LONDON'S TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF MUSLIM TERRORIST BOMBINGS - UK government officials condemn terror in Britain while condoning it in Israel - The Labour Party opened the door to mass Muslim immigration, terror and corruption - Terminal political correctness made police ignore mass exploitation of young girls by Muslim gangs - UK officials admit that British jihadism is out of control.

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The following illustration is from the Edgar Davidson's Blog

Source
http://edgar1981.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/on-10th-anniversary-of-london-bombings.html

Comprehensive list of terror victims in Israel since 1993:
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/victims.html

 

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On this page: 

• Tony Blair commiserates with victims of the London Muslim terror attack on the 10th anniversary of that horror.  But it was his own Labour government that opened the doors wide to unrestricted Muslim immigration to Britain.
• Labour whistleblower spills the beans as to the hidden motivations of his own party in changing immigration policy in the UK to allow a flood of Muslim immigrants and asylum seekers.
• Tony Blair and conflict of interest bordering on corruption.  His many financial deals with foreign governments.
• UK government financing terror by paying generous benefits to jihadists and preachers of hate.  One of them is the ideologue behind the recent attack on a Tunis tourist beach.  He lives in a mansion with his family in West London, all paid by the government.
• UK government financing Palestinian terror.  UK taxpayers footing the bill.  The PA has taken around £130million in foreign aid from the Department for International Development over the past five years, which goes to fund Palestinian terror and corruption.
• Former Scotland Yard top official admits that there are no prospects of fighting terror in Britain.  The number of domestic jihadists is just too large.
• But the real reason for Britain's surrender is a case of terminal political correctness.  UK Police knew and did nothing to protect young girls from Muslim predators
• Britain's Attorney General warned back in  2013 of the corruptive influence of Muslim immigrants in areas such as voting practices.  (They still did not know about the scandal that erupted later on regarding the large scale grooming and rape of young British girls by Muslims, mostly Pakistani immigrants.)
• Giulio Meotti's column Ten Years After... The British Still Don't Get It.
• British universities host over 100  radical Islamist speaking events annually.
• Documents reveal that back in 1948 and during their rule over the Mandate for Palestine, the British encouraged the genocide of Jews at the  hands of Palestinians. 

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Former prime Minister Tony Blair, whose Labour Party shares much of the blame for opening the doors wide to Muslim immigration to Britain, was at the ceremony honoring the victims of the Muslim massive terror attack ten years ago.

Tony Blair's policies promoted the unrestricted influx of Muslims into the UK, too many of them advocating hate and terror.  The UK government never minded Jihadist ideology on their soil as long as the targets were not Britons. 

Tony Blair's financial connections to the Muslim world are well known, and there have been allegations of conflict of interest and even corruption.   As a Middle East envoy he was and still is a strong promoter of a terror state for Palestinians on Jewish land.

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Labour Party's whistleblower exposed sinister agenda behind the party's pro-immigration policies

 

The secret agenda behind the Labour Party immigration policy which allowed for the unrestricted invasion of Britain by Muslim immigrants and asylum seekers.  It was intended to demolish Britain's traditional social values, and to bolster Labour's future voting base.

As disclosed by a Labour Party insider just a few years ago: 

 

The Telegraph:  The huge increases in migrants over the last decade were partly due to a politically motivated attempt by ministers to radically change the country and "rub the Right's nose in diversity", according to Andrew Neather, a former adviser to Tony Blair, Jack Straw and David Blunkett.  

 

He said Labour's relaxation of controls was a deliberate plan to "open up the UK to mass migration" but that ministers were nervous and reluctant to discuss such a move publicly for fear it would alienate its "core working class vote".   As a result, the public argument for immigration concentrated instead on the economic benefits and need for more migrants. 

