Gatestone Institute In two unrelated cases, the United Kingdom denied asylum to persecuted Christians by bizarrely citing the Bible and Jesus. Both Christians, a man and a woman, are former Muslims who were separately seeking asylum from the Islamic Republic of Iran, the ninth worst persecutor of Christians, particularly those who were formerly Muslims, as […]
America’s 233-Year-Old Shock at Jihad
American Thinker Exactly 233 years ago today, on March 28, 1786, two of America’s founding fathers documented their first exposure to Islamic jihad in a letter to Congress; like many Americans today, they too were shocked at what they learned. Context: in 1785, Muslim pirates from North Africa, or “Barbary,” had captured two American ships, […]
Ribāt: The Original Muslim Enclaves and ‘No-Go’ Zones
PJ Media “The operation to take Islamic State’s last enclave in eastern Syria looked close to an end,” Reuters recently reported, “as U.S.-backed fighters said they were combing the area for hidden jihadists…. Its enclave at Baghouz was the last part of the massive territory it suddenly seized in 2014, straddling swathes of Iraq and […]
The “Blasphemy” Jihad on Pakistan’s Mentally Disabled Christians
Gatestone Institute “A mentally ill Pakistani Christian man has been charged with blasphemy,” the Pakistan Christian Post reported a few days ago. Stephen Masih was arrested after Muhammad Rafiq and Muhammad Imran told Muhammad Mudassar—a renowned hafiz, one who has memorized the entire Koran—that the Christian “had made derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).” […]
Video: “Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West”
Earlier this week I appeared via Skype on Colliding Worldviews, a program on ABN’s Trinity Channel, hosted by Tony Gurule. Titled, “Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West” (which is also the subtitle of my book, Sword and Scimitar), the 30-minute interview follows, and includes many important topics: Fourteen Centuries of War Between […]
Crusade and Jihad
Crusade and Jihad: The Thousand-Year War between the Muslim World and the Global North By William R. PolkNew Haven: Yale University Press, 2018. 550 pp. $37.50 Reviewed by Raymond Ibrahim Middle East QuarterlyWinter 2019 Crusade and Jihad is characteristic of the many misrepresentations of history that emanate from the Middle East studies establishment. Despite the title, the […]
Does the Hijab Reflect “Adherence to Sharia Law”?
PJ Media The recent outrage surrounding Jeanine Pirro’s remarks concerning the hijab is a reflection of the abysmal degree to which common sense is under assault in America. Context: While discussing Muslim Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s anti-Israel remarks with Nancy Pelosi, Pirro said: This is not who your party is. Your party is not anti-Israel. She […]
Shariah Law: What Everyone Needs to Know
by John L. Esposito and Natana J. Delong-Bas Reviewed by Raymond Ibrahim Middle East QuarterlyFall 2018 Shariah Law: What Everyone Needs to Know. By John L. Esposito and Natana J. Delong-Bas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. 352 pp. $74 ($16.95, paper). The overarching theme of Esposito and Delong-Bas’s book is that the sacred law of Islam […]
Islamic Apologias: Straining at Gnats while Swallowing Camels
Coptic Solidarity An Arabic-language video recently appeared of a Muslim cleric in Egypt addressing how terrorists misuse Islamic scriptures to justifying killing non-Muslims. He was specifically addressing the bombing of Coptic Orthodox churches, which in recent years have left dozens of Christian worshippers dead in Egypt. During his sermon, Sheikh Samir Hashish said that those […]
Is ISIS Still a Global Threat?
In light of recent news that the Islamic State (or “ISIS”) is on the verge of losing its last stronghold, yesterday I was interviewed on the radio program, Issues, ETC, with Todd Wilken. We discussed whether ISIS was still relevant and the true significance of all such Islamic terror groups. The 10-minute interview can be […]