Islam - a re-print

The following is a "re-print" of an article I wrote in March 2004, for a private newsletter.

========== Artical Reprint ==========

I spent an extra few weeks researching this article to insure I did not fall victim to lies - as I did many years ago when, at the request of Saudi Arabia, the Air Force lied to me about the nature of Islam.

The prophet said "there is only one Islam" (see note1)

This is patently untrue. In fact, I have been able to discern at least 3 main political/regional streams of the religion called Islam, in addition to the two main religious streams. The two religious streams are Shiite and Sunni.

The three regional streams are Arabian, Western and Nation of Islam.

First, the two religious streams:

Shiite and Sunni variations of Islam have been likened to the Catholic and Protestant varieties of Christianity. Shiite, generally found only in Iran, Iraq, and some nearby areas is in the minority on a world scale. Shiite's have central religious figures, whom they believe are the direct descendants of Mohammed, and matters of interpretation are left to those leaders.

Now, for Arabian vs Western Islam:

Arabian Islam is different from Western Islam in some important ways, and Nation of Islam is not even considered Islam by the others. (It is mainly a counter culture attempting to prevent integration of blacks into mainstream American culture, no matter what its leader currently says)

By its nature, Arabian Islam is more fundamentalist and is oriented towards theocracy. It holds the core beliefs that all people should be bound by its laws and that the religious law should be the law of the land.

Western Muslims while mildly evangelical, believe their faith is of a personal nature, and are more liberal in their view of society as a whole. Many tend to believe the view of jihad as a personal struggle to overcome their self and surrender to Allah.

And now, about the lies:

Since Arabian Islam believes all people should be bound by its laws, they are naturally "at war" with western culture, and in a war, deception is a routine tool. While I was in the AF, I was given a briefing about the nature of the islamic religion. As best I can tell, it was written by Arabian consultants, to make it easier to send us over to their country. And quite a bit of it was lies.

Another standard lie from the Arab world comes from Yasir Arafat. For years, after each suicide bombing, he would get on the air and say to the world in English that he condemns the terrorists. Then he would tell the Palestinians that he praises the martyrs, would cut them a check, and call his friend in Baghdad who would cut another check. How was he able to get away with this? Mainly because in the western world, so very very few people understand Arabian language and customs, and partly because if you remember that to the Arabs, we (Jews and Americans, see note2 ), are the terrorists he was condemning. Changing the wording is easy to manipulate in the translation, and difficult for us to spot because the wording is so similar (and again, because so very very few westerners understand the Arabian language and culture).

Ever since at least the early 70's, several Arab groups have also maintained liaisons in the US for the purposes of lobbying our government and exchanging information about our culture and theirs. On college campuses, where the normal culture is made up from people who tend to believe the best of other cultures and the worst about our own culture, they have found easy acceptance. This keeps the wheels lubed for continued "acceptance" of their methods.

It is generally only through conversion of some of their people to western ways and/or to the Christian religion we gain knowledge of their true motives and ideals. And it has been through studying what former Islamists are saying about Islam that I have found the information in this news letter.

Notes:

1. This is from a quote I saw early on in my research but can't seem to find right now. It was in the introduction to a detailed discussion of the many sects and factions of the Islamic religion.
2. Jihad is considered by some to be a sixth pillar of Islam). Jihad is intended to bring all people under the authority of Islamic law. From their point of view Islam and the infidel are always at war, and the all properties of the infidels legally belong to the Muslim community. This completely negates the possibility of Palestinians and Jews living side by side in peace, even if they have separate states, and indeed - for any state to exist in peace with "the infidels" is considered apostasy under Islamic Law and that state is to be considered an enemy to be punished.
3. As an interesting footnote, as I was concluding my research for this issue, I discovered a note written to someone I used to work with. He and another coworker came to me with a question about Islam, and its relationship to Christianity - and I gave them the wrong answer because I had believed the lies from that Air Force briefing many years ago. As such, that incident planted the seed eventually resulting in this newsletter issue.

References: (authors are abbreviated)
1. Islam at the Crossroads. (Marshal, Green, Gilbert)
2. Islam Revealed. (Shorrosh)
3. Inside the Mind of a Muslim. (Caner)
4. www dot prophetofdoom dot com

==End of Reprint==