Chapter One Islam 101: The East Through Western Eyes

While I was growing up in Lebanon, I was able to see what the United States and the Western world was all about. Radio and television connected me to the West. I knew what the latest trends and fashions were, who was famous, what was in and was out. Radio gave us the news and TV was loaded with American programming. However, there has always been a lack of information coming from East to West. In fact, there has been a great deal of misinformation and misunderstanding about the Middle East over the centuries. Shrouded in a language foreign to many, its heavily censored media controlled and influenced by Islamic leaders and dictators, the mystery continues to this day.

Westerners do not understand Middle Eastern culture, its religion, Islam, and how Islam as a political and religious ideology drives and impacts every aspect of the culture and its people. Westerners come from a Judeo-Christian background, where the teaching of faith centers on love, tolerance, and forgiveness. They do not understand that the sword of Islam—so glamorized on film—represents hatred, intolerance, murder, and the subjugation of anyone not Muslim.

The West’s perception of the mysterious Middle East began to come into focus during the past forty years with the rise of the PLO and Ayatollah Khomeini. The world watched one terror attack after another: the 1971 Munich Olympic massacre, the hostage crisis in Iran, the bombing of the marines in Lebanon, the Achille Laurohijacking and murders, the Pan Am flight that exploded over Scotland, TWA flight 847, and the killing and taking of hostages in Lebanon. At every airport security checkpoint and with every X-ray machine, the crackdown on security at airports drove the dangers home. Terrorism began to be a recognizable problem—but not really in the forefront of our minds. Countries and governments failed to connect the dots and realize that even though these terrorist attacks happened in different countries and an different continents, the perpetrators, regardless of their names or what group they belonged to, had something in common: they were Muslims, and their intended victims were always Westerners, Christians, and Jews.

September 11 brought this reality home. At 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001, the clear blue skies above the New York skyline were changed forever by an explosion of fire and smoke. In less than two hours four airplanes struck U.S. targets. The compelling and horrific images remain etched not only upon the psyche of America, but of all humanity. Via instant live news coverage, people around the world experienced the mass murder of innocents unfold before their eyes. People across the globe shared the new reality of fear and sorrow inflicted on a massive scale by terror in the name of Islam and Allah.

We needed to learn more about those who in the name of Islam and in homage to Allah would kill and murder not only Americans but anyone who would stand against the tenets of their ancient religion. These warriors of Islam had come to the shores of America not only to destroy the towers in a major U.S. city, but to make a statement. Indeed, they had been making their statement of hatred, intolerance, and bigotry for some time through terrorist activities around the globe. On September 11, 2001, radical Islamists demonstrated they were ready, willing and able to take on any city, culture, or country—even the most powerful nation in the world—until they alone would rise to be the masters of all humanity.

The West began to ask questions: Who really knew what Islam stood for? What was the truth about Islam? Is it a religion of peace or not?

If most of the world has been confused by Islam’s relationship to terrorist attacks worldwide, then Yahiya Emerick, the author of Understanding Islam, offers this simple explanation. It’s all been a misunderstanding, he claims, perpetrated by the distorted views presented of Muslims in such films as Not Without My Daughter, True Lies, Black Hawk Down, Under Siege, and Delta Force. He declares that these films and their ste reo typical media messages have “served to paint Muslims as wife-beaters, bomb-throwers, and swarthy immigrants whose loyalty cannot be trusted.”1

So let’s test these claims against the “true” religion. Let’s see if the actual statements found in the Koran support this view. Is Islam a peaceful religion? Or do the proponents of this “peaceful” religion have a hidden agenda? Does Islam pose a threat to Jews, Christians, and others who possess a religious worldview other than Islam? And do we really need to be all that concerned about the declaration of jihad throughout the world?

To begin answering these questions we must first take a look at the Arab Middle East, the birthplace of Islam, to learn how its people, their heritage, their customs, and their origins contribute to the twenty-first-century phenomenon called Islamofascism or Islamonazism. Unless we understand where Islam originated, who adopted it, and what they stand for, we will not be able to understand what is driving terrorists today—terrorists who commit murder in the name of Islam and claim it is their God-given right to do so.

