The kafir

"The Koran says that the Kafir may be deceived, plotted against, hated, enslaved, mocked, tortured and worse. The word is usually translated as “unbeliever” but this translation is wrong. The word “unbeliever” is logically and emotionally neutral, whereas, Kafir is the most abusive, prejudiced and hateful word in any language." - Bill Warner, Political Islam

There have been widely differing reactions to the recent BBC2 two-part documentary Muslims Like Us from "genuinely excellent" to "a wake-up call for Islamophobes everywhere". As the BBC put it, the BBC documentary gets "mixed reviews". For me the program was irritating. It should be a wake-up call, not for 'Islamophobes' but for a reality that was presented only to be written off as extremism

This is how a Telegraph reporter put it:
...what made Muslims Like Us so compelling was that Haqq [the so-called 'extremist'] was an oddball sideshow. What this programme did was shed light on a section of society systematically vilified for the actions of its Haqq-like loony fringe. Far more interesting were the doubts and dilemmas that faced the other housemates.

This is a typical misconception which is explained in this US video:

For readers who did not see the documentary the most relevant part can be seen starting at about 27.00 mins in on the BBC iPlayer. Haqq, the so-called 'extremist', says it as it is according to the book. He was aghast on learning that a housemate with whom he was in conversation was a Shia.

Pushed into saying what the problem was he defined his fellow housemate as a "five star, Grade A, 'Kuffar'." His response explains many of the problems witnessed on the world stage with Muslims attacking other Muslims when they are not attacking other religions.

They justify their jihad by portraying Christians as aggressors. Islamists claim that they are fighting to regain lands which they say are legitimately theirs. In the process they are wiping out Christianity in the Middle East and obliterating remnants of ancient civilizations, anything that fails to support their spurious claims.

The Crusades are used as examples of aggression despite the fact that they were fought to liberate Holy sites from the aggressors. This second video graphically illustrates the true extent of Jihad versus the Crusades:

There was a turning point in 1683 when "the Ottoman Turks ceased to be a menace to the Christian world". What was not accomplished by military means then is now being accomplished by masquerading as the 'Religion of Peace' despite all the evidence to the contrary. Any perceived criticism or questioning of Islam is immediately attacked as Islamophobic. The headline in the Mail Online is a good example: 'My religion isn't something for you to watch for banter': Controversial BBC documentary Muslims Like Us is slammed by viewers on Twitter for reducing Islam to a 'reality show'.

According to the Mail Online report the Muslim Council of Britain praised the show, saying that 'it goes some way to dispel the myth that Muslims are any different to everyday people'. True, the group was diverse but that should not be used to conceal the fact that the so-called extremist Haqq follows the book. As such, in Islam he is the good Muslim.

The West's laissez-faire attitude has resulted in the uncontrolled spread of Islam. In the UK the number of Muslims has doubled in just over a decade as a result of soaring immigration and high birth rates. It is not surprising then that the most common baby boys' name in England and Wales today is Muhammad or one of its variants.

Muslims are being welcomed in the West. Polygamy added to high birth rates is expanding their numbers. In some parts of London almost half the population is now Islamic. If current trends continue the areas could become majority Muslim areas within ten years. Meanwhile there have been recent reports of Christians being killed and Christian churches attacked in Egypt (here and here). Islamic persecution continues around the globe.

In terms of their mixed views, the housemates may appear 'no different to everyday people' but as a survey here indicates, most Muslims in the UK have radically different attitudes to the rest of us:

 Many British Muslims do not share the values of their non-Muslim compatriots and say they want to lead separate lives under Islamic Sharia law. 

More than 100,000 British Muslims sympathize with suicide bombers and people who commit other terrorist acts. Moreover, only one in three British Muslims (34%) would contact the police if they believed that somebody close to them had become involved with jihadists.

To Haqq and the 'Religion of Peace' we are simply the kafir.

Time to move on - but is it possible?

The Crusades - history

The Inquisition - history

President Obama's reference to the Crusades and the Inquisition in the same breath as IS atrocities was unfortunate. No doubt he meant well but listening to what he actually said (here), he left himself open to misunderstanding: "People committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ", he said. So they did.
Nobody can excuse that. But the Crusades and the Inquisition are history. The world has moved on but Islam has not.


Islam makes much of the Crusades in their propaganda war to justify their aggression. Apologists fall for it every time with no apparent knowledge of what actually took place. As  Prof. Thomas F. Madden put it in The Real History of the Crusades:

Regarding the modern day reference to the crusades as a supposed grievance by Islamic militants still upset over them..."if the Muslims won the crusades (and they did), why the anger now?  Shouldn't they celebrate the crusades as a great victory? Until the nineteenth century that is precisely what they did. It was the West that taught the Middle East to hate the crusades. During the peak of European colonialism, historians began extolling the medieval crusades as Europe's first colonial venture. By the 20th century, when imperialism was discredited, so too were the crusades. They haven't been the same since." He adds, "The truth is that the crusades had nothing to do with colonialism or unprovoked aggression. They were a desperate and largely unsuccessful attempt to defend against a powerful enemy. The entire history of the crusades is one of Western reaction to Muslim advances." [My emphasis - Ed.]

Muslim jihad continues to this day acting on a 7th C. instruction manual which forbids changes to its instructions and imposes ancient punishments such as stoning, amputation and crucifixion plus the death penalty for apostasy. 'Their' (Muslim) lands are lands held as a result of conquest, a process still going on, most noticeably in the Middle East and in Africa. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the Hagia Sophia in what was Constantinople are obvious examples of mosques replacing Holy sites after Islamic victories. Mosques continue to be built in increasing numbers in the West through cultural jihad while Christian churches are being destroyed in what used to be Christian countries abroad. Do Muslims not understand this or are they merely being devious when they deny the truth of what is mandated in their religion?

Excuses are fruitless. Islam should be held up to the same scrutiny as other religions and ideologies if any progress is to be made in the fight against so-called extremism.

The present. (Actual graphics are too gruesome for illustrative purposes)