ISLAM: ONE AMERICAN'S FINDINGS
Introduction
Muhammad and the History of Islam
An Overview of Islam
The Qur'an (Quran, Koran)
The Sunnah, Sira, and Hadith
Who wrote the Qur'an?
Islamic Law
Islamism
Jihad
Modern Jihad
Immigrants or Invaders?
Muslims Killing Muslims
Muslim Related Customs Concerning Women
Women Critics of Muslim Behavior
Islamic Reform
Conclusions
Other Links
Islam Glossary and Encyclopedia
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To come to grips with these questions, it became clear to me that I needed to learn a lot more about Islam and jihad. I will share with you some of my findings and my links to sources.
I have tried not to generalize about Muslims because I am fully aware that they are certainly not a monolithic group. They vary substantially with respect to race, nationality, sect, ethnicity, tribe, customs, beliefs, piety, ethics, and personal attitudes.
According to tradition the Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 in Mecca, orphaned early, raised in the mercantile business, married at 25 to the wealthy older widow Khadijah, married about a dozen women after Khadijah's death, and fathered several children. He became much involved in the study of Jewish and Christian scriptures and spent much time in caves contemplating religion. He belonged to the pagan tribe of Quraysh. Muhammad started receiving revelations from Allah through the angel Gabriel over the last 23 years of his life. During the period when Muhammad was in Mecca his preaching was resisted, and he was without much power or influence. In 622 he was run out of Mecca and went to Yathrib (now Medina), and here his followers took on the name "Muslim" (the submitter). In addition to being a preacher he became a political and military leader. In 630 Muhammad with a large force strode into Mecca and most Meccans converted to Islam. The Meccan shrine, the Kaaba, was converted to a Muslim shrine. He died in 632, and the revelations ceased.
The quest for the historical Muhammad is frustrating. The explanation and interpretation of the events in Muhammad's life depend upon who you ask. Reza Aslan, author of No God but God: The origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam sees Muhammad as more than anything else a social reformer and as one who countenanced only defensive warfare.
You get a very different account of Muhammad's life and work from the New York Times best selling author and Islam expert, Robert Spencer, in his The Truth about Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion, which is based on Islamic sources. To see where Spencer is coming from go to Religion of Peace?. Another critical book on Muhammad and Islam is Ibn Warraq's Why I am not a Muslim. Here is a chapter is his book: The Origins of Islam.
Although there are many matter-of-fact histories of Islam, we should be aware of the historical uncertainty of the information about Muhammad and the development of Islam. To get an understanding of this uncertainty, go to What do we actually know about Mohammed? by Patricia Crone, professor of Islamic history at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.
What may be more important than the Muhammad of faith and history is how the modern Muslims' beliefs about him affect the behavior.
There are over a billion Muslims worldwide and are increasing rapidly. Islam is the dominant religion in Indonesia, Middle East, and North Africa.
Here are the Five Pillars of Islam: 1) To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle. 2) To offer the (compulsory congregational) prayers dutifully and perfectly. 3) To pay Zakat (i.e. obligatory charity). 4) To perform Hajj. (i.e. Pilgrimage to Mecca). 5) To observe fast during the month of Ramadan (the ninth month of the Islamic calendar beginning with the sighting of the new moon and is devoted to prayer, fasting, etc.). For more detail go to The Five Pillars of Islam. A missing pillar is to peacefully coexist with you neighbors with different beliefs.
Just as the Bible has many more commandments than ten, Islam has many more obligations than five. The obligation of jihad is often referred to as the "sixth pillar" of Islam, which is prescribed in Sura 9:29 (quoted later).
Muslims believe they are children of Abraham, the Biblical patriarch, who had a son, Ismail, with Hagar the servant of his wife, Sarah, and he finally had another son, Isaac, with Sarah. Muslims believe they are descendants of Ismail and Christians and Jews are descendant of Isaac. All three religions are regarded by Muslims as "People of the Book," who worship the same God. You may be surprised to find parts of the stories of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Mary, and Jesus in the Qur'an. Muslims believe that revelations were sent down to his prophets Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, but the revelations got corrupted. The revelations to Muhammad were to get the message "right" including the status of Jesus, who they believe he was a prophet, not the son of God.
Muslims have no such concept as separation of mosque and state. Muhammad set the precedent for the unity of mosque and state by being a spiritual, military, and political leader. Muslims believe in total submission to Allah in every aspect of their lives.
We need to distinguish between the religion of Islam and the customs of Muslim societies. For example, some of the customs regarding women in Muslim societies are cultural rather than being dictated by Islam and vary by different countries. Female genital mutilation is a cultural practice rather than a religious one although it is closely associated with Muslim societies.