Before the advent of Islam, the people of Arabia were polytheists and worshiped many gods, among them divinities such as Al Lat, the sun goddess; Manah, the goddess of destiny; Al-’Uzza, the most mighty; and Venus, the morning star.2 They performed rituals and made sacrifices and offerings to deities embodied in trees and or sacred rocks.

The year 600 A.D.—just prior to the life of Mohammed and the birth of Islam—found Christians and Jews with rich and flourishing settlements in Arabia where they had built strongholds in the city and vicinity. The city of Yathrib, later to become known as Medina, lay in an oasis 250 miles north of Mecca, and was especially prosperous. Mecca was important because of its location halfway along the west coast of the Arabian peninsula. The city was a commercial hub for traveling nomads. Merchants prospered and grew in numbers as trade and business opportunities increased with the influx of travelers and merchants.

In addition to commerce, Mecca had another attraction that drew visitors: a sacred rock, a black stone enshrined in the Kaaba representing multiple Arabian gods, and where Arabs worshiped for many centuries prior to Mohammed and the advent of Islam. (The Kaaba is an example of how Islam appropriated aspects of previous religions as its own, just as it appropriated the Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem as Mohammad’s point of ascent into heaven.)

Mohammed was born into the Quyrash tribe in Mecca around 570 a.d.3 Around the age of forty, he began receiving revelations which would become the foundation for a new religion later to be called Islam and its followers Mohammedans. In the Koran, this event is described as a sudden explosion one night on Mount Hira where Mohammed spent a month each year. He was visited in his sleep by the angel Gabriel who commanded him to begin reciting. There was about a three-year gap between these first revelations and those that would follow in fragmented fashion, making up what is now known as the Koran.4

Mohammed preached that the Koran is the correctly written word of God, and any other work allegedly written by God is tainted. The Koran is not only the only untainted version of God’s word, but is also a “full and final revelation.”5 It is because of this understanding and belief in Islamic doctrine and its teaching that radical Muslims today believe that Islam is the superior religion on earth and should be treated accordingly. Therefore, no man-made laws, contracts, negotiations, or conduct that contradicts the Koran should be respected. They believe that all nations must submit to Islam and that Sharia law (Islamic law) should be the governing code of conduct throughout the world.

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Five basic Islamic doctrines are embedded in the Koran, and there are five foundational pillars by which those who espouse Islam practice and carry out the beliefs of their religion.

The first doctrine is that there is only one God and He is self-sufficient and without partners. God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and the creator of all that was and is and what will be. The second doctrine is that there have been many prophets sent by God. These prophets include Noah, Abraham, Jesus, Moses, and Mohammed. The third doctrine is that while God is self-sufficient, He also created angels, of which there are both good and evil. The fourth doctrine is that the Koran, not the Bible, is God’s entire and final message to the people. The fifth doctrine is that a final judgment day is approaching for all, when the evil will descend into hell, while the good will ascend into heaven.6

THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH AND EMPIRE

Profession of Faith: Iman.

Iman is the basic belief in the Oneness of God and the Prophet Mohammed. It is the creed, pivotal confession, and profession of Islam (Shahadah) which declares, “Allah is the greatest. There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is His Prophet.” Each Muslim must profess these words. For Muslims it confirms that God, as they know Him, is a unique being, unlike any other.

Prayer: Salat.

Second, Muslims adhere to regularly scheduled prayers, or Salat, that take place five times during the day. These are physical prayers and are considered a critical act of worship. During the prayers, which Muslims can do alone or with a congregation of other believers, they face Mecca. Through a series of ritual prayers that are said at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and nightfall, they reconfirm themselves and submit to Allah in every area of their lives.

It is important to stress how important the daily prayers are to the Islamic faith. Once the Islamic faith has been embraced, it is expected that the follower perform th...