The Politically Incorrect Guide toIslam(and theCrusades)
unb eli eve rs. Tha t is cha ngi ng, how eve r; In
those areas and elsewhere around the world.
Mu sl im ha rd li ne rs , th ou gh no t al wa ys
fi na nc ed by Sa ud i Ar ab ia , ha ve ma de
de ep in ro ad s in to pe ac ef ul Mu sl im
co mm un it ie s by pr ea ch in g vi ol en t
Is la m as th e "p ur e Islam' and calling
Muslims back to the full observance of their
religion."
Th is re cr ui tm en t fo cu se s on th e Qu r' an
and ot her key Isl ami c te xts. Ta ke, fo r
exa mple, the case of Sahim Alwan, an
Americancitiz en and leade r of the Yemeni
commun ityin Lac kaw ann a, New Yor k, and
one tim e pre side nt of the mosq ue the re- He
has the dis tin ction of being the first American
to attend an
a! Qaeda training camp.Why did he go? He was convinced to do so byKamal Derwish,an al
Qaeda recruiter. Alwan explained that Derwishtaught him that the Qur'an "says you
have to learn how to prepare. Like,you gotta be prepared just in case you do have to go to
war. If there iswar,then you would have to be called for jihad. And that was the aspect of
thecamp itself, for going to learn how to use 'weapons, and stuff like that.'
Of course, there are some Muslims who are working to bring aboutchange within
Islam, but it is difficult to discern their motives. Theprominent American Muslim
spokesman Siraj Wahaj, for instance, isoften presented as a moderate. In 1991, he
even became the first Muslimto give an invocation to the U.S. Congress. And why
not? Not long afterthe September 11 attacks, he said just what jittery Americans
wanted tohear from Muslims: now feel responsible to preach, actually to go on a
jihad against extremism.'
Whet her his true thou ghts are more extre me remai ns uncl ear; after all, he has
also warned that the United States will fall unless it 'accepts theA Bo ok Yo u' re No t
S u p p o s e d t o R e a d
M IntroductiontoIslamic Lawby Joseph
Schacht;Oxford; Clarendon Press,1932.Thisis
a weightybook, aseye-opening asit is
scholarly: Schacht is a seriousscholarwhois
refreshinglyfreeofthebias thatdominates
studiesof/slamin universitiestoday. Asam-
pling:"Thebasis oftheIslamicattitude
towards unbelievers is the law ofwar;they
must be either converted or subjugated or
killed."