Although Islam is not necessarily inimical to rule by democracy, there can be a problem because Islam is thought to be rule by God, and democracy is rule by the people. For a good discussion of this matter go to MIDDLE EAST: Islam and Democracy. Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Mali, and Senegal are considered to be democracies. The Arab countries, Morocco, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Algeria, Qatar, and Yemen are not democratic, and some less so than others.
The Qur'an, the basic Islamic scripture, is written in classical Arabic also known as Qur'anic Arabic. (The present literary standard dialect across the Middle East and North Africa is Modern Standard Arabic [MSA]). Unlike the Christian Bible only one version of the Qur'an is now distributed. Faith tradition holds that this is the original revealed text, which is perfect in every respect. Muslims believe that not only the text is sacred but also the physical book containing the text. Therefore, there are certain rituals for handling and caring for it. For a good brief discussion of the Qur'an go to The Qur'an.
Whereas the Old Testament of the Bible consists mostly of memorable narratives, histories, poetry, and rules, the Qur'an is quite different. Only Sura 7, Joseph, constitutes an extended narrative, which is the Biblical story of Joseph. The rest of it includes some modified and abbreviated Biblical narratives and some anecdotes, but a lot of it consists of exhortation, condemnation, warnings, words of consolation, arguments, etc. all mixed together without apparent order and repeated with some modification over and over.
A problem in reading the Qur'an is that the individual verses often lack context, and even with context some are difficult or impossible to comprehend. The resulting ambiguity calls to mind the following Qur'anic verses [Arberry 3.5}: "It is He who sent down upon thee the Book, wherein are verses clear that are the Essence of the Book, and others ambiguous. As for those in whose hearts is swerving, they follow the ambiguous part, desiring dissension, and desiring its interpretation; and none knows its interpretation, save only God. And those firmly rooted in knowledge say, 'We believe in it; all is from our Lord'; yet none remembers, but men possessed of minds."
The chapters are not chronologically arranged. In fact, the Qur'an may appear to have no logical structure, except that the 114 suras (chapters) are arranged more or less by length from the longest (286 suras) to the shortest (3 suras with 3 verses each). Some might say that the Qur'an is a compilation of revelations over a 23 year period that were never arranged by time or subject. See Is The Qur'an A Shapeless Book?
Of course it would be best if we could read the suras in their chronological order, but there are only speculative approximations of the order. To see one chronology based on Ali Sina's work linked to the translation of Pickthall go to Chronological Qu’ran I. I printed the table of order and read the suras in that order. I suspect that this chronology does an acceptable job of separating the suras from the Meccan period from those of the later Medinan period, which is the most important task. To read about the attribution of suras to the two periods go to Makkan (Meccan) and Madinan Revelations and see the work of Az-Zarkashi.
Another problem in reading the Qur'an is that many verses have been "abrogated," or superseded by later verses. For example, some of the early tolerant and peaceful verses revealed when Muhammad was still in Mecca are abrogated by later verses revealed in Medina after Muhammad became an aggressive military power. For information on verses that have been abrogated go to The Quran's Doctrine of Abrogation. Here is what the Qur'an says about abrogation: [Shakir 2.106] "Whatever communications We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it. Do you not know that Allah has power over all things?"
For a commentary to help us understand the Qur'an go to Syed Abu-Ala' Maududi's Chapter Introductions to the Qur'an. For an English translation for most of the sura and for a detailed verse by verse commentary go English Quran & Commentary. For more on the interpretation of the Qur'an see Tafsir (Qur'anic commentary).
In my judgment a good scholarly guide to the Qur'an is The Qur'an: A User's Guide by Farid Esack, who has been the William Henry Bloomberg Visiting Professor at Harvard Divinity School and is a progressive South African Muslim theologian. It is introductory but reasonably comprehensive and well-documented.
For a glossary, a Qur'an search, and a Hadith search go to MSA-USC Qur'an Database.
The majority of Muslims are non-Arabic speaking and need a translation to read the Qur'an. When choosing an English translation, it is well to remember that no translation of the Qur'an can faithfully capture its poetry. All translations of the Qur'an are interpretations. To illustrate the variation in translations by making a side-by-side comparison of three well-known English translations, go to The Noble Qur'an. Of the three translations M.H.Shakir's is the most contemporary English translation, and to see it by itself go to The Koran. It also has a search capability, when it works.
Khaleel Mohammed in Assessing English Translations of the Qur'an says, "---for most academics, the translation of choice still seems to be that of Arthur Arberry." To see his translation, which is preceded by a good essay on Qur'anic translation, go to The Koran Interpreted. I am not an academic, and I prefer Al-Qur'an: A Contemporary Translation" (1993) by Ahmed Ali, who is a poet and novelist. His translation seems to be reasonably accurate, and it is quite readable.
