By Joseph A Butta Jr.

The purpose of this work is to provide factual unbiased information from Islamic sources concerning the essence and true nature of Islam. Most Americans have neither the time or desire to read and understand the Qur’an in a chronology within its historical context or strive to discern the significance of Muhammad’s tradition through the Sira [Muhammad’s Biography], Hadith [Traditions of Muhammad] and Tarikh [History of Islam].  Rather many, including those in government, find it far more expedient to draw their conclusions concerning Islam from the Executive Branch, news commentators or Muslim pundits.  The prevailing popular commentaries include:  Neither ISIS or Al Qaida are Islamic [False]; Muslims who we designate as moderate have no designs on a world dominated by Islam [False]; All Muslims are violent [False] and  the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates have infiltrated American institutions with the intention of undermining the fabric of America [True].

Just as true Christianity cannot hold beliefs or practices that contradict the New Covenant scriptures; true Islam is also found within the Quran and Hadith [Traditions of Muhammad]. Many who are in positions of power too often try to interpret Islam within a politically-correct context.  This means Islam must be what they say it is, otherwise Islam would be different from other religions [which are tolerable if kept in the private domain], and be incompatible with a society based upon pluralism, egalitarianism,
inclusiveness and diversity.  Many, who have little or no religious faith, promote a myth that Muslims do not take the words in their authoritative texts seriously. Unfortunately this inhibits Western attempts to perform the due diligence this topic deserves.

Let’s start with a basic tenant of Islam from these two Qur’anic verses and hadith. Surah 3:31; 33:21; Bukhari V7B63N1891 – Allah/Muhammad Declared;” If you love Allah follow Muhammad. Allah will grant you protection from sin. For Muhammad was a Model of a beautiful pattern of conduct”; One who possessed excellent virtues and one who would supersede all previous prophets.” These texts clearly state that Muslims should model their behavior after their prophet. This may mean little to westerners until they come to understand what Muhammad taught and how he lived his life. As for Muslims some will interpret the authoritative texts literally meaning they will seek to apply Muhammad’s actions to the 21 st  century.  Others who we term moderate will interpret Muhammad’s teaching according to the periods he lived his life.  His early years were known as the Meccan period (610-622) and the last ten years of his life were known as the Medinan period (623-632). The Meccan scriptures are considered more temperate where the Medinan scriptures permit violence to fulfill the Islamic mission. Then there are Muslim revisionists like Dr. Zhudi Jasser who seek to expunge the violent passages from the Quran stating that those verses were only for that time period.

In our day violent Islamist extremism is identified through Al-Qaida, ISIS and their affiliates (HAMAS, Boko Haram, Al Shabaab, Al Nusra Front, AQAP etc..). ISIS was the core of the Kaliphate, but the Kaliphate now has violently aggressive “provinces in W. Africa [Boko Haram], the Maghreb [several groups in Libya & Egypt], Horn of Africa [al-Shabaab], “Khorasan” [Pashtunstan & the Hindu Kush], etc. These represent organized Sunni extremism. Shi’a violent extremism is represented by Iran’s creation Hizb’allah and other Khomeniists. Hizb’allah is not just confined to Lebanon or the Arab world, but has cells and branches worldwide. The face of “moderate” Islam is represented by the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) and their affiliates (i.e. Council on American Islamic Relations, Islamic Society of North America, Muslim Students Association, etc.) and by other groups including the ruling AKP in Turkey and the Wah’abi sect in Saudi Arabia and its international outreach arm [e.g., the American Islamic Mission]. The modus operandi of violent contemporary extremism can be found within the Jihad Manual and its companion document, the Manchester document. The Muslim Brotherhood operations document is
known as The Manifesto of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America. All of these documents can be found online. To many of the sheepdogs (DOD personnel, military, police and other security professionals) violent extremism is seen as the most immediate threat. Many relax in the notion if they are not trying to kill us they must be moderate or good. Unknown or unchallenged by many is the threat within our borders. What follows is an excerpt from the Muslim Brotherhood document:

4- Understanding the role of the Muslim Brother in North America:

The process of settlement is a “Civilization-Jihadist Process” with all the word means. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and “sabotaging” its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah’s religion is made victorious over all other religions. Without this level of understanding, we are not up to this challenge and have not prepared ourselves for Jihad yet. It is a Muslim’s destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes, and there is no escape from that destiny except for those who chose to slack. But, would the slackers and the Mujahedeen be equal.

