims can bear the existence of others as others as long as the others are subjugated and are submitting to Islamic hegemony. But ultimately, Lévi-Strauss is quite correct, in that the Muslims’ vision of the last days includes the return to earth of Jesus the Muslim prophet, who will break the cross, kill the pigs and abolish the dhimma – that is, he will abolish the state of subjugation in which the Christians and Jews will have lived up to that point, and destroy the others as others entirely.
Not only in the United States but all over Europe the left wants to present Islam as a religion of peace. This mantra is repeated all the time in the face of Islamic terrorism, for which the most diverse explanations are given. The common denominator of all these explanations offered by the left is that the root of jihadism is non religious. According to you why is the left so protective of Islam?
Either they know that what they’re saying is false, and are cynically propagating their falsehoods in service of a globalist agenda, or they actually believe the claims that Muslims are a despised minority, the victim of “racism” and “Islamophobia,” and so must be treated with special solicitude, including pretending that the root causes of jihad terror are other than what they are.
It seems that what Samuel P. Huntington wrote about Islam in The Clash of Civilizations is the reality we are presently living. I would like to read you this brief passage from the book. “Who is to rule? Who is to be ruled? The central issue of politics defined by Lenin is the contrast between Islam and the West…So long as Islam remains Islam (which it will) and the West remains the West (which is more dubious) this fundamental conflict between two great civilizations and ways of life will continue to define their relation in the future even as it has defined them for the past fourteen centuries”. How would you like to comment about this?
There is no doubt whatsoever that Huntington was correct. Every day’s headlines prove him correct anew.
Contrary to Judaism and Christianity, among which continuous exegesis and historical circumstances have brought to deep changes in the understanding of the Scriptures, this has not happened in mainstream Islam. What are, according to you, the main reasons for this?
The Qur’an says, “this day I have perfected your religion for you” (5:3). How can what is perfect be reformed or ever be hospitable to new understandings? Muhammad also says in a hadith, “My community will not agree on an error.” Accordingly, if there is consensus (ijma) on an issue, it cannot be reopened.
The exercise of critical thinking and independent judgment or ijtihad was an important method to address questions in the early centuries of Islam. However after approximately 400 years the Sunni world closed the so called “gates” of the ijtihad and from that time they were never opened again. This has not happened among the Shiites who still practice ijtihad. In this sense is there a better chance of an eventual reform of Islam coming from the Shiites?
One never knows what may happen, but ijtihad is independent reasoning on the sources of Islamic law, the Qur’an and Sunnah. Since those sources contain numerous exhortations to violence, it is unlikely that ijtihad will ever produce a religion of peace.
Following my previous question do you think there is a chance that Islam can be reformed from the inside or is this just a wishful thinking?
No one knows the future, but it is wildly unlikely.
In an astonishing remark made recently during an interview, Pope Francis conceded that conquest is “inherent to the soul of Islam” but immediately after he added that the same idea of conquest can be found at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, when Jesus sends his disciples to all the nations. What would you like to say about his statement?
It was one of the most appalling statements ever to come from a man who has a history of appalling statement. The call to “make disciples of all nations” is one to preach the Gospel, not to take up arms to conquer and subjugate. That the Pope would equate the two was a manifestation of a moral myopia of monstrous proportions.
Now that the American elections are approaching I would like to end our interview with a question about the USA. I would like to do it, again citing Samul P. Huntington. “Whether the West comes together politically and economically, depends overwhelmingly on whether the United States reaffirms its identity as a Western nation and defines its global role as the leader of Western civilization”. Do you endorse this statement?
Yes, absolutely. And it could still happen. But time is growing very short.

Hindu American says
Good on ya, RS. Got to spread the word.
Carmel says
Christians spread the words. Isalm ? The sword .
Champ says
Christians spread the Good News, muslims spread the bad …
mortimer says
Niram Ferretti asked: “there is a mainstream notion nowadays that ISIS is not truly Islamic but an ideology which has hijacked Islam to put forward its own agenda. You have explained again and again that ISIS is Islam at its most hardcore. This is what Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his followers think it is. What are, according to you, the good reasons to think that ISIS belongs to Islam?”
