By David Forsmark
Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law
By Nonie Darwish
Nelson, $24.99, 272 pp.
In the wake of the terror attacks of 9/11, President George W. Bush, in a vain attempt to persuade the world’s Muslims to side with America against the murderous jihadists, famously declared, "Islam means peace."
That’s as linguistically correct -- and just as genuine -- as saying, "Pravda means truth."
In fact, a literal interpretation of the Qur'an would justify the idea that a more accurate statement would be "Islam means slavery."
A close reading of works by Darwish, the Egyptian-born author of Cruel and Usual Punishment, and Ayan Hirsi Ali, the Somali refugee who became a Dutch legislator, shows that a literal interpretation of the Qur’an means that whatever "peace" results from Islam is that of the master and the non-rebellious slave.
Americans, however, shy away from such offensive talk. We are brought up drinking the tolerance Kool-Aid that all religions basically have the same moral goals and are just different ways to get to the same place. Thus, we project the specifically Judeo-Christian perspective of the Fatherhood of God -- and, therefore, the brotherhood of man - onto such faiths as Islam, too. Read more ...
Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law
By Nonie Darwish
Nelson, $24.99, 272 pp.
In the wake of the terror attacks of 9/11, President George W. Bush, in a vain attempt to persuade the world’s Muslims to side with America against the murderous jihadists, famously declared, "Islam means peace."
That’s as linguistically correct -- and just as genuine -- as saying, "Pravda means truth."
In fact, a literal interpretation of the Qur'an would justify the idea that a more accurate statement would be "Islam means slavery."
A close reading of works by Darwish, the Egyptian-born author of Cruel and Usual Punishment, and Ayan Hirsi Ali, the Somali refugee who became a Dutch legislator, shows that a literal interpretation of the Qur’an means that whatever "peace" results from Islam is that of the master and the non-rebellious slave.
Americans, however, shy away from such offensive talk. We are brought up drinking the tolerance Kool-Aid that all religions basically have the same moral goals and are just different ways to get to the same place. Thus, we project the specifically Judeo-Christian perspective of the Fatherhood of God -- and, therefore, the brotherhood of man - onto such faiths as Islam, too. Read more ...
Source: FrontPage Magazine
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