Defining the Enemy: Islam

Islam is at War with the West

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Islam is at war with the West. The West cannot win this war unless it defines the enemy. Europe has all but surrendered to Islam, and America is in the process of doing so because their common enemy has not been defined. The same may be said of Israel whose leaders are afraid to name this same enemy.

At War: 24/7

Using such terms as “Islamism,” “Islamic fundamentalism,” “extremist Islam,” “radical Islam,” “militant Islam,” “political Islam,” “Islamofascism,” fails to expose the unique political and theological nature of the enemy, and this failure is a strategic error of the first magnitude.

To clearly define the enemy I will cite and paraphrase passages from a must-read book, Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism: [A Call to Action], by the Catholic theologian George Weigel: “Jihadism is rooted in the notion that there are ‘no innocents’—that the enemy is ‘guilty,’ simply by reason of drawing breath…” This generates “a strategy of open-ended mayhem based on the radical dehumanization of the ‘other.’” Jihadism murders human reason.

The Bible calls on the faithful to use their reason in understanding its teachings. Abraham, Moses, the prophets, wrestle with the meaning of God—with God’s purposes and commandments. Islam’s holy book, by contrast, described by an influential Egyptian Islamic activist in these terms, and I quote: “The Quran for mankind is like a manual for a machine.” [See also, Robert R. Reilly on the Closing of the Muslim Mind: Terrorism as a Religious Obligation.]

“Islamism is Islam”

Henri Boulad, an Egyptian Jesuit and a specialist in Islam, boldly states, “Islamism is Islam.” This statement, he says, “is perfectly consistent with history and geography; with the Quran and the Sunna, with the life of Muhammad and the evolution of Islam, and with what Islam says about itself.” And [Boulad] goes on to say, “I reject the position of people—Muslims or Christians—who bury their heads in the sand like ostriches, [beat about the bush, refuse to view] the situation objectively, or take their wishes for realities on behalf of dialogue and tolerance.” That’s the end of his statement.

Richard John Neuhaus, a Catholic priest and writer, defines Islam as “the religiously inspired ideology which teaches that it is the moral obligation of all Muslims to employ whatever means are necessary to compel the world’s submission to Islam.” For example, using Arab children as human bombs to kill Jews. Israel’s conflict with “Palestinian” jihadists is not about territory, the ultimate issue is theological.

If I-ARI’s posts get you thinking, share them with your friends on Facebook. And, if you are not already a member of I-ARI, join us with a “LIKE” at the the Israel-America Renaissance Institute Facebook Page.

The French philosopher Alain Besancon has said “Efforts to engage in ‘dialogue’ with Muslims have been set on a mistaken course.” Unlike Christianity, Islam has failed to adapt to the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason.

A Religion of Death

Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian scholar who taught global Jihad declared, “Our struggle is not about territory but about truth, and which truth would prevail in the world.” He scorned the idea of “three monotheistic faiths.” For [Qutb] the other religions were not simply mistaken, they were evil, “filth to be expunged.”

The Quran exalts the Muslim, who, it says in one of its suras, “slays and is slain for Allah” [Qur'an 9:111*]. Islam, [therefore], is a religion of death. Defining Islam exposes you to the canard of racism. It can also lead to violent backlash. However, since Islam is waging war against the West, the West will lose this war if its political and intellectual leaders fail to educate public opinion about the true nature of the enemy.

An Enemy More Dangerous than Nazism

One way to avoid the issue is to speak of “Muslim moderates.” That there are such Muslims is not strategically relevant in a time of war. Many Muslim moderates, as [Daniel] Pipes admits, are latent “extremists.” [Daniel Pipes] estimates that 150,000,000 Muslims support Jihad.** Some estimate more than 300,000,000—equivalent to the population of the United States! Islam has a fourteen-hundred year history. The West has taken a holiday from history—even from 9-11. However Islam is defined, Muslims have slaughtered about 270 million “infidels” since the time of Muhammad.

The question for statesman is: how to name the enemy and control the untoward passions that may follow? Euphemisms will not do when the survival of civilization is at stake. We are confronted by an enemy more dangerous than Nazism. Such democratic concepts as “conflict resolution,” “proportionality” (in the use of force), and avoidance of “collateral damage,” guarantee the victory of the wicked.

Against Islamic ruthlessness, the humanism of liberal democracy is obsolete.

If I-ARI’s posts get you thinking, share them with your friends on Twitter. And, if you are not already a member of I-ARI, follow the Israel-America Renaissance Institute (+ all the extras) on Twitter.

* “Indeed Allah has purchased from the believers their persons and their wealth and in return has promised them paradise; they fight in the cause of Allah and slay and are slain. This is a true promise which is binding on Him mentioned in Torah, the Gospel and the Qur’an; and who is more true in fulfilling his promise than Allah? Rejoice, therefore, in the bargain which you have made, and that is a mighty achievement.” Qur’an 9:111

** “As best I can estimate from election data, survey research, anecdotal evidence, and the opinions of informed observers, this Islamist element constitutes some 10 to 15 percent of the total Muslim world population of roughly one billion – that is, some 100 to 150 million persons worldwide.” Daniel Pipes, Who is the Enemy?