Answer: The Koran’s 164 Jihad Verses: K 002:178-179, 190-191, 193-194, 216-218, 244; 003:121-126, 140-143, 146, 152-158, 165-167,169, 172-173, 195; 004:071-072, 074-077, 084, 089-091, 094-095,100-104; 005:033, 035, 082; 008:001, 005, 007, 009-010, 012, 015-017, 039-048,057-060, 065-075; 009:005, 012-014, 016, 019-020, 024-026, 029,036, 038-039, 041, 044, 052, 073, 081, 083,086, 088, 092, 111, 120, 122-123; 016:110; 022:039, 058, 078; 024:053, 055; 025:052; 029:006, 069; 033:015, 018, 020, 023, 025-027, 050; 042:039; 047:004, 020, 035; 048:015-024; 049:015; 059:002, 005-008, 014; 060:009; 061:004, 011, 013; 063:004; 064:014; 066:009; 073:020; 076:008
Keys says
mortimer, appreciate the citations – lots of good reasons from the immutable, exact word of Allah, the Koran. Who would dare contradict God ?
That’s enough for a slam dunk answer without even citing Islam’s violent, agressive history; the punitive laws of Islamic States; the proclamations of centuries of Muslim authorities and leaders; and the Sunnah – especially the “exemplary” life of the founder, Mohammad.
Islam has shown us what it is for 1400 years; only a fool would think it is a religion of peace, or is about to undergo a metanoia.
Shane says
Even if you show liberals the violent passages in the Koran and the Hadiths, most of these fools will never admit that Islam is by far the most violent, misogynistic, aggressive, intolerant, and homophobic religion in the world. Too many liberals want muslim votes so much that they will risk the destruction of our civilization by Islamic Jihad. That’s why I call them traitors, and I put Obama, Hillary, Merkel, and Trudeau in that group of traitors.
linnte says
Sharing to Facebook Robert! I thank God for you every day! And I love the bones of ye!
SAKOVKT says
Fine, except for the last question.
I would say, that Huffington is looking through the prism of the Cold War.
He ignores the role of American Progressives, Teddy Roosevelt through FDR, in creating the New World Order and a One World Government,: the League of Nations ; the U.N.
De-segregating the World follows from LBJ’s De-segregation Programs.
Multi-Culturalism could easily be seen as a Global Affirmative Action.
This Ugly World is largely a result of the Peace of 1945 which was an American construction designed to “spare future generations the scourge of war” and “put a chicken in every pot”.
None of this sounds like the projects of a limited, Constitutional Republic.
IN fact, no more blatant confession of evil has ever been spoken in terms of historic hubris outside of Xerxes flogging an uncooperative sea.
No, I think America needs to quit the Empire business.
We’re no good at it and there will be no chance to resuscitate our Republic if we continue trying to police the world. That is a function of an Empire.
Matter of fact, Europe, today, IS the world we policed, we saved from Fascists and Communists.
For this?
Well, who else could have done it?
We were, after all, the Leader of the Free World.
Who else to blame (other than your typical EuroWhiners. Yes. There is that.)
But there is also, us! The Leader!
Frankly, Vladimir Putin is correct, in that America has brought about more chaos in our misguided attempts to rebuild nations into images of our ourselves.
There could never have been so vain and yet so inept an empire as ours.
It has been an embarrassment of lost wars, fiscal ineptitude, playing the fool for loser allies and, above all, vanity.
They vanity is the worse!
We are now ruled by a Regime that is nothing but vanity.
Lion of Judah's Cub says
It is a spiritual battle. We are seeing the fruits of the decline (unnecessary) of Christianity in the west.
SAKOVKT says
Yeah, it sure is.
Clausewitz would relegate all this to “the will”, in what is essentially a gamble mitigated by courage.
The Romans understood war similarly, as an essentially divine affair into which men inserted their mortality.
All ancient people did, in some way or other.
And if we think that we’re so far beyond all that then, I say, look at who is winning.
Allah might not be very good, as Gods go, but he sure beats nada.
Bezelel says
I remember seeing bill clinton on TV say that he didn’t think that America should be a super power anymore. He was still in office at the time. Pre internet information was limited to the enemedia’s unchecked editorial malpractice. I had no internet when bill was saving bosnians from the ethnic cleansing and had no idea what was gong on. Maybe bill and hellery would like to go to Serbia on vacation.
Ciudadano says
“do you think there is a chance that Islam…”
I think it was Robert that in other instance made the case that reformation means going back to its original form. In that sense Islamic reformation is what sects like the wahabists and salafists are doing, trying to practice Islam like the first followers of Mohamed. That is the reason why they tend to produce such intolerant and violent followers.
What Islam and islamic countries need is modernization: total rejection of violence, normalizarion of religious dogma, standarization of religious speech, imans should be licensed and license revoked if they are found preaching hate or violence. Given that there is no central authority in Islam this task must be done on a country by county basis. Maybe there could be some sort of national commitee that oversights this process. Imans from other countries should be approved by this commette.
