THE TROUBLE WITH ISLAM

Tawfik Hamid in Opinion Journal speaks truth to power:

Indeed, there is much that is clearly wrong with the Islamic world. Women are stoned to death and undergo clitorectomies. Gays hang from the gallows under the approving eyes of the proponents of Shariah, the legal code of Islam. Sunni and Shia massacre each other daily in Iraq. Palestinian mothers teach 3-year-old boys and girls the ideal of martyrdom. One would expect the orthodox Islamic establishment to evade or dismiss these complaints, but less happily, the non-Muslim priests of enlightenment in the West have come, actively and passively, to the Islamists' defense.

It is vital to grasp that traditional and even mainstream Islamic teaching accepts and promotes violence. Shariah, for example, allows apostates to be killed, permits beating women to discipline them, seeks to subjugate non-Muslims to Islam as dhimmis and justifies declaring war to do so. It exhorts good Muslims to exterminate the Jews before the "end of days." The near deafening silence of the Muslim majority against these barbaric practices is evidence enough that there is something fundamentally wrong.

The grave predicament we face in the Islamic world is the virtual lack of approved, theologically rigorous interpretations of Islam that clearly challenge the abusive aspects of Shariah. Unlike Salafism, more liberal branches of Islam, such as Sufism, typically do not provide the essential theological base to nullify the cruel proclamations of their Salafist counterparts. And so, for more than 20 years I have been developing and working to establish a theologically-rigorous Islam that teaches peace.

Yet it is ironic and discouraging that many non-Muslim, Western intellectuals—who unceasingly claim to support human rights—have become obstacles to reforming Islam. Political correctness among Westerners obstructs unambiguous criticism of Shariah's inhumanity. They find socioeconomic or political excuses for Islamist terrorism such as poverty, colonialism, discrimination or the existence of Israel. What incentive is there for Muslims to demand reform when Western "progressives" pave the way for Islamist barbarity? Indeed, if the problem is not one of religious beliefs, it leaves one to wonder why Christians who live among Muslims under identical circumstances refrain from contributing to wide-scale, systematic campaigns of terror.

Politicians and scholars in the West have taken up the chant that Islamic extremism is caused by the Arab-Israeli conflict. This analysis cannot convince any rational person that the Islamist murder of over 150,000 innocent people in Algeria—which happened in the last few decades—or their slaying of hundreds of Buddhists in Thailand, or the brutal violence between Sunni and Shia in Iraq could have anything to do with the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Western appeasement of their Muslim communities has exacerbated the problem. During the four-month period after the publication of the Muhammad cartoons in a Danish magazine, there were comparatively few violent demonstrations by Muslims. Within a few days of the Danish magazine's formal apology, riots erupted throughout the world. The apology had been perceived by Islamists as weakness and concession.

Worst of all, perhaps, is the anti-Americanism among many Westerners. It is a resentment so strong, so deep-seated, so rooted in personal identity, that it has led many, consciously or unconsciously, to morally support America's enemies.

Progressives need to realize that radical Islam is based on an antiliberal system. They need to awaken to the inhumane policies and practices of Islamists around the world. They need to realize that Islamism spells the death of liberal values. And they must not take for granted the respect for human rights and dignity that we experience in America, and indeed, the West, today.

Well-meaning interfaith dialogues with Muslims have largely been fruitless. Participants must demand&@151;but so far haven't&@151;that Muslim organizations and scholars specifically and unambiguously denounce violent Salafi components in their mosques and in the media. Muslims who do not vocally oppose brutal Shariah decrees should not be considered "moderates."

Western feminists duly fight in their home countries for equal pay and opportunity, but seemingly ignore, under a façade of cultural relativism, that large numbers of women in the Islamic world live under threat of beating, execution and genital mutilation, or cannot vote, drive cars and dress as they please.

The tendency of many Westerners to restrict themselves to self-criticism further obstructs reformation in Islam. Americans demonstrate against the war in Iraq, yet decline to demonstrate against the terrorists who kidnap innocent people and behead them. Similarly, after the Madrid train bombings, millions of Spanish citizens demonstrated against their separatist organization, ETA. But once the demonstrators realized that Muslims were behind the terror attacks they suspended the demonstrations. This example sent a message to radical Islamists to continue their violent methods.

All of this makes the efforts of Muslim reformers more difficult. When Westerners make politically-correct excuses for Islamism, it actually endangers the lives of reformers and in many cases has the effect of suppressing their voices. Tolerance does not mean toleration of atrocities under the umbrella of relativism. It is time for all of us in the free world to face the reality of Salafi Islam or the reality of radical Islam will continue to face us.

