The Problem Isn’t Islamism—It’s Islam | Obaid Omer for Quillette

Aug 21, 2025 | Is the real problem “Islamism”—or Islam itself? In this Quillette video essay, writer and free speech advocate Obaid Omer challenges the popular distinction between Islam and Islamism.

For years, Western commentators have used “Islamism” to describe extremist or political versions of Islam, hoping to separate them from ordinary religious practice. But as Omer argues, this linguistic sleight of hand obscures the truth: many practices we dismiss as “Islamist” are in fact rooted in the fundamentals of Islam itself.


How refreshing it is to hear this from a Muslim! I have been saying this for years! In fact, since the very beginning. The term ‘Islamism’ is a nonsense. There is Islam or there is nothing. Politicians try to separate Islam from Islamism basically by saying that Islamism is political. This is total and utter twaddle! ALL of ISLAM is POLITICAL. As Ruhollah Khomeini stated… “Anyone who will say that religion is separate from politics is a fool, he does not know Islam or politics.”

Using the term Islamism is a cop out for weak, western politicians who have not the courage to do anything about the growing threat of Islam to the West and its way of life. By bringing so many Muslims into the West, our politicians have set us on a path to ultimate conflict. Why? Because by doing so, they have introduced several irreconcilable goals. The main ones that come to mind are these: equality for women—Islam states clearly that a woman’s word is worth half that of a man—gay rights—whilst there are very many gay Muslims in the world, Islam preaches death for gay men, especially if practising—and Islam doesn’t believe in freedom of religion, either. Islam wants to dominate the world, turning the House of War, dar ul-harb (دار الحرب), the part of the world which is yet to be Islamised into the House of Islam, dar ul-islam (دار الاسلام). We can see that Islam is gaining ground in the West by the birth rate in the West and the names of babies that parents choose. Western women choose careers over motherhood, so give birth to painfully few babies. In fact, in some western counties such as Italy, more people die each year than there are babies being born! Not so in our Muslim communities. Muslims are smarter. They know that in order to thrive as a community that they have to ensure that enough babies are being born.

Furthermore, which names are most popular for babies born in the West these days? Many are Muslim names. The most popular boy’s name is Muhammad! And this, in the UK!

Unless we start electing politicians with spines and a better understing of Islam, the West will soon be sunk. Westerners believe that strength only comes from armaments. The Muslim world realised that true strength comes from numbers! — © Mark Alexander

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: The Growing Threat of Radical Islam

Premiered May 26, 2024 | Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born human rights activist, writer and former politician.

Indeed! What is wrong with our leaders? Keir Starmer is a perfect example of what is wrong with our Western leaders. He has no understanding of the issues we face! And if he does, it means that he has no courage to deal with the real issues we face! It has been reported that he is ready to introduce a law outlawing Islamophobia. That is the very last thing that should be done. Islam is the greatest threat to the West. No sensible person would outlaw the healthy criticism of the very force which is intent on destroying our way of life. That would be tantamount to outlawing the criticism of Nazism in the 1930s! No, Mr Starmer, we do not need more censorship. What we need is OPEN DEBATE. HEALTHY, open debate. Whither our country? Whither the West? – © Mark Alexander

Reza Pahlavi | Iran: Ending the Islamist Caliphate and Returning to the Nation State | NatCon 4

Jul 10, 2024 | Reza Pahlavi's plenary address at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, DC on July 10, 2024.

Florence Bergeaud-Blackler | Is Europe Aware of the Endogenous Islamist Threat? | NatCon Brussels 2

Apr 24, 2024 | Florence Bergeaud-Blackler's address at the National Conservatism Conference in Brussels on April 17, 2024.

How Islamists Overran My Country, Lebanon – Brigitte Gabriel

May 13, 2024 | Brigitte Gabriel tells the story of how Islamists overran her country, Lebanon , with the aid of Islamic countries in the 1970s.

It's important to note that religion and thus religious extremism is dangerous and needs to be checked especially in Africa so that what happened to the Middle East won't take place on the [African] continent.

This is the reason why the enlightenment and advocacy towards naturalism needs to be intensified in Africa and the world.

