If There Was Any Doubt

20060323

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     If there was still any doubt in anyone’s mind as to whether Islam can live up to its claim of being a religion of peace, the recent case of Abdul Rahman should put the question to rest. Rahman is current on trial in Afghanistan under that nations prevailing Shariah law for being a Christian. He has done nothing else. No lying, stealing, murdering, or adultering. Nothing that would violate any law we Westerners might understand. All he did was convert to Christianity while working with foreign aid groups in Pakistan during the Taliban regime and then have the gall to return home after Afghanistan was liberated.

     This case casts a glaring light on the true fundamental core of Islam. This case reveals Islam at its most basic and instinctual, and it highlights the reality of the situation the rest of the world faces as it tries to fight the radical version of this religion in the form of international terrorism. If this is the reaction to a single covert to another religion by the so-called mainstream conservative Muslims of Afghanistan, then how much more does the rest of the world face from this religion’s most radical elements?

     This reality is what fuels the actions of the terrorists in Palestine and Iraq. This reality is what drives the radical leaders of Iran to seek weapons of mass destruction. This reality is what causes many Muslims in the rest of the world to openly hope for the destruction of the free world and all that it stands for. In fact, this is the reality that most in the free world refuse to face, that is a reality of a Muslim jihad against the ideals of the free world.

     Ultimately, the case of Abdul Rahman is not one of an aberration to an otherwise peaceful and tolerant system. In fact, this case reflects the norms and beliefs of millions of Muslims around the world. This case reveals the foundation on which radical Islam and its international terrorism is built. Without this foundation, that radicalism could not exist or succeed.

     The lesson that the free world should take from this case is that it cannot ignore the religious aspect of its War on Terror. Whether the nations of the free world approach the War on Terror with any kind of belief is irrelevant, because the enemies of freedom do, and they struck first. It is their action that sets the conditions for this conflict, and it is under those conditions that the free world must fight.

     It is likely that the case of Abdul Rahman will fade. The man will likely be executed, either under Islamic law or by the popular consent of his own countrymen. The free world will turn a blind eye, bewildered at such violence and intolerance, but unsure what to do. In doing so, that same free world erodes its own freedom and grants another victory to its enemy.

DLH