The purpose of this essay is to discuss the difference in viewing Islam as an ideology hostile to a free society and viewing those individuals that follow Islam, Muslims, as enemies. At the same time, the doctrines of the ideology have an effect on the reactions of the individuals. It needs to be recognized that there are many Muslims that do not support violent jihad against the West, and that the majority of victims of Islamist violence are other Muslims.

The major point that this essay seeks to drive home is that opposition to Islam as an ideology does not require the consideration of Muslims as a whole to be enemies. A corollary position is that those that are doctrinally hostile to the west will seek to use statements made in opposition to Islam to be bigoted, or "racist" as a propaganda tactic ; therefore, opposition to Islam must be parsed in terms and strategies that do not hold individuals responsible for the religion that they were born into, but rather target those that commit acts of jihad and those that support such acts.

To make this argument, we need to pursue this question in a series of steps. The first is to discuss Islam as a political ideology that is hostile to a free society. The second is to classify those Muslims who do seek to follow the core tenets of Islam (Islamists, jihadists, fundamentalists, etc) and support such acts. The third is to demonstrate that not all Muslims are Islamists. The fourth is to discuss how "Islamophobia" is used as a political weapon by interests hostile to Western ideals. Finally, we need to answer how to divorce Muslims as individuals from Islam the ideology, or to support their efforts to reform the religion.

Until Islam is either reformed internally, or fades out of existence, war between Islamists and the West is inevitable. Non-Islamic Muslims will also be warred upon by Islamists or become collateral damage in the war between the West and the Islamists.

The first Step is to discuss Islam as a political ideology that is hostile to a free society. There are several doctrines within Islam that make this inevitable. Islam is based on law; and to understand the structure of Islamic law requires understanding of concepts like abrogation, interpretation of Koran, division of Islamic jurisprudence, and the Islamic community(the ummah). There are key concepts in relation to western classical liberalism/free society; dar al harb, jihad, martyrdom, hudna, dawa, and taquiya.

Islam is both a political and a religious ideology. The concept of law in the service of g*d/Allah is central to the identity of the religion. Law dictates how the Islamic community behaves internally and in respect to nonbelievers. Since there are many references available to describe the religion in toto, I will limit my summary to those key concepts of Islam that relate to the idea that this ideology is hostile to a free society. For a detailed discussion of these concepts with references to specific Islamic source law, see Coughlin (2015). The primary concept of Islam is the submission of man to g-d/Allah. "Islam" is translated as "submission". All other precepts of Islam are based upon adherence to this ideal. Sharia is the system of Islamic law, which based directly upon the word of g-d/Allah, as transmitted by Mohammed. The Islamic world is divided into two major sects, the Sunni and the Shia. The existential difference between the two is the method of succession in leadership; there is no other significant difference in the definition of Sharia law. There are four major Sunni schools of jurisprudence, although there is no substantive difference between these schools (Coughlin, 2015), (Kedar & Yerushalmi, 2011).

A primary concept in the study of Islam and Islamic law is the idea of abrogation. This is the concept that g-d/Allah did not reveal the entirety of law to Mohammed at once, but rather over time. This means that g-d/Allah modifies or reverses earlier rulings over time. Bukay (2007) discusses abrogation in the context of jihad. This is further complicated in that the Koran is organized by chapter size, not chronological order. The reason for this organization is that transmittal of the Koran is traditionally done orally, and students must memorize the book, starting with the shortest chapters then moving to the longer chapters.Therefore, the place in which a command is located in the Koran has no bearing on it's precedence in Islamic law. Landau-Tasseroni (2015) gives an example of such a passage, verse 16:125, calling for peaceful propagation of Islam, has been considered as abrogated by verses that urge the Muslims to fight in the way of Allah

Abrogation brings up the point that differences in Islam based upon interpretation. All Muslims understand that the Koran is the word of g-d, and all schools agree on substance of meanings. A serious offense within Islam is takfir, calling other Muslims apostate for “incorrect” interpretations of the Koran. The penalty for apostasy is death.

The area of doctrine that affects relations with the West is the division of the world into “houses”; dar al islam / dar al harb. This is the division of humanity into the world of submission ("the house of submission"/ dar al Islam), and the world of war (dar al harb). Relations with nonbelievers is based upon their position within those worlds. Nonbelievers within the dar al Islam can be given legal protection provided that they make an agreement signifying that they have submitted to the ummah, and thus the word of g-d/Allah. Christians and Jews that have made such an agreement are given the status of dhimmi.

Historically, "Islam has always embodied and espoused a complex combination of both tolerant, humanitarian sentiments and intolerant, bellicose attitudes, one of which often predominated depending upon the specific historical context" (Bale, 2009). However, it is this inconsistency and aggression based upon relative levels of power rather than on rule of law which make Islam hostile to free society.

Jihad plays a part in the struggle between the dar al harb and the dar al Islam, although the concept of jihad in Islamic law encompasses more than this. Jihad can be translated as "striving" or "struggle". Contrary to some thought, jihad is not one of the five pillars of Islam. However, the effect the concept of jihad has on relations with nonbelivers is massive. Amjad-Ali (2009) points out that, "for Islam, the concepts of war, battle, and conduct of war, among other things, are not some accretion that has to be theologically justified after well over 300 years of life of the faith, but rather they are central to the formation of Islamic theology, jurisprudence, and ethics, because they happen during the life of the Prophet and during the process of revelation itself"

jihad is also a call for the defense of the ummah, a point to keep in mind. While not all Muslims are Islamists, western war against Islamists can be twisted into "war" against Muslims. It is important to note that no qadib defines jihad solely in terms of defensive warfare

Caschetta (2015) pints out that the word shahada has both the meaning of “witness to g*d” and “martyr”.

