I have often heard the claim that Islam is the religion of peace. I was told that when Muslims blew themselves up and killed a bunch of people, these were just extremists; that Islam didn’t support such behavior. In fact, we gave them a special name – Islamists. Not Muslims, Islamists.
I find that a little confusing. When a Christian extremist commits an act of terror, they don’t call him a Christianist. He’s just a Christian – a bad Christian, an extremist, but a Christian all the same. But fine, Islamist it is then. Extremists.
But then I learned that mainstream Islam actually does support violence. Back in 1988, Salman Rushdie published a book called the Satanic Verses. This pissed off a lot of Muslims, who felt the Rushdie had dishonored the Prophet Muhammad. A fatwa was issued against Rushdie, and several assassination attempts have been made against him, leaving him severely injured. This was not Muslim extremists; this was mainstream Islam.
What happened to Rushdie is not rare. Many people who have offended Muslims have come to grief – far more than those who offend Christians, Hindus, Jews, or anyone else.
In 2005 a cartoonist represented the Prophet Muhammad as wearing a bomb on his head. Twelve people in an office that published the image in 2015 were massacred by Muslim “extremists.” The cartoonist spent the rest of his life under sentence of death.
When Israel was attacked by Hamas – when Hamas raped, murdered, mutilated, kidnapped, and burned innocent civilians, there was great celebration throughout the world, including in many Muslim countries. Hamas can be considered extremists, but those who celebrated? Does Islam have millions of extremists? At what point does it cease to be extremism and be acknowledged as mainstream?
The sad fact is, Islam is not a religion of peace. Its members commit acts of violence often, and it’s not just a few unbalanced extremists. This fact should be recognized..
Islam As The Religion of Peace
I have often heard the claim that Islam is the religion of peace. I was told that when Muslims blew themselves up and killed a bunch of people, these were just extremists; that Islam didn’t support such behavior. In fact, we gave them a special name – Islamists. Not Muslims, Islamists.
I find that a little confusing. When a Christian extremist commits an act of terror, they don’t call him a Christianist. He’s just a Christian – a bad Christian, an extremist, but a Christian all the same. But fine, Islamist it is then. Extremists.
But then I learned that mainstream Islam actually does support violence. Back in 1988, Salman Rushdie published a book called the Satanic Verses. This pissed off a lot of Muslims, who felt the Rushdie had dishonored the Prophet Muhammad. A fatwa was issued against Rushdie, and several assassination attempts have been made against him, leaving him severely injured. This was not Muslim extremists; this was mainstream Islam.
What happened to Rushdie is not rare. Many people who have offended Muslims have come to grief – far more than those who offend Christians, Hindus, Jews, or anyone else.
In 2005 a cartoonist represented the Prophet Muhammad as wearing a bomb on his head. Twelve people in an office that published the image in 2015 were massacred by Muslim “extremists.” The cartoonist spent the rest of his life under sentence of death.
When Israel was attacked by Hamas – when Hamas raped, murdered, mutilated, kidnapped, and burned innocent civilians, there was great celebration throughout the world, including in many Muslim countries. Hamas can be considered extremists, but those who celebrated? Does Islam have millions of extremists? At what point does it cease to be extremism and be acknowledged as mainstream?
The sad fact is, Islam is not a religion of peace. Its members commit acts of violence often, and it’s not just a few unbalanced extremists. This fact should be recognized..