Dennis Prager, nationally syndicated radio show host, author of nine books, most recently the number one non-fiction bestseller, The Rational Bible, and the founder of the website Prager University, read my new book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, and had this to say:
Robert Spencer’s book on the history of jihad is disturbing – so much so that that mainstream media and academia will either ignore it or label it “Islamophobic.” But that evades the only important question: is the book historically sound or not? If it is not, someone will have to refute the extraordinary amount of evidence Spencer cites. But if it historically sound, this book is as troubling as it is important. That is to say very troubling and very important.
Click here to order The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, the only book of its kind, bringing you the entire history of jihad from its beginnings to the present day, covering not just the jihad against Europe but the jihad worldwide. The implications for foreign and domestic policy are massive.
Carl Goldberg, PhD says
And, yet, Dennis Prager still believes that Islam can be reformed and that we must support those phony moderate Moslem “reformers” like Zuhdi Jasser who claims to be a “devout Muslim”, even though he is rejected nearly as an apostate by his religious community, and who claims to be a “reformer” even though he has no plan at all for reforming Islam. In fact he does not even say, directly, that Islam should be reformed. He never criticizes the Koran or Muhammad.
Why does Dennis Prager support him?
How can Islam, the belief system based on the Koran, possibly be “reformed” when all Moslems consider the Koran to be their god’s LITERAL word?
Andrew-Swallow says
The one place you can reform Islam is by pointing out that the Imams are teaching it wrong. The Koran etc.says one thing and they are doing something different. For instance I am pretty certain that there are no bombs in the Koran.
mgoldberg says
* “As for those who are slain in the cause of God, He will not allow their works to perish. … He will admit them to the Paradise He has made known to them.” (47:4-6)
* “Let those who would exchange the life of this world for the hereafter, fight for the cause of God; whether he dies or triumphs, We shall richly reward him. … The true believers fight for the cause of God, but the infidels fight for the devil. Fight then against the friends of Satan …” (4:74,76)
* “The believers who stay at home––apart from those that suffer a grave impediment––are not the equals of those who fight for the cause of God with their goods and their persons. God has given those that fight with their goods and their persons a higher rank than those who stay at home …” (4:95,96)
* “Slay the idolaters wherever you find them. … lie in ambush everywhere for them. If they repent and take to prayer and render the alms levy, allow them to go their way …” (9:5)
* “Those that make war against God and His apostle and spread disorder in the land shall be put to death or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or be banished from the land. They shall be held up to shame in this world and sternly punished in the hereafter: except those that repent before you reduce them …” (5:34,35)
* “Make war on them until idolatry shall cease and God’s religion shall reign supreme” (8:39)
* “Prophet, rouse the faithful to arms. If there are twenty steadfast men among you, they shall vanquish two hundred; and if there are a hundred, they shall rout a thousand unbelievers, for they are devoid of understanding.” (8:65)
* “Fight against such of those to whom the Scriptures were given … and do not embrace the true Faith, until they pay tribute out of hand and are utterly subdued.” (9:29)
Do you think that these do not cause ‘bombs’ to be created to be made, and I don’t mean, just mechanical bombs. The Qu’ran turns muslims into human bombs, and those who adore the idea of slaughtering ‘others’
Now, it is indeed the history of Islam that these types are venerated by Islam, and it’s history.
That…. is the problem
A_M_Swallow says
What a religion’s holy book says is minor. The parts a religion and society chooses to quote and obey is major.
eduardo odraude says
To the Two Swallows:
The fact that Islam does not mention bombs does not make bombs “wrong” in Islam. Islam is a totalitarian system, but within that framework it has a good deal of flexibility in strategy and tactics. The framework itself, however, is too rigid to be reformed. It can only be broken or contained until it dies of its own sickness, the way Soviet communism was contained and died. Muhammad, the prime exemplar for Muslims according to the Qur’an, was a totalitarian theocrat pushing an aggressive expansionist system with clear doctrinal imperatives for world domination. To get yourselves clear about what kind of man Muhammad was, see some of the passages from his earliest biography, at http://www.quotingislam.blogspot.com.
You say what a religion’s holy book says is minor. You say that the parts a “religion” and society chooses to obey is major. Well, it’s clear that Islamic societies frequently obey the totalitarian commands of the core Islamic texts. It’s clear that the region of the world with the worst human rights record is the core Islamic region of the Middle East and North Africa. It’s clear that polls of Muslims worldwide show that a majority favor totalitarian aspects of Islamic law. Unlike the Bible, which most Christians deem merely “inspired,” the Qur’an is considered the verbatim word of Allah and therefore the pressure to take that totalitarian book literally will exist among hundreds of millions of Muslims until Islam falls into the trashbin of history.
A_M_Swallow says
Note: There is only one Swallow. I had to re-enter the login details.
gravenimage says
Andrew-Swallow, the Qur’an teaches unending violence against the unbelievers. *You* may believe that this is invalid if Muslims use weapons not mentioned in the days of the “Prophet”, but Jihadists will gleefully murder you while you are trying to tell them that they and their Imams have Islam so very, very wrong.