 

Read more: 

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/09/british-government-shocked-at-domestic.html

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In spite of clear words written on the Koran that justify the horrors that ISIS and other jihadists perpetrate all over the world, British leaders still say that such terror has nothing to do with Islam http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/

 

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http://www.barenakedislam.com/2015/07/08/great-news-more-britons-now-see-all-muslims-not-just-radicalextremist-muslims-as-a-threat-to-the-uk/

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11,744 "HONOR" CRIMES in the UK in five years
Muslims commit 91% of honor killings worldwide.
Feminists silent. 
Unfortunately the figures do not show the real extent of the problem.
So many crimes are unreported because the perpetrators are often the victim’s own family.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/07/uk-11744-honor-crimes-in-five-years

 

Continue reading related articles

UK remembers victims on the 10th anniversary of massive Muslim terror attack
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3151879/Never-forget-David-Cameron-Boris-Johnson-7-7-memorial-Hyde-Park-start-day-remembrance-10-years-security-chief-warns-threat-currently-face.html

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Tony Blair rides high in spite of many allegations of corruption
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/04/former-british-pm-tony-blairs-charity.html

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/09/disbelief-as-gq-awards-tony-blair.html

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London Papers: Tony Blair and his Middle East Financial Interests

March 2010  -   Claim: Tony Blair, Quartet envoy to Middle East, has secret financial deals with Kuwait's royal family and an oil firm dealing with Middle East.

 

The Daily Mail described Blair as waging an  “extraordinary two-year battle to keep secret a lucrative deal with a multinational oil giant which has extensive interests in Iraq”, referring to the just revealed  fact that Mr. Blair  serves as advisor to a South Korean firm, UI Energy,  since August 2008, and  has made at least £20million since leaving Downing Street in June 2007.

 

In addition, the daily claimed, the former head of state who is now the Middle East Quartet’s envoy to Israel “went to great efforts to keep hidden a separate £1million deal advising the ruling royal family in Iraq's neighbor Kuwait”,  since June 2008,  reportedly with the task of producing a report on the oil state's future over the next 30 years.

 

Read more

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/136610#.VZyRJptRGM8

 

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UK government financing terror

July 2015 - The jihadi peacher who inspired Tunisian beach killer lives in UK on £50,000 benefits in a  in a £1 million house with five bedrooms in West London with wife and five children after thwarting deportation attempts for 15 years.

Read more
https://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/the-hate-preacher-who-inspired-tunisian-beach-killer-lives-in-uk-on-50000-benefits/
 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3150348/Living-50-000-benefits-hate-preacher-inspired-beach-killer-Cleric-lives-five-bedroom-home-wife-five-children-thwarting-deportation-attempts-15-years.html

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Britain has also been funding Palestinian terror:

 Foreign aid scandal: UK money is 'STILL going to convicted Palestinian terrorists'

 

TAXPAYERS’ cash given to help rebuild Palestine is being used to “reward and incentivise” terrorists, it has been claimed.

 

The Express - 2015 - The Palestinian Authority (PA) has taken around £130million in foreign aid from the Department for International Development over the past five years.

 

PA terror chief Mahmoud Abbas

The public cash is being used to help it fund its estimated £84million annual wage bill for convicted terrorists locked up in Israel, according to campaigners.

  

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) claims that Britain may have been “intentionally misled” by the PA which last year claimed to have stopped the controversial payments but was later discovered to be channelling the cash through another political group.

 

MPs today called for the Government to suspend all aid to the PA until payments to convicted terrorists cease.

 

In a joint statement, Tory MPs Guto Bebb, James Morris and Andrew Percy said: “British taxpayers will be appalled to discover that the Palestinian Authority is handing their hard-earned money to convicted Palestinian terrorists.  The PA should be strongly condemned for deceiving well-intentioned donor countries into thinking that it had ended this shocking practice.

 

Read more

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/579366/Foreign-aid-scandal-UK-money-convicted-Palestinian-terrorists

 

Palestinian Media Watch - http://www.palwatch.org/

 

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On the tenth anniversary of the Muslim terror bombings, the prospects are bleak

 

The Guardian's editors have chosen to publish an interview ["Ex-head of counter-terror: UK should lay on charter flights to Syria for jihadis"] with the man who was head of special operations for Scotland Yard in 2008-09, serving in that role as Britain’s "most senior counter-terrorism officer". The core message he conveys is stark:

 

Quick gave a bleak assessment about the danger Britain faced – a sense of pessimism shared by others who have served at a senior level in Britain’s counter-terrorism struggle. He said:

 

“We’re in a worse place, in a more precarious place than ever. Ten years ago, we were dealing with relatively small numbers, who travelled mainly to Pakistan. They were engaged in conspiracies that were quite elaborate, involving plotting and communications that could be intercepted. 

