About Us
The truth of an idea is never
determined by desire.
What if Islam
really is different?
IslamisDifferent.com (IID) is a
pluralistic, non-partisan site concerned with Islam's political and
religious teachings according to its own texts. The purpose is to counter whitewashing and explain the threat that
Islam truly poses to human dignity and freedom, as well as the violence and
dysfunction that ensues
as a direct consequence of this religion's supremacist ideology.
Islam is not defined by anyone's opinion, but by the Quran, Hadith and Sira. These
historical texts are readily available in the information age, meaning that anyone can go
straight to the source from any referenced article on this site.
While apologists of Islam generally use fragments of Quran verses, weaker hadith
(Islam's version of "fake news") and contemporary opinion to lower Western defenses,
IID explains the context, cites early biographers, and posts references to those Hadith collections
deemed most reliable (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim and Abu Dawud).
IID is not associated with any organization. The site does not promote any
religion, but is not hostile to religion. We generally support the rights of
atheists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, women, consenting adults, Muslims and anyone else
on the planet to live as they wish without violating the rights of
others.
IslamisDifferent.com strongly condemns any
attempt to harm or harass any Muslim anywhere in the world over their
religion. Every person is entitled to be treated as an
individual and judged only by his or her own words and deeds (see
About Muslims).
IID also denounces any act of
vandalism against mosques or other property, including juvenile attempts to
offend Muslims by desecrating copies of the Quran. (The best way of discrediting the
Quran is to tell non-Muslims what it
actually says
about them).
So, why this site?
The world we share is at a critical moment.
After fending off Muslim conquest for 1400 years, Western borders are being thrown
open to an irreversible flow of migration from the Islamic world. At the same time, important
questions about Islam are being stigmatized and deliberately mischaracterized as "bigotry."
One reason is that many Muslims get offended when their religion is questioned - and this seems like a bad thing. Another is the conflating of persons with ideology. Most Muslims are obviously not bad people. Most are "like us." The lazy conclusion is that "true" Islam must not be significantly different or dangerous.
But, tolerance doesn't mean denying truth. Western culture has benefited greatly from the freedom to criticize dogma. Holding Islam to a
lower standard puts hard-fought social progress at risk in the West. It also denies an Age of Enlightenment to those most desperately in need of it. The mere fact that Islam requires special protection from scrutiny proves how necessary that scrutiny is.
The main purpose of this site is to challenge the assumption that all religion is the same, which is easily belied by common sense.
Over 99% of religiously-motivated
terror is committed explicitly in the name of
one faith. How can that be if it is just like all the others?
How is that we so often hear of converts to Islam turning
to terror, but never the same with converts from Islam? Why are only
ex-Muslims killed by members of their former faith?
If 'ignorance of Islam' is the culprit, then why don't other religions have this problem, and why
are there so many Islamic clerics, imams and preachers actively
involved in terror cells and recruitment across the globe?
Lift the cloak of religion and it becomes obvious that there is a tremendous amount of social
dysfunction tied to Islam's core texts and teachings. Polls show that
large minorities - or even majorities - in the Islamic world approve of amputations, stonings, violence in defense of Islam,
and draconian rules that deny other religions equal rights and freedom.
Acts of discrimination, hate and terror that would be shocking in the name of any other faith are so commonplace
in the Muslim world that it barely registers in Western media. The very fact that the bar of expectation is set so low for "the Religion of
Peace" underscores just how different it really is.
No one uses the term "self-radicalization" with any other
faith or attaches an "ism" to the end (Islamism) to project
false hope that the "real thing" is something other than what it appears. Islam is the only ideology,
religious or otherwise, in which critics
are bullied into silence and told they have a "phobia" (or are "racist" for
challenging a supremacist
religion that speaks far worse of them).
Yet, where Islam dominates, there is systematic discrimination and oppression of non-believers.
Where Muslims are a minority, there is a trend
toward peevish self-interest and eventual violence when demands for special privilege and
entitlements are not met. No other religion is so
demanding of respect while doing so little to earn it.
Rather than great humanitarian accomplishment or true peace, Islam typically breeds arrogance
and self-absorption: the collective petulance, narcissism and perpetual grievance that broadly
characterize Muslim populations. Hinduism has very little in common with Western religion, for example,
yet Hindus generally assimilate and contribute positively to host countries, while Muslim migration is
accompanied by social strain and net budgetary loss.
It is hard to deny Islam's remarkable unwillingness to extend
equal moral consideration to those outside of the faith. More innocent lives were snuffed out in
just two hours by devout Muslims on
9/11 than by the Ku Klux Klan in its entire 145-year history (source), yet,
there was not a single mass protest against Osama bin Laden in the entire Muslim world
(many actually condemned
his killing).
No matter how atrocious the act perpetrated in the name of Allah, it is always followed by
rhetorical distraction and claims of victimization.
Should we be surprised to find that this disregard for others is rooted in the supremacist
ideology of the Quran and Sharia? These texts unashamedly draw the
sharpest distinction between those within the group of believers and those
outside - toward whom arbitrary denigration is cast and hatred,
harsh treatment
and eternal
punishment is prescribed. It
isn't the victims who need lessons in tolerance and
understanding - it is the Islamic world.
Islam in its pure form is more than a religion. It is a rigid political and cultural system with a mandate to conquer and govern the
lives of others via necessary force "until
religion is only for Allah."
As with any collectivist ideology, it becomes totalitarian in practice, stamping out dissent and freedom of choice. The divine
charter of Islam is to impose itself and thus prevent the individual from
discovering a different meaning for their own lives.
Rather than make the West a "safe space" for Islam, we should challenge Muslims to make Islam safe for the world.
Until then, it is not in our interest to accommodate that which has no intention of accommodating us. Neither should we assist the
expansion within our borders of a religion that is consistently incapable of building countries in which even Muslims themselves want to live.
What evidence is there that an Islamic Europe will, in the long run, be any better than than those nations from which followers of Islam "migrate?" Yet, Muslims interpret their growth in Europe as confirmation of Islam's supremacy, when it is really just the result of misguided [suicidal] compassion.
Tolerance is a good thing, but not when we allow it to
be used
cynically against us by those who have no use for it once they obtain power.
We need to throw out political correctness and return to critical thinking and hard choices.
The truth is that Islam is not like other religion and it is certainly not a religion of peace. Sometimes the truth isn't comfortable.
Sometimes the truth offends. But it is far better that we offend others with the truth
than lose our freedom.
See also:
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
How We Feel about
Muslims
If Muslims are a Race, Then Islam is Racist
What to Do about the Islamic
Threat
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