Religion or politics? Prophet or politician?

Islam recognizes no separation of religion and politics. Islam does not recognize the secular aspects of life, either. Indeed, as I have said before, Arabic, the language of Islam, has no word for 'secular'. The word generally used in its place is 'profane', which to us, of course, has a totally different meaning. 'Secular' means not religious or sacred, whereas 'profane' means having contempt for God or holy and sacred things. From a philological point of view, this is very interesting, since it tells us much of the mindset of the Muslim. If he cannot make a distinction between the two, then is there any wonder why he views the secular West with contempt?

But there is more: Because Islam recognizes no separation between the religious and the political, it means that each and everything a person does becomes a potential act for Allah, one which pleases Him, or one which displeases Him. The whole of life becomes Allah-centric.

When a Westerner thinks of a religion, he usually thinks of a personal belief system, a belief system which moves the spirit and guides one to prayer, generally in one's private life, though coming together at certain times of week, month or year, as the case may be.

This is not what a Muslim understands by the term religion, or deen, sometimes written din. A Muslim understands far more by the word. Religion is a public affair every bit as much as it is a private one. Moreover, as a Muslim, one is encouraged to think about Allah and His prophet all one's waking day, invoking His name and His prophet's name, and blessing him at all times. Prophet Muhammad for a Muslim is a love-object: Muslims are required to love their prophet with all their hearts and with all their minds and with every fibre of their being!

This might sound all well and good to some outsiders. I have heard people say that these people seem to be much more devout than we are. But, at this point, I should like to add a caveat. This manner of being is one of the main reasons why Islam breeds such a lot of fanaticism in Muslims. Far more fanaticism than is bred in Christians, for example. The reason why is easy to explain: The Christian usually makes a big separation between the religious and the secular; so he is not focussed on the one thing for 24 hours a day. Focussing on religion 24/7 has the habit of making people fanatical; indeed, focussing on anything 24/7 is likely to make someone fanatical about anything, since a fanatic, by definition, is a person who is unreasonably enthusiastic and zealous about something, usually politics or religion, and is one who finds it difficult to change the subject! Muslims do, indeed, find it difficult to change the subject!

As we all know, Islam is growing in the West at breakneck speed. Liberals should be particularly troubled by this development. Ironically, they don't seem to be troubled at all! Indeed, many liberals seem to jump to the defence of Islam in the West. I can assure you now: Muslims and liberals make strange bedfellows!

Has anyone noticed how quickly liberals make an exit when 'uncomfortable' topics apropos of Islam are raised? At first, they jump to the Muslim's defence, but if they feel they are losing the argument, they depart very swiftly indeed. Probably, of course, because they know that YOU are telling the truth, and they know that THEY are losing the argument!

Because of the liberal approach to this intractable problem of Islam, we have a 'war' to fight on two fronts at one and the same time: on the liberal front, and on the Islamic front! Liberals often tend to view the world through rose-tinted spectacles; this is particularly so when it comes to the thorny problem of Islam! They hate it when you say that Islam is as much politics as it is religion, and get very mad if one suggests that Islam might be more politics than religion!

The fact, however, remains that we are not going to solve this problem which we are faced with unless we can face the facts! And the fact is that Islam is predominantly politics. Why! Even the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini said so himself. (Please see an earlier post of mine some days ago.)

Not only is Islam predominantly politics; but it is predominantly politics of a particular kind - a totalitarian kind! (Again, please see an earlier posting of mine some days ago.) Though Islam does not propound communism, it resembles communism in more ways that one could imagine. Hegel's philosophy put forward the theory that nations vie with each other for supremacy, and that nations were effective units of social history. Hegelianism was nationalistic, conservative, and counter-revolutionary. Karl Marx took away from Hegelianism these distinctive qualities as a political theory, and transformed it into a very powerful type of revolutionary radicalism. As G. H. Sabine tells us in his very erudite book, A History of Political Theory, Marx replaced the struggle of nations with the struggle à la Hegel, with the struggle of social classes.

Interestingly, the word 'struggle' is very much part of Islam. In Arabic, the verb 'to struggle', is jahada, from which the noun Jihad derives. We all know what the jihadis are struggling for: the Islamization of the world. They struggle to turn the 'House of War', or Dar ul Harb, that part of the world peopled by infidels, into the 'House of Islam', or Dar ul Islam, that part of the world peopled by Muslims. We are facing the Jihad now, as we all know; and this Jihad is set to continue for quite a long time to come, because this is all part and parcel of the revolutionary nature of Islam.

