“Look at that destruction, that massive, senseless, cruel loss of human life … and then I ask you to look in your hearts and recognize that there is no room for neutrality on the issue of terrorism. You’re either with civilization or with terrorists. On one side is democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human life; on the other is tyranny, arbitrary executions, and mass murder. We’re right and they’re wrong. It’s as simple as that.”
- Rudy Giulani, October 1, 2001

You’ve heard the following statements mentioned over and over again, in the media, during presidential speeches, in peace rallies, in casual conversations and so on:
“Islam is a tolerant, peace-loving religion.”
“Islam doesn’t promote the killing of unbelievers, or of innocent women and children.”
“Terrorists like Osama Bin Laden have twisted Islamic teachings to justify their crimes.”
“Al-Qaeda is a bunch of radical extremists that do not represent the real Islam.”
“Palestinians are victims suffering under Israeli occupation, and do not desire the destruction of Israel.”
“Jihad refers to the spiritual battle within oneself.”
“The God of the Bible and the God of the Qur’an are the same.”
“The West is not at war with Islam.”
Each one of the above statements is a lie.
Let me start by saying, I’ve always been a live and let live sort of person. It never mattered to me what a person believed in, as long as they treated other people fairly and lived their lives righteously. Then in the early 2005 I came across some reading material that changed all that. This reading material made me feel very lost, confused and afraid. This reading material made me realize: despite my not being sure about the existence of absolute good, I had become absolutely convinced in the existence of absolute evil.
This reading material included the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith.
Prior and even post 9-11, I had believed that Islam was just like any other religion in the world, a mixed bag of good and bad. I had believed that the reason the bad was allowed to prevail in most of the Middle East was because its oppressive, theocratic governments continued to keep their people in the dark about the good in their holy book, instead concentrating only on the bad, brainwashing them and pushing them into hatred.
But is this really true? I have argued with a lot of people who are against the Iraq war, against the Bush administration, against the U.S. and Israel. People who believe that if only everyone in the world buried their weapons and extended their hands to each other, there would be world peace forever. It’s a wonderful premise that I would sign under in a heartbeat… except I know that it just isn’t possible.
For all of you who believe the above, I ask: have you read the Qur’an? Have you read about the life of Muhammad? Have you looked into the Sunnah? Have you taken steps to do research and educate yourself about this issue instead of blindly believing what New York Times and MTV have told you?
It’s hard for me to understand how anyone who has studied the Qur’an and the Hadith can still believe Islam is a religion of peace. When I finally had the chance to read the aforementioned material, I felt as if I had just spent hours immersed into blood and filth. Islam was founded by a man who was a homicidal maniac, a sadist, a thief, and a pedophile. Among his many other crimes, Mohammad had 11 wives (his favorite one being 9 years old at the time of marriage consummation), advocated wife beating, killed prisoners of war, stoned adulterers to death, beat children who did not pray, killed apostates, killed people for criticizing him, beheaded children as young as 13, lied, enslaved people, approved of and practiced pedophilia, tortured people out of greed, considered women to be below men, extorted money, kept women as sex slaves, used brutal force to convert people to Islam, encouraged rape of wives in front of their husbands, and engaged in rape himself.

This is the man Muslims are supposed to look up to. This is the man into whose footsteps they’re expected to follow. None of the above is made up or misconstrued. There’s no ambiguity when it comes to the Qur’anic verses and descriptions of Mohammad’s life. It’s historically recorded fact. Go read for yourself. Mohammad was a thug, a criminal. A man like that would quickly end up behind bars these days in any civilized country. Essentially, Muhammad begetting Islam is no different than Charles Manson begetting a cult of his own. Islam is simply much older.
Over the course of the last seven years I have slowly but surely come to a bitter conclusion. I have come to believe without a shade of doubt that that Islam is, in fact, the embodiment of utmost evil in today’s world.

Let me make this very clear: I’m not against religion. I’m not against Arabs. I’m neither left nor right. I’m neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I’m neither a religious “God Bless America!” fanatic nor a “Bush is the new Hitler” aficionada. I’m a person who has strove for balance and fairness my entire life, who has grown up as far from this country as possible which, I feel, gives me a better perspective on things than someone who has never seen true oppression, never had to fear for their life, never had to worry about the cruel implications of speaking their mind. I live in a city where I pass Muslims on the street every single day. My husband works with people from Iran and Lebanon. My children go to school with Arabic children. Many Muslims that I have encountered here are kind, compassionate and tolerant people. Many believe that Islam must be reformed to recognize tolerance and give up its cruel and unjust laws.
