by Vernon Schubel, Kenyon College

I have been working on a book on Humanism in Islam and in an introductory chapter I dig deeply into Jihadwatch because I believe it is primarily designed to deny the humanity of Islam by reducing it to a totalitarian political system. I feel I need to bathe whenever I read Jihadwatch. Robert Spencer, David Horowitz and his compatriots often assert that they are not against Islam only “Islamo-facism.” But they in numerous places identify the two as the same. On its banner head, Jihadwatch.com has a link to a remarkable article by the author and film maker Gary P. Davis called “Islam 101,” which he describes as a summary of the ideas in his book, Religion of Peace? Islam’s War Against the World, and film, the equally ominously titled, Islam: What the West Needs to Know –an Examination of Islam, Violence and the Fate of the Muslim World. According to Davis, “Islam 101” is designed “to help people become better educated about the fundamentals of Islam and to help the more knowledgeable better convey the facts to others.” Davis warns his readers that Muslims and Muslim apologists will try to tell them that Islam is a “religion of peace.” But he tells them that this is not true. Instead he presents Jihad defined narrowly as armed warfare against non-Muslims as the core of Islam. And he argues that this is the case because Islam is not “a personal faith.” It is instead “a political ideology” that exists in a permanent state of war with non-Muslims. In fact Davis equates Islam with fascism saying:

The misbegotten term “Islamo-fascism” is wholly redundant: Islam itself is a kind of fascism that achieves its full and proper form only when it assumes the powers of the state.

In another place he states:

It is important to realize that we have been talking about Islam — not Islamic “fundamentalism,” “extremism,” “fanaticism,” “Islamo-fascism,” or “Islamism,” but Islam proper, Islam in its orthodox form as it has been understood and practiced by right-believing Muslims from the time of Muhammad to the present.

So it should be clear “Islamo-fascist awareness” is designed here to identify Islam with Fascism.

The fact that these people have access to power, media, and political campaigns is extremely serious. This needs to be challenged at every turn by pointing out that Islam cannot be reduced to isolated verses in its primary texts. Instead, Islam arises as the dialogue of Muslims with the Qur’an, the life of the Prophet and the events of its early history as they use those events to think and respond to their own current circumstances. Muslims are as diverse in their responses to their religious sources as any other religious tradition.