The Qur'an is often recited from memory rather than read. Muslim children are taught to memorize verses from the Qur'an and recite them often without being given any understanding of what they mean. Many Muslims memorize the entire Qur'an, which from a Western point of view seems to be an incredible fete of memorization and a questionable learning priority. Here is an example of a recitation: Qur'an (Koran) Recitation by Sheik Abdul Baset.
The first sura in the Qur'an, "Al-Fatihah" or "The Opening," is a short prayer to be recited by believers, (It is more or less the Qur'anic equivalent of the Lord's Prayer.) This Opening is repeated several times in each of the five daily prayers:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
[Shakir 1.1] All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
[1.2] The Beneficent, the Merciful.
[1.3] Master of the Day of Judgment.
[1.4] Thee do we serve and Thee do we beseech for help.
[1.5] Keep us on the right path.
[1.6] The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors. Not (the path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray.
What is the "right path" (also often called the straight path, straight way, or right course)? Turn to the next page of the Qur'an, Sura 2, The Cow, and it gives the first version of the right course and gives the reward for following it and the punishment for not following it. Here, then, is one version of the central theme of the Qur'an:
[Shakir 2.2] This Book, there is no doubt in it, is a guide to those who guard (against evil).
[2.3] Those who believe in the unseen and keep up prayer and spend (on others) out of what We have given them.
[2.4] And who believe in that which has been revealed to you and that which was revealed before you and they are sure of the hereafter.
[2.5] These are on a right course from their Lord and these it is that shall be successful.
[2.6] Surely those who disbelieve, it being alike to them whether you warn them, or do not warn them, will not believe.
[2.7] Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing and there is a covering over their eyes, and there is a great punishment for them.
In other words stay on the right path with complete submission to God, and you will be rewarded with eternal bliss in paradise. Shun God, and you will be eternally punished in a blazing Hell. This central theme is repeated over and over and over in different ways with more or less detail. Anther theme is the coming resurrection of all of the dead.
In reading the Quar'an I was struck by how the pronouns referring to Allah change in person and number. For a discussion and examples go to Sudden Changes In Person & Number.
The sunnah is a set of practices (what Muhammad did, what he said, and what he approved of) that he during his life gave the Muslims to follow and is recorded in the hadith, which give explanations and interpretations.
Wikipedia explains the difference between hadith and sunnah in this way: "The sunnah is the way or deeds of Muhammad and validated by the consensus of companions of Muhammad (Sahaba) in Sunni Islam, and the way or deeds of Muhammad and the twelve Imams in Shi'a Islam, while Hadith is a collection of the narrations and approvals. The two words are sometimes taken to be interchangeable, referring to the Traditions, but difference lies depending on the context." (See Sunnah and Hadith.) Also see What is the distinction between hadith and sunna? and Sunnah Hadith Figh and Islamic Law.
The hadith provide context and explanation that is often needed to make sense of the Qur'an, but it is difficult to correlate the hadith with the Qur'an except by using a computer search. There are several collections of hadith that Muslims regard as authoritative. To read from four among many hadith books, go to Hadith Books. The first collection, Sahih Bukhari is the most respected collection. If you want to search the hadith, click one of the hadith books (collections), put your pointer on "Hadith," for example, and click "Search in Hadith." If you choose Sahih Bukhari and search for "jihad," you will get 72 appearances in 56 hadith.
The sira, not to be confused with sura, are biographies of Muhammad. To read a translation of one such biography go to The earliest biography of Muhammad, by ibn Ishaq with a comprehensive introduction by Michael Edwardes.
According to tradition, the Qur'an was revealed by God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel and put into the memory of Muhammad who recited it to others who wrote it down. Abu Bakr compiled these writings of the Qur'an after Muhammad's death. Gradually, different versions appeared. The 3rd caliph, Uthman, had what they thought were variant copies burned. To see more on the orthodox view go to The Holy Quran.
A heterodox answer as to who composed the Qur'an is that it was the product of perhaps many people in the 7th and 8th Centuries or later on the Arabian Pennisula and reflects the thinking, customs, events of the time and place, and previous traditions. Unfortunately the history of the Qur'an is very uncertain. A general heterodox hypothesis is that the Qur'an (and the Bible) started as oral tradition that was finally written, revised, compiled, supplemented, and edited.
Note these verses: [Ahmed Ali 70:29-31] "And those who guard their sex except from their wives and women slaves of old are free of blame, but those who seek more than this will be transgressors." A heterodox skeptic might argue that condoning slavery and having sex with women slaves is consistent with the viewpoint that the Qur'an is an artifact of Muhammad's time and place. One possible interpretation is that Allah was speaking exclusively to the people of that time and place leaving open the possibility for moral progress in the future. The same could be said about this verse in the Bible: [CEV Leviticus 25:45] "You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property."