Could anything be clearer than their own words from their own document? How has the US government reacted to the Muslim Brotherhood and their affiliates? It has invited them to the White House and Pentagon as advisers, hired them into DOD facilities for their language capabilities, allowed them to purge defense and federal homeland security and law enforcement training materials on Islam, and encouraged them to establish “minority advocacy” organizations in government where they can object to and prevent training sessions on Islam that do not meet their approval. Years ago the USG also supported the Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] government of President Morsi in Egypt and condemned the Al Sisi coup that ousted it when the Egyptian people recognized that they had been duped by the Ikhwan during the uprising to oust President Mubarak.

None of this however explains the “why.” The remainder of this work will be spent answering that question.  What is the proximate cause and motivation for Islamist behavior that reaches back to the 7th  Century? What did Muhammad teach?  How did Muhammad act?  What did Muhammad’s god declare? How did Muhammad’s immediate companions behave? Since we have already seen that Muhammad’s god declared Muhammad the model of human conduct, it follows that this teaching and
record of his actions have a demonstrable impact on generations of Muslims who prescribe to a literal interpretation and application of these principles.  Therefore, what concepts are taught within the Qur’an and Traditions of Muhammad that influence and impact this behavior?  The rest of this article will briefly describe the influence and impact these concepts have on Islamic literalists.
 
Qur’an

Muhammad

Islam

​

Abrogation (Nasikh)

Dar- Al-Islam

Dhimmitude

Jihad

Judgment

Martyrdom

People of the Book (Christians and Jews)

Taqqiyah/Kitman/Murunah (Dissimulation/Deception/Dissolution)

Terrorism

Women

Eschatology
 
I will in this space briefly describe the influence and impact these concepts have on Islamic Literalists.

Qur’an: In this writing, Allah, who speaks by way of an angel who identifies himself as Gabriel through Muhammad’s tongue, affirms to Muslims not only the Qur’an but also Arabization.  Therefore, wherever Muslims travel with their Qur’an Arabization also becomes part and parcel with Islam. Allah’s decrees are as one with Arab culture.

Muhammad: He is first defended by Allah from accusations that he forged the Qur’an. This has come into new light since fragments of an ancient Qur’an were carbon dated in the summer of 2015 and found to predate Muhammad’s revelations.  It then affirms that obedience to Muhammad is equal to obedience to Allah. In order for one to be acceptable to Allah one must obey the words of Muhammad and imitate his words and actions.

Islam: This religion is two things.  First, it was sent by Allah.  It is Allah’s religion.  Next, it was the religion of Abraham.  This tells adherents that the decree in the Torah stating the Israelites are God’s chosen could not be true and Jesus’ declaration in the Gospels that “before Abraham was, I Am (YHVH)” also cannot be true.  Abraham worshipped and behaved like Muhammad, as did Moses and Jesus, therefore corruption entered their scriptures from enemies of Islam.  Islam literally means “Submission” [implicitly to Allah]; a Muslim is “one who is in submission”

Abrogation: How can verses from the Meccan period (610-622) be reconciled with verses from the later Medinan period (623-632) when on face value they contradict? Allah told Muhammad in the early Meccan surahs what he needed to know and do to survive and build up his following; in the later, more bellicose and intolerant Medinan surahs, Allah told Muhammad what he needed to know and do to build up the Dar al-Islam.  Therefore, the later surahs supersede the earlier ones, just as simple rules and discipline for children are superseded by more complex and essential rules and harsher penalties for violating adults. Unlike the apostles’ lengthy personal relationship with Christ, Allah does not have a direct relationship with Muhammad – communication is unidirectional, impersonal, and always through the intermediary of the angel.

Dar al-Islam:  The domain of lands and people in submission to Allah where the Qur’an and Sharia reign supreme.  The opposite is Dar al-Harb, the domain of chaos/war – those lands and people that are in rebellion against Allah [all non-Muslim controlled lands and people loyal to those governments, even if they profess to be Muslims].