 

“Now we are dealing with large numbers, who have travelled to Syria – we don’t know how many will come back with horrible intent – and the homegrown extremists who are here. We are in a less safe position than we were then, because the world outside our borders is less safe than 10 years ago.

 

"There are more people who are motivated, inspired or encouraged to mount these attacks. 

 

“Our understanding of radicalisation, what is at the heart of dissatisfaction with UK society, is very little understood.”

 

Source:  http://thisongoingwar.blogspot.ca/2015/07/07-jul-15-decade-after-british.html

 

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UK Police Knew and Did Nothing to Protect Girls from Muslim Predators

 

Better to sacrifice some British kids on the altar of multiculturalism than overturn the altar altogether.

 

According to a June 24 report by the Birmingham Mail, as far back as March 2010, West Midlands Police knew that Muslim grooming gangs “were targeting children outside schools across the city—but failed to make the threat public.”

 

A confidential report obtained under a Freedom of Information Act indicates that police were well aware that British pupils were being targeted by mostly Muslim men.  Several passages from the report make this clear: 

In one heavily redacted passage, entitled ‘Schools’, it states: “In (redacted) a teacher at a (redacted) that a group of Asian males were approaching pupils at the school gate and grooming them. Strong anecdotal evidence shows this MO (modus operandi) is being used across the force.”

 

The 2010 report also reveals how these “Asian” gangs used victims to target other girls.  For example, by using “a young girl in a children’s home to target and groom other residents on their behalf….   The girl’s motivation to recruit new victims is often that the provision of new girls provides her a way to escape the cycle of abuse.”

Other victims were systematically “forced into prostitution and high levels of intimidation and force are used to keep the victims compliant.”

Although police knew all this, the Birmingham Mail said it “is unaware of any police public appeals or warnings from that time”—appeals and warnings that no doubt would have saved many girls from the Islamic sex rings.

So what paralyzed police from any action, even warnings to the community?  The report sheds light:

The predominant offender profile of Pakistani Muslim males... combined with the predominant victim profile of white females has the potential to cause significant community tensions…. There is a potential for a backlash against the vast majority of law abiding citizens from Asian/Pakistani communities from other members of the community believing their children have been exploited.

 

Once again, then, political correctness—this time under the pretext of fear of a “backlash”—was enough to paralyze the police from arresting Muslim sex predators and releasing their victims.

 

And what if a “backlash” were to occur?  Why is it okay for innocent children to be plied with drugs and passed around in kabob shops and taxicabs while police standby—but it’s not okay for the so-called “majority of law abiding citizens from Asian/Pakistani communities” to ever experience anything negative?  

 

Read more

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/259321/uk-police-knew-and-did-nothing-protect-girls-raymond-Ibrahim

 

 

 

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November 23, 2013 report (when the above sex scandal was not widely known yet, concerns were over voting corruption.)

Pakistanis in UK fuelling corruption, said UK Attorney General, who warned politicians back in 2013 to ‘wake up’ to the threat posed by minority communities

Attorney General Dominic Grieve said politicians needed to ‘wake up’ to the threat of corruption posed by minority communities using a ‘favour culture’.  In remarks that will inflame already sensitive diplomatic relations with Pakistan, the attorney general said he was referring to ‘mainly the Pakistani community’.  He said electoral corruption was a problem.

Basically all of Britain’s achievements was wiped out with Tony Blair and his Labour Party, an extreme liberal left vehicle of endless destruction and delusion. Tony Blair made Britain into a nation of honor murders, decapitations, genital mutilation, sex grooming, violent anti-semitic crimes, viral homophobic movement, unsafe for women, a financial disaster and more.

 

Britain now has imported outdated medieval diseases that died out a long time ago, and which now is causing enormous escalating costs on the healthcare system. Housing system has collapsed with millions of people unable to acquire homes, while over 67% of Muslims are financially inactive and live off the state.

There is no way of saving Britain today, which now houses a 15% Muslim population in London alone, meaning English people are leaving their country in hundreds and thousands each year.

 

This exodus will likely just intensify as the government begin to disintegrate more and more, drowning under the problems created only in the past 20 years. Muslims, dominating from Pakistan, all parts of Africa, India, Palestine, are the most criminalized, violent and problematic immigrants.  

