Transcription
9/11 is not a date Osama bin Laden randomly chose. 9/11 is a symbolic date in the Islamic calendar. There's nothing more frustrating than people doing idiotic things in the name of Christianity. It's frustrating because it isn't a real representation of what Christianity is about. So, when I hear about Muslim groups trying to start Sharia law in London, or a Muslim gang beating up a man in Birmingham, I wonder: do Muslims feel the same way? Are these senseless acts of violence a departure from real Islam, in the same way that spectacle preachers are a departure from real Christianity? I've heard many Muslim thought leaders emphatically say yes. Then I came across this story of a woman who survived the Lebanese Civil War as a 10-year-old girl; her house was destroyed, and for seven years she lived in an 8' x 10' underground bomb shelter. Now, Bit Gabriel is breaking the silence.
So, I'm going to crunch 1,400 years of Islamic history in five minutes and make it as exciting as I can, because I hated history as a child. Now I understand why they say those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. To understand why Western Civilization is different from the Islamic world, you need to understand the history of Islam. When Prophet Muhammad supposedly received his revelation from the angel Gabriel in the early 600s, he started preaching in Mecca. He tried for twelve years to recruit followers and failed, only gaining his immediate family and friends. He decided to go to Medina, the Jewish and business hub of Arabia, hoping to gain respect and stature by preaching there.
Prophet Muhammad borrowed heavily from the Old Testament to make his religion more appealing to the Jews, creating similarities between Judaism and Islam. For example, Jews don't eat pigs; Muslims don't eat pigs. Jews pray several times a day; Muslims pray several times a day. Jews fast on Yom Kippur; Muslims fast during Ramadan. This is why you see a lot of good writing in the early Quran, where Prophet Muhammad speaks positively about the People of the Book. He went to Medina trying to recruit Jews, emphasizing their religious similarities. When they refused to accept him as the last prophet, he turned against them, killing and expelling them. Islam transitioned from a spiritual movement to a political movement cloaked in religion.
After the Hijra (Muhammad's migration to Medina), and the Jews' rejection, he became a military warrior and declared war on them, expelling them. Jews and Christians became second-class citizens, allowed to survive only by paying the jizya, a protection tax. They had a choice: convert to Islam or pay the jizya. Christians and Jews could not ring church bells, pray publicly, or build new churches or temples. The jizya was paid in a monthly ceremony where Jews would kneel and hand over goods to the mullah. In many areas, Jews and Christians wore necklaces as receipts. Jews were considered *najis* (unclean)—body fluids, garbage, dogs, etc.—and treated as second-class citizens. Christians were given the *zunnar* (belt).
Islam continued to grow, resulting in more second-class citizens. Jews were given identifiable clothing—the yellow star, often mistakenly considered a German invention, but actually an Islamic invention from 9th-century Iraq. If a Muslim and a Jew walked on the same side of the street, the Jew had to cross. Islam expanded to Jerusalem, where Christians couldn't ring church bells. In 1096, the Pope called for the Crusades to liberate Christians in the Holy Land. The Crusades weren't about converting or beheading Muslims; they aimed to liberate Jerusalem. They succeeded for less than 100 years before Saladin retook it. Jerusalem remained under Islamic control until 1967.
The Crusades fought Islam for 300 years without success, disappearing by the 1300s. Islam continued to expand to Central Europe, China, India, and Spain (Andalusia). As they conquered, more people paid the jizya, fueling the Islamic empire's growth, until it was stopped at the gates of Vienna. 9/11 is not a date Osama bin Laden randomly chose. 9/11 is a symbolic date in the Islamic calendar.
By the 1600s, Islam controlled more of the Earth's surface than the Roman Empire at its peak. Between the 1600s and 1800s, the European Industrial Revolution allowed Europeans to build a strong army to fight the Muslims, stopping them at the gates of Vienna. Europeans pushed Islam out of Europe and into the Middle East and North Africa. By 1924, the Islamic caliphate ended in Turkey under the secularist President Atatürk, who gave women voting rights, education, and work rights, and forbade the hijab and beards. Muslims hated him, considering him a Jewish agent.
By 1924, the 1400-year-old Islamic caliphate ended. 270 million people had been killed by Islam, without weapons of mass destruction or nuclear weapons; they were butchered by the sword. How many people know this history? We in America have failed to educate our children about history. Ask any teenager about World War II; they likely can't tell you what happened. Islam ended in 1924. People thought the caliphate would never be resurrected, but two things happened: the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia, and Ayatollah Khomeini coming to power in 1979. This gave Islamists money and spiritual backing.
People say Wahhabis exported their radical religion, but Wahhabism is not a different sect; it follows the authentic teachings of Prophet Muhammad. This is why non-Muslims can't enter Mecca. Al-Qaeda used Saudi Arabia's success as an example of Allah's blessing. ISIS resurrected the caliphate that ended less than 100 years ago.
Two things to understand about Islam and war: *taqiyya* (lying and deception) allows Muslims to lie while claiming the Quran forgives them for advancing Islam's cause. The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, based on an example by Prophet Muhammad, shows how to deceive an enemy. Muhammad attacked Meccan caravans, but when he couldn't defeat Mecca, he signed a ten-year treaty. He used this time to strengthen his army, then broke the treaty and conquered Mecca within 24 hours. This became a principle of Islamic warfare.