In a word "NO".
For if there is such a thing as "extremist" Islam, then there is its opposite: namely a "non-extremist" Islam. But there is no evidence of such a beast. Not in the Islamic Trinity: the Koran, the Hadith and the Sirah. Nor in its codified Sacred Law of Sharia. Nor even by Scholars of Islam.
It's not just me says this. It's all pious and knowledgeable Muslims. They insist "there's Islam and that's that".
To the extent that there is such a thing as a "moderate Muslim", it's not that he follows a "moderate" form of Islam, of a "non-extremist" Islam, it's that he decides not to follow parts of it that he doesn't like. That's the case for many Muslims. For they are scared to leave the religion, given the penalty for apostasy is ostracisation or death. Much easier, then, to just let it be. Remain Muslim, but don't follow it. I've seen many such Muslims in my travels, perhaps most in the very Islamic country of South Sudan. The muezzin's call to prayer, five times a day, was ignored by all around us, from dawn to dusk.
Over fifteen years ago, I wrote about this. Which was some years after my awakening to the essence of Islam, which for me came by dint of reading the Koran. Then re-reading it in case I'd missed something. Surely, I thought, there must be something loving and peaceable here? Nah...
By contrast -- and I say this as a lifelong Atheist -- the Bible is a breath of fresh air. In the Bible we have many horrid and violent passages, but all in the Old Testament. Go the New Testament and love abounds. There's no such relief in the Koran. It's all hate on non-Muslims, hate specifically for Jews and Christians, and telling all Muslims what wonderful and superior creatures they are. It's relentless, and we need to understand, in the west, that that relentlessness continues up until today. It is now in the veins of our nations.
Here's a summary: Jesus Christ is a lover. Muhammad is a hater.
Look, I mean... just read it. Read the Koran. Muhammad is non stop hating on everyone other than people who submit to his "new" religion, his "latest" revelation from God, which he got in a cave via the Angel Gabriel. Read it. It's hateful from one page to the next. Don't blame me! Don't tell me I'm the bigot. I'm only reporting what's in the Koran, available, out there, for everyone to read.
That is why: when I had read the Koran I came to the conclusion that "If this is what we're dealing with, then we're in trouble". It is indeed what we're dealing with. In most places in the west, we're "dealing" with it by ignoring it. Dealing with Islamisation by not dealing with it. Or worse: Dealing with it by criminalising any criticism of its ideology, calling such criticism "Islamophobia". Dealing with it, as King Charles did with his Easter message, by grotesquely presenting it as a loving religion "caring for those in need". Yeah, right.
Below is the longish piece I wrote back in March 2010, about Islam. The Open Letter I quoted, by David Solway is rather long, but does cover the issues elegantly. He's talking about Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician who was at the time warning about Islam. He's still there, still fighting the ideology, winning hearts and minds, but not allowed by the EU blob to take his rightful position as PM of The Netherlands, through some kind of subterfuge and EU-style lawfare. They just don't like "populists" those Eurocrats, despite popular being what the people want. It's all part of how we're "dealing" with this mortal threat.
The full post is here.
Snip, from Wednesday 17 March, 2010:
Below is a thoughtful open letter to Geert Wilders, [Wayback] who is facing trial in the Netherlands for so-called "hate speech" for criticising Islam. Solway spends some time on the vexed issue of whether there are "moderate" Muslims and if there is a difference between "Islam" and "Islamism". I well remember the first time I read the Koran a decade ago and thinking "if this is what we have to deal with, we're in trouble". David Solway quotes Roger Simon on this point:“if Wilders is correct, and the line between Islam and Islamism is as blurred as the Dutchman posits, then we in the West are in very deep trouble indeed.”
And we are in deep trouble indeed. Solway's full letter is below. It's an important read.
An open letter to Geert Wilders:
"A profile in courage".
Though we have not met, I feel as if I know you well. I have followed your trials—and trial—closely and, like many who are engaged in the same fight against Islamic supremacism and the various forms of jihad that confront us, I endorse your campaign on behalf of the West and its traditional liberties in every way that I can.Indeed, I wonder if you are aware of the extent of your de facto “support network,” a majority in America who, according to a Pew Research Center survey, are “very concerned” about the rise of Islamic extremism, and certainly a significant minority of the increasingly vocal. The same may now be the case in your own country and in a number of other European nations as well—Switzerland and its minaret affair come immediately to mind—as ordinary people gradually come to realize the threat they are facing.