StellaSaidSo says
I think you missed the sardonic tone in Andrew-Swallow’s post.
Kepha says
I also suspect that Andrew-Swallow was being facetious. That is, if the Christian Amish observe that there is no electricity in the Bible and choose to pursue a peaceful and productive lifestyle that eschews its use, maybe Islamic terrorists should note that the Qur’an knows nothing of explosives and firearms, and should limit themselves to spears and swords.
A_M_Swallow says
Something like that.
I do not believe that Islam will reform in a good way but we would be remiss if we did not at least try.
Anjuli Pandavar says
Andrew Swallow, “I do not believe that Islam will reform in a good way.” Sardonic and facetious, perhaps. I find “we would be remiss if we did not at least try,” hard to understand, though. Could you please clarify “we” and what “try” amounts to?
A_M_Swallow says
I believe the West will use the Final Solution on Muslims. This is both the final alternative tried and final for its Muslim victims.
To placate the conscience of the whites and blacks in the West the alternative of reforming Islam and the Muslims has to be tried. Muslims would have to stop attacking other people, stop preaching that encourages such attacks and take active measures to prevent such attacks. Only if such reforms either fail or are disregarded would the final solution be activated.
American Dad says
They are not quoting the Koran wrong. It says to convert our kill all infadels.
Wayne Watson says
Andrew is really reaching hard to lead us astray!! The Koran clearly states that the ONLY WAY one can be assured of going to Paradise is to be killed while committing Jihad. That is a fact. Just because the weapon of choice is not detailed does not take anything away from the fact that Muhammad himself stated that his success was because of his war on others and killing others in the name of Allah. Islam is a religion of WAR not peace! We had better catch on to this charade soon, or we will all be paying a terrible price for our ignorance of the facts.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
You’re right, Goldberg.
I heard Prager on his radio show and he got to talking about Islam. He interacted with Moslems in pursuit of some research, forget whether it was in Israel or here in the States, and said that he found nothing fundamentally wrong with Islam, that it’s a perfectly fine religion, just some people take it to extremes and that shouldn’t put all Moslems in a bad light.
Spencer’s new book shines that bad light, and does it with relentless use of facts, as in factual reality.
StellaSaidSo says
Hopefully Robert Spencer’s book will help Dennis Prager sort out any lingering confusion about Islam.
C.Bradley says
Dennis Prager obviously has not researched Islam, otherwise, he would have his eyes opened to its evil intents to murder all unbelievers. Islam is a Political ideology and not a religion.
Kepha says
Disclaimer: Uncle Kepha has a high regard for almost all of Dennis Prager’s political positions, and thinks Prager would be an interesting and congenial person to share a meal with.
However, Prager’s assessment of Islam seems to come from two blinders: (1) a lack of deep acquaintance with Islam’s core texts and traditions that accompanies a shallow treatment of the subject gained from a general education that seeks to equip young students to live in a pluralistic society, and (2) a slightly Spinoza-fied liberal Judaism that really (and understandably) wants to be understood and liked by Christian and Muslim neighbors.
Like many theologically liberal “Abrahamites”, Prager was raised to look on people as charitably as possible, and hence the hope that somehow, Islam can be reformed. I don’t think he quite appreciates that Wahhabism, takfirism, and Salafism represent “Reformations” in Islam–i.e., calling Muslims back to the teachings of the religion’s core texts.
Speaking as a Christian of the Reformed type, I am only humbled and grateful to God that He gave me a religion that indeed enjoins love and peace!
Wellington says
You are correct, Carl Golberg, about Prager. I do admire Dennis Prager a great deal, and he gets the vast majority of matters down correctly, but his continued assertion or expectation that there’s a good Islam eventually lurking somewhere out there is simply wrong (much like Daniel Pipes who is also a good man but I think in error on this particular point too).
I have written to Prager about this more than once (and have received no response). Might as well support nice Neo-Nazis, nice anarchists, nice Marxists, as support nice Muslims. Yeah, they might be nice but what they believe in is rotten (and if they don’t know what they believe in is rotten then they are very confused and why put any stock in a very confused human being?).
In the final analysis, an ideology must be judged by what it says and NEVER on the basis that many who adhere to that ideology don’t fully implement its tenets or wrongly understand them. And what the Islamic ideology puts forth is a menace to, among other things, freedom, equality under the law, a true Golden Rule for all, women’s rights, tolerance, graciousness, a live and let live attitude and, oh yes, fine beer and great music. I mean, let’s face it, Islamic breweries are kinda’ scarce and the Islamic world has never produced a Bach, Mozart or Beethoven and never will. And Islamic musical theater is a pretty thin repertoire as well—after all, there is no Broadway in the Islamic world. There is no a lot of things that are wonderful in the Islamic world. A lot.
