Book in Focus – The Dawning of a New Dark Age: A Collection of Essays on Islam
In this controversial, thought-provoking, and amazingly frank book, Mark highlights the dangers that Islam, the fastest-growing religion in the world today, poses the Western world. Not simply a religion, Islam is a total way of life, one indivisible whole, recognising no separation of religion and politics.
In the West, this is quite different: Western countries generally draw a line between church and state. As Islam recognises no such separation, and as it grows in the West, problems and conflict will surely increase. Westerners demand freedom: they cherish freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of choice. In contradistinction, Muslims cherish only Allah's words as 'revealed' in the Koran. Muslims, especially devout and practising ones, consider no such Western-style freedoms to be legitimate. Only Allah's words and Allah's injunctions will do! Conflict will surely follow where peoples of such diametrically-opposed world visions live in juxtaposition; indeed, a collision of cultures looms on the horizon. Can this collision be avoided? Can these circles be squared? Can Muslims and 'infidels' learn to live together? Will our politically-correct leadership sell out our liberty for a barrel of oil? These are just some of the thorny questions raised by Mark in his very readable and compulsive book. You won't be able to put it down! Guaranteed!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Alexander is a graduate of London University. He has an honors degree in economics. Further, he has a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education with Distinction. As well as his native language, English, he speaks German fluently, reads French, and has a sound knowledge of Arabic. Over the years, articles of his have appeared on education, languages, and economics in British newspapers such as
The Independent,
The Times, and
The Sunday Times. His international travel has widely influenced his world perspective.
While living and working in the Middle East for many years, Mark’s uncommonly perceptive observations and keen insights led him to predict the Islamic quest for domination which is only now being played out on the world stage.
Mark Alexander is a Western author deeply concerned about the future of Western civilization. In The Dawning of a New Dark Age, Mark has written powerfully about the rise of Islam in the West, and the dangers that lie ahead as a result.
Mark is uncommonly articulate, insightful, and perspicacious. These qualities are particularly evident in his understanding of the Islamic worldview and the intentions of Muslims vis-à-vis the West. You will surely find his message both riveting and shocking!
FOREWORD
On September 11, 2001, Muslim terrorists launched an attack on the United States to punish it for being what Osama bin Laden considered ‘the land of the infidels’! In fact, this attack was an attack on the entire Western world and, even more important, it was an attack on Western civilization, the underlying objective being to take civilization back fourteen hundred years to a time of great glory for the Islamic world.
In the wake of the attack by young Muslim extremists, which resulted in the collapse of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, our leaders attempted to assure us that the terrorists did not represent the entire Muslim world. It was said that they were the actions of a minority, of an extreme fringe group. It was, and continues to be, troubling, however, that we have heard very little strong condemnation coming from the supposed moderate Muslim community. Who are these moderates? Why have they not spoken out more vociferously? Do they really exist? When will they speak out with moral indignation? Indeed, will they ever?
For most Westerners Islam is thought to be just another world religion, equal to Christianity and Judaism. But is this really the case? Upon closer study, Islam seems to be far different from the other two religions. Certainly no one would accuse Muslims of being tolerant, non-judgmental, non-violent or peace-loving! While Muslims have been allowed to build hundreds of mosques in Western countries, Christian churches may only rarely be built, if ever, in Muslim countries! Indeed in some Muslim countries such as the Sudan, it is official government policy to demolish churches! In addition, it is difficult to believe that any world religion would advocate treating women as second-class citizens, and actually get away with it!
The concept of brotherhood in Islam is strong. The posture advocated by Prophet Mohammed in the Koran toward non-Muslims, however, is to seek them out and annihilate them. The phenomenon of suicide bombers is at once both pathetic and chilling. On the one hand, it is pathetic that young Muslims are taught that they can gain entrance into paradise by taking people’s lives in such a gruesome manner. Carnal pleasures, of course, await the males upon entrance into heaven! On the other hand, it is chilling to think that there are any people living in the 21st century ready to teach and encourage such savagery. What is the supposed theological justification for holding to such beliefs? Indeed, is there any such thing in Islam as theology in which the tenets of the faith are examined critically? Isn’t it the case, rather, that the teachings of Prophet Mohammed are accepted literally, and without question?
In his book,
The Dawning of a New Dark Age, Mark Alexander explores these questions, and often finds disturbing answers. Unlike many authors on the subject, Mark actually lived and worked among Muslims for many years; so he has first-hand knowledge of the religion and culture. While on his tours of duty in the Middle East, Mark immersed himself in Islam and Arabic culture, studying the religion both from Occidental and Oriental perspectives. He familiarized himself not only with the Koran, but also with the beliefs and attitudes of Muslims in the street. This experience has given him unusually clear insights into the aspirations of the Muslim world. Mark’s conclusions will not be comforting to those who would like to believe that the long-term threat to the West is limited to the aspirations of a few fundamentalist terrorists.
Douglas Kennedy, Ph.D.