Dhimmitude:  This is the desired state for non-Muslims in an Islamic State.  This is the goal of Jihadists as Islam spreads.  Non-Muslims, mainly Christians and Jews, are designated as those who are offered Islam, Dhimmitude, or death. This concept fuels the Jihad.  Dhimmi essentially turns the citizens of a conquered nation who reject Islam into resident aliens in their own land.  They lose the ability to sell property except to Muslims; they lose the right to seek redress against Muslims in court; their testimony is equal to that of a slave [far less than that of a Muslim]; they cannot publicly pray or celebrate their religion; they cannot serve in any government position; and they cannot legally own any weapons. Since in a Shari’a society all social services [hospitals, schools, orphanages, etc.] are run by the mosque and only for Muslims, Dhimmi communities must provide their own separate hospitals, schools, orphanages, and aid to the destitute in addition to which they were also required to pay a heavy per-person or poll tax, the Jizya.   As early Islam expanded the Jews, Christians and, at times, Zoroastrians who refused to convert were over-taxed.  This revenue and the wealth received from the booty of the vanquished sustained the Jihad.  Once Muslims were defeated on the battlefield and could not conquer additional populations the Jihad slowed because eventually the wealth of the previously defeated people was spent.  Today the developed world is viewed as Dhimmis in an economic sense because the money we pay for petroleum and gas that originates in the Islamic world fuels the current Jihad, and because the West’s desire to be inclusive and pluralistic allows Islamists to pressure Western societies into giving their interests, concerns, and sense of propriety preference over Western guarantees of individual liberties and its own socio-religious roots.

Jihad: From the Jihadist point of view this includes any means that results in the spread of Islam. Muslim Brotherhood operatives working within our institutions insist that Jihad is a benign term relating only to the inner struggle within each practicing Muslim.  A closer look at the totality of Muhammad’s traditions, records that chronicle the life of Muhammad, displays that 95 percent of the Jihad references relate to warfare in the cause of Allah.  Jihad advanced by infiltration of non-Muslim governments and institutions or subversion of non-believers in non-Muslim societies to become Islamists and join the jihad is still jihad; it is still a struggle to Islamize every person and thus every society on earth.

Judgment: It is not possible for non-Muslims to be comforted when reading the Qur’an if they read it and understand it in accordance with the generally accepted rules of interpretation [e.g., abrogation and supersession].  The Qur’an continually conveys and reinforces the message that the destination for those who refuse to accept Muhammad as the prophet is usually southbound where heat and torment increase. Muslim literalists believe that Allah uses them as instruments of Allah’s vengeance against both lax, ambivalent, or secularized Muslims – Taqfir – as well as those who reject Islam and seek to prevent the spread of Allah’s religion.

Martyrdom: When one reads the historical account of the early Church written by Eusebius, or the 16th century Book of Martyrs by John Foxe, one cannot escape the terrible suffering that faces those who give witness to their faith despite torture and death. During this early persecution the Romans periodically hunted Christians because they refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods.  In Islam, the concept of Shahid (martyr) occurs after a Fatwa – a religious decree – has been issued by an Islamic authority.  In Islam the martyr is promised paradise if slain while they are in the act of slaying.  In the Qur’an this is the only way to ensure entry into paradise; otherwise, the individual Muslim, upon death, must hope they have accumulated more good deeds [as defined by the Qur’an and Shari’a] than bad deeds.

People of the Book: Islam, unlike other religions, has a complete doctrine dedicated to the Jews and Christians. The polemic is unending throughout the Qur’an.  Before the Jews and Christians rejected Muhammad the language was a bit tempered.  Once Muhammad was rejected they were condemned in descriptive and horrific terms. This condemnation ensures that enmity will forever exist in the minds of Literalist Muslims and permits them to dehumanize the People of the Book.

