- RESOURCES -
Islam Beliefs, Culture, the Qur'an,
Facts about Political Radical Islamism,
History and Spread of Islam,
Anti Islam, Criticism of Islam Religion of Peace,
Political Correctness, and more ...
Here is a selection of resources from the people interviewed.
This is no definitive guide to Islam beliefs, culture, the Qur'an,
to facts about Islam, from moderate to political Islam,
radical Islam, Islamism, to the history and spread of Islam,
to what does it mean to be anti-Islam, why have criticism of Islam,
why have criticism of political correctness, and on and on.
The aim: to provide a few resources.
CitizenWarrior is a fabulous resource for people troubled by what is happening with Islam in the West, who want simple clear short answers, who want to speak to others, and may also be looking for more information on the Muslim religion, on Islam as religion and political force:
They also have a book for people who are trying to speak to others about Islam - and keep hitting a brick wall. Very appropriately, it's called Getting Through.
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Also with a strong human rights perspective is Mark Durie, someone who has experienced living in an Islamic country, as well as done much research.
A video below was recommended to me as the most persuasive lecture ever on Islam:
MORE RESOURCES - on Political Islam, the History and Spread of Islam, the Validity of Islamic Texts, Etc.
Bill Warner is best known for PoliticalIslam.com, which since 2007 has been documenting how Islam is a political force far more than a religion - and more recently how Sharia is also political. Political Islam.com includes a bulletin on the persecution of Christians, and a bulletin on the oppression of women. Excellent facts and analysis.
Bill Warner has also written Factual Persuasion(register for the teleseminar to receive your free copy), which he created as he was finding how to convey what he knew about Islam. As the title says, his method is through facts. If you sometimes feel unsure of what you are hearing, if you hear different things from different people, and would like a good strong helping of facts, this short ebook is an excellent resource. Bill is clear, concise and meticulous, and he covers a huge range of ground.
In his studies, such as Factual Persuasion, he accepts the Islamic religious texts (Qur'an, Hadiths and Sira) as the literal truth - the way traditional Christians accept the Bible as the literal truth.
He comes to a very interesting analysis of the content of Islamic texts versus the content of Old and New Testament texts. For instance, the percent of the Qur'an devoted to Jihad: 9 - extremely high. Over and over again, the Qur'an and other Islamic religious texts outscore other religious texts in terms of, for instance, calls for violence.
You can also get many of his ideas in this powerful video - Why We Are Afraid - A 1400 Year Secret:
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If you are a newcomer to looking at Islam and Islamic religious texts, perhaps you will be shocked at some of the content, as I certainly was. For example, most shocking for me, in the Sira (which tells the life of Mohammed) Mohammed as rapist. I am so used to the figure of Jesus. Instead, I kept learning more and more - such as that Mohammed married a six-year-old and began having intercourse with her when she was nine. He commanded the slaughter of hundreds of Jewish men who had surrendered. He was a slave-holder who gave captured women to his soldiers as slaves who could be used sexually.
(The life of Mohammed is not recorded in the Qur'an, but other Islamic religious texts. Moderate Muslims either disregard these aspects of the life of Mohammed or - a difficult task, involving scholars against other scholars - want certain passages taken out, holding that these are not valid.)
But Robert Spencer is perhaps best known for JihadWatch. One short article asks, Why JihadWatch:
Because non-Muslims in the West, as well as in India, China, Russia, and the world over, are facing a concerted effort by Islamic jihadists, the motives and goals of whom are largely ignored by the Western media, to destroy their societies and bring them forcibly into the Islamic world - and to commit violence to that end even while their overall goal remains out of reach.
On the other hand, here is a resource about a very different Muslim reality, that of Raheel Raza, a Muslim raised within a different form of Islam, and outspoken about her vision of moderate Islam as the true Islam.
It's important to recognize that many Muslims grew up in, and believe in, a form of Islam without violence and with religious tolerance. Few have dared to speak out, unlike Raheel Raza, against the rising tide of a return to 7th century Islamic beliefs.
Vital to me is that Raheel Raza has a strong human rights stance, and studies the Qur'an and other Islamic texts from that perspective, as well as from a spiritual perspective.
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Raheel Raza's childhood experience of Islam is not that of a huge percentage of Muslims.
Nonie Darwish grew up in Egypt, in a traditional Muslim family. Her father was a prominent army officer. It took her 17 years away from Egypt, 17 years of living in the United States, to gain the inner freedom to leave Islam.
This is no definitive guide to Islam beliefs, culture, the Qur'an, to the Muslim religion, to Islam as religion, to facts about Islam, from moderate to political Islam, radical Islam, Islamism, to the history and spread of Islam, to what does it mean to be anti-Islam, why have criticism of Islam, why have criticism of political correctness, and so on.
More action steps are also always helpful.
There are actually many things available. So many people are speaking out - more famous, less famous, and even not famous at all, like someone who just put out a pamphlet to be distributed locally.
Islam and the West - it's a huge topic, and different people tackle different aspects. For instance, Louis Palme turns to Scott Peck's People of the Lie, and comes up withMuhammad and People of the Lie. Kenneth Roberts looks at how Mohammed went from having about 140 followers in 10 years, to adding about 10,000 followers a year when he changed tacticts. His conclusion: Mohammed's Greatest Discovery. and then Women, Islam and the Stockholm Syndrome.
I am perhaps most interested in the West and especially political correctness - such as the lack of healthy pride in the politically correct:
I hope you find something of importance to you here.
RESOURCES
on ...
Islam beliefs, Islam culture,
Islam and the Qur'an,
the Muslim religion,
Islam as religion and political ideology,
Islam religion of peace,
anti Islam, criticism of Islam.
Facts about Islam and the spread of Islam,
radical Islam, Islamism, political Islam.
Facts about what is Islam,
the
history of Islam,
the
origin of Islam.
Facts and analysis of
political correctness
and politically correct perceptions.
Resources: Islam Beliefs, Culture, Quran.
Facts about Islam, Radical Islam, Islamism,
History and Spread of Islam,
Anti Islam, Criticism of Islam Religion of Peace.