The Myth of Tolerant Islam  

The historian Bat Ye’or, whose pioneering research on the history of the dhimmi and dhimmitude has exposed a long-suppressed and little known history of the Islamic world, quotes Sir Henry Bulwer: “who spoke of the administration of the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He stated that from 1463 to 1850 the Bosniac Muslims enjoyed all the privileges of feudalism: ‘During a period of nearly 300 years Christians were subjected, to much oppression and cruelty. For them no other law but the caprice of their masters existed.’"  

Bat Ye’or speaks of the devshirme system, which “existed for about 300 years. It consisted of a regular levy of Christian children from the Christian population of the Balkans. These youngsters, aged from fourteen to twenty, were Islamized and enslaved for military purposes. The periodic levies, which took place in contingents of a thousand, subsequently became annual. To discourage runaways, children were transferred to remote provinces and entrusted to Muslim masters, soldiers who treated them harshly, as slaves. Another parallel recruitment system operated: It provided for the levy of Christian children aged six to ten (ichoghlani), reserved for the sultan's palace. Entrusted to eunuchs, they underwent a tyrannical training for fourteen years. In Africa , a system of enslaving Black Christian and Animist children, similar to the devshirme existed, as is shown from documents to be published in my book.” [Origin Of A Myth a Dinner Address delivered on 31 August 1995 by Bat Ye’or]

In present-day Sudan, the saga of this very genocide and enslavement is replayed. There, the remaining women and children, whose husbands and fathers have been slain, are sold as slaves to northern Sudanese Muslims and to the eastern emirates.

So, where does this myth of a tolerant Islam come from? Bat Ye’or explains, “This theory was advanced by European politicians in order to safeguard the balance of power in Europe, and in order to block the Russian advance towards the Mediterranean . To justify the maintenance of the Turkish yoke on the Slavs, this yoke had to be presented to the public opinion as a just government. The Ottoman Empire was painted by Turkophiles as a model for a multi-ethnical, multi-religious empire. Of course, the reality was totally different! First the Ottoman Empire was created by centuries of jihad against Christian populations; consequently the rules of jihad, elaborated by Arab-Muslim theologians from the 8th to the 10th centuries, applied to the subjected Christian and Jewish populations of the Turkish-Islamic dominions. Those regulations are integrated into the Islamic legislation concerning the non-Muslim vanquished peoples and therefore they present a certain homogeneity throughout the Arab and Turkish empires - and, apparently, in Muslim Asia too.” [ibid]

The history of Islam is a history of intolerance, violence and discrimination. There is no such thing as “tolerant Islam”. The real Islam is the radical Islam. What is known as the tolerant Islam is "less-Islam". Islamic societies are tolerant to the degree that they are un-Islamic. The more they practice the Quran, the more intolerant they become.

Martyrdom

Muhammad promised rewards for those who become martyr “in the way of Allah” and forgiveness of their sins.

"Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female: Ye are members, one of another: Those who have left their homes, or been driven out therefrom, or suffered harm in My Cause, or fought or been slain,- verily, I will blot out from them their iniquities, and admit them into Gardens with rivers flowing beneath;- A reward from the presence of Allah, and from His presence is the best of rewards." 3:195
(See also Quran 3:169; 4:74-77 &100; 22:58, etc.)

How can we discount the impact of these verses on the psyche of the Muslim youth who is ready to sacrifice his life in the hope of pleasing his god and receiving those rewards? As long as Islam dominates the minds and the hearts of Muslims, terrorism, assassinations, beheadings, human right violations, tortures, and all other atrocities that are now the hallmark of Islam will not end. The problem with Islam is not caused because Muslims do not practice their religion, but because some do.

In April 2001, in an article entitled “Islam Is the Real Source of Violence” I warned the West that they should take Islam seriously. I wrote: “The West is not immune to Islamic terrorism. With the growth of the Muslim population in Europe and America, the citizens of these two continents should expect to see more terrorism, and on bigger scales.”  This was five months before the 9/11 tragedy.  

It is sad to see that my prediction came to pass. But now I have an even more ominous prediction. If things don’t change, if we continue with our mindless PC definition of Islam, we are going to face the greatest calamity humanity has ever faced and this could happen within the coming 20 years. Billions of people may die and hundreds of cities may become wastelands. I say it once again. The Islam’s threat should not be taken lightly. This is madness. The entire world is in danger. No one is immune. All the free countries of the world must unite to combat this evil.

But the future is in our own hands. If we make the right choices we can avoid this calamity. Unfortunately the route we that have taken, is leading us to our doom. We must de-route. We must rethink our strategies. We must adopt a new course of action.

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