When it comes to the connection between Islam and violence against non-Muslims, one fact must be embraced: the majority of those in positions of leadership and authority in the West are either liars or fools, or both. No other alternative exists. The reason for this uncharitable assertion is simple: If Islam was once a faraway, […]
‘Mere Islam’ and the Munich Massacre
A German-born 18-year-old of Iranian descent named Ali Sonboly went on a shooting spree last Friday. He reportedly targeted young children and murdered nine. This incident is a reminder that the ongoing terrorization of the West is not limited to the Islamic State (ISIS), “extreme” Wahhabi or Salafi interpretations of Islam, or terrorists posing […]
Egypt: Top Islamic institution preaches “religious freedom” to West, while supporting death penalty for apostates at home
In a statement titled, “The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies Calls on Al Azhar’s Sheikh to Renounce His Remarks Which Contradict Religious Freedom and Support Violent Extremism,” the institute blasted Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb’s recent remarks concerning apostasy, first reported in the English here. Though Tayeb is often portrayed as a “moderate” and “reformer,” the […]
‘Muslim Grievances’ Responsible for Terrorism in France, Says Reuters
After the Nice, France terror attack—where approximately 84 people were killed and hundreds injured—Western “mainstream media” is again in full damage control mode, trying to rescue “the narrative,” namely, that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism. Take one Reuters report by Tom Heneghan, titled “Foreign and domestic policies make France ‘most threatened country.’” […]
Are Catholic Molesters and Islamic Terrorists “Abusing” Their Religions?
While recently discussing how President Obama’s relationship to Islam is undermining U.S. security, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly offered up some strange analogies: Barack Obama has deep emotional ties to Islam. Now to some extent I can identify with Barack Obama on the religious issue. As a Roman Catholic I was appalled when the priest […]
Islam is both a religion and polity, says leading Egyptian cleric
What is the role of Islam in Muslim society? Is it just a religion to be practiced privately, as Christianity is understood in the West? Or does it call for theocracy—governance according to the laws derived from it, also known as Sharia? Dr. Ali Abdel Raziq, whose 1925 book arguing against the caliphate caused an […]
Made in Our Image: The Allure of ‘Moderate Muslims’
One of the greatest problems with the much cherished “moderate/radical” Muslim dichotomy is that it’s entirely based on Western assumptions that have nothing to do with the realities of Islam. This came out in a study published in Arabic (my recent translation here): Islamic researchers are agreed that what the West and its followers […]
Seven Myths of the Crusades
Seven Myths of the Crusades by Alfred J. Andrea and Andrew Holt, eds. Cambridge, Mass.: Hackett Publishing, 2015. 248 pp. $54 ($19, paper). As the editors make clear in their preface, Seven Myths of the Crusades is presented as an antidote to the “outpouring of exaggerations, misperceptions, errors, misrepresentations, and fabrications” that proliferate in popular discourse […]
Egypt’s highest Islamic authority — a “moderate” — says apostasy punishable by death
The line between “moderate” and “radical” Muslim continues to fade. On the question of apostasy in Islam—whether a born or converted Muslim has the right to abandon Islam for another or no religion—the radical position is well known: unrepentant apostates are to be punished with death. Yet one of the Muslim world’s greatest authorities, the […]
“Your Fault!” Why Western Women Get Raped by Muslims
Are Western women responsible for provoking Muslim men into raping them? Some Europeans certainly seem to think so. Recently, after a 20-year-old Austrian woman waiting at a bus stop in Vienna was attacked, beaten, and robbed by four Muslim men from Afghanistan—including one who “started [by] putting his hands through my hair and made it […]