I was going to save this article for Sunday Morning’s “religious” column, but decided to publish it today because of assholes like Justin Trudeau, who keep saying that Islam is a religion of peace!
We took a detailed look at both Christianity and Islam in my book “The Plain Truth About God” and some important facts about this “religion of peace,” were revealed!
It seems that Islam was violent right from the get-go, and it's woven right into the fabric of the faith!
As we said, Islam became highly divisive right from its inception when it split into the Sunni, Shiite, and Sufi sects.
Add to this the fact that Islam was spread through war and conflict as opposed to the philosophy of “love thy neighbour” that was the foundation of Christianity, and we have a religion that is ripe for dissension and conflict.
Then, on top of the divisiveness amongst the practitioners of Islam, we can see how the faith slides still further with the triumph of fundamentalist interpretations of the Koran in the 11th century.
This resulted in the triggering of major conflicts amongst the population of the region and then the gradual decline of Islamic, and then by default, Arab civilization
One of the facts that we have to consider is that the main driving force behind Islam is that it was bound up in war and aggression from its very inception. As a result, no matter how close or far from the intended message of the Koran it was, portions of it were always used to justify an Arab extremist and expansionist view. History has now given us an almost unbroken string of militant Islamic movements from the “Assassins” of the 11th-12th century to the Ayatollah Khomeini and his followers. (Even if he was technically a Persian and not Arab.)
The crusades were the first catalyst that got Islam to “rally round the flag” in Middle East terms, and the second was the Mongol invasion shortly after that.
Arab society became full of hatred to both Eastern and Western invaders and the early result of this was the emergence of Ibn-Taymeyah as one of the first Arab extremists.
He was born in 1263 C. E. during the Mongol invasions and died in jail for his extremist views in 1328 C.E.
(During his lifetime, almost all of the main Islamic schools of theology, to their credit, rejected his extremist views. He was constantly at odds with the authorities, but had a great and loyal following among the masses.)
This seems to have set the tone for the following centuries, with constant upheaval among clergy and theologians. (Much the same as in the early Christian Church.)
One of the modern day results of this dissension in the religion was the establishment of Wahhabism in the mid part of the sixteenth century.
This brand of ultra-conservative Islam, which we now loosely call fundamentalism, was established by Mahammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab around 1715 in what is now Saudi Arabia.
Those who accepted his ideals, which were termed Wahhabiyya, were called Wahhabis.
(Al-Wahhab was very aware of the fact that he was not a mere preacher, but the leader of a movement that sought to effect a real change in society. Like all practical social reformers, he was convinced of the necessity of power for the realization of the goals that he advocated.)
The Wahhabis main practitioners were the Bedouin tribes in the deserts of what is now Saudi Arabia.
Their insular point of view is that anyone who does not follow their particular brand of Islam is a disbeliever and infidel.
It now forms the basis for most of the religious and political life in Saudi Arabia, and it has slowly become the standard by which a lot of Islam is being held accountable!
Add to this the fact that Islam was spread through war and conflict as opposed to the philosophy of “love thy neighbour” that was the foundation of Christianity, and we have a religion that is ripe for dissension and conflict.
Then, on top of the divisiveness amongst the practitioners of Islam, we can see how the faith slides still further with the triumph of fundamentalist interpretations of the Koran in the 11th century.
This resulted in the triggering of major conflicts amongst the population of the region and then the gradual decline of Islamic, and then by default, Arab civilization
One of the facts that we have to consider is that the main driving force behind Islam is that it was bound up in war and aggression from its very inception. As a result, no matter how close or far from the intended message of the Koran it was, portions of it were always used to justify an Arab extremist and expansionist view. History has now given us an almost unbroken string of militant Islamic movements from the “Assassins” of the 11th-12th century to the Ayatollah Khomeini and his followers. (Even if he was technically a Persian and not Arab.)
The crusades were the first catalyst that got Islam to “rally round the flag” in Middle East terms, and the second was the Mongol invasion shortly after that.
Arab society became full of hatred to both Eastern and Western invaders and the early result of this was the emergence of Ibn-Taymeyah as one of the first Arab extremists.
He was born in 1263 C. E. during the Mongol invasions and died in jail for his extremist views in 1328 C.E.
(During his lifetime, almost all of the main Islamic schools of theology, to their credit, rejected his extremist views. He was constantly at odds with the authorities, but had a great and loyal following among the masses.)
This seems to have set the tone for the following centuries, with constant upheaval among clergy and theologians. (Much the same as in the early Christian Church.)
One of the modern day results of this dissension in the religion was the establishment of Wahhabism in the mid part of the sixteenth century.
This brand of ultra-conservative Islam, which we now loosely call fundamentalism, was established by Mahammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab around 1715 in what is now Saudi Arabia.
Those who accepted his ideals, which were termed Wahhabiyya, were called Wahhabis.
(Al-Wahhab was very aware of the fact that he was not a mere preacher, but the leader of a movement that sought to effect a real change in society. Like all practical social reformers, he was convinced of the necessity of power for the realization of the goals that he advocated.)
The Wahhabis main practitioners were the Bedouin tribes in the deserts of what is now Saudi Arabia.
Their insular point of view is that anyone who does not follow their particular brand of Islam is a disbeliever and infidel.
It now forms the basis for most of the religious and political life in Saudi Arabia, and it has slowly become the standard by which a lot of Islam is being held accountable!
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