A skeptical view of the orthodox position is expressed in The Origins of the Quran, a book that was edited by Ibn Warraq, a well-known critic of Islam. This Web page includes in full the Introduction in the book. Also see Who Authored the Qur’an?—an Enquiry.
The heterodox arguments for the human sources for the Qur'an are countered by Refutation Of The Borrowing Theories Of The Qur'an.
The body of Islamic law is called Sharia, which regulates all aspects of public and private life based primarily on the Qur'an and sunnah. For more on the sources go to Islamic Law—the Sharia. There are different forms of Sharia, and it is applied differently in different countries. The law of Islamic states is usually some combination of sharia, Roman law, and tribal law. Fundamentalists want the sharia to be unchanging and to be all of the law.
According to Wikipedia, "Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. It is an expansion of what is called the Divine Law (Arabic: Sharia), complemented by the rulings (fatwa) of Islamic jurists (ulema) to direct the lives of Muslims." For a translation of five of Sayyid Sabiq's popular summaries of Islamic law go to Fiqh-us-Sunnah. The Fiqh rulings in the book go back to the Qur'an and sunnah and deal with all four madhahib (schools of thought). In the Table of Contents you can click on the subject for which you wish to read the applicable law. The first subject, for example, is the purification of water.
One problem with Islamic law is that it is comes from scattered sources that are difficult to gather into a body of law. A second problem is that it is difficult to interpret and decide who gets to interpret it, and there are different schools of interpretation. A third problem is that is was frozen in pre-medieval times making it unable to reflect moral progress and modern conditions, which is a problem with all holy writ.
Wikipedia says, "Islamism is a term used to denote a set of political ideologies holding that Islam is not solely a religion, but also a political system. Islamism holds that Islamic law, or sharia, must be the basis for all statutory laws of society; that Muslims must return to the original teachings and the early models of Islam; and that western military, economic, political, social, or cultural influence on the Muslim world is against Islam." See Islamism.
For more information on the varieties of Islamism go to Understanding Islamism. For another take on the distinction between Islam and Islamism go to Stop making excuses for Muslim extremists.
Islamist Watch says, "Islamists ultimately seek hegemonic control via a worldwide caliphate that applies the Islamic law in full. Afghanistan under the Taliban offers one model of what they would establish globally. Terrorism is one method to advance these projects, but it is not the only one. Indeed, the activities of nonviolent Islamists arguably will prove a more effective tactic in the long term." (See The Threat of Lawful Islamism.)
Islamist Watch goes on to say, "Quietly, lawfully, peacefully, Islamists do their work throughout the West to impose aspects of Islamic law, win special privileges for themselves, shut down criticism of Islam, create Muslim-only zones, and deprive women and non-Muslims of their full civil rights." For an excellent discussion among experts on the threat go to Is Islamism a Threat?
What does jihad mean, and to what extent is it a principle of Islam?
If you want to determine how positive a writer is about Islam, see how he defines "jihad." For example, Professor John L. Esposito in his book, What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam, defines it this way: "'Greater' jihad is the struggle within oneself to live a righteous life and submit oneself to God's will. 'Lesser' jihad is the defense of Islam and the Muslim community." Notice the key words "defense of Islam." Contrast that definition with this one from Jihad: holy struggle or holy war?: "For the most part, there is the Greater and Lesser Jihad. The Greater Jihad is the internal spiritual struggle of the Muslim toward submission to Allah. The Lesser Jihad is Holy War against non-Muslims based on principle of belief." "Holy war" means offensive warfare against un-believers.
For a neutral scholarly discussion of jihad go to The Place of Tolerance in Islam by Khaled Abou El Fadl who is the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Fellow in Islamic Law at UCLA and author of Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law. For a rebuttal go to Stealth Islamist: Khaled Abou El Fadl. Pipes is founder and director of the Middle East Forum, a think tank that publishes Middle East Quarterly. He also has a Web page, IslamistWatch.org.
For an interesting discussion of jihad and the Crusades by Professor Bernard Lewis go to Jihad vs. Crusade. He says, "The Crusades could more accurately be described as a limited, belated and, in the last analysis, ineffectual response to the jihad--a failed attempt to recover by a Christian holy war what had been lost to a Muslim holy war." His excellent little book entitled The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror (2003) gives a good discussion of jihad and the historical background for why the Muslim's hate us.
For a further discussion of the connection between the Crusades and jihad and for a discussion of the ideology and practice of jihad go to Andrew G. Bostom's page entitled Jihad begot the Crusades. (This Web page boils down material in his monumental abundantly documented book entitled The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims. To hear Bostom give a video presentation on jihad especially as it applies to Palistine go to The Legacy of Jihad and click on "Heritage Foundation presentation by Andrew G. Bostom."
