My new book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS includes some startling information about the Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, who lived in Berlin during World War Ii and made radio broadcasts in Arabic that were beamed into the Arabic-speaking world. In a November 2, 1943 broadcast, he said that Jews “incapable […]
Ramadan Day 8 thought for the day from Robert Spencer’s The History of Jihad
My new book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS tells the story of the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV, who was alarmed by the decline of the Ottoman Empire, and concluded, as have so many other Muslim rulers throughout history, that it was because Allah was angry over lax enforcement of the Sharia. So […]
Ramadan Day 7 thought for the day from Robert Spencer’s The History of Jihad
In my new book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, I recount how in 711, Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the governor of Iraq, sent the general Muhammad ibn Qasim into Sindh, modern-day western Pakistan. It was the beginning of the jihad conquest of India. Hajjaj gave his commander ruthlessly precise instructions: My ruling is […]
Available now for pre-order on Kindle: Robert Spencer’s The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS
Coming this summer from Bombardier Books is my latest, and I believe my best and most important book: The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS. You can pre-order it now on Kindle here, and a 3-D, tangible version here. This book provides, for the first time in the English language, a general overview of […]
Ramadan Day 6 thought for the day from Robert Spencer’s The History of Jihad
Our Ramadan inspiration for today is a lesson in Islamic tolerance from Mamluk Egypt. In my new book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, I recount that in 1301, according to the fourteenth-century Muslim historian Ibn Naqqash, the vizier of Gharb in North Africa visited the Mamluk sultan al-Malik an-Nasir and several other […]
Ramadan Day 5 thought for the day from Robert Spencer’s The History of Jihad
Today’s holy month inspiration comes from the time of the Crusades. In 1268, as I recount in my new book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, when the jihad forces of the Mamluk sultan Baybars took Antioch from the Crusaders, Baybars was annoyed to find that the Crusader ruler, Count Bohemond VI, had […]
Ramadan Day 4 thought for the day from Robert Spencer’s The History of Jihad
Today’s Ramadan inspiration from my new book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS comes from Muslim Spain, that celebrated beacon of tolerance and multiculturalism. The tolerance of Abd al-Rahman III, the tenth-century Umayyad caliph of Córdoba, is illustrated by the eleventh-century Muslim historian Ibn Hayyan of Córdoba as he details a typical incident […]
Ramadan Day 3 thought for the day from Robert Spencer’s The History of Jihad
Around the turn of the fourteenth century, the Delhi sultan Alauddin Khalji asked the Islamic scholar Qazi Mughisuddin about the legal status of the Hindus within his domains and the permissibility of conferring dhimmi status upon them. The qazi directed that the Muslims must treat the Hindus this way, as quoted in my new book […]
Ramadan Day 2 thought for the day from Robert Spencer’s The History of Jihad
Since Ramadan is the month of jihad, I’m offering some inspirational statements from Muslim leaders, as quoted in my new book The History of Jihad. Today’s Ramadan inspiration comes from the sixteenth-century Muslim historian Firishta, who recounted that at Kondapalli in India in 1481, The Hindus, according to custom, when they saw their chief destroyed, […]
Ramadan thought for the day from Robert Spencer’s The History of Jihad
Now that another Ramadan is upon us, it is important to remember that Ramadan is the month of jihad. In keeping with the spirit of the season, I have decided to offer some inspirational statements from Muslim leaders, as quoted in my new book The History of Jihad. Today’s comes from a renowned Muslim leader, […]