How do these concepts make conflict between a free society and Islam impossible to avoid?

Tying this up together, we can look at the viewpoint of one of the Islamists’ main strategists, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. His viewpoint was that:

American culture is a direct attack against Islam because Allah dictates how people should be governed. It is not up for a vote. Anything that questions complete subservience to the Koran and Sharia law is a threat to Islam and must be destroyed. Western democracy and freedom of thought and true Sharia law cannot coexist because Western democracy postulates that men and women have a say in how they live their lives, whereas Sharia dictates how lives are to be led according to Allah’s will and as reflected in the perfect Prophet’s deeds and words (Mitchell & Harlow, 2016)

End, Part One

This is the first part of a draft I am working on - some of the references listed below do not apply to this part of the discussion

Sources and Further Reading

Amjad-Ali, C. W. (2009). Jihad and Just War Theory: Dissonance and Truth. Dialog: A Journal of Theology, 48(3), 239–247. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6385.2009.00467.x

Bale, J. M. (2009). Islamism and Totalitarianism. Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions, 10(2), 73–96. http://doi.org/10.1080/14690760903371313

Bale, J. . (2013). Denying the link between Islamist ideology and jihadist terrorism: “political correctness” and the undermining of counterterrorism. Perspectives On Terrorism, 7(5).

Berkowitz, P. (2008). The European Left And Ours. Policy Review, (152), 25–38.

Berman, P. (2003). Terror and liberalism. New York: Norton.

Bodansky, Y. (2001). Bin Laden: the man who declared war on America (Nachdruck). Roseville, Calif: Forum.

Boroumand, L., & Boroumand, R. (2002). Terror, Islam, and democracy. Journal of Democracy, 13(2), 5–20.

Bukay, D. (2007). Peace or Jihad? Abrogation in Islam. Middle East Quarterly. Retrieved from http://www.meforum.org/1754/peace-or-jihad-abrogation-in-islam/

Caschetta, A. J. (2015). Does Islam Have a Role in Suicide Bombings? Middle East Quarterly. Retrieved from http://www.meforum.org/5320/islam-suicide-bombings

Cottee, S. (2005). The Culture of Denial: Islamic Terrorism and the Delinquent Left. Journal of Human Rights, 4(1), 119–135. doi:10.1080/14754830590947653

Cottee, S. (2006). Excusing Terror. Journal of Human Rights, 5(2), 149–162. http://doi.org/10.1080/14754830600653363

Coughlin, S. (2015). Catastrophic Failure: Blindfolding America in the Face of Jihad (Kindle). Washington, D.C: Center for Security Policy Press.

Dalrymple, T. (2010). The new Vichy syndrome: why European intellectuals surrender to barbarism (1st American ed). New York, N.Y: Encounter Books.

Fernandez, R. (2012). The Three Conjectures. Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Hegghammer, T., & Nesser, P. (2015). Assessing the Islamic State’s Commitment to Attacking the West. Perspectives on Terrorism, 9(4).

Hoge, J. F., & Rose, G. (Eds.). (2001). How did this happen?: terrorism and the new war (1st ed). New York: PublicAffairs.

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Kaplan, R. (2002) Warrior politics: Why leadership demands a pagan ethos. New York, New York. Vintage Books

Kedar, M., & Yerushalmi, D. (2011). Shari’a and violence in American mosques. Middle East Quarterly. Retrieved from http://www.meforum.org/2931/american-mosques?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kramerlinks+(Linkage+by+Martin+Kramer)

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Kurlantzick, J. (2004). The Left and the Islamists. Commentary, 118(5), 34–37.

Landes, R. (2013). From Useful Idiot to Useful Infidel: Meditations on the Folly of 21st-Century “Intellectuals.” Terrorism and Political Violence, 25(4), 621–634. http://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2013.814504

Landau-Tasseroni, E. (2015). Delegitimizing ISIS On Islamic Grounds: Criticism Of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi By Muslim Scholars. Retrieved from http://www.memri.org/publicdocs/MEMRI_IA_1205_Delegitimizing_ISIS_On_Islamic_Grounds-FINAL.pdf

Lewis, B. (2004). The crisis of Islam: holy war and unholy terror. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks.

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Miller, J. (2013). Siding with the oppressor: the pro-islamist left. One Law For All.

Mitchell, J. E., & Harlow, B. (2016). Enhanced Interrogation: Inside the Minds and Motives of the Islamic Terrorists Trying To Destroy America. Crown Forum.

Murray. (n.d.). The Islamic Tipping Point Does recognizing an extreme predicament make one an “extremist”?

Over 1000 Indian Islamic Scholars Issue World’s Biggest Fatwa Against ISIS - The New Indian Express. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2016, from http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/Over-1000-Indian-Islamic-Scholars-Issue-World%E2%80%99s-Biggest-Fatwa-Against-ISIS/2015/09/09/article3018529.ece

Parfrey, A. (Ed.). (2001). Extreme Islam: anti-American propaganda of Muslim fundamentalism. Los Angeles, Calif: Feral House.

Rauch, J. (2003, May 24). After Iraq, the left has a new agenda: Contain America first. National Journal, 35

Stebbins Jr, W. E. (2007). Fighting Islamic Terrorists with Democracy: A Critique. DTIC Document. Retrieved from http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA470898

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