Islam's Moment Of Truth
By Michael R. Bowen (09/29/04)
"It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims." - Abdel Rahman al-Rashed, September 2004, in the Telegraph (UK)
In the news this morning there was a photo of a sobbing Iraqi woman, whose grandson had been killed in a US airstrike on a terrorist position. This will of course provide fodder for the terrorists' campaign to convince the world that America is indeed the Great Satan. But for Muslims in general, the incident sends a much more important message: there is no neutral position anymore. There can be no innocent bystanders any longer in this struggle.
The West, or at least those portions of the West with any backbone, are coming to the realization that Islam's goal is world domination at the point of the sword. Convert, submit, or die: this is the choice Islam offers to the world.
Too harsh for you? Do I paint with too broad a brush, and in harsh black-and-white to boot?
Show me. Show me the people of Islam rising up and rejecting the murderers in their midst. Let me hear the mullahs cry out from their mosques against barbarity of the Islamists. Go ahead, I'm listening.
When the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens was detained on landing in the US, and denied entry on suspicion of association with terrorists, I was among the many who were surprised. The man who today calls himself Yusuf Islam penned songs of sweetness in his heyday, and it's difficult to imagine the author of Peace Train keeping company with Hamas. But even Cat Stevens, it turns out, turned terror fan what he converted to Islam. He famously supported the fatwa calling for the murder of Salman Rushdie after publication of The Satanic Verses, and has channeled funds to known terrorist groups such as Hamas.
Mr. al-Rashed, quoted above, is the first Muslim to speak the truth in a major news organ. True, there have been other Muslims who have spoken up, but much more discreetly.
The incident of the little boy killed by American warplanes should make things clear to the world's Muslims: if Islamic terrorism continues, many more innocent people will be killed. But they won't necessarily be infidels. If innocents are going to be killed either way, then if we have a choice they will be the innocents of the Islamic world. If none of you will speak up, if none of your societies will take up arms and destroy the Islamists in your midst, then we will do it ourselves. And if, by your silence, you have made it difficult for us to tell who among you is guilty and who is not, then we'll just have to make our best guess and accept the "collateral damage", because the alternative is to allow our children to be slaughtered. Your silence will change the conflict from America versus Islamism to America versus Islam.
Muslims, you have a choice. We are coming for the killers. You can remove them yourselves if you have the nerve, and if Islam is really the religion of peace. But if you continue to share your homes, your mosques, and your cities with them, then be prepared to get hit by a few stray bullets.
It's your religion. You fix it.
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