Danish MP: “It Is Impossible to Integrate These People.” | From 2016

Jan 26, 2016

Of course they can't be integrated. That should be clear to all by now. Their prophet told them to set themselves apart from the unbelievers, the kafir (Wikipedia). So, the West has no chance. The more religious Muslims are, the more difficult it becomes to integrate them. This is not an opinion, it is a FACT! – © Mark Alexander

Islamism Is a Failed Ideology. Muslims Must Embrace the West

THE TELEGRAPH: Those who came here to escape tyranny are now cheering the tyrants they left behind

Growing up in Iraq and Lebanon, we looked at the West with awe. The West was ahead of the Arabs world on many levels, including government, urban planning, social welfare, science, literature, technology and military strength. In Lebanon, almost every child at school was taught three languages, learning English and French, in addition to our native Arabic. Parents talked to their children in these languages.

We generally associated success and wealth with speaking Western languages. Those who spoke fluent English or French, the upper and middle classes, tried to mimic native American, British, or French accents. The better your Western language and accent, the higher social status you signalled.

During my years in the old homeland, the Arabs were in consensus over the need to emulate the West, but there was an obstacle: The West was Christian and we were Muslim. The Arabs therefore reasoned that they would copy everything from the West except for social norms. We Muslims did not eat pork or drink alcohol. Inter-gender relations were strictly limited and monitored. The collective tribal opinion always trumped independent personal thinking. » | Hussain Abdul-Hussain | Tuesday, October 31, 2023

There is no such thing as Islamism. In the eyes of a good Muslim, there is Islam or there is nothing. Islamism is a Western concept. It was thought up by Westerners to try and draw a clear line between an acceptable Muslim and a Muslim that is unacceptable.

No Muslim I have ever met — and I have met and worked with very many — ever called himself an Islamist. Essentially, an Islamist is a devout, practising Muslam/Muslimah.

Islam poses huge problems for the West because it recognises no separation of mosque and state, no separation of the temporal from the spiritual, no separation of politics and religion. In fact, the separation of mosque and state is forbidden in Islam. Arabic has no word for secular. Further, Islam is an organic whole, a total way of life. Muslims don’t even consider Islam to be a religion (in the Western sense of the word); rather, they call Islam the Dīn (Deen). The Dīn is a complete way of life, with all its prescriptions and proscriptions.

What Westerners want here in the West are dilute, non-practising, non-strictly observant Muslims. Problem is, once such a Muslim turns back to his faith, he becomes ever more observant; and when that happens, you get them wanting God’s law, or Shariah law, instead of the man-made, democratic type of laws we are used to. These people start being devout, pious and even sanctimonious. Now we are in the realms of the so-called Islamist – the type of Muslim unwelcome here in the West. – © Mark Alexander

Teacher Killed in Arras School Attack in Northern France

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Two other people critically injured and attacker arrested as president heads to scene of stabbing

A teacher has been killed and two other people critically injured in a stabbing at a school in Arras, northern France.

Europe 1 reported that the suspected attacker, who has been arrested, was on a watchlist of people known to be a security risk in connection to radical Islamism. Local media reported that he was a former pupil at Gambetta college. A police source told Agence France-Presse he was from Russia’s mainly Muslim southern Caucasus region of Chechnya.

France’s anti-terrorism prosecution office said it would start an investigation, as President Emmanuel Macron headed to the scene.

The attack happened at about 11am. BFM reported that the person killed was a French literature teacher. A second teacher, reported to be a sports professor, and a school security guard were in hospital with critical injuries, according to the local prefect. » | Kim Willsher in Paris | Friday, October 13, 2023

LIVE EN COURS : En direct, attaque au couteau à Arras : un enseignant tué et deux personnes blessées, l’auteur présumé faisait l’objet d’une surveillance active de la part de la DGSI : Un ancien élève d’origine tchétchène a poignardé plusieurs personnes dans l’enceinte du lycée Gambetta-Carnot. Il a été interpellé peu après, ainsi que son frère dont on ignore pour le moment s’il est mêlé à l’attaque, selon une source policière au « Monde ». Emmanuel Macron va se rendre sur place. Le parquet national antiterroriste a ouvert une enquête. »

Arras : le tueur au couteau était sous surveillance et avait été contrôlé la veille de l’attaque : Mohammed Mogouchkov, l'islamiste qui a tué un professeur et blessé deux autres personnes à Arras vendredi, faisait l'objet d'un suivi actif récent de la DGSI. »

Teacher Dead After Terrorist Stabbing at French School, Officials Say: A suspect was quickly arrested after the attack. President Emmanuel Macron said France had been “hit by the barbarity of Islamist terrorism.” »

Islamism Is Our Greatest Terrorist Threat. Yet Our Politicians & Media Refuse to Openly Discuss It.