Read more: 
https://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2013/11/23/muslims-in-uk-are-fuelling-serious-culture-of-corruption-says-law-chief/

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 EXPOSED: THE UK ENCOURAGED GENOCIDAL ARAB ATTACK ON ISRAEL

 

Back in 1948 during Israel's war of Independence Britain openly sided with the Arabs intent to massacre all Jews.  These days Britain pushes for the same genocidal aim under the guise of "land for peace"

 The thousands of Syrian and other Arab documents found in the French archives, together with British intelligence reports obtained by French intelligence, confirm that the role of the British secret services in the Middle East during and after World War II comprises the “missing dimension” in the historiography of the region in the 1940s.

 

Two conclusions can be drawn from research into these documents, which are relevant to the role of British intelligence in the war in Palestine.

 

The first is that, in the 1940s, Britain conducted a two-track policy in the Middle East: one, a well-documented, official policy defined by Whitehall under both the Conservative and Labour parties; the second was informal and secretive, which can be termed “regional,” implemented by “agents in the field,” which left few traces in British archives. 
Read more and see also:

• Read research article by historian Meir Zamir
• See photos of the Israeli War of Independence - 1947-48
• See map for UN proposed partition of  Israel then
• See map of White House and EU proposed partition of Israel now.
• And read brief outline of the War of Independence by historian Netanel Lorch

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2015/02/exposed-uk-encouraged-genocidal-arab.html

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The UK still enforcing one-way MULTICULTURALISM with the adoption of Sharia law,
while censoring freedom-loving Britons.  The British still don't understand that they are enabling the brewing of domestic Muslim terror in their own land.

 

Op-Ed: Ten Years After the London Attacks,

the British Still Don't Get it

By Giulio Meotti

Prisoners of their freedom, they proclaim that they will not change their "lifestyle"; instead they censor the founding values of civilization.

London mourned the dead and the mutilated on the tenth anniversary of the massacre of 7 July 2005. Fifty-six victims at the hands of suicide bombers with birth certificates from Luton, Bradford, Manchester. A few days ago, at a beach on the Mediterranean, Jihad  returned to kill thirty Englishmen.

 

But ten years later, they still do not get it. 

We did not understand that the terror that struck the British metropolis was a war, not the idea of ​​a few fanatics, but the vocation of choice of the best examples of integration, boys and girls, Muslims who attended the Foremarke Hall of Repton which counts among its alumni writers like Christopher Isherwood and former archbishops of Canterbury.

Boys and girls who listened to Coldplay, wanted to change the world, and were photographed with ministers (as was Reyaad Khan, a leader of the British cell obeying the orders of the Caliph).

A figure? It comes from Shiraz Maher, of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization: "There are more British Muslims in Isis than in the British Military".

Imams such as Anjem Choudary and other "heavenly prophets" continue to make a mockery of English liberty.

The think tank Student Rights Group has just revealed that every year in UK,  universities held conferences for hundreds of Islamic extremists. (See related article below.)

Ten years ago, Tony Blair appointed as consultant Tariq Ramadan, the brother with double tongue. Ten years later, David Cameron took Tariq Ramadan as a consultant.

 

Because we did not understand that the background and foundation of Jihad is multiculturalism, this garden of delights with hundreds of Sharia courts on which we do not put a noose for fear of ideological incorrectness, places filled with submission to Allah and where Islamic terrorists are justified or denied.

 

Ten years from the bombings at King's Cross, we repeat the same script: hiding the images of pain so as not to scare people; hiding that the bombers, old and new, are insiders.

We are prisoners of our freedom, but we proclaim that we will not change our "lifestyle"; instead we censor the founding values of our civilization. 

Samuel Johnson once said that anyone who is tired of London is tired of life. Ten years later, isn't it that we are more and more tired and they are increasingly unmoved?

 

Meanwhile, for ten years, they continue to arrive by plane, train or bus, they blow up and repeat that they love death more than we love life. 

 

Terror as usual in the decadent West.

Source
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/17195

Giulio Meotti, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio, writes a twice-weekly column for Arutz Sheva. He is the author of the book "A New Shoah", that researched the personal stories of Israel's terror victims, published by Encounter and of "J'Accuse: the Vatican Against Israel" published by Mantua Books.. His writing has appeared in publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, Frontpage and Commentary.

