From Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell
The keyword here is blackwhite. Like so many Newspeak words, this word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts. Applied to a Party member, it means a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this. But it means also the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary. This demands a continuous alteration of the past, made possible by the system of thought which really embraces all the rest, and which is known in Newspeak as doublethink. Doublethink is basically the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.
– Part II, Chapter IX — The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism
We critics of Islam – and that’s what I am, a critic of Islam – are sometimes criticised for being bigoted, “Islamophobic”, for -- don’t we know? -- Islam is a "Religion of Peace", one of the three great Abrahamic religions. Those who kill in the name of Islam are but a "tiny minority of extremists" who have hijacked this great religion. If the Jihadists, or we critics, quote the Koran, we are cherry picking, for -- don’t we know? -- one can cherry pick equally violent verses in the Bible. We critics, in short, misunderstand Islam. We should learn more about it and then we shall understand, not be so bigoted, be tolerant, accept Islam as just another of the religions in the wonderful tapestry of our cultures.
What are we to make, then, of those Imams in the west who quote the Koran, who tell their students that every word of the Koran is true, the word of God, and that to doubt even one word, even one letter, is to immediately cease to be Muslim? And, more, tell their acolytes that it is indeed true that -- according to the Koran -- they should not take as their friends non-Muslims, that they are indeed to hate Jews and Christians. Who tell them that it is indeed true that they should engage in warfare against infidels, in the cause of Islam, for that is set out in the Koran. That it is their duty to promote Sharia law until it becomes the law of the land, wherever they may be living. That Sharia is a “perfect law”, the law of God, that it supersedes the law of man; that it does indeed, correctly, require the cutting off of the hands of thieves, the stoning of adulterers and the flogging of homosexuals. That the acolytes should “think not, for it will make you lose your faith”.
What, then, are we to make of all this? Are we to assume that these Imams and sheikhs are bigots, “Islamophobes”, just like we critics who point out these same things? Are we to say that these men, well read in the Koran and Hadith, also “misunderstand” Islam?
The documentary below is 30 minutes of enlightenment on this topic, focussed on a Mosque and convert in Germany. (You may find it easier to go to the original which is here , in three parts).
ADDED (19/6/24): Neither one available, due to Link Rot.
Note how the acolyte Barino Barzoum goes from natural aversion to concepts such as giving up friendships with non-Muslims including his family, of making war on infidels, to gradual acceptance of them. What initially he took to be violation of common sense, he accepts as so natural in the end that he readily states that the aim of Muslims must be to war against unbelievers, and "what's wrong with that"?.
It’s creepy. There is nothing this compares to so well as to Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-four. He manages to convince himself that black is white, he understands the concept of "blackwhite" (above). There is even in 1984 the concept of "perpetual war", which is what Islam conceives as the case until Islam reigns throughout the world, when there will be peace (for that is the meaning of “peace” in Islam).
Nineteen Eight-Four brought us the slogans WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH (Think not, for it will make you lose your faith, Barino was told, and so he gave up thinking). To those, we can add “ISLAM IS PEACE”. Islam is peace.... while war is waged on infidels. Doublethink.
Isolated case? Not at all; this is going on in Mosques all over. Eg, in the US:
[1] Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology invade American Mosques, Center for Religious Freedom, Washington, 2005.
[2] Mapping Sharia in America Project: finds that almost 80% of US Mosques preach anti-West extremism.
[3] There's also a study done by a Muslim Sheikh, which I'll reference when I find it. It finds the same as [2] above.
Will Europe be any better? Hardly, given that we are always told that Muslims in the US are better off and better integrated than those in Europe, so the figures will only be worse in Europe.
Radical non-representative Mosque? Not at all. As the Imam says, they only teach what is in the Koran and the teachings of Muhammad (the Hadith), nothing else.