In his book Bostom cites 19 Qur'anic verses authorizing jihad. Two key verses are the "verse of the sword" (9:5) and the "jizya (poll tax) verse" (9:29):
Bostom also gives in his book a lengthy account of the practice of jihad throughout several centuries starting with Muhammad's holy wars. (Conventional histories usually gloss over just how the Arabs built their empire and how they treated the native populations.) Bostom gives copious documentation on the jihad conquests over a millennium. By 1683 when the Muslim armies were stopped at Vienna they had taken by holy wars an empire extending from Portugal to India and including Christian lands of Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Byzantium, Croatia, Herzegovina, Serbia, and parts of Hungary and Poland. It would be difficult to estimate the number of people killed, enslaved, or placed under the oppressive system of dhimmitude, and the extent of the looting and sacking. One example of Muslim brutality was the 14th Century massacres by Amir Timur, the ruler of Transoxnia (part of modern Uzbekistan). Bostom cites E.G.Brown who said Timur killed 2,000 prisoners (the corpses were made into a wall), 100,000 captive Indians, 4,000 Armenians (buried alive), 70,000 in Isfahan, and enough people in Aleppo and Damascus to build 20 towers of skulls.
All are aware of the modern jihad carried out by the Al Qaeda and other extremist groups. Whereas the ancient holy wars were fought by fierce armies using swords, spears, and arrows, the weapon of choice of modern jihadists is the suicide bomber. The jihadists may or may not have missiles, but they do have plenty of would-be martyrs to deliver their weapons.
Suicide for personal reasons is prohibited in the Qur'an and especially in the hadith. However, martyrdom is a different matter. That gets you an immediate acceptance in paradise and, possibly, the reward of 72 virgins (or "white raisins" depending upon how the word is translated). As to what constitutes martyrdom go to Islamic elites’ construction of Islamic martyrdom.
To see an example of a Muslim who killed in the name of Allah go to Killing for Allah.
To read more about jihadism and asymmetric warfare go to Global Jihad and WMD and to Suicide Bombing as a Problem in Asymmetric Warfare
There is no question that there are violent jihadists and sympathizers of violent jihadists. (After 9-11 we saw thousands of muslims cheering in the streets.) There are also people who are neutral about violent jihad, and people who disavow violent jihad.
We in the West must be concerned about the violent jihadists even if the number is small. It only took 19 violent jihadists plus an unknown number of collaborators to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and to hijack another plane that crashed.
Unfortunately our attack on Iraq has been a boon to jihadists. Concerning an Osama bin Laden tape, Al-Jazeera reported in a release on November 1, 2004, "He (bin Laden) also said al Qaeda has found it 'easy for us to provoke and bait this administration.' All that we have to do is to send two mujahedeen to the furthest point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al Qaeda, in order to make generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic and political losses without their achieving anything of note other than some benefits for their private corporations." See Bin Laden: Goal is to bankrupt U.S..
We can hardly discuss modern jihadism without mentioning Arab anti-semitism. Their demonization of the Jews is apparently relentlessly preached in the mosques and taught in the madrasas.
After Muhammad went to Medina the three resident Jewish tribes all rejected his claim of prophethood. He banished two of the tribes and slaughtered the third, took their possessions, and enslaved their women and children. This seems to be the beginning of Muhammad's hatred of the Jews, and this is still a factor in Muslim anti-Semitistism.
For good discussions of Arab anti-Semitism go to The Development of Arab Anti-Semitism. In this interview with Meir Litvak he concludes that although Israelis are victims of Arab anti-Semitism it is "also a catastrophe for the Arabs" because it "absolves the Arab people from dealing with their own major failures." Also see The Roots of Arab Anti-semitism and Arab and Muslim Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism, A Study.
Here are some of the best known Muslim extremist organizations:
For a directory see Jihadist Organizations.
Some Muslims say that "Muslim terrorist" is an oxymoron because one who practices Islam cannot be a terrorist. They might say that bin Laden is a renegade. Well, don't tell him that because he is an ardent fundamentalist Sunni Muslim schooled in the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. There is no central authority to say that he is wrong or to "excommunicate" him. Westerners see Muslims practicing terrorism under the banner of Islam, and if Islam is a peaceful religion, they want to know why terrorism is not being more widely and vociferously condemned by other Muslims and especially in the mosques.
Some say that the fanatics have “hijacked Islam.” This implies that the number of jihadists among Muslims is small. The notion that Al-Qaeda has hijacked Islam may advance the mistaken notion that if we stamp out Al-Qaeda our troubles will be over.