Islamic countries also must be modernized: separation of church and state, no more confesional countries, no more sharia, commitment to human rights, freedoms and democracy.
aDhimmiSaysWhat? says
Your heart is in the right place, but I’m afraid reality says otherwise.
Ciudadano says
Yes, I am aware that Islamic world is moving in the opposite direction. Muslims are becoming more fundamentalists and radical than ever before thanks to the efforts of Saudi Arabia and others. Islamic countries are becoming more repressive of non-muslin and more confessional than never before.
The worse part is that in western politicians just don’t care. They are just facilitators for big corporations doing deals with Islamic countries. Take for instance Hillary Clinton. When she was SoS her foundation received millions of $ from Saudi Arabia. A couple of months later Stated Department approved a multi billion $ arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Not a single mention of SA ugly human rights records, financing of terrorism, promotion of whabbism, etc. Obama and Iran deal. Meanwhile it took many years for the Obama administration to acknowledge the Christian Genocide in ME and Africa.
The first priority is a change of western leadership. We need a new leadership that pushes strongly democracy, freedom and human rights in the world.
Lion of Judah's Cub says
Reforming Islam is like redecorating a prison cell and calling it freedom. It is a false deceptive ideology and system of thought control. It is a false religion that embodies enmity to the true God and to all humanity.
The goal of this false religion is to reverse all the revelation of God to humanity, the teachings of Christ, and our understanding of and participation in salvation history. It is satan’s greatest deception against mankind to undo the great work of Christ. It must be made obsolete like any other great deception or lie. Muslims and the rest of us need to be freed from this terrible scourge on humanity.
Islam promotes child marriage so that young traumatized women will not rebel in adulthood. The blasphemy laws exist to shut up any debate or criticism of an illogical, violent, anti-life, anti-joy system. The apostasy laws exist to prevent anyone who wants to embrace a new way of life from leaving on penalty of death. Islam is such a weak system that it cannot tolerate scrutiny, debate or honesty. It is time that this empty house of cards collapses.
Scott says
You are in La La land with this one.
Dom107 says
Nice try.I believe in “motherhood and apple pie” as well but the only way humanity will rid itself of endless wars and atrocities is to stop believing in these silly religions started in the Bronze Age by desert peoples and spread by conquerors and all the other ones in Asia, Africa and the Americas (a part of India thinks rats are the returned embodiment of their ancesters and are to be treated with tolerance and respect.Its true honestly!!!!).
WE DON’T NEED THIS CRAP !!! WE HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE WHICH EXPLAINS OUR EXISTENCE.USE IT !!
Angemon says
I agree with this statement. While the US did not create the values we historically associate with Western nations, it crystallized them in a form free of the vices found in Europe at the time. If not the US, then who?
rara says
Angemon, the US “lead” as we speak. But that lead is not what I’d like:
The European politicians didn’t invent the “Islam is religion of peace” mantra. They got it from Bush and now from Obama.
That is the main problem with the treatment of the danger posed by jihad.
Not to mention that researching who was the biggest supporter of jihad growing stronger leads to stuff like:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/12/08/the-taliban-indoctrinates-kids-with-jihadist-textbooks-paid-for-by-the-u-s/
Angemon says
rara posted:
“Not to mention that researching who was the biggest supporter of jihad growing stronger leads to stuff like”
Like “Saudi Arabia”, “Gulf States” or “Iran”? If not, I think your search engine is broken.
citycat says
The time of something very wrong is fast approaching.
It is laziness of mind to ignore Islam approaching.
It’s an easy mistake to assume that there is time to sort stuff out.
And in this case i’d say it is a fatal mistake to think there’s time.
There never really has been any time. Islam’s drive to dominate Earth is ongoing all day every day everywhere, in many ways, not only terrorism, but also “peaceful” forthings deep in infidel lands.
Mark A says
Good comments in this interview Robert.
Mark A says
One suggestion though Robert. When you put a link in the article, like the one to a previous edition of L’informale, make the link open in a separate tab.
A minor issue but it makes it easier to compare the JW article with the linked article in separate tabs.
Anke L. says
also…mass prayer in the streets blocking traffic should be made
illegal and punishable.
Marla Gillaspie says
Georg says
Outstanding answers. The citations from the Koran are indisputable evidence supporting Robert’s observations, and demonstrate why there is no substitute for scholarship if one is to get into the trenches of argumenation. The retort to the Pope’s asserting an equivalence between Islam and Christianity regarding conquest summed up what an enormous number of people have been feeling and thinking for the last several years.
davej says
Reformation or modernizing Islam seems impossible. It is diabolically designed to be reform-proof, with the death penalty for any criticism and the death penalty for leaving it.