Dr. Hamid, a onetime member of Jemaah Islamiya, an Islamist terrorist group, is a medical doctor and Muslim reformer living in the West.

FROM THE DESK OF DAVID HOROWITZ

Dear Supporter,

Liberals are so afraid of offending Muslims that they are denying these facts which are staring us in the face:

•Muslims the world over are engaged in an openly declared Holy War or Jihad against the West.

•This Jihad is a grave danger to our nation and to all of Western civilization.

•The Jihad challenges every facet of American life. Its agenda includes the purposeful and systematic dismantling of all aspects of our culture. It hopes ultimately to impose Sharia law on the U.S., replacing our law with provisions such as the stoning of adulterous women and cutting off thieves' hands.

•The extent of the threat is not being effectively and truthfully communicated to the American public.

These are the reasons my organization is now sponsoring Jihad Watch, an information and action campaign to alert the American people to the real threat of the Muslim jihad, and what needs to be done to make our country and our civilization secure.

I am writing to you today to ask your support.

Here's just one example of what we need to expose:

"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth."

Do you have any idea who said this?

It was Omar Ahmad, the chairman of the board of CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR's spokesmen appear regularly in the media complaining about the treatment of Muslims and giving us the message that "Muslims are part of the fabric of this great country and are working to build a better America."

But when speaking to a Muslim audience, as Omar Ahmad was, the message is not so benign.

I'm certain you didn't know who made this statement. The media are too eager to portray Islam just as Muslims wish them to. But I'm out to portray it as it really is.

The threat of Islam's Holy War is so dangerous that we can't continue to allow Americans to remain ignorant. That's why I brought in the most hard-hitting and knowledgeable expert in Islam I know, who has already been running the Jihad Watch website on his own for several years.

He is Robert Spencer, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and other books, who has studied Islamic theology, law and history for decades. He has been a consultant to the U.S. State Department, U.S. Central Command, the Department of Homeland Security and the German Foreign Ministry on Islam and Jihad, and has appeared on the BBC, the VOA, CNN, and numerous other TV and radio outlets to discuss Jihad and terrorism.

His most recent book, The Truth About Muhammad, has been banned in Pakistan because it contains "objectionable material" about Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. An official at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington said: "The book is very, very damaging - let me tell you."

As a long time supporter of Robert's work, I know you understand better than anyone, the importance of the Jihad Watch project. I decided to sponsor and expand the work of Jihad Watch because Robert is not afraid to tell the truth - even though it has led to his being targeted with death threats by militant Muslims. In a recent Al-Qaeda videotape, he was actually mentioned by name as one of four people the terrorist groups regards as its most formidable enemies. And here's one of the more colorful threats he received:

"May Allah rip out his spine from his back and split his brains in two, and then put them both back, and then do it over and over again.... Amen."

That's supposed to be a prayer! Have you noticed any Christian or Jewish prayers like that? And if you received that kind of threat - along with many others - would you continue to dig up and publicize the truth about Islam? Robert Spencer does, even though he has to conceal where he lives and some things about his identity to protect his family.

Robert is a hero. I'm proud that he is heading up Jihad Watch for us.

The Jihad Watch effort includes booklets, articles, speeches, email campaigns, Internet, and as many appearances in the media as we can get. We're already experts at getting media attention, and Jihad Watch is the kind of hot topic that TV and radio hosts love.

We need to raise $180,000 for the next three months of Jihad Watch. I hope that you will help us with a gift of $25, $50, $100 or more. Click here to give. https://www.donationreport.com/init/controller/ProcessEntryCmd?key=F0M2I3C2Y4

For your gift of $25 or more I'll send you Robert Spencer's pamphlet, What Americans Need to Know About Jihad. For your gift of $50 or more I'll also send Robert's Politically Correct Guide to Islam. If your gift is $100 or more, I'll also send you the book that was banned in Pakistan, The Truth About Muhammad.

I know that many Americans do not want to face unpleasant facts. Too many refuse to admit that Islamic jihad is out to destroy America and is already influencing much that goes on in the media, the entertainment industry, schools, libraries, and other institutions.

I hope you are one person who is not afraid to face the threat and do something about it. Please respond right away with your generous gift.

My Sincere Thanks,
David Horowitz
President & Founder

P.S. Imagine American women submitting to wearing a head scarf, or giving up contact with unrelated men. Imagine the Koran as the ultimate authority over our daily lives. That's so hard to think about that it appears unreal. Yet that is the exact goal of the jihadists' Holy War. Please help me fight them with the truth.