More from this writer:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Author.aspx/863

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UK Universities Host Over 100 Radical Islamist Speaker Events Annually

More than 100 radical Islamists are allowed to speak at universities in the United Kingdom (UK) every year, according to a Student Rights group study set for release this week as reported by the Daily Mail.

The study also reveals that more than 20 students who enrolled in UK universities have been convicted of terrorism charges or died fighting with extremists in Syria.

The Student Rights group, run by a prestigious Westminster institute, the Henry Jackson Society, outlines how numerous student organizations refuse to partake in the UK government's anti-extremism strategy called "Prevent."

The research was conducted through an extensive survey of social media and university website, in addition to other means dedicated to logging speaker events.

Last year, radical Islamists gave 123 lectures, featuring provocative topics including "the West is waging a war against Islam." That false message is considered among the most effective notions fueling radicalization among Muslims.

UK universities featured 145 and 132 radical talks in 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Some speakers supported people convicted of terrorism charges and people who promote radical Islamist agendas and oppose the views of non-Islamists. Anti-democracy, homophobic, and pro-sharia law views were also prominent among some of the lectures.

Hamza Tzortzis, from the Islamic Education and Research Academy, was among the most frequent radical university speakers. In the past, Tzortzis expressed that infidels who fight the Muslim "community...should be killed."

While prominent student groups continue to oppose the UK government's approach to countering extremism, Prime Minister David Cameron ordered a multi-faceted response to "take on the radical narrative that is poisoning young minds."

"The new Prevent duty is about protecting people from the poisonous and pernicious influence of extremist ideas that are used to legitimise terrorism. Protecting those who are vulnerable and at risk of radicalisation is a job for all of us. The new duty will make sure key bodies across the country play their part," said security minister John Hayes in reference to UK institutions such as prominent schools and universities.

Source: http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/uk-universities-host-over-100-islamist-speaker-events-annually?f=must_reads

Author
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributor Steve Emerson is an internationally recognized expert on terrorism and national security and the author of five books on these subjects, most recently "Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the US." Steve also writes for the Counterterrorism Blog and he is the CEO of the Investigative Project on Terrorism.

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UK politicians protecting Islam.

They want to ban the use of the term "Islamic State" when referring to the terror group. 

• "If we deny any connection between terrorism and religion, then we are saying there is no problem in any of the mosques; that there is nothing in the religious texts that is capable of being twisted or misunderstood; that there are no religious leaders whipping up hatred of the West, no perverting of religious belief for political ends." — Boris Johnson, Mayor of London.
• "O Muslims, Islam was never for a day the religion of peace. Islam is the religion of war... Mohammed was ordered to wage war until Allah is worshipped alone... He himself left to fight and took part in dozens of battles. He never for a day grew tired of war. — Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State.
• While Western politicians claim that the Islamic State is not Islamic, millions of Muslims around the world — referring to what is approved in the Islamic texts — believe that it is.

The BBC has rejected demands by British lawmakers to stop using the term "Islamic State" when referring to the jihadist group that is carving out a self-declared Caliphate in the Middle East.

Lord Hall of Birkenhead, the BBC's director general, said that the proposed alternative, "Daesh," is pejorative and using it would be unfair to the Islamic State, thereby casting doubt upon the BBC's impartiality.

Prime Minister David Cameron recently joined the growing chorus of British politicians who argue that the name "Islamic State" is offensive to Muslims and should be banned from the English vocabulary.

Read more
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6095/uk-ban-islamic-state

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What is Islam?  The Religion of Peace.com

