“Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those [who say this] are witless. Islam says: Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all! Does this mean that Muslims should sit back until they are devoured by [the unbelievers]? Islam says” Kill them, put them to the sword and scatter [their armies]…Islam says” Whatever good there is exists thanks to the sword and in the shadow of the sword! People cannot be made obedient except with the Sword! The sword is the key to Paradise, which can be opened only for the Holy Warriors! There are hundreds of others [Qur’anic] psalms and Hadiths [sayings of the Prophet] urging Muslims to value war and to fight. Does all this mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make such a claim.”
Of course not all Muslims want to “kill all unbelievers” so if I wrote this I would be called an “Islamophobic” bigot. These are not my words, however, but the words of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1900-1989), an Islamic scholar, Islamic political theorist, religious leader for Shi’ite Muslims, and the supreme political/religious ruler of Muslims in Iran. I suspect that he knew more about Islam than liberal multiculturalists in America who want so desperately for Islam to be a religion of peace (Khomeini quote from “A Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam” by Robert Spencer, 191.)
Thursday, August 17, 2006
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4 comments:
It's not just "liberal multiculturalists" who claim true Islam is a peaceful religion. As I've pointed out before, the President says it all the time.
Also, it's pretty clear that the version of Islam that he was speaking of was his particular interpretation. There are plenty of biblical interpretations out there that many Christians disagree with; surely the same thing happens in other religions.
John,
You're right that it is not just liberal multiculturalists who endlessly repeat the mantra that Islam is a peaceful religion.
There are certainly many peaceful Muslims in the world, but Khomeini is right: Islam is not a peaceful religion. I worry that many Republicans have their head in the sand on this issue as well.
You argued that Khomeini was just giving "his particular interpretation" as if this was just one man's opinion. This one man's opinion is considered the authority for millions and millions of Muslims.
Imagine if the Pope were to say that Christianity requires Christians to kill anyone who will not submit to the authority of Christ! No one would say, oh, that's just one man's opinion.
People can be, and are, misled all the time. There are well over a billion Muslims in the world - I don't know how many "millions and millions" you mean, but in terms of percentage, it would have to be "lots" of "millions and millions" for it to be significant.
I don't know that any of us are completely qualified to make judgments about what is or isn't the "true" nature of Islam. Living in the part of the world that we do, pretty much all we see and hear are the extremists and the terrorist acts.
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