Question is, are these “real Muslims”? Not according to this tolerant, peace-loving person, who will tell you that these are false Muslims, enemies of Allah, and should be killed along with the rest of unbelievers. The Sunnah states that even shaking a non-Muslim’s hand in a greeting is against the Islamic teachings. Osama Bin Laden, in his letter to the U.S. post 9-11 stated, quite clearly, the real reason of his attack on this country, “You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator.” In 1993, long before the events of 9-11 and America’s invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Islamic Assembly of North America published this pearl, titled “Answers To Common Questions For New Muslims”. And even that is child’s play comparing to the sheer hatred and horror that fills the pages of Muslim holy books. How can anyone still think of Islam as tolerant after reading things like that?
The most common defense given by Muslims is that people like I don’t speak Arabic, and therefore, cannot prove that the information is authentic, that it is correctly translated and is in context. You know what? True, I can’t prove it. But Muslims can. If I had a penny for every time I asked a Muslim to provide me with authentic Qur’an verses, and remained ignored, I’d be filthy rich.
When confronted with points like these, Muslims usually take the lie-and-deny approach. “You’re brainwashed”, they say. “You’ve been reading propaganda websites”. When you site hateful quotes from the Qur’an, a Muslim’s typical response is, “These aren’t in the Qur’an”. Or “These are mistranslated.” Of course, it’s a waste of time to tell them that the quotes are lifted directly from the pages of Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s translation of the Qur’an, the book I was offered to read by a devout, America-hating Muslim, after he stated that I knew nothing about the Qur’an or Islam, and that the quotes I had provided were “false”. So how do these people explain the fact that this information comes from the religious reading material that they themselves have recommended? They don’t. I’m yet to see a Muslim discredit any publicly posted quotes from the Qur’an. Many claim those are “false”, or “wrongly translated” or “misread” or “non-existing”, and yet none of them have ever gone to such length as proving their point by picking up their Qur’an and posting the “real quotes”.
Last year I innocently and casually left comment on an article written by (as I later learned) a European-based Muslim terrorist wannabe. Despite the civility of my comment, I got more than a bargained for in response: a full-blown verbal shootout covering everything from women’s rights to the war in Iraq to the Qur’an. I can say with conviction that before that “debate” I had never before come across such an astonishing level of contempt, such amazing lack of logical thinking, and such monstrous display of defiance towards everything that makes one a decent human being… or a human being at all, for that matter. Only recently I commented on an anti-semitic piece of writing by a Palestinian man who called Israelis “baby killers”, asking him whether he thinks Israeli children who get blown up in school buses are somehow less innocent than Palestinian children, and more deserving of their deaths than Palestinian children. His response? “Go to hell u ugly stupid fuckin whore.” [sic.]
That’s pretty much the extent of Islam’s capability for civilized discussion. In my 7-year quest for truth and understanding, I am yet to speak to a Muslim who would discuss their religion in a civilized manner. When confronted with a logical, referenced and civil (most importantly civil!) argument, Muslims do one of the following: they either a) deny what’s long accepted as fact; b) engage in vicious and untrue personal attacks and projection about as subtle as a car crash; c) call you a liar no matter what you say (even stating your credentials is met with “you lie!”); or d) ignore your questions altogether and change the subject.
These are the people we want to negotiate with? These are the people we believe to be “peaceful” and “tolerant”?

Why single out Islam, you might ask? Why not Christianity, which endorses beating of women and smiting of unbelievers just the same? Show me one instance where a religiously motivated torture or killing occurred in the West recently and was not just left unpunished by law, but had been endorsed by it in the first place? Christianity’s track record is full of witch burnings and other heinous crimes, but these atrocities are long gone. They are history. While there are still many people out there who want to exercise their hatred and use their holy book as justification, the law does not appease them, and it never will. Like many other religions, Christianity evolved.
The burden of proof is now on Islam. Can it evolve to accept other human beings as equals, or will it continue to live on principles that morally and legally are still wedged somewhere in the 12th century?
So what is the solution for this global conflict that’s threatening to throw us all into Hell on Earth? Can Islam ever be reformed? I have argued with people who believe that it’s impossible, because hatred and violence are two of its key building blocks. Unlike them, I’m actually open to the possibility of Islam’s reformation. I believe it’s possible to denounce those negative aspects, in the same way that we’ve been able to denounce the many negative aspects of Christianity in the West. Many of the Muslims residing in the West are living proof of that. The problem? For Islam to change, Muslims have to want to change it, but so far the majority of the Muslim world has shown no such desire.
Every nation in the world has evolved to set basic guidelines for right and wrong, good and evil. Every civilized nation in the world agrees that murder is bad. That rape is bad. That slavery is bad. That torture is bad. Muslims must join the rest of the world and realize that these simple truths are not pertinent to race or religion; they are pertinent to the very essence of being a human being. If Islam can be reformed to accept these truths, then there’s hope yet for this world. If not, then I’m sorry but the fact is that if we truly care about survival, then we cannot allow it to continue its savage practices.
