1 THE CHURCHES AND ISLAM IN
THE WEST: IGNORANCE AND
XENOPHOBIA
1
As a Christian living in the Middle East one
becomes easily alarmed by the points of view
one hears from the West regarding Islam and
Muslims in general. Many go to great extents
to explain that Islam is not in itself a terrorist
religion, and the well-known trope that terror
–
ists have “hijacked Islam.” But this argument
falls short very quickly when one realizes that
the Prophet himself did not hesitate to use and
endorse non-defensive violence on several occa
–
sions to further his vision of God’s sovereignty
and dominion over Creation. (One thinks of
the dozens of raids on caravans wherein people
were killed; one thinks of the Quranic injunc
–
tion for men to hit their wives if they are inso
–
lent; one thinks of the slaughter of hundreds of
Jews of the Quraiza tribe with his blessing.
2
) In
other words, violence is part of the sunna, the
path, the example, of the Prophet. It is, then,
profoundly un-Islamic to dismiss one sort of
violence—terrorism—as un-Islamic, for it fails
to grasp that there is a certain sacramental role
for violence within the life of Muhammad and
1
The author intentionally refrains from using the term “Islam
–
phobia” as one can dislike Islam while loving Muslims in Jesus’
name—something that the media seems to largely ignore.
2
I am glad to provide references in the Quran and the hadiith
for these well-known events.
the Islam (submission) of the nations to God’s
order and will.
On the other hand one hears more and more
calls for forced expulsions and legal discrimi
–
nation against Muslims. These voices are, in
general, not from the ruling parties—many of
which are desirous to get votes from Muslims
and investment from the wealthy petro-states
of Islamdom. Objections are raised that this
would be tantamount to religious discrimina
–
tion, but the argument can be made that such
discrimination would not be against a religion
qua religion, but against a political ideology. It
is true that Islam claims to comprehend and
seamlessly unite religion and politics and eco
–
nomics at once, so there is some truth to the
argument that such discrimination is more an
action against a dangerous and hostile political
presence than a religious community, but there
are still problems. Namely, is there any basis to
believe that a society can engage in wholesale
discrimination on such a scale and not inflict on
itself deep wounds both spiritual and societal?
Finally, we have seen clearly that a good number
of the mujaahidiin are native born citizens: there
is nowhere to expulse them to. If terror attacks
in the West continue, which I think they will,
and grow more effective and sophisticated, then
look for such calls to increase and gain greater
traction among the voting masses.
You can read as well this A Parable: The Messenger and the Prince.