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/

	TheReligionofPeace.com Guide to Understanding Islam     What does the Religion of Peace Teach About...
Violence
Question: Does the Quran really contain dozens of verses promoting violence?
Summary Answer: The Quran contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule.  Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding.  Muslims who do not join the fight are called 'hypocrites' and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.Unlike nearly all of the Old Testament verses of violence, the verses of violence in the Quran are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not restrained by the historical context of the surrounding text.  They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subjective as anything else in the Quran.   The context of violent passages is more ambiguous than might be expected of a perfect book from a loving God, however this can work both ways.  Most of today's Muslims exercise a personal choice to interpret their holy book's call to arms according to their own moral preconceptions about justifiable violence.  Apologists cater to their preferences with tenuous arguments that gloss over historical fact and generally do not stand up to scrutiny.  Still, it is important to note that the problem is not bad people, but bad ideology.Unfortunately, there are very few verses of tolerance and peace to abrogate or even balance out the many that call for nonbelievers to be fought and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam, or are killed.  Muhammad's own martial legacy - and that of his companions - along with the remarkable stress on violence found in the Quran have produced a trail of blood and tears across world history.
The Quran: Quran (2:191-193) - "And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah [disbelief or unrest] is worse than killing... but if they desist, then lo! Allah is forgiving and merciful.   And fight them until there is no more Fitnah [disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allah] and worship is for Allah alone.  But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against Az-Zalimun (the polytheists, and wrong-doers, etc.)"  (Translation is from the Noble Quran)  The verse prior to this (190) refers to "fighting for the cause of Allah those who fight you" leading some to believe that the entire passage refers to a defensive war in which Muslims are defending their homes and families.  The historical context of this passage is not defensive warfare, however, since Muhammad and his Muslims had just relocated to Medina and were not under attack by their Meccan adversaries.  In fact, the verses urge offensive warfare, in that Muslims are to drive Meccans out of their own city (which they later did).  Verse 190 thus means to fight those who offer resistance to Allah's rule (ie. Muslim conquest).  The use of the word "persecution" by some Muslim translators is disingenuous (the actual Arabic words for persecution - "idtihad" - and oppression - a variation of "z-l-m" - do not appear in the verse).  The word used instead, "fitna",  can mean disbelief, or the disorder that results from unbelief or temptation.  This is certainly what is meant in this context since the violence is explicitly commissioned "until religion is for Allah" - ie. unbelievers desist in their unbelief.   Quran (2:244) - "Then fight in the cause of Allah, and know that Allah Heareth and knoweth all things."   Quran (2:216) - "Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not."  Not only does this verse establish that violence can be virtuous, but it also contradicts the myth that fighting is intended only in self-defense, since the audience was obviously not under attack at the time.  From the Hadith, we know that this verse was narrated at a time that Muhammad was actually trying to motivate his people into raiding merchant caravans for loot.   Quran (3:56) - "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help."   Quran (3:151) - "Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority".  This speaks directly of polytheists, yet it also includes Christians, since they believe in the Trinity (ie. what Muhammad incorrectly believed to be 'joining companions to Allah').   Quran (4:74) - "Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward."  The martyrs of Islam are unlike the early Christians, who were led meekly to the slaughter.  These Muslims are killed in battle as they attempt to inflict death and destruction for the cause of Allah.  This is the theological basis for today's suicide bombers.   Quran (4:76) - "Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah…"   Quran (4:89) - "They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks."   Quran (4:95) - "Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home), except those who are disabled (by injury or are blind or lame, etc.), and those who strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with their wealth and their lives. Allah has preferred in grades those who strive hard and fight with their wealth and their lives above those who sit (at home). Unto each, Allah has promised good (Paradise), but Allah has preferred those who strive hard and fight, above those who sit (at home) by a huge reward "  This passage criticizes "peaceful" Muslims who do not join in the violence, letting them know that they are less worthy in Allah's eyes.  It also demolishes the modern myth that "Jihad" doesn't mean holy war in the Quran, but rather a spiritual struggle.  Not only is this Arabic word (mujahiduna) used in this passage, but it is clearly not referring to anything spiritual, since the physically disabled are given exemption.  (The Hadith reveals the context of the passage to be in response to a blind man's protest that he is unable to engage in Jihad, which would not make sense if it meant an internal struggle).  