Are There “Moderate” Muslims?

Is there such a thing as a “moderate” Muslim or is this an oxymoron? Even a quick review of the Koran will show that a Muslim cannot continue to call himself Muslim if they tolerate anyone who is not Muslim. In fact they are instructed to kill all infidels. Sura 9:5 says “Fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, and see them, belittle them and lie and wait for them in every strategy of war”. For the people who resist Islam – meaning all non-Muslims—the Koran instructs Muslims in Sura 5:33 “Their punishment is execution or crucifixion or cutting off of hands and feet from the opposite sides or to be exiled from the land”. This is merely a small sample of the violence that permeates the Koran. This “Holy” text is filled with exhortations to kill all infidels. Based on the Koran itself a person cannot be “moderate” and still be Muslim because anyone who even considers an non-Muslim as a friend or ally is not Muslim but has become heretic and apostate. The next time you are called upon to view your Muslim neighbor as a friend think about that because in a Muslim society he must kill you or himself be killed.

Jesus was executed by the Romans at the behest of the Sanhedrin because he was a threat to the stability of the region. Jesus was a rebel in the sense that Gandhi was a rebel. Jesus never raised a sword in anger nor did he oppose Rome. In fact when asked Jesus said “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God that which is God’s” In effect Jesus was actually supporting the Roman administration by not overtly opposing it – so what about Mohammed?

Mohammed was in fact a “warlord” not a man of peace by any stretch of the imagination. He preached violence and was directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people who either followed him or were killed. He participated in 78 battles, a fact proudly proclaimed by Muslims who retain the same level of morality that one associates with tribal societies, Nazi’s, and other fascists. Mohammed approved the beheading of prisoners of war – a feature of Islam – the religion of peace – that continues today. He approved the assassinations of all who opposed him and instructed his followers “Whoever relinquishes his fait – Kill him”. So when Buddha and Jesus are contrasted to Mohammed who is preaching peace and who is preaching death and destruction?

The Muslim community preaches that it was they who salvaged the knowledge of the world and it was their Arabic scholars who contributed the tradition of education while Europe languished in the Dark Ages. Whether this is true or not is arguable since with the fall of Byzantium the Muslims inherited the knowledge of the Greeks and Romans, which they protected. Even if we simply accepted this claim by the Muslims then the question immediately becomes – what happened? If the Arab community was so focused on learning and education why is the illiteracy rate in the Arab World not only higher than the world average but even higher than developing country’s? Illiteracy in the Arab World is more than three times higher than in Latin America and the Caribbean (think Haiti, Dominican Republic) and Arab illiteracy is actually increasing. In fact, over one third of Arab men and half of Arab women were illiterate in 2002.

The scientific and technical contribution by Islamic countries is less than one percent of the world’s total. In fact about 330 books are translated into Arabic by the Arab world in contrast to 1500 books translated into Greek and 100,000 translated into Spanish each year. In 1998 three patents were granted to the entire Arab World while The Republic of Korea was granted 779 in the same period. From 1980 until 2000 the Arab World was granted a total of 370 patents while South Korea alone was granted 16,000 in that same span. Does this sound like a society thirsty for knowledge? Does it sound like a society or culture intent on growing and becoming a contributing segment of society or does it sound like an introverted and perverted society, incapable of mixing with any society other than own?

Islam is a society that still believes in “honor killing” and even a more westernized country like Jordan still considers murder for reasons of honor to be justified. Islam is a society where women are considered property, where females must be virgins at marriage or be branded whore and killed by their male relatives. These are the attitudes and practices dictated by the Koran. These are the beliefs of Muslims worldwide – including your neighbors and the storekeeper on the corner. These are the people who maintain they are “moderate” and “loyal” citizens but that cannot be true because either they are indeed “moderate” and “loyal” or they are “Muslim” they cannot be both. These are our neighbors, neighbors who glorify Ayatollah Khomeini who said “The purest joy in Islam is to kill and to be killed in the name of Allah”. Were the 19 Muslims who flew airplanes into the World Trade Center extremists or simply practicing Muslims?