Hegel saw the struggle between nations; Marx, the struggle between the social classes. Islam, however, sees the struggle between religions - Islam versus the rest. Marxism bred fanaticism; Islam breeds it too.

Of course, many of you might think that communism was without a deity. Yes, I agree. But don't be fooled! The fact that communism had no deity in no way means that there isn't much else in common between these two types of political ideologies. Marxism empowered the working classes, or proletariat; Islam empowers the believers, or Muslims. It empowers them to take over the world, and legitimizes their doing so in the name of Allah.

Marx saw capitalism as a stage in the development of social and economic history which preceded the domination of the world by communism. Muhammad saw the chaos of the pre-Islamic world - al Jahiliyyah - as a stage in the development of the social and economic history prior to world domination by Islam.

In actual fact, Muhammad was a very skillful politician. A skillful politician and a skillful philosopher to boot. We tend not to think of him in this way. We should. Especially if we wish to safeguard our beloved liberal democracy. We shall never be able to keep Islam at bay if we continue to think of Islam only as a religion, and Muhammad only as a prophet. The political dimension of Islam is colossal. As, indeed, is the economic dimension of this juggernaut. For with the implementation of Islamic laws come strict economic principles. Our businessmen and capitalists should become well-aware of this. Islamic economics is not capitalism. Capitalism would not survive in tact if Islam were ever to rule the West. Capitalism would be replaced with the Islamic economic model. There are, indeed, some similarities; but there are also some great differences between these two economic models.

In the same way as communism came to dominate the life of the Russians of the Soviet Union, Islam will come to dominate us if we do not find a way of stemming the tide of the Islamization of the West. It will come to dominate each and every aspect of life, too.

For people who have been brought up in a free society, this is hard to imagine, especially if they have never been exposed to life in Islamic countries. But come to dominate all aspects of life it most surely will if we do not put a stop to this now. Indeed, it could easily become an unstoppable force, a force which will overwhelm us.

Nothing is too great or too small for Islam to regulate. For everything in life there is a rule, an Islamic rule, a rule which states the correct Islamic way of doing things. Islamic rules leave no stone unturned. Muhammad left Muslims rules for their toilet, for their eating, for their dressing, for their interactions with others, believers and non-believers alike, and, of course, for how to share their wealth after their death. Nothing at all is too great or too small for Islam to provide the answer. This, of course, is one of the reasons why Islam stifles original thought: Who needs to think when everything is either prescribed or proscribed?

By definition, a totalitarian government is one which suppresses all opposition, often with force, and is one which controls many or all aspects of citizens' lives. It is total governance.

Marxism controlled all aspects of people's lives, as did Nazism. Islam will do the same!

For Hegel the mechanism of progress was warfare between nations; for Marx it was antagonism between social classes. Both men regarded the course of history as rationally necessary , a pattern of stages unfolding according to a logical plan and advancing toward a predetermined goal. The majestic march of human civilization invites men to cooperate and to serve. Both philosophies were powerful incitements to action and most effective forms of moral exhortation. While Hegel appealed to national patriotism, Marx appealed to the fidelity of workers to their fellow workers. In both cases the appeal was quite different from the individualism of liberal political philosophies. It was addressed to loyalty rather than to self-interest, to duties rather than to rights, and it offered no reward except the hope that one's private life would gain meaning through service to a cause greater than oneself. (Source: G. H. Sabine: A History of Political Theory)

For Muhammad, the mechanism of progress was warfare and struggle between religions. It can be said that he also regarded the course of history as a pattern of stages unfolding to a plan advancing toward a predetermined goal: the goal of the complete Islamization of the entire world. Muhammad's majestic plan of human civilization also invites men to cooperate and serve: to cooperate and serve Allah, His prophet, and the great cause of the Islamization of the world. Muhammad's philosophy is also a powerful incitement to action, and is, of course, an effective form of moral exhortation. Muhammad appealed to Islamic patriotism. He tore down the frontiers between nations, and taught that there is only one world in reality: the Islamic world! Muhammad appealed to the loyalty and fidelity of the Muslim fraternity, stressing duties rather than rights, and offering no reward except the vain hope of eternal life in Paradise!

©Mark Alexander