Why Obama Is Wrong about ISIS
By David Deming
President Obama has stated that "ISIS is not Islamic," because no "religion condones the killing of innocents." He's wrong. ISIS is thoroughly Islamic. Their actions are entirely in the tradition established by the founder of Islam, the prophet Mahomet.The fundamental lesson of history is that people living in different times and places think and act very differently. Western Civilization has been so imbued with the concept of Christian charity that we find it impossible to comprehend a religion that is not based on mercy and forgiveness, but death and war. People seem to think that Islam is a quaint variant of Christianity. It isn't.
Consider how Jesus and Mahomet handled the same situation. When an adulterous woman was brought before Jesus for judgment he said "he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." Embarrassed, the accusers dropped their rocks and walked away. Jesus told the accused woman to go home and repent. But when a man and a woman who had committed adultery (with each other) were brought before Mahomet, he exclaimed "stone them," and the pair was executed.
Toleration, mercy and forgiveness are central tenets of Christianity. Jesus Christ instructed his followers to "love your enemies" and "turn the other cheek." Christianity was spread through martyrdom and proselytization. But Islam was founded on intolerance and spread through warfare. Mahomet systematically killed his enemies. When a follower brought a severed enemy head to him, the prophet exclaimed that the gift was "more acceptable than the choicest camel in all Arabia."
Before the advent of Islam Arabia contained thriving Jewish communities. They're not there any longer because Mahomet began a process of ethnic cleansing that often culminated in genocide. At Medina, Mahomet gave Muslims permission to kill any Jew they ran into without reason. He instructed his followers "kill any Jew that falls into your power."
Mahomet besieged the Jewish community of Coreitza for eighteen days. After the Jews surrendered, the men were systematically slaughtered. Deep and narrow trenches were dug. Seven-hundred Jewish men had their hands tied behind their back. They were then led out in small groups, forced to sit beside the trenches, and beheaded. If ISIS is merciless in their persecution of non-Muslims in Iraq, they are only following the example set by the founder of their religion.
Neither were Muslims exempt from Mahomet's wrath. He consolidated his power in Medina by ordering the assassination of his enemies. A woman who had been an outspoken critic was murdered in her bed. As she lay sleeping with her baby at her breast, an assassin pulled the infant from her and plunged his knife through her chest so hard it protruded from her back. Apprehensive as to whether or not the killing had been justified, the next morning the murderer asked Mahomet if he had anything to worry about. "Don't worry about it," the Prophet reassured him, "two goats will not knock their heads together for it."
Critics will note that the history of Christianity is replete with its own excesses. When Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099 AD, they massacred Muslims and Jews. Raymond of Aguilers claimed that "men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins." Neither is the Inquisition a bright spot in the history of Christianity. Nevertheless there is an essential difference between Christianity and Islam. Atrocities committed in the name of Christianity were contrary to the tenets of the faith. But the slaughter of infidels is in accordance with the dictates of Islam. The Koran (47.4) instructs "when ye encounter the infidels, strike off their heads till ye have made a great slaughter among them."
Before Western Civilization was enervated by multiculturalism, the essential nature of Islam was understood. The definitive history of Islam, Life of Mahomet, was authored by the nineteenth-century British scholar William Muir. Muir concluded that "the sword of Mahomet, and the Koran, are the most fatal enemies of civilization, liberty, and truth, which the world has yet known." Critics dismiss Muir as a Christian apologist. Yet his work was authoritative. The first volume of Life of Mahomet contains one-hundred and five pages dedicated to a discussion of original and primary sources. As a work of scholarship, the breadth and depth of Life of Mahomet remain unparalleled.
I will concede that President Obama was correct when he asserted that no "religion condones the killing of innocents." But Islam is not tolerant of other religions. If you are a Christian, a Jew, or even an atheist, you're not innocent but guilty of heresy. That's why ISIS is systematically killing anyone who is not a Muslim.
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