According to the verse, Allah will allow the disabled into Paradise, but will provide a larger reward to those who are able to kill others in his cause.   Quran (4:104) - "And be not weak hearted in pursuit of the enemy; if you suffer pain, then surely they (too) suffer pain as you suffer pain..."  Is pursuing an injured and retreating enemy really an act of self-defense?   Quran (5:33) - "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement"   Quran (8:12) - "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them"  No reasonable person would interpret this to mean a spiritual struggle.   Quran (8:15) - "O ye who believe! When ye meet those who disbelieve in battle, turn not your backs to them. (16)Whoso on that day turneth his back to them, unless maneuvering for battle or intent to join a company, he truly hath incurred wrath from Allah, and his habitation will be hell, a hapless journey's end."   Quran (8:39) - "And fight with them until there is no more fitna (disorder, unbelief) and religion should be only for Allah"  Some translations interpret "fitna" as "persecution", but the traditional understanding of this word is not supported by the historical context (See notes for  2:193).  The Meccans were simply refusing Muhammad access to their city during Haj.  Other Muslims were allowed to travel there - just not as an armed group, since Muhammad had declared war on Mecca prior to his eviction.  The Meccans were also acting in defense of their religion, since it was Muhammad's intention to destroy their idols and establish Islam by force (which he later did).  Hence the critical part of this verse is to fight until "religion is only for Allah", meaning that the true justification of violence was the unbelief of the opposition.  According to the Sira (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 324) Muhammad further explains that "Allah must have no rivals."   Quran (8:57) - "If thou comest on them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, that haply they may remember."     Quran (8:67) - "It is not for a Prophet that he should have prisoners of war until he had made a great slaughter in the land..."   Quran (8:59-60) - "And let not those who disbelieve suppose that they can outstrip (Allah's Purpose). Lo! they cannot escape.  Make ready for them all thou canst of (armed) force and of horses tethered, that thereby ye may dismay the enemy of Allah and your enemy."   Quran (8:65) - "O Prophet, exhort the believers to fight..."   Quran (9:5) - "So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them."  According to this verse, the best way of staying safe from Muslim violence is to convert to Islam (prayer (salat) and the poor tax (zakat) are among the religion's Five Pillars).  This popular claim that the Quran only inspires violence within the context of self-defense is seriously challenged by this passage as well, since the Muslims to whom it was written were obviously not under attack.  Had they been, then there would have been no waiting period (earlier verses make it a duty for Muslims to fight in self-defense, even during the sacred months).  The historical context is Mecca after the idolaters were subjugated by Muhammad and posed no threat.  Once the Muslims had power, they violently evicted those unbelievers who would not convert.   Quran (9:14) - "Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands and disgrace them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of a believing people." Humiliating and hurting non-believers not only has the blessing of Allah, but it is ordered as a means of carrying out his punishment and even "healing" the hearts of Muslims.   Quran (9:20) - "Those who believe, and have left their homes and striven with their wealth and their lives in Allah's way are of much greater worth in Allah's sight. These are they who are triumphant."  The Arabic word interpreted as "striving" in this verse is the same root as "Jihad".  The context is obviously holy war.   Quran (9:29) - "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."  "People of the Book" refers to Christians and Jews.  According to this verse, they are to be violently subjugated, with the sole justification being their religious status.  Verse 9:33 tells Muslims that Allah has charted them to make Islam "superior over all religions." This chapter was one of the final "revelations" from Allah and it set in motion the tenacious military expansion, in which Muhammad's companions managed to conquer two-thirds of the Christian world in the next 100 years.  Islam is intended to dominate all other people and faiths. Quran (9:30) - "And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!"   Quran (9:38-39) - "O ye who believe! what is the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter. Unless ye go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place."  This is a warning to those who refuse to fight, that they will be punished with Hell.   Quran (9:41) - "Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for you if ye but knew."  See also the verse that follows (9:42) - "If there had been immediate gain (in sight), and the journey easy, they would (all) without doubt have followed thee, but the distance was long, (and weighed) on them"  This contradicts the myth that Muslims are to fight only in self-defense, since the wording implies that battle will be waged a long distance from home (in another country and on Christian soil, in this case, according to the historians). Quran (9:73) - "O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination."  Dehumanizing those who reject Islam, by reminding Muslims that unbelievers are merely firewood for Hell, makes it easier to justify slaughter.  It also explains why today's devout Muslims have little regard for those outside the faith.   