Returning to the question of why "they" hate us, our leaders have told us that "they hate our freedoms" and that "they" are Muslim extremists. Compare that simple-minded notion with Professor Bernard Lewis' statement in the afterword in his best selling What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East: "For Usama bin Laden and those who share in his views--and they are many--the object of the struggle is the elimination of intrusive Western power and corrupting Western influence from the lands of Islam and the restoration of Islamic authenticity and authority in these lands."
Americans are especially hated for a long list of grievances about our past and current actions especially in supporting Israel and for our power, Middle Eastern presence, wealth, culture, etc. For a good analysis go to Why do "They" Hate the West? For another excellent in-depth analysis of the question see Fareed Zakaria's excellent essay entitled The Politics of Rage: Why Do They Hate Us?
To see statements from moderate Muslims disavowing terrorism go to Muslims against Terrorism.
Muslim expansionism began with Muhammad's conquest of Mecca and then the entire Arabian peninsula. Under the caliphs the aggressive expansion continued. Conquest with the sword is the old-fashioned way. In recent years the Muslims have simply moved into European countries, except for Finland and Iceland, as legal immigrants. They are out-reproducing the natives and are not generally assimilating into the host country society. If this trend continues, the Muslims will take over these democracies.
This situation has caused many problems, but the host countries out of a spirit of multiculturalism have been inexplicably tolerant. An example of the conflict between Muslim customs and European laws was widely reported in the press in March, 2007. A 26-year-old woman who was born in Germany of Moroccan parents sought a quick divorce from her Morocco-born husband on the grounds that he had beaten her often since they were married. The German judge denied the request because the Qur'an sanctions such physical abuse and said, "In this cultural background it is not unusual that the husband uses physical punishment against the wife." She also said that the wife's Western lifestyle would give the husband grounds to claim that his honor had been compromised. The judge was abruptly removed from the case.
It is common for the parents of such "Westernized" daughters to arrange a marriage to a man in the Islamic country to put the woman on "the right path." Under European family unification laws the husband can then become a permanent resident of the European country. This increases the number of legal immigrants and reduces their chances of becoming integrated into the new country.
What is the motivation of so many Muslim immigrants coming to Europe? At one extreme some come fully committed to observe their new country's laws, ideals, and democratic values. Others come to their host countries to get whatever benefits they can without changing their allegiances. Some of these Muslims spend most of their time in their native countries where they send their children to madrasas, and continue the customs of arranged marriages, polygamy, female mutilation, wife domination and abuse, child abuse, honor punishment, etc.
Since Muslims tend to be more loyal to their tribe or clan that to their nation, immigrant Muslims do not easily assimilate into the society of host countries.
Professor Bernard Lewis warned in Muslims 'about to take over Europe' that the question of Europe's future would be, "Will it be an Islamized Europe or Europeanized Islam?"
Fleshing out this concern is Bruce Bawer's book entitled While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam Is Destroying the West from Within. To see the gist of Bawer's position go to Tolerating Intolerance: The Challenge of Fundamentalist Islam in Western Europe. To read Bawer's comments on the situation in the Netherlands and about Ayaan Hirsi Ali's experience go to Paradise lost in the Netherlands.
For another expression of concern see the very disturbing Europe's Angry Muslims from Foreign Affairs, July/August 2005. Also see Will Muslim Immigration destroy Western Democracy?. Finally, also go to The Problem with Islam.
We are now seeing radical Islam asserting itself in the US. Katherine Kersten had a piece in the March 24, 2007, Wall Street Journal entitled Shariah in Minnesota? She tells about the Muslim American Society issuing a fatwa forbidding taxi drivers in Minneapolis from accepting passengers carrying alcohol and about Muslim cashiers in Target stores refusing to scan pork products.
For a good picture of the Muslim situation in the US as it was in 2002 see Muslim Immigrants in the United States. The "Muslim problem" has accentuated in recent years. Also see The Islamist Challenge to the U.S. Constitution. This piece focuses on the rights Muslim enclaves have to "enforce greater compliance to Islamic law." For more on this theme see The Anti-Assimilation Movement. For an optimistic story in The Christian Science Monitor about the Muslim situation in America go to Radical Islam finds US 'sterile ground'.
Nonviolent inter-sect animosity is common in Christianity and Judaism, but in Iraq the militias of the Sunni and Shia sects are killing each other even though they worship the same God and revere the same Qur'an. (This is a down side of religion: There is no rational way to settle disputes.) This conflict could ignite a larger conflict in the Middle East. The Sunni dominate Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Palistine, and middle Iraq. Southern Iraq is mostly Arab Shia, and Iran is mostly Persian Shia. Will these countries sit idly on the sidelines of this conflict?