The majority of the civilized world has come to condemn regimes like Nazism and Communism. It’s not considered hateful or intolerant to say you hate Nazism. People who fought the Nazis are now hailed as heroes and liberators. Why? Because Nazism was a doctrine of hatred that massacred millions of innocent people. Why, then, do we not drop our political correctness and add radical Islam to those regimes? Just like them, it’s a doctrine of hatred that has already massacred many innocent people and is threatening to massacre many more. The events of today and pre-World War II are astounding in their similarity. Read the definition of fascism, and then explain how Islam differs from it.
Answer is, it doesn’t. Islam is a copycat of fascism, only with a different leader, longer history, and larger number of followers. When will people see this simple truth, or stop denying it?
I will say no more today. I will let Islam speak for itself, through its holy texts and the words of its leaders.
“For the unbelievers there is a painful doom.” (Qur’an 2:104)
“I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip off them.” (Qur’an 8:12)
“Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks: at length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: until the war lays down its burdens. Thus (are ye commanded): but if it had been Allah’s Will, He could certainly have exacted retribution from them (Himself): but (He lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the Way of Allah, He will never let their deeds be lost.” (Qur’an 47:4)
“Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly.” (Qur’an 8:60)
“Whoever changes his Islamic religion, kill him.” (Hadith Al Buhkari vol. 9:57)
“I have been ordered to fight with the people till they say, none has the right to be worshipped but Allah.” (Al Bukhari vol. 4:196)
“Killing disbelievers is a small matter to us.” (Tabari IX:69)
“I have been made victorious with terror.” (Al Bukhari 4:52:220)
“Allah is our objective, the Quran is our Constitution, the Prophet is our leader, Jihad is our way, and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.”
(Credo of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt)
“Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, God willing. At this time, don’t count on us demonstrating restraint or compassion. We are Muslims. We love peace, but peace on our terms, peace as laid down by Islam.”
(Adam Gadahn, Al-Qaeda spokesman, September 11, 2005)
“Those who stay in America should be open to society without melting, keeping Mosques open so anyone can come and learn about Islam. If you choose to live here, you have a responsibility to deliver the message of Islam … Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faiths, but to become dominant. The Q’uran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth.”
(Omar Ahmad, co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations)
“The notion of the sovereignty of the people is anti-Islamic. Only Allah is sovereign.”
(Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the leader of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, India)
“The real weapons of mass destruction are the desire for martyrdom. Millions of you are ready to be martyrs. Half a million martyrs are enough for Muslims to control the whole of earth forever. In the end of the day, Islam must control earth, whether you like it or not.”
(Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri)
“Keep on fighting for the application of Islamic law. If this state and nation wants to become great, safe, and at peace then it has to return to Islam one hundred percent without bargaining. If not, then it will be destroyed.”
(Abu Bakar Bashir, spiritual leader of the Indonesian Mujahideen)
“Our Jihad consists of killing and dispersing all those who fight against Allah and his Prophet.”
(Sid Ahmed Mourad, leader of the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria)
“Throat-slitting and murder until the power is Allah’s!”
(Abdelkader Hattab, leader of the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria)
“Democracy go to hell”
“Freedom go to hell”“Freedom of expression go to hell”
“Islam will dominate the world”
( Slogans from the rally held in London in support of Abu Hamza al-Masri)
“One of the greatest virtues in Islam is jihad for the sake of God. Ramadan is the month of jihad and battles, and most Muslim battles took place during the blessed month. This is your season, o people of jihad. Jihad during the fasting month of Ramadan has a great taste — for what better way to break your fast than to kill infidels and relish the sound of the weeping of the despicable tyrants and infidels.”
(Saudi-based magazine, al-Jihad)
“Jihad is a duty.”
(The constitution of the Islamic Republic of Sudan)
“Prepare for the real Holocaust!”
“Europe is the cancer, Islam is the answer”
“We won’t stop the protests until the world obeys Islamic law”
“You will pay, demolition is on its way”
(some slogans from the London rally following the fallout of the Muhammad cartoons in Denmark)
“To Fight and Conquer. Death in the name of Allah.”
(The unit logo of the Janjaweed militia, responsible for the “cleansing” in Darfur)
“Islam has prevailed and you are defeated. The lowest people on earth are non-Muslims.”
(Syrian cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed)
“Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those who say this are witless. Islam says: ‘Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all! Kill them, put them to the sword and scatter their armies.’”
(The Ayatollah Khomeini)
