On the comparison of Islam to other religions

First, it is almost impossible to find an equivalent to the doctrines of Jihad, Hijrah, and Taqiyaa in any other religion;

Second, comparing Islam to polytheistic movements founded on peace and non-violence is preposterous;

Third, Islam is often compared to Christianity and it is this comparison which will be the focal point of this piece.

Let us start at the beginning; and as Christianity is the older of the two let us start with Christianity and its central figure - Jesus. Jesus, for the most part, preached non-violence, tolerance and respect for others, and love.

Early Christians followed the example of Jesus and attempted to spread this message of pacifism and love and were met with hostility from all sides. For 300 years, Christianity was a fledgling religion whose adherents were regularly mocked and persecuted.

It is not until the adoption of Christianity as the official state religion of the mighty, far-reaching Roman Empire that Christianity began to take on a political dimension. It is not until the Council of Nicaea that men assembled and codified what would become dogma for the next thousand years.

Beginning at Nicaea, we see Christianity saddled with the Old Testament, we see the imposition of male-dominated, warlike Roman culture onto a peace-loving faith, we see the codification into cannon law of misogyny, blasphemy laws, the establishment of a hierarchical priesthood, etc.

Indeed, Christianity became an extension of Roman imperialism and eventually a means to dictate law and consolidate power and authority after the empire's decline. Who has more authority than God, after all?

Let us now consider Islam. Islam, from its very beginnings, was (and remains to this day) an ideology of total domination. Muhammad was a violent man and a conquering warlord. The first year of the Islamic calendar is the Hijrah, and this is also very telling.

Hijrah, or jihad by emigration, is, according to Islamic tradition, the migration or journey of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib, later renamed by him to Medina, in the year 622 CE. It was after the hijrah that Muhammad for the first time became not just a preacher of religious ideas, but a political and military leader.

That was what occasioned his new “revelations” exhorting his followers to commit violence against unbelievers. Significantly, the Islamic calendar counts the hijrah, not Muhammad’s birth or the occasion of his first “revelation,” as the beginning of Islam, implying that Islam is not fully itself without a political and military component.

During Muhammad's lifetime and in the decades after his death, Islam conquered vast swaths of territory across the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa and Persia, and by the year 750 had conquered nearly all of Spain. In the span of 100 years, Islam went from nothing to a vast empire to be reckoned with - and woe to the conquered.

This type of expansion does not happen by accident, and is not done by meek and mild missionaries proselytizing from village to village. The doctrine of Islam is clear; make them convert to Islam, enslave those who don't, kill those who resist, and make dhimmis of the remaining Christians and Jews.

Islam was spread by the sword, and killed and enslaved millions upon millions of everyone in its path, most notably black Africans and Hindus. In one hundred years, Islam had committed atrocities heretofore unheard of in Christian Europe.

This stark contrast between the early years of these two religions (though I still hold that Islam is first a fascist, totalitarian political ideology) should tell you everything you need to know.

It is not uncommon for us to hear from our 'moderate' Muslim friends and apologists for Islam that, "Islam has been hijacked by Arab Tribalism" or some other such nonsense. Nothing could be further from the truth - Islam is the perfect reflection of the mind of its founder: a tribal, Arab warlord and a most violent figure by any standard and within any historical context.

Christianity on the other hand was, in fact, hijacked by powerful men in a pre-existing empire for their own gain - the small folk can be kept in check by invoking the almighty and actual power in the form of military might is no longer necessary. Islam was founded as a doctrine of supremacy and violence by a paranoid egomaniac who would (and did) stop at nothing to elevate himself above all and to see others cower in fear before him.

"Blessed are the meek" ~ Jesus

"I have been made victorious through terror" ~ Muhammad.