French The new “caliphate” of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi—the Islamic State, formerly “ISIS”—recently made clear that it means to follow in the footsteps of the original caliphate of Abu Bakr al-Sadiq (632-634), specifically by directing its jihad against fellow Muslims, in Islamic parlance, the “hypocrites” and “apostates,” or in Western terminology, “moderates.” This came out in … [Read more...]
Islam’s ‘Protestant Reformation’ (Part 2)
PJ Media Click for Part 1 How Christianity and Islam can follow similar patterns of reform but with antithetical results rests in the fact that their scriptures are often antithetical to one another. This is the key point, and one admittedly unintelligible to postmodern, secular sensibilities, which tend to lump all religious scripture together in a melting pot of … [Read more...]
Islam’s ‘Protestant Reformation’ (Part 1)
PJ Media In order to prevent a clash of civilizations, or worse, Islam must reform. This is the contention of many Western peoples. And, pointing to Christianity’s Protestant Reformation as proof that Islam can also reform, many are optimistic. Overlooked by most, however, is that Islam has been reforming. What is today called “radical Islam” is the reformation of … [Read more...]
Islam, Dictators, and Christian Persecution: Raymond Ibrahim on Shine TV
I was interviewed nearly a year ago on Shine TV, a New Zealand Christian channel. The ten-minute discussion with host Allen Lee focuses on a wide range of topics, including Arab dictators versus Islamists and the phenomenon, historic and modern, of Christian persecution. The video follows: … [Read more...]
Allah’s Sword of Terror
The first time I heard about Khalid bin al-Walid—the 7th century Muslim jihadi affectionately known in Islamic history as “The Sword of Allah”—was when I was in college researching for my MA thesis on the Battle of Yarmuk, when the Muslims, under Khalid’s generalship, defeated the Byzantines in 636, opening the way for the historic Islamic conquests. Nearly a decade and a … [Read more...]