Anjuli Pandaar says
“There is not a lot of things that are wonderful in the Islamic world.”
Readers don’t have to just take your word for it. Here it is from the Ayatollah Khomeini himself: “Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humour in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious.”
Of course there’s always the possibility that the Ayatollah also had a wrong interpretation of Islam.
gravenimage says
All true, Carl. Yet Dennis Prager is still–even given his blindspots–more Islamosavvy than most about the threat Islam presents.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
But if it historically sound, this book is as troubling as it is important. That is to say very troubling and very important.
I’ve read the book, even took a few footnote citations and read the originating text. I fully expected them to check out — this is Spencer after all — and the citations I checked out were good.
The book is very disturbing, very very disturbing. Because it’s true. Boy, are we ever in trouble. Big trouble. And the only possible trend is for the trouble to get worse. A lot worse.
Anjuli Pandavar says
Alarmed Pig Farmer: “The book is very disturbing, very very disturbing. Because it’s true. Boy, are we ever in trouble. Big trouble. And the only possible trend is for the trouble to get worse. A lot worse.”
Your comment should also help non-Muslims appreciate why ex-Muslims insist on intellectual honesty and are so determined to expose Islam. Our childhoods wasted in madrassas did not equip us with the historical details offered in excellent books such as this one, “The Sword and the Scimitar” by Raymond Ibrahim, and others that are appearing with increasing frequency. Every imam, sheikh and ‘alim embellished at will. Truth is that which protects Islam. The important points we took away from the experience were: 1. Muslims are superior. 2. It’s an affront to regard non-Muslims as equal to Muslims. 3. Everything that Muslim armies did was correct, to be proud of, and affirming of Muslim supremacy. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what goes on in madrassas. It takes a hell of a lot to break free from that experience. People like me are especially grateful for books like these and to the people who write them, for, as Salman Rushdie put it, once something is written, it cannot be unwritten (or words to that effect).
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
“Party Vowing to Curb Immigration Favored to Win Quebec Election”
https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/2018/09/14/party-vowing-to-curb-immigration-favored-to-win-quebec-election#gs.QO3iWbU
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
Also from Canada: “Not enough evidence to expel cadet after Qur’an desecration, military says”
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/not-enough-evidence-to-expel-cadet-after-qur-an-desecration-military-says-1.4094536
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
From Hongcouver, Canada: “Calls for change outside court hearing for Marrisa Shen’s accused killer”
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/calls-for-change-outside-court-hearing-for-marrisa-shen-s-accused-killer-1.4094267
gravenimage says
Good to see, Flavius!
Kepha says
I can see the outrage. Marrisa Shen was a beautiful little 13-year-old girl; and when I saw the picture, I thought, “That could be my student or even granddaughter”. But would the calls for justice have been as loud had the murdered person been a middle-aged, not-so-handsome man minding his store or on his way to or from work?
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
“Maxime Bernier launches People’s Party of Canada”
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/maxime-bernier-launches-people-s-party-of-canada-1.4094059
Notice the biased and downright sarcastic tone of Don Martin, the CTV “journalist” reporting.
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
Hey Canadian readers of JW, between now and the end of October Max is giving FREE memberships to the new People’s Party of Canada
Go to:
http://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/membership
Feed III says
Is he a retard? 1400 years of endless Jihad and he questions it’s accuracy. Moronic.
Carol the 1st says
Something’s definitely fishy. Or did he miss his afternoon nap?
gravenimage says
Dennis Prager on Robert Spencer’s The History of Jihad: “Very troubling and very important”
………………..
Good stuff–and Prager had a wide audience.
ciudadano says
Very sad story, worth reading:
“She was made to learn the Koran in Arabic ….”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6169489/Sarah-repeatedly-raped-twice-forced-marriage-EIGHT-abortions.html
James Lincoln says
Knowing the truth about Islam is very disconcerting. It is also very necessary.
Anjuli Pandavar says
To Andrew Swallow: OK. There’s a lot of new stuff in here that I might come back to. You still haven’t clarified who the “we” are who have to reform Islam. “Reforming Islam and the Muslims has to be tried,” is simply restating the same vagueness to which I ask, tried by whom? Who has this task? Please identify whose responsibility this is. Whom, exactly, do you envisage in this role of “reforming Islam”?
“Muslims would have to stop attacking other people, stop preaching that encourages such attacks and take active measures to prevent such attacks.” Certainly, but this is not reforming Islam. This is Muslims modifying their behaviour, which is something very different. I can respond to this, too. But let’s first get an answer to the still-unanswered question. In your conception, whose job is it to reform Islam?
A_M_Swallow says
1. The primary ‘we’ are the whites in the West.
2. The Muslims involved are any Muslims who does not wish to be killed or voluntary repatriate him/her self.
3. I know your answer was a troll.
Anjuli Pandavar says
It seems I don’t even need to state my case, let alone rest it.