Islam Religion of WarBu t wh at ab ou t mo de ra te Mu sl im s?
As I have demonstrated in the first three chapters. Islam is unique among the
religions of the world in having a developed (doctrine., theology, andlegal
system that mandates warfare against unbeliever s. However, many will
clai m that even by marshalli ng this evide nce, I am tryi ng to make
people think that every Muslim is a terrori st, and that your Arab or Pak-
istani convenienc e store clerkissecretlyplotting the violent downfall of
theUnited States. Some will even say that I am trying to incite violence
againstthat convenience store clerk and other innocents.
Thisis,of course, arrant nonsense, but it does indicate that some clar-
ification is needed.In the firstplace, the fact that warfare against unbe-
lievers is not a twisting of Islam, but is repeatedly affirmed in the Qur'an,
theHadith, the example of Muhammad, and the rulings of every school of
Islamic jurisprudence, does not make every Muslim a terrorist.
There are seve ral prin cipal reas ons for this- Ono is that beca use the
Qur'an is in difficu lt. classic al Arabic, and must be read and recite d dur-
ing Muslim prayers in that language only.asurprisingly large number of
those who identifythemselves as Muslims have scant acquaintance with
what it actually says. Although the media establishment continues to
inter change the words "Musli m-and "Arab ," most Musli ms world wide
today are not Arabs. Even modern Arabic. much lessclassicalQur'anic
Arabic, is foreign to them. They often memorize the Qur'an by rote with-
out any cle ar ide a of wha t it act ual ly says. A Pak ist ani Mus lim onc e
proudlytold me that he had memorized large sections of the Qur'an, and
pla nned to buy a tran slat ion one day so that he coul d find out exac tly
what it was saying. Such instances are common to a degree that may sur-
prise most non-Muslims.
Up until recent times, other cultural factors have also prevented Muslimspar ti cul arly
in Eas te rn Eur ope and Cen tra l Asi a, fr om ac tin g on or
evenknowingmuch about Islam's actual teachings on how to deal with