The Sunni/Shia conflict started early. When Muhammad died, the issue was who were the rightful heirs of his spiritual and political authority. One group (to become the Sunnis) claimed that it was his chosen subordinates and generals, but the other group (the Shias) claimed it was his son-in-law and nephew, Ali, and grandson, Hussayn (the claim of what became the Shia). The issue was presumably settled by the assassination of Ali and Hussayn, but the matter festered and grew more complex as other issues were added.
Sunnis believe they can approach God directly without an intermediary religious figure, so they have no hierarchy. They do usually have imams to lead their prayers, and they want a caliph to be their temporal leader in a caliphate governing the Muslim community. The term "caliphate" hasn't been used since Turkey abolished the Ottoman caliphate in 1924.
Shia believe in the imamate in which their imams are both religious and temporal leaders. Imams with a capital "I" were descendant of Muhammads son-in-law, Ali. The line continued through the 12th Imam. A Grand Ayatollah is the Shia's highest ranking cleric. See The War within Islam (where the Sunni-Shia conflict comes from).
Another example of Muslims killing Muslims is in the Sudan where Muslim Arab tribes called the Janjaweeds, supported by the Sudaneese government, have become notorious for killing, raping, pillaging, and sacking the settled Muslim tribes in the Darfur region. It is estimated that they are responsible for over 200,000 deaths.
This is what the Qur'an has to say about Muslims fighting Muslims: [Shakir 49.9} "And if two parties of the believers quarrel, make peace between them; but if one of them acts wrongfully towards the other, fight that which acts wrongfully until it returns to Allah's command; then if it returns, make peace between them with justice and act equitably; surely Allah loves those who act equitably."
To better understand what has been happening in Sudan go to Sudan and to
Darfur Destroyed, Ethnic Cleansing by Government and Militia Forces in Western Sudan by Human Rights Watch.
Conflict between Muslim sects is complicated by tribalism. See Tribalism is the real enemy in Iraq.
In Muslim societies it is common for adult women to be treated like minors or as if they are the virtual property bought and paid for (with a dowry which may go either to the bride or her guardian) by males. Several customs are related to this attitude toward women.
In these societies men typically have absolute control over women. In some societies they may not be permitted to leave their house without being accompanied by a male. They can not drive, work outside the home, or manage their own business.
In most Muslim societies women must wear head or body covering, hajib, or full body covering, burqa, so that only their eyes can be seen. The burqa is still required outside in parts of Afghanistan.
In these Muslim societies honor killings or other honor punishment is common to “protect the family honor." One of the most extreme examples is the stoning to death of an innocent victim of rape--not the perpetrator, but the victim. See Thousands of Women Killed for Family "Honor".
Arranged marriages and polygamy are common in Muslim societies. The woman's place in these societies is similar to that of a dog where its mating is controlled by its master who may own more than one dog. See Family Life: Dating and Marriage.
Where virginity is regarded as an essential requirement for marriage, female genital mutilation is common. I wonder how often it occurs to the perpetrators that they have the audacity to "correct" a "flaw" in Allah's design for the female body? For details on the mutilation see Female genital cutting.
It isn't surprising that Muslim women are frequent critics of Muslim societies. Here are books by four Muslim women. A major female voice being heard is Ayaan Hirsi Ali who wrote the big selling Infidel (2007). Her compelling memoir gives us an idea of what it is like for a female to grow up in a Muslim family. Her story gives a broad look at Muslim society since she lived and went to school in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Holland before coming to the US. She made her escape from the family clutches when she was sent off presumably to Canada for an arranged marriage, but she defected in Holland instead. She quickly learned the language, became a translator, and graduated from college. She even became a member of Parliament where she fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women. To see her Website go to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. To read a good interview with Ali go to The Infidel Speaks.
A 2006 book by Ali is entitled The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam, which includes part of the Preface to the book, which gives a good introduction to her views. As she began to look at her faith more critically, she discovered three important elements of Islam that she describes in the Preface and that she thinks explains the backwardness of Muslim nations. They are as follows: (1) "---a Muslim's relationship with his God is one of fear." (2) "---Islam knows only one moral source: the Prophet Muhammad." And he is to be emulated and venerated. (3) "---Islam is strongly dominated by a sexual morality derived from tribal Arab values---." And these date back to the time of Muhammad.
Another articulate voice is Irshad Manji, who is often seen on American TV, who wrote the The Trouble with Islam (2003). She has two strikes against her as a Muslim: She calls for Muslim reform, and she is a lesbian. See her Website, Muslim Refusenik.
