What It Really Means To Say "Islam Is A Religion Of Peace"--And Why Appeasement Fails

Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian intellectual and writer who wrote commentaries on the Quran and developed a political philosophy in his book Milestones. He is considered among the founders of modern political Islam and the radical fundamentalist movements--and was a founding member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Qutb was executed by the Egyptian government in 1966 for subversion.

Here is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Milestone by Ibn Qutb

Anyone who understands this particular character of this religion will also understand the place of Jihaad bis saif (striving through fighting), which is to clear the way for striving through preaching in the application of the Islamic movement. He will understand that Islam is not a 'defensive movement' in the narrow sense which today is technically called a 'defensive war.' ...


If we insist on calling Islamic Jihaad a defensive movement, then we must change the meaning of the word 'defense' and mean by it 'the defense of man' against all those elements which limit his freedom. These elements take the form of beliefs and concepts, as well as of political systems, based on economic, racial or class distinctions. When Islam first came into existence, the world was full of such systems, and the present-day Jahiliyyah also has various kinds of such systems.

When we take this broad meaning of the word 'defense', we understand the true character of Islam, and that it is a universal proclamation of the freedom of man from servitude to other men, the establishment of the sovereignty of God and His Lordship throughout the world, the end of man's arrogance and selfishness, and the implementation of the rule of the Divine Shari'ah in human affairs.

...Can anyone say that if Abu Bakr, 'Umar or 'Othman had been satisfied that the Roman and Persian powers were not going to attack the Arabian peninsula, they would not have striven to spread the message of Islam throughout the world? How could the message of Islam have spread when it faced such material obstacles as the political system of the state, the socio-economic system based on races and classes, and behind all these, the military power of the government?

It would be naive to assume that a call is raised to free the whole of humankind throughout the earth, and it is confined to preaching and exposition. Indeed, it strives through preaching and exposition when there is freedom of communication and when people are free from all these influences, as "There is no compulsion in religion; but when the above- mentioned obstacles and practical difficulties are put in its way, it has no recourse but to remove them by force so that when it is addressed to peoples' hearts and minds they are free to accept or reject it with an open mind.

Since the objective of the message of Islam is a decisive declaration of man's freedom, not merely on the philosophical plane but also in the actual conditions of life, it must employ Jihaad. It is immaterial whether the homeland of Islam - in the true Islamic sense, Dar ul-Islam - is in a condition of peace or whether it is threatened by its neighbors. When Islam strives for peace, its objective is not that superficial peace which requires that only that part of the earth where the followers of Islam are residing remain secure. The peace which Islam desires is that the religion (i.e. the Law of the society) be purified for God, that the obedience of all people be for God alone, and that some people should not be lords over others.

While you can argue that this is not the true intent of the Quran, it does form a tenet of today's Islamist fundamentalists and those radical Muslims who are behind Islamist terrorist attacks around the world (scroll down for detailed list).

In this context, peace is not the absence of war, but the absence of opposition to Islam--which is something very different.

Also note that according to Qutb:

It is immaterial whether the homeland of Islam - in the true Islamic sense, Dar ul-Islam - is in a condition of peace or whether it is threatened by its neighbors.

In other words regardless of the peace and stability of the Middle East, there is still--and always--an obligation to wage Jihad and spread Islam.

That has implications not only for those who believe that Israeli unilateral concessions will placate the Muslim world--it is also evidence that the West's own appeasement of Muslims, both in Europe and without, is doomed to fail.

That is why, as per the 2 actual incidents Victor Shikhman describes--it is both necessary and possible to take a stand against the threats of the radical Islamists

Hat tip: Robert Spencer, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and The Crusades

Technorati Tag: Sayyid Qutb and Islamists and Koran and Quran.