'Islamism, or Islam?' 'Islamist or Islamic?'

The American Thinker ^ | November 14, 2009 | Andrew G. Bostom

[Scanian]

During the autumn of 1843, in the heart of Istanbul, Turkey, Sir Henry Layard, the British archeologist, writer, and diplomat, witnessed the punishment mandated by the Shari'a, i.e., Islamic Law for apostasizing from Islam. He described this abhorrent spectacle as follows:

"An Armenian who had embraced Islamism [emphasis added] had returned to his former faith. For his apostasy he was condemned to death according to the Mohammedan [Islamic] law. His execution took place, accompanied by details of studied insult and indignity directed against Christianity and Europeans in general. The corpse was exposed in one of the most public and frequented places in Stamboul [Istanbul], and the head, which had been severed from the body, was placed upon it, covered by a European hat."

Layard's narrative demonstrates how in mid-19th century parlance, "Islamism" and "Islam" were synonymous, and meant to be equivalent to "Catholicism," "Protestantism," and "Judaism"-not to "radical" or "fundamentalist" sects of any of these religions.

[scooby321]

I was watching some stupid show and the host said only 19% of Muslims might be fanatic.

The host said that might be true of terrorist but he thought that if War between US and a Muslim Country broke out at least 50% of Muslims would kill the infidel.

[john drake]

Only 19%? That would be about 200 million of all the mohammedans existing in the world. That’s all. Target rich environment, though.

[calex59]

Well if pronunciation is your problem just call them murderous POS. That works well and people know who you are talking about, although some confuse that description with that of democrats.