Category Archives: Islam

'Obsession' By Muhammad

Islam, War

“‘Obsession’ is a new documentary about ‘Radical Islam’s War against the West.’ The unfortunate title, however, conjures a Calvin Klein fragrance, not a serious examination of the foundations of Jihad. To the faithful, Jihad is not an obsession; it’s a religious obligation. It’s not a ‘compulsive preoccupation’ with an ‘unreasonable idea or emotion,’ to follow the dictionary’s definition of ‘obsession; it’s the sixth pillar of Islam, exhorted to in over a hundred verses in the Qur’an; Jihad isn’t like a scent, picked up and chased in a pheromonal frenzy; it’s what Mohammad described as the Muslim’s highest duty.
That’s the problem with ‘Obsession’: Jihadists cite Mohammad and the Qur’an faithfully; ‘Obsession’ is mum about their muse…”

The excerpt is from my new WorldNetDaily.com column, “‘Obsession’ By Muhammad.” Comments are welcome.

Updated: Revving Up for Ramadan

Iraq, Islam, Judaism & Jews

You’d think that violence—Muslim on Muslim and Muslim on non-Muslim—would abate somewhat during the holy month of Ramadan. You’d be wrong. The religion of peace marches to a different drum beat (or is it a machine gun).

“The U.S. military spokesman says there has been a 22 percent jump in attacks during Ramadan,” reported the AP. Imagine a scenario whereby murder rates in Israel skyrocket during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Doesn’t happen; will never happen.

CNN confirmed the trend:

“This week’s suicide attacks were at their highest level of any given week. About half of those attacks targeted security forces… around 50 percent of car bombings were suicide strikes… murders and executions were the largest cause of civilian deaths in Baghdad… attributed … to sectarian fighting between Sunnis and Shiites.”

Res ipsa loquitur (the thing speaks for itself).

Andrew Salivates

Islam, Media, Middle East, Republicans, The Zeitgeist

On a meta-level—process, not content—Hugh Hewitt’s interview with Andrew Sullivan about his new confused book exposes Sullivan as arrogant and hysterical. His manners are abominable. How Hewitt put up with Sullivan’s strutting, I don’t know. Why would he tolerate such rudeness from a guest? Is Sullivan that important? (Not to me. I have no interest in someone so “discerning” as to claim, as Sullivan did during the interview, that Jesus, Mohamed, and Socrates are part of the same search for truth.)

I’m happy Sullivan has finally come out against Bush’s dastardly doctrines, although it seems to me that he considers the war more of a logistic than a moral nightmare—the war is bad because it’s going badly, not because it’s bad. The fact that he seconded the decision to invade Iraq may have something to do with this qualified condemnation.

Would it be unfair to put Sullivan’s temper tantrum at the Republicans down to their excessive religious meddling and lack of enthusiasm for gay marriage? (There’s nothing wrong with split infinitives, by the way.) You tell me. (Sullivan is a gay-marriage activist–I’m not, as you can glean from “Marriage and the Manufacturing of Rights“–and is himself “engaged to be married.”)

Overall, his views are hardly conservative–but then that applies to the views of very many contemporary conservatives.

Fox & Friend: Prince Al-Waleed

Islam

Over the weekend, Fox News ventured into the “Is Islam Peaceful? Sure it is” carefully crafted conversation (or shall I say consensus). They invited Dennis Ross and Steven Emerson to comment. The last was better than the first, but neither, as far as I know, is a scholar of Islam.

That’s when Robert Spencer ought to have been brought in, but wasn’t—seldom is. Spencer is the author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), which is still a bestseller a year since its publication. His latest literary hole-in-one is The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World’s Most Intolerant Religion. It’s 63rd on Amazon. Both are courageous, path-breaking works.

As to why Fox has not consulted a genuine expert on Islam about its teachings, well, maybe their part-owner, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, has “counseled” against it.