Oct 23, 2021 • The murder of Sir David Amess has vividly shown the degree to which our political and media elites are living in an alternative reality. Whilst the far-right motivations of the horrific killing of Jo Cox were quite rightly raised and discussed from the outset, when it comes to Islam our political and media class become deaf and dumb. And so we have seen widespread attempts at distraction, for example with attempts to divert discussion on to online safety.

Islamism remains overwhelmingly the greatest terrorist threat to the public. Yet fear of Islamophobia continues to prevent open discussion of this subject. This cannot continue. If we cannot bring ourselves to name the problem how can we ever hope to overcome it? We must put pressure on our politicians to have the courage and confidence to speak out.

A Year Later, a Schoolteacher’s Beheading Still Haunts France

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The killing of Samuel Paty by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee intensified debate over security and immigration, and prompted intense scrutiny of the French secular model.

Students at a high school in Paris on Friday participating in a minute of silence to honor Samuel Paty, a teacher who was beheaded last year by an Islamist fanatic. | Ian Langsdon/EPA, via Shutterstock
PARIS — Most schools throughout France observed a minute of silence on Friday in remembrance of Samuel Paty, a teacher whose attempt to illustrate free speech to his students led to his beheading a year ago by an Islamist fanatic.

As a history teacher, Mr. Paty was responsible for teaching civics. To illustrate the right to blasphemy, free speech and freedom of conscience, he showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, setting in motion a swirl of lies and rumor that ended in his beheading.

The police investigation, it emerged in March, revealed that the girl who told her father, Brahim Chnina, a false version of what had taken place in the class and prompted the online frenzy that led to the killing had not been in the class at all.

The girl told the police that Mr. Paty had questioned all students on their religious allegiance, let Muslims know that they could leave because “they would be shocked” and then ordered her out of the class for causing a ruckus while images of a naked Prophet were shown. But the story was made-up; she was never there. » | Roger Cohen | Friday, October 15, 2021

Islamism Remains First-order Security Threat to West, Says Tony Blair

THE GUARDIAN: In speech marking 20 years since 9/11 attacks, former British PM warns that non-state actors may turn to bio-terrorism

The west still faces the threat of 9/11-style attacks by radical Islamist groups but this time using bio-terrorism, Tony Blair has warned.

Blair also challenged the US president, Joe Biden, by urging democratic governments not to lose confidence in using military force to defend and export their values.

In a speech to the defence thinktank Rusi marking the 20th anniversary of the 11 September 2001 al-Qaida terrorist attacks on the US, Blair, who was British prime minister at the time , and supported military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, insisted the terrorist threat remained a first order issue.

He suggested “the pressure of short-term political imperatives is giving both allies and opponents of liberal open societies the belief that ‘our time is over’”.

He said he found it deeply depressing to hear western opinion claim “that we are foolish in believing that western notions of liberal democracy and freedom are exportable or will ever take root except in the somewhat decadent terrain of western society.”

He insisted that “despite the decline in terrorist attacks, Islamism, both the ideology and the violence, is a first-order security threat; and, unchecked, it will come to us, even if centred far from us, as 9/11 demonstrated. Covid-19 has taught us about deadly pathogens. Bio-terror possibilities may seem like the realm of science fiction; but we would be wise now to prepare for their potential use by non-state actors.” Read all the article and watch the video » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Monday, September 6, 2021

Photo : A screenshot taken from the accompanying video.

Is Africa's Problem with Islamist Terrorism Getting Worse? | DW News

Jul 3, 2021 • African nations have a growing problem - countries across the continent are facing attacks by Islamist-inspired insurgents. The so-called Islamic State may have lost influence in Syria and Iraq - but now it's claiming vast territory across Africa, expanding and strengthening its influence together with affiliated armed groups.

Video footage purports to show Boko Haram fighters pledging allegiance to the Islamic State in West Africa Province. If genuine it would herald a disturbing development for Nigerian security forces. For years the two militias have been fighting each other. That came to a head last month when notorious Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau reportedly killed himself in a battle with IS fighters. It has fueled fears that the so-called Islamic State is consolidating control of the insurgency in northeastern Nigeria.

That's at the heart of a string of conflicts involving various extremist groups from Mauritania to Chad. Now there are warnings IS activity is growing in the horn of Africa and northern Mozambique. They came as the global coalition against IS met in Rome to discuss the resurfacing of the terror group, sometimes called Daesh.