FREE PREVIEW
There is a new mood in the land. Political correctness is changing people’s attitudes to many things, including Islam. Political correctness is, in many ways, a middle class phenomenon. People, especially the middle classes, either do not wish to be seen as politically incorrect, or, because new laws have been passed, they are afraid of being so. Political correctness and the politically correct laws that have been passed can only help Muslims living in the West. Muslims are being empowered in our societies like never before, and are being empowered ever more as the months pass by. The changes taking place are subtle but sure. They are going on almost unnoticed.
Because of the backing given Muslims by political correctness, if one dares to criticize Islam, Muslims cry foul and accuse that person of being phobic – Islamophobic. Interestingly and disconcertingly, this political correctness doesn’t seem to work the other way around. It no longer pays to tangle with Muslims!
It goes without saying that if this trend continues, then it can only greatly help the Islamic cause. Unwittingly, we are helping Muslims on their way to getting on top. Will laws soon have to be passed to protect the non-Muslims in society? Or will this unbalanced trend go on unabated?
Political correctness is a particularly powerful tool for Muslims in the West. It is a movement and mood few have the courage to go against. It makes people fearful of speaking out – fearful of falling foul of the politically correct laws that have been passed to protect minorities.
Whilst there is no doubt that political correctness has helped many minority groups gain in strength, it does have a downside: it prevents us from protecting our own culture. In the face of a powerful culture such as Islam, this is a weakness for us indeed. It puts at a disadvantage our own kind in our own countries. What future is there to be for the indigenous population? How are we to protect our own kind? Moreover, in a country such as the United Kingdom with its growing Muslim population and therefore growing clout at the polls, all parties are out to court the Islamic vote! Conservatives, Liberals and Socialists alike offer no route for the ‘Christian’ British to protect themselves. It is worth asking ourselves one simple question: How much protection is afforded a Christian in a country such as Saudi Arabia? There, Christians can be, and are, arrested for praying in the Christian manner! They do not have equality with Muslims in a court of law. Indeed, their position is akin to that of a Muslim woman’s – their power to act as a witness is half that of a Muslim man’s! It is all so one-sided.
If Islam were a benign, spiritual force, a power for good, then it would not be such a problem for us in the long-term. But it is not. Islam is anything but benign: it is a powerful, political movement with ambitious objectives. A worldwide movement with the ambition of establishing Allah’s kingdom on earth! It wishes to beat adherents of all other religions into submission: into the submission of the one true almighty God. Each state will then become the tool of religion – theocratic, restrictive, dominant, and based on Koranic law, Shariah law. That day will be a dark day for the world. It will mark the dawning of a new dark age! Adulteresses and gays, infidels and the non-compliant will be killed in Allah’s name! Democracy, free will and free speech will be relegated to the dustbin of history! Only Islamic opinions will count. The whole world will bow in submission to Allah, in the direction of the
Ka’aba. Jerusalem, one of the three most important cities in Islam will be under Islamic jurisdiction. Christianity and Judaism, and all ‘lesser’ religions will have been vanquished. It will be a dark day for humankind!
If you feel that all this is far-fetched, then wait and see! Whoever would have thought that the Communist world would have fallen so quickly and so dramatically? When it fell, it was generally thought that a new world order was in the process of being established on earth. There would be peace and prosperity and unity for all. Just a few years later, we can now see how wrong we were.
The world has been lulled into a false sense of security. Momentous events such as the tearing down of the Berlin Wall overshadowed the dangers that lay ahead. We are only now coming to the realization that our optimism was misplaced. We are being rudely awakened! And the rude awakening is that Islam is becoming the next bête noire – it is taking the place of communism.
Communism was a political system, pure and simple, though it was in many ways like a religion for its adherents. It was not, however, draped in the clothes of a deity. Indeed, a deity was anathema to it. But this, of course, made communism a much easier target for the West. Communism was seen as the total enemy of the West. It stood for all that the West did not: equality for all, lack of diversity, lack of choice, the political power of the communist élite, a low standard of living, sclerotic growth in the economy, and lack of political freedom to name but a few characteristics. The whole system went against everything the West stood for. We disliked it so much that it was easy and fair game to be criticized by all but the few.
Islam is different. As well as being a powerful political movement, it is a bona fide religion too. The West has fought long and hard for religious freedom; so it is far more difficult for us to criticize a religion that is not our own. It is even more difficult to stop someone practising his religion. Anyone who were to try to do so would be liable to the charge of discrimination, and Westerners do not like to be accused of that. Add to that, the power of political correctness, and further add to that the reluctance of people to fight for Christianity, and we find that we have boxed ourselves into a corner – a corner that will be difficult for us to get out of. Where are we going to find leaders willing to criticize another religion, and where, even if we found such people, are we going to find the people willing to follow them? As I write, it would appear that this is the start of the end game for the West! Is it to be downhill all the way for Islam now? Have we created the very conditions for Islam to overshadow us – conditions that Muslims could only have dreamed of some decades ago?
With political correctness and the law on their side, and with people afraid to criticize Muslims and Islam, it is difficult to see how this movement will not be able to steamroller us all into a very much weaker position indeed. Crying Islamophobia will only help them further to achieve their ambitions. It is time for a sea change in attitudes here in the West. Before it is too late!
Buy the book:
USA – Amazon.com,
USA – Barnes & Noble, and
UK – Amazon, and in many other bookshops besides.