Taqqiyah/Kitman/Murunah: These concepts are all related to the belief that non-Muslims are condemned. Since non-Muslims are condemned Muslim Literalists cannot commit what is termed haram against them.  Therefore these Muslims can implement Taqqiyah.  Taqqiyah is dissimulation.  It is used to deceive non-Muslims.  It is most effective when these Muslims say things about Islam that are not true thereby exploiting the ignorance of the unassuming. Kitman occurs when a Muslim says or writes something that is true knowing it is not the complete truth.  In this vein a partial truth is used to deceive the hearer or reader. Finally the last deception is called Murunah.  This occurs when the Muslim
agrees or goes along with the non-Muslim only for the purpose of deceiving them or creating a false impression.  This is affirmed when the one practicing Murunah asks Allah for forgiveness for befriending the non-Muslim in this fashion.

Terrorism: Muhammad used terror to induce the populace to follow him. In his day the use of terror often led to victims embracing Islam.  Contemporary adherents also view terror as a means to paralyze non-Muslims into conformity [dhimmi] and to coerce lax, secularized, or ambivalent Muslims into more orthodox behavior. Conformity in Islam equates to reversion or the acceptance of Sharia governance.

Women: Unlike the role of women in modern Christian or secular society, in Islam, women are not equal partners with men.  Women are viewed as necessary but dangerous, a constant source of seduction and distraction from prayer, charity, pilgrimage to Mecca, and jihad if not tightly regulated and secluded. Given the Muslim requirements for sequestration of women away from male society lest they seducemen into seizing them, polygamy provides a necessary social structure for women who are allowed little contact with the outside world.  Women in Islam only gain status if they produce sons and continue to submit to their husbands. Some women willingly join the Jihad and sacrifice themselves for fear of not being acceptable to the Islamic deity and/or out of fear of being accused of disobedience/unfaithfulness and stoned or beaten to death.

Eschatology: In decision circles this term is either unknown or is purposely avoided. Rabbinical Judaism believes in the coming of two Messiah’s who will defeat the enemies of Israel and usher in an era of peace. The idea of two messiahs is a matter of authority; but the two lines of authority are established in a single Messiah who is of the house of David and will come in power and glory to restore all of the Jews to the Holy Land, re-establish Temple worship [see Ezekiel] and turn all mankind to follow the Jews as they fulfill their role as the holy priest-nation for mankind. Biblical Christianity teaches the Second Coming of Jesus Christ who will rid the world of evil and set up an everlasting Kingdom. Sunni Islam, recognizes Issa only as an entirely mortal prophet who lived and died and went to Paradise, and whose teaching was Islam, but was rejected and corrupted, thus requiring Allah in his mercy to send Muhammad as the last and greatest of the prophets. Issa, like Abraham, Moses, David, and Solomon, are claimed as Muslims. Shi’a Islam on the other hand believes in the coming of the awaited one the Mahdi and Islamic Jesus. He will unify Islam then wage war against the non-Muslim world until Islam
triumphs universally. As part of this ultimate victory Muslims will exterminate the Jews. All the other peoples who continue to resist Islam will be introduced to the scimitar. Christianity and non-Christian religions will cease to exist and only Islam will remain.

Conclusion:

Islamophobia, this would be an unwarranted fear of Islam—in other words fear that has no basis in the facts.  Many Muslims can tell non-Muslims what Islam is, but only Muhammad’s Qur’an and his tradition can define true Islam when combined with a literal interpretation of these texts.  Islam as a religion of peace was a 20th century construct of the Muslim Brotherhood to make Islam palatable to westerners. Although Islam is described as a religion in the Islamic texts it is more than a religion. Islam’s influence extends beyond rights, rituals and prayers.  The concepts described above explain how Muslims can gain power, property and control over their religious and political rivals. It will tolerate others when in a weakened state but cannot tolerate other faiths as equals in Muslim majority countries.  This issue can be tough to tackle when one experiences Muslims who are hospitable and pleasant to be with. The issue we are describing is not and should not be against individual Muslims but solely about the ideology that Muhammad constructed some 1400 years ago. Islam is an ideology wrapped in a religion.  It seeks dominance not co-existence similar to Totalitarianism, Socialism, Communism and Fascism.  What Islam possesses that other ideologies do not is a long horizon based on its eschatological view of the future. Learned Muslims believe the future will include a time when their co-religionists will kill every Jew and produce an Islamic Jesus who will forcible convert Christians or decapitate them.  This belief alone should cause us pause before we bring hundreds of thousands more of like mind into our midst.