The Italian foreign minister wants to sharpen the focus on the continent. At the end of the first in-person meeting in two years, the global coalition added three new African countries to their ranks. And these propaganda images of former foes burying the hatchet in Nigeria only serve to underline the urgency of the situation.

France Takes On Islamist Extremism with New Bill

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The French government says draft legislation aimed at combating the extremist ideology that has taken many lives on French soil in recent years is a “law of freedom” necessary for peaceful coexistence.

PARIS — The French government, determined to combat an ideology it views as “the enemy of the Republic,” on Wednesday unveiled draft legislation to combat radical Islamism, calling the measure “a law of freedom” essential to peaceful coexistence in French society.

The law, which has been assailed by Turkey and other Muslim countries, and criticized as “heavy-handed” by the U.S. envoy on international religious freedom, reflects President Emmanuel Macron’s resolve to address a series of terror attacks that have left more than 260 people dead in France since 2015. Three such attacks in recent months, including the beheading of a history teacher, Samuel Paty, who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class, have hardened positions around the legislation.

“This bill is not a text aimed against religions or against the Muslim religion in particular,” Prime Minister Jean Castex declared after the cabinet approved the draft law. “It is the reverse — it is a law of freedom, it is a law of protection, it is a law of emancipation against religious fundamentalism.” » | Roger Cohen | Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Nice Mourns Terror Victims as Details Emerge about Suspect | DW News

A third man is now in custody in connection with the terror attack on Thursday in Nice, according to police forces. It follows the arrest of two people were in contact with the assailant. Three people were killed after a knife attack in the city's Notre Dame basilica. It's the third Islamist attack in the country in just two months.

Nice Attack, France Boycott Protests, Covid-19, 2020 US Presidential Election

It was a Thursday the French would just as soon forget. Bottlenecks at the exits of Paris and city dwellers who could raced to get out before Act II of a national lockdown. And if the second wave of Covid was not enough to dampen an already grey autumn mood, another gruesome terror attack, three killed in a stabbing spree inside Notre Dame Basilica in the heart of Nice, a city already targeted during a 2016 Bastille Day rampage. The suspect, a newly-arrived 21-year old from Tunisia's south. It is the third time in just over three months.

Radicalization in Bosnia - Islamists Gaining Ground | DW Documentary

Religious extremists are gaining increasing influence in Bosnia. Social workers are trying to keep young people away from radical Islamist preachers.

Bosnian social worker Vahidin Omanovic warns young people about the dangers of religious extremism, and offers them the vision of a peaceful future. 20 years after the end of the Bosnian War, his country still suffers from high unemployment and political stagnation. He’s worried by conservative Islamist preacher Elvedin Pezić, who's now popular with many young Bosnian Muslims. Pezić rejects violence, but advocates Sharia law and an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam that has its origins in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have promoted the spread of this variety of the faith in Bosnia and many other countries by financing the construction of mosques and supporting conservative imams.

No Ma’ame, It’s Not a Perversion of Islam!

Our prime minister has come out yet again with the trope that this is a “perversion of Islam.”

I am sick to death of listening to our so-called leaders’ twaddle about these terror attacks being a “perversion” of the 'peaceful faith of Islam.' How stupid do they think the electorate is? As I tweeted today: ‘Jihad is to Islam what Coke is to cola. It’s the real thing!’ Beat that, Mrs. May! That would be a good soundbite for you!

Our politicians will never get a grip on this problem, because they simply refuse to confront the truth. As I have told you before, this is not a law enforcement issue, which they insist it is; rather, it is a war – a war on the West. The Islamic State has already come out and called for ‘All Out War’ on the West during Ramadan. Islamic State is the real thing, too. Not much different from the version of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia. In fact, one could say it is identical. The only difference is that what is pracatised in Saudi Arabia is state-sanctioned rather than rogue. But the end result is the same.

How many more innocent people are going to have to be killed and maimed before our weak leaders change the narrative and accept that they have made a mistake allowing all these people into the West? When will our politicians come to their senses? They need to stop talking nonsense and start talking sense for a change.

Sad times!

© Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved

Islamism: #1 An Introduction

The First video of 3 about Islamism, what does it mean and how it is affecting the world.

Raheel Raza Reflects on 2016, Islamophobia, Islamism, Political Correctness & Trump

The Rise of Islamism in Denmark and Sweden (Part 2)

Part 1 »