Mukhtar Mai is another Muslim woman who spoke out in In the Name of Honor (2006). (Since she was illiterate, her story was transcribed and translated into French and then into English.) Her 12-year-old brother was falsely accused of seducing an older woman, so Mai's village tribal council condemned her to be gang-raped as an honor punishment for the family. After the rape she was expected to kill herself and many rape victims do, but she was a survivor. You can't read this book without wondering what the appalling behavior of the Muslim men who practice honor punishment says about Islam. Yet her faith in Islam has not been shaken.
Still another female voice is Nonie Darwish whose father, who was the Egyptianan head of the fedyeen in Gaza, died in a bomb attack presumably by Israel. This made him a respected martyr for Jihad. When she became an adult, she converted to Christianity and started speaking against the injustices of Muslim societies. She wrote Now They Call Me Infidel (2006). She discusses many of the Muslim-related customs, especially those concerning the limitation women's rights in Egypt. To see her Website go to Arabs for Israel.
There are many voices calling for Islamic reformation. Journalist Maruf Khwaja, who was born in India and reared in Pakistan, wrote an essay entitled Terrorism, Islam, reform: thinking the unthinkable in which he says, "Only reform can save Islam from itself."
Also see The St. Petersburg Declaration, which was released by the delegates to the Secular Islam Summit, St. Petersburg, Florida on March 5, 2007, who called upon governments to make several reforms. A secular Islamic reform organization is the Islamic Society of North America.
Early in the history of Islam there were two important opposing theological positions. The rationalists held that the Qur'an and the traditions were subordinate to reason; therefore, they were subject to interpretation. The approach to legal questions in which a judgment is made independently of precedent was called ijtihad.
The traditionalists believed that the religious truths in the Qur'an and traditions were fixed for all time, which is a fundamentalist concept in all three Abrahamic religions, and that there is no room for considering historical context in interpretation. By the 14th Century the traditionalist position was dominant in Sunni Islam. The door was closed to any notion of reform or of ijtihad (For further explanation of ijtihad go to Ijtihad).
Irshad Manji in her book previously referred to, The Trouble with Islam, interprets ijtihad broadly and proposes an "Operation Ijtihad" that would begin by encouraging Muslim women to become businesswomen. This would assert that women are "not communal property."
The fact that there is no central religious authority especially in Sunni Islam is both good and bad with respect to reform. They can't have a reactionary "pope" preventing reform, but they also can't have a "Pope John 23rd" that could lead them toward reform. Reform must come group by group and mosque by mosque.
I have no problem with the Qur'an regardless of how it originated because it reflects the morality of its time and place of origin. I do have a problem with 21st Century fundamentalist Muslims (and Christians and Jews) who interpret their scripture literally and insist on imposing all scriptural commands on others. That violates freedom of conscience and prevents moral progress.
I am less interested in the religious and ethical beliefs of people than in their behavior. In the spirit of multiculturalism what standard of behavior can we expect of all sects? I suggest that we can expect all religious and political groups to abide by the ethic of reciprocity, which is incorporated in every religion in some form such as the Golden Rule (although it is not in the Qur'an but can be found in hadith), and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A(III) of 10 Dec.1948. Look again at Article 1: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
Shouldn't everyone have the right to join a religion or not or to leave a religion without being punished and to have freedom to choose or divorce ones mate, freedom to veil or not, freedom to get an education, and freedom from the classic discriminations based on religion, race, nationality, ethnic group, or sex?
No country should let an exaggerated sense of multiculturalism prevent the condemnation of violations of human rights whether the motivation is political, cultural, ethnic, or religious.
Reforms are needed in all three of the Abrahamic religions, but in my judgment the need is the most urgent in the case of Muslims because the behavior of some of them most violates the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human rights.
In the plaintive words of Rodney King, “Why can’t we all just get along?”
Gregory M. Davis is the author of a quite comprehensive critical look at Islam in his on-line "book" entitled Jihad Watch, Islam 101.
Another comprehensive critique is Islam Undressed, which is an on-line book consisting of 29 chapters.
For a neutral history of Muhammad and Islam from MidEast Web go to A Concise History of Islam and the Arabs.
On the Web there are many sites defending Islam. One major organization in the United States promoting good public relations for Islam is Council of American-Islamic Relations. Another public relations organization is Muslim Public Affairs Council. Some other Muslim organizations are the Islamic Circle of North America, Muslim Ummah of North America and Muslim American Society.
When reading about Islam or Muslims it is helpful to have a glossary close at hand. For a good one see
Official Islam Glossary. Also see Encylopedia of the Orient.
Here are some common terms:
Here are Muslim titles that we often encounter:
Your feedback will be welcome. Please send an e-mail message to me, Bob Parvin at bandcparvinXhotmail.com (Substitute @ for X. I'm trying to hide my address from spammers.)
[Shakir 9:5] "So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful."
[9:29] "Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection."