Islam: What the West Needs to Know
by Gregory M. Davis, Bryan Daly
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Actor: Abdullah Al-Araby, Bat Yeor, Robert Spencer, Serge Trifkovic, Walid ShoebatDirector: Bryan Daly, Gregory M. Davis
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-07-17
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Disinformation
DVD Reviews of Islam: What the West Needs to Know
DVD Review: When one questionable fact is presented in a documentary, all other facts presented are suspect!
Summary: 2 Stars
"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth". Henry David Thoreau
I'm not trying to defend Islam or any other religion. I'm simply exposing the ways in which this documentary insults people's intelligence. Also, I was greatly offended by this documentary's consistent underestimating of people's knowledge and intelligence.
This documentary claims the following: "Relying primarily on Islam's own sources, this documentary demonstrates that Islam is a violent, expansionary ideology that seeks the destruction or subjugation of other faiths, cultures, and systems of government."
After watching the documentary, I will argue this claim as provided by the interviewees, as "Islam's own resources".
I will begin with the most reasonable and justified comments:
1. Bat ye'or; the author of "the Dhimmi: Jews and Christians under Islam" 1985, is an Egyptian born British historian specializing in the history of non-Muslims in the Middle East. In her writings, Mrs. Ye'or focused on Islamic Jihad and the rapid transformation of Easterm Christian lands into Islamic territories, and violation of human rights in Islamic cultures.
While all Mrs. Ye'or observations are correct about the dictatorship in Arabic cultures and mistreatment of minorities; she forgot that this mistreatment impacts Muslims as well, and this is what totalitarian governments are all about. Simply because the majority population of these countries is Muslim, doesn't mean that the religion itself is bad. It is time to differentiate between the evil of people and their religions.
Also, the spread of Islam in Europe after AD 710, during the Umayyads and Abbasids rule, occurred during a period of political and moral corruption after the death of Muhammad (who died in 632). The existence of an Islamic kingdom at the time, did not mean that it was ruled according to the religion itself. No sane person would argue that invasion and killing are not bad, but if we are going to blame political crimes on religions, then we have to think that Hitler (who was Christian) perpetrated the Holocaust because Christianity is a bad religion, or that Israel has invaded Palestine because Judaism is bad. This sort of logic misses the point that it is individuals acting on their interpretations of religious or philosophical beliefs or simply someone of a particular religion acting in a questionable way.
2. Dr. Serge Trifkovic; is a Serbian-American writer and the author of "The sword of the Prophet", who holds a PhD in history from the University of Southhampton and is an expert on Balkan politics and a regular columnist for several conservative publications in the United States.
Here I present three important facts:
* Dr. Tifkovic doesn't have any experience to allow him to speak as an expert in Islam.
* Dr. Trifkovic is of Serbian origin, and we can't ignore the ethnic cleansing directed by native Serbians in former Yugoslavia against Bosnian and Kosovar Muslims. Using the same standards that Dr. Tifkovic is using, one might say that Christianity is evil because of the massacres carried in Kosovo against Muslims in 1992, but we have to be more open minded than that and agree that the religion of the killers should not be blamed for their evil.
* It's important to note that there was a long standing historical hatred between Christians and Muslims in the former Yugoslavia, which has its origins in Ottoman invasions. I think it is fair to argue that the Ottomans were acting more in their own self political interest than in the interest of Islam.
I tried to listen objectively to Dr. Tifkovic, but when he started talking about the instant gratification described in Islam and humorously said" it's not suitable to talk about it in front of a family audience", I concluded that this information is what he got from all the stupid comments given by suicidal bombers, Bin laden, and Zarqawi.
Real study of the Qur'an would reveal that all famous promises of virgins in heaven are man made. It's ok if the uninformed masses think that, but if a PhD in history discusses it on TV in the way he did, it is a sign of a sweeping universal stupidity. The only reason for mentioning virgins in the Qur'an was to say that people all will be virgins in heaven, as all earthly pleasures are not going to exist there.
3. Another interesting character interviewed, Mr. Robert Spencer, holds a Master's degree in the department of Religious Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1986. I thought again that I would learn something from an "expert" on Islam, but he focused on the concept of "Taqiyya" which is, according to him, an Islamic method of deception and hiding one's faith while among enemies. As a fluent Arabic speaking person who studied the Qur'an and Hadith (Not all hadith is proven to be correct or reliable, as it's been told and passed by memorization and oral tradition), I tried to understand Mr.Spencer's accent while he spoke the word "Taqiyya" and thought that perhaps it was a different word he was referring to.
It took me few minutes to figure out what word he was using; this word is an Arabic slang for a "hat". No kidding; the "expert" used a slang word that wasn't used a few hundred years ago, but that gave me a clue about Mr. Spencer's sources. Mr. Spencer is not relying on Islamic sources as claimed, but some unreliable internet sites. (the reader can check for his/herself).
When Mr. Spencer attempted to justify the Crusades while demonizing the Islamic spread in Europe; I lost interest in his double standard logic which allows some to encourage war, while criticizing the extremist Muslims, who do likewise. Finally Mr. Spencer concludes that even Muslims who claim that they are against killing and forced conversion are simply lying. Furthermore; he says that if they claim suicide is not allowed in Islam then they are lying as well because , or so his logic goes, if the suicide bombers are faithful Muslim, then Islam must allow suicide and it must be terrorist based political movement; a very educated conclusion indeed.
4. Another person called "Abdullah Al-araby", who I've never heard of or read any thing by him was talking about deception being allowed in Islam according to the saying "war is deception" and claimed it was part of the Hadith. The statement referred to is an Arabic saying not proven to have been spoken by Mohammed. Al-araby proceeded to say:" In Islam, it is allowed to lie in general, you can lie to your enemy, to your family, to your wife...".
The gentleman didn't provide any evidence to support his claim, and I'm at a loss to know where in Quran or Hadith he found that explanation.
5. My favorite, another "expert" called Walid Shoebat; a former terrorist and the author of "Why I left Jihad". It is possible to admit one's mistake and change his/her ways, but I wonder if that is enough to make the person an expert on Islam. The former terrorist talked about the beheading of "banu Qurayza" by Mohammed relying on some Persian and Indian art as his source and claiming that it is Islamic art. This kind of art came to life a few hundred years after the death of Mohammed and in no way can be considered a clue to the origin of beheading in Islam; especially not in the Quran or verifiable Hadith.
Shoebat also talked how he as an employee of an American company used to lie and fake compassion with Americans and scream "Allahu Akbar" on the high way as he left work. Shoebat concluded that this is the general way Muslims act and they are all liars, and then talked about false meanings of Jihad, heaven, and anti-Semitism in Islam. Again, this "expert" relied on his personal experience as a member of a terrorist group focused on hate and destruction called "fatih" in Israel/Palestine.
6. The only two people who said anything positive about Islam weren't identified.
7. Two short broadcasts from a radical well known Arabic channel were used to prove how Jihad and martyrdom are Islam's way of advertising killing. The two words of "jihad" and martyrdom" have been abused by Muslim suicide bombers and radicals claiming to represent Islam, but clearly representing only their own hateful views. Jihad is the spiritual struggle against desires and sins, while martyrdom is dying to defend one's family, life, or land.
I was about to give this documentary a negative vote if possible, but being good hearted as I am, I gave it 2 stars: one star for getting one thing right; the call to prayer that started this work, another star for interviewing Bat Ye'or who studied history and actually had some historic knowledge even though she did not reach a reasonable conclusion. She can share the star with the other "experts" who wore suits, talked with great confidence but lacked credible evidence to substantiate their claims.
Description of Islam: What the West Needs to Know
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