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Islam: the Facade and the Facts
By Abdullah Al Araby
Jump to: Change
of Identity Change of Vocabulary
Change of Strategy
Stage of Weakness Mohammed
in Mecca The Facts
The Facade
The "Islam" that Muslim activists introduce to the West these days is completely
different from the Islam we knew and experienced in the Middle East. This is
a new edition - revised, modified, expanded and abridged - of the real Islam.
A major facelift operation has been taking place here.
To their credit, I must acknowledge that the international Islamization movement,
in recent years, has grown much in both intelligence and sophistication. They
lacked power, so they decided to be smart. Since they could no longer use the
sword to conquer the world, as they once did, they decided to use more cunning
methods, taking advantage of democracy in the West.
The following are some of the methods Muslim activists are now adopting:
- Change of Identity
Muslim activists in the West avoid referring to teachings that may offend
the Western citizen, such as the Islamic code of punishment.
They stress that they believe in Moses and Jesus. They refrain from calling
Jews and Christians "infidels", nor would they call them "Zionists" or "Crusaders".
The last thing they want to do is to shock people. They once had a Muslim
host on their TV. program with a Christian name, "Paul"; names like Mohammed,
Mustafa and Omar were too strong to swallow they thought. They use the term
"Sunday School" in place of "Friday Class", and they end their speeches with
the Christian expression "may God bless you".
They boast about being Americans, and have the American flag cover the background
of their program set. This is the same flag Muslims burn in their daily rituals
in Islamic countries, calling America "The great Satan".
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- Change of Vocabulary
Instead of living in isolation from society, they are using now a completely
new terminology. Words like love, grace... are now part of their vocabulary.
Theological Christian terms such as : Salvation, Justification and Sanctification
are now part of their teachings.
They change Quranic translations to hide some of Islam's harsh teachings.
An example is the new French translation of the Quran which has caused tremendous
furor among Muslim fundamentalists. The translation attempted to please Jews
by modifying some verses of the Quran that condemned Jews. An example is a
verse that used to read "The people of Israel, after sowing corruption twice
on earth for the purpose of dominating other people, will push themselves
up into a position of extreme power before being punished by God."
The new translation reads just the opposite: "The people of Israel will be
twice destroyed as an innocent victim, and God will reward them by elevating
them to great heights."
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- Change of Strategy
Their new strategy lies in trying to be accepted, included and involved in
all activities; religious, social and political.
They are now becoming active in partisan functions in order to have a say
in parties platforms. They conduct letter compaigns to members of Congress
to influence legislation. They run for public offices in hope of reaching
a position of authority. They make full use of their voting power to get concessions
in their favor. They try to be represented on educational programs to go in
line with their beliefs.
The stage of weakness and the stage of Jihad
(Holy War)
It seems that these new tactics we discussed are not without precedent in
Islamic history. Mohammed Hassanein Heikal, the noted Egyptian author, refers
to this concept in his book "Autumn Furor". He states:
"So the element of Jihad emerged in the ideology of Abul Aala Almaudoody.
He went on to differentiate between two separate stages a Muslim community
goes through:
"The stage of weakness - In it a Muslim community is unable to take charge
of its own destiny. In this case - according to his thinking - they must withdraw
for the purpose of preparing themselves to be capable of executing the second
stage.
"The second stage is the Jihad stage, and it will come when the Muslim community
has completed its prepardness and is ready to come out of its isolation to
take charge, through Jihad.
"In this, Abul Aala Almaudoody was making a comparison between the two stages
of weakness and Jihad on the one hand, and on the other hand, Mohammed's struggle
in Mecca then in Medina."
Mohammed in Mecca and Mohammed in Medina
Historians agree that there is a big difference between Mohammed's personality
in Mecca and his personality after his migration to Medina.
In Mecca Mohammed was weak, struggling to be accepted, often mocked at and
ridiculed. He tried to appeal to the people of Mecca by being compassionate
and loving. His teachings condemned violence, injustice, neglect of the poor.
However, after he moved to Medina and his followers grew in strength and number,
he became a relentless warrior, intent on spreading his religion by the sword.
This change in Mohammed's personality becomes apparent by comparing the Meccan
and the Medinan surahs. The following are some examples:
In surah 73:10 God tells Mohammed to be patient with his opponents
"Be patient with what they say, and part from them courteously." While in
surah 2:191 God orders him to kill his opponents "Kill them wherever
you find them, and drive them out from wherever they drove you out..."
In surah 2:256 God tells Mohammed not to impose Islam by force "There
is no compulsion in religion." While in verse 193 God tells him to kill
whoever rejects Islam "Fight (kill) them until there is no persecution
and the religion is God's."
In surah 29:46 God tells Mohammed to speak nicely to people of the Book
(Christians and Jews) "Argue with people of the Book, other then evil doers,
only by means of what are better! and say, we believe in what has been sent
down to us and sent down to you. Our God is the same as your God, and we are
surrendered to him." While in surah 9:29 God tells him to fight the people
of the Book, "Fight those who do not believe in God and the last day...and
fight People of the Book, who do not accept the religion of truth (Islam)
until they pay tribute by hand, being inferior."
To justify this sudden change in the Quran's mood from peaceful to militant,
conciliatory to confrontational, Mohammed claimed that it was God who told
him so. It was God who abrogated the peaceful verses and replaced them by
harsh ones.
However the truth of the matter, as Almaudoody puts it, is that Mohammed became
strong enough to move from the stage of weakness to the stage of Jihad.
Today, in the West, we are witnessing the Islamic stage of weakness, but lets
not be fooled, the stage of Jihad is coming sooner or later. This meek little
lamb will turn out to be a ravening wolf, the sweet melodious "Baa Baa" will
change to a thunderous roar.
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The Facts
The following are some real teachings of Islam:
- Men are superior to women (surah 2:228).
- Women have half the rights of men: in court witness (surah 2:282)
and in inheritance
(surah 4:11).
- A man may punish his wife by beating her (surah 4:34).
- A man may marry up to four wives at the same time (surah 4:3).
- A wife is a sex object for her husband (surah 2:223).
- Muslims must fight until their opponents submit to Islam (surah 9:29).
- A Muslim must not take a Jew or a a Christian for a friend (surah
5:51).
- A Muslim apostate must be killed (surah 9:12).
- Stealing is punished by the amputation of the hands (surah 5:38).
- Adultery is punished by public flogging (surah 24:2).
- Resisting Islam is punished by death, crucifixion or the cutting off
of the hands and feet
(surah 5:33).
- Fate decides everyone's eternal destination (surah 17:13).
- Every Muslim will pass through Hell (surah 19:71).
- Heaven in Islam is the place where a Muslim will be reclining, eating
meats and delicious fruits, drinking exquisite wines, and engaging in
sex with virgins (surah 55:54- 56) &
(surah 52:17,19).
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