"Civil War Within Islam"-by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch ^ | May 13, 2005 | Robert Spencer

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Jihad against the West? Relax — it’s all just a misunderstanding. The New York Times has found out that what is really going on is a civil war within Islam that doesn’t actually have much to do with the West at all. This momentous discovery comes courtesy Reza Aslan, an Iranian by birth who is currently a graduate student at the University of California at Santa Barbara. To the delight of the Times and the enlightened lemmings who follow in its wake, he has just published a new book, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, that explains it all for us.

It is, says the Times, “a literate, accessible introduction to Islam” — and nothing less than a comprehensive program for Islamic reform: “Mr. Aslan looks to the first Muslim community in Medina, established by Muhammad 1,400 years ago, as a model for reform today. His Medina, though, is a communal, egalitarian society dedicated to pluralism and tolerance.”

How did this communal, egalitarian society lose its dedication to pluralism and tolerance? Well, you see, it was all the fault of a “clerical establishment” that, despite the fact that it fundamentally misunderstood Islam, “gained control over the interpretation of the Koran and the hadith: the anecdotes describing the words and deeds of Muhammad, passed on by his followers and their descendants.”

Many hadith were forged: “Less than two centuries after Muhammad’s death in 632, there were some 700,000 hadith circulating throughout the Muslim world, ‘the great majority of which were unquestionably fabricated by individuals who sought to legitimize their own particular beliefs and practices by connecting them with the Prophet.’

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Robert Spencer's take on the dhimmitude of the New York Times. We should of listened to him and Dr. Pipes before september 11, 2001. We could have saved at least 3000 lives. Better late then never, I suppose, but we must start RIGHT NOW.

Yet, I still don't think we have to force all 1.2 billion muslims to leave their faith altogether to save ourselves. We are too strong to lower ourselves to their lever, considering how well we have actually been doing in Irag and in our war on terror in the past two years. Are we actually so soft now that we could let muslims in this country take over our democracy unless we undiscriminantly kill or convert them all?

[Paleo Conservative]

[ValenB4]

What is the war in Iraq doing to address the fundamental problems of Islam? Islam is going to have a bigger influence on Iraqi lives than it did under Saddam. If you call it a success, I'd hate to see what you consider failure.

An Islamic reformation is not likely to succeed. Something that is inherently rotten cannot be made good. The only choice is for people to abandon Islam. I believe this is actually happening to a greater extent than we can visible measure. Managing Islam's decline is the problem of this century. Will it's death be like communism or Naziism? That's the question.