...But there’s another genre of writing, directed solely to Muslims, and whose clandestine nature rarely makes front-page headlines in the West. Here the theme is not so much how bad the West is but what Muslims, according to their faith, are required to do. To that end, the two fundamental sources of Islam, the Koran and Tradition (the Word of Allah and the example of the Prophet), are tirelessly cited in al-Qaeda’s writings to remind Muslims of their religious duty — unlike the messages directed to the West, which contain emotional appeals and arguments evoking Western standards of universal justice.
In these writings, Muslims are reminded of the history of Muhammad and his warrior-companions in the glorious first years when Islam was launched by the sword. Militant verses are continuously hammered out. Muslims are reminded that these verses are not just historical, but contain literal Truth that transcends time. Moreover, in contrast to the messages directed to the West, the tone here is much less compromising and concerned with trying to find an amicable and peaceful solution with the West. Far from depicting the Islamic world as a wounded and hunted animal fighting back for its very life, statements such as this by bin Laden are much more aggressive and uncompromising...
...The only reason there hasn’t yet been an offensive jihad is simply because the Islamic World is currently incapable of initiating one — not because they have consciously forfeited the command to establish Islam all over the world by any means necessary. The last time an Islamic people was capable, it fully engaged in conquest, as memories of the Ottoman Empire’s religiously sanctioned invasions and genocides attest.
So, in a sense, the infidel West is damned if it does, damned if it doesn’t. If the West voluntarily concedes to the demands of al-Qaeda, that will be perceived as a weakness and will eventually only encourage an offensive jihad. And if the West actually loses the War on Terror, that too will provoke an offensive response, one seen as the natural next stage in the struggle towards the total victory of Islam. Either way, that lethal combination of revenge and religion will ensure jihad from the Islamic World in order to fulfill what was started in the 7th century.
This is an important reminder to those many who, while condemning al-Qaeda’s methods, agree or sympathize with their grievances. The current battle at hand may ostensibly revolve around those grievances; but the eventual war will ultimately be about militarily establishing Islamic supremacy over the entire globe.
Some will discount this possibility as implausible since it seems so distant. But the wild vicissitudes of history prove otherwise, and we owe it to posterity to be vigilant now, when the threat is distant and hardly realizable — if in fact it is — and to take actions to ensure that it never have the capacity to come to fruition.
Very Interesting!
This ping list is not author-specific for articles I'd like to share. Some for the perfect moral clarity, some for provocative thoughts; or simply interesting articles I'd hate to miss myself. (I don't have to agree with the author all 100% to feel the need to share an article.) I will try not to abuse the ping list and not to annoy you too much, but on some days there is more of the good stuff that is worthy of attention. You can see the list of articles I pinged to lately on my page.
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