If you took all the calls for hatred, violence, subjugation and supremacy out of the Quran what would be left – not much.
Plus the majority of Muslims are not deep thinkers, they are inbred, low intelligence hotheads who have been brainwashed since birth.
The best thing we could do is isolate them together in existing Islamic hellholes and let them fight each other to the death – its the one thing they are good at. But certainly not let them infect our more civilized societies.
Makenomistake says
What more are we still looking for to get a clear idea of what islam indeed is ? It is what it did over the last 14 centuries, and what it still is doing…….. in the name of the same ideology- islam.
It is now clear that islam has bared all its fangs against the Jews and the Christians , Hindus of India is also a big target. But islamic leadership is not so fool . They will take one by one and the 5th. column being the left liberals. They will function as the cancer within the body politic, aiding and abetting islam in every way. Europe now seems to be halfway to its dhimmitude. If only America does not follow suit we get some time. Muslim world will wreck the havoc through its huge expendable manpower.
Robert Spencer is almost prophetic in his apprehension : time is running out !!!
piagasus says
Fortunately, all religions are fake and there is no spirit world..
Jay Boo says
“Baaaah, Baaaah”, said the little lamb.
“Teach me how to grovel and smile nice”
The murmuring ‘Sheeple’ gathered into their fearful flocks.
Who would they surrender today for the chopping block?
Will they sacrifice you or me? Where will they stop?
Zha says
Our goal:
Destroy democracy with democratic means, and overrule the rule of law with legal means.
Lawfare is our method and politicians the means to achieve our goal.
To those who ask why ‘hijra’? we say: why should we have peace in our countries when others will let us in their lands for humanitarian reasons. They have weak senses and gentle hearts and we must take advantage of their ignorance of our goals and weakness of their culture. We are strong and the best in such matters. Praise be to Allah.
linnte says
And I have made preparations for folks just such as you. Not only me, but over 350million Patriotic Americans too. btw, that number is approximately the same amount of weapons in the USA. When the war comes, and it will, we will win. Go home to your sand box where you belong, with your four wives and 32 interbred children.
linnte says
And your allah can drop dead, piss be upon him. What God sanctions CHILD RAPE? You make me sick.
Allan says
Impotent rage.
JIMJFOX says
True. But it is very easy to fall into this trap when first you uncover
the unbelievable viciousness and idiocy inherent in Islam.
Keys says
Justified anger, truely.
linnte says
That’s because my Glock doesn’t get the internet.
citycat says
A mockingbird parrot send up revelation of Allah?
More of this type of knowledge of Islam’s workings needs to get through to the minds of the ignorant infidels, who refuse to see the reality of Islam’s intention to kill or convert all infidels, in whatever direction, and any way possible.
Times change, well Islam has not too much, so i guess it’s time for the wheels of karma to clear up the madness that is almost everywhere.
So whatever.
Lion of Judah's Cub says
Are you trying to be sarcastic?
Tim says
This Weds. Judge Lori Walkley will rule in OK. on whether or not the Muslim decapitation freak, Alton Nolen, is competent to stand trial. I expect the now common decision, “no, he’s mentally ill”……. Of course he is, he’s a Muslim and Islam is a mental illness. Once mental illness is ‘naskh’ (abrogated) from the individual and attached to the problem itself, Islam, we will begin to make real progress. If Islam is a mental illness then there’s no limit to the amount of good works that can be accomplished including no protection offered by the First Amendment.
JIMJFOX says
One of Spencer’s best. Short, accurate, right to the point.
I dislike verbosity in all religions so it’s great to read this interview. Brilliant!
hautedaug says
“Either they know that what they’re saying is false, and are cynically propagating their falsehoods in service of a globalist agenda, or they actually believe the claims that Muslims are a despised minority, the victim of “racism” and “Islamophobia,” and so must be treated with special solicitude, including pretending that the root causes of jihad terror are other than what they are.”
To understand WHY the Left does what it does watch all of Evan Sayet’s videos on YT
Johan Elzinga says
While Robert is hardly able to post all the news about the terror raised by all the jihady gangs in almost every country the newspapers here in Europe are publishing none of those events. I was completely staggered about the almost enless list of those events in only one week on jihadwatch. Hollande and Merkel were spreading their nonsense about “a more close” EU recently in a visit of Italy, while it is apparent that no such thing exists. Trivia about the sporters in Rio so far filled our newspages.
steve brown says
The New World Order is setting the whole thing up. The goal of the NWO is massive depopulation. The current global war with Islam fighting all non muslim nations of the earth combined with; pandemic plagues, earthquakes and tsunamis and will eventually kill off 75% of the worlds population. . Pray ..