The “Islamic State” terrorist group active in Iraq, in Syria, and even in Gaza, has sounded a wake-up call to the West to arise from its slumber. The message should be clear – The Islamic threat is based on a greater ideology, which happens to be dominant one in Islam as it is practiced today, and is not specific to any one group or organization. Are world leaders listening?
When US President Barack Hussein Obama entered office in January of 2009, all efforts were made to refrain from using the expression “Islamic terrorism”. In fact an order was given to all members of his administration that no longer would the term be used. Specifically, they would refer only to Al Qaeda terrorism or Taliban terrorism and be abundantly cautious not to blame Islam for this phenomenon of terrorism. Incredibly, the root cause of the terrorism, the ideology from which Muslims learn the concept of Jihad, or Holy War against non-Muslims, would be ignored. As I explained in my book “The Islamic Tsunami: Israel and America in the Age of Obama”, terrorism did not evolve in a vacuum, but grew naturally from an ideology that, at least in practice, considers Jihad to be the highest precept that a Muslim can aspire to.
Given that basic understanding, should we be surprised that the Muslims chant, “Allah Hu Akhbar”, which actually means “Allah is greater”, when carrying out terrorist attacks? Should we be surprised that Muslims chant those same words when they chase Jews off the Temple Mount in Jerusalem or when the Islamic State terrorists take Christians and other non-Muslims as sex-slaves in Syria and Iraq? We’re afraid to face that reality, but Jihadist philosophy is part and parcel of their core “religious” belief system.
Are there Muslims who don’t share these beliefs? Yes, there are, but they are rare and most are terrified to speak out against the Jihadists, who clearly are the dominant trend in Islam and who threaten any Muslim who dares to speak out against them. It is incorrect and cowardly to repeatedly speak of “Radical Islam”, as if it is some fringe ideology. The Jihadists are the core of Islam, which is radical! I wish that were not the case, but how else do we explain the stunning rise in the last few decades of Islamic State, Hezbollah, Hamas, Fatah, Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, Taliban, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, and Islamic Jihad, along with the Ayatollahs of Iran? In no other religion is there such a frightening, cancerous growth that threatens the entire world with its violent, hatred of “the other”.
The threat of “The Islamic State” and its rapid and very vocal growth in the Middle East is not just that of a particular group or a particular brand of “extreme” Sunni Islam, nor is the nuclear threat from Iran just the threat of a particular brand of “extreme” Shiite Islam. The Persian Gulf “moderates” in Qatar and Saudi Arabia heavily fund their favorite Islamic terrorists, as well.
The bottom line is that the Jihadist threat to the non-Muslim world crosses all ethnic and denominational boundaries and threatens to engulf all of what they call “the unbelievers” in a great Islamic Tsunami. And that should concern all of us.
Reprinted with author’s permission