Quran (9:88) - "But the Messenger, and those who believe with him, strive and fight with their wealth and their persons: for them are (all) good things: and it is they who will prosper." Quran (9:111) - "Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Quran: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme."  How does the Quran define a true believer?   Quran (9:123) - "O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness."   Quran (17:16) - "And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction."  Note that the crime is moral transgression, and the punishment is "utter destruction."  (Before ordering the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden first issued Americans an invitation to Islam).    Quran (18:65-81) - This parable lays the theological groundwork for honor killings, in which a family member is murdered because they brought shame to the family, either through apostasy or perceived moral indiscretion.  The story (which is not found in any Jewish or Christian source) tells of Moses encountering a man with "special knowledge" who does things which don't seem to make sense on the surface, but are then justified according to later explanation.  One such action is to murder a youth for no apparent reason (74).  However, the wise man later explains that it was feared that the boy would "grieve" his parents by "disobedience and ingratitude."  He was killed so that Allah could provide them a 'better' son.  (Note: This is one reason why honor killing is sanctioned by Sharia.  Reliance of the Traveler (Umdat al-Saliq) says that punishment for murder is not applicable when a parent or grandparent kills their offspring (o.1.1-2).)   Quran (21:44) - "We gave the good things of this life to these men and their fathers until the period grew long for them; See they not that We gradually reduce the land (in their control) from its outlying borders? Is it then they who will win?"   Quran (25:52) - "Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers, but strive against them with the utmost strenuousness..."   "Strive against" is Jihad - obviously not in the personal context.  It's also significant to point out that this is a Meccan verse.   Quran (33:60-62) - "If the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, and the alarmists in the city do not cease, We verily shall urge thee on against them, then they will be your neighbors in it but a little while.  Accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter."   This passage sanctions the slaughter (rendered "merciless" and "horrible murder" in other translations) against three groups: Hypocrites (Muslims who refuse to "fight in the way of Allah" (3:167) and hence don't act as Muslims should), those with "diseased hearts" (which include Jews and Christians 5:51-52), and "alarmists" or "agitators who include those who merely speak out against Islam, according to Muhammad's biographers.  It is worth noting that the victims are to be sought out by Muslims, which is what today's terrorists do.  If this passage is meant merely to apply to the city of Medina, then it is unclear why it is included in Allah's eternal word to Muslim generations.   Quran (47:3-4) - "Those who disbelieve follow falsehood, while those who believe follow the truth from their Lord... So, when you meet (in fight Jihad in Allah's Cause), those who disbelieve smite at their necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly (on them, i.e. take them as captives)... If it had been Allah's Will, He Himself could certainly have punished them (without you). But (He lets you fight), in order to test you, some with others. But those who are killed in the Way of Allah, He will never let their deeds be lost."  Those who reject Allah are to be killed in Jihad.  The wounded are to be held captive for ransom.  The only reason Allah doesn't do the dirty work himself is to to test the faithfulness of Muslims.  Those who kill pass the test.   Quran (47:35) - "Be not weary and faint-hearted, crying for peace, when ye should be uppermost (Shakir: "have the upper hand") for Allah is with you,"      Quran (48:17) - "There is no blame for the blind, nor is there blame for the lame, nor is there blame for the sick (that they go not forth to war). And whoso obeyeth Allah and His messenger, He will make him enter Gardens underneath which rivers flow; and whoso turneth back, him will He punish with a painful doom."  Contemporary apologists sometimes claim that Jihad means 'spiritual struggle.'  Is so, then why are the blind, lame and sick exempted?  This verse also says that those who do not fight will suffer torment in hell.   Quran (48:29) - "Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard (ruthless) against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves"  Islam is not about treating everyone equally.  This verse tells Muslims that there are two very distinct standards that are applied based on religious status.  Also the word used for 'hard' or 'ruthless' in this verse shares the same root as the word translated as 'painful' or severe' to describe Hell in over 25 other verses including 65:10, 40:46 and 50:26..   Quran (61:4) - "Surely Allah loves those who fight in His way"  Religion of Peace, indeed! The verse explicitly refers to "battle array" meaning that it is speaking of physical conflict.  This is followed by (61:9): "He it is who has sent His Messenger (Mohammed) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam) to make it victorious over all religions even though the infidels may resist."  (See next verse, below).  Infidels who resist Islamic rule are to be fought.   Quran (61:10-12) - "O You who believe! Shall I guide you to a commerce that will save you from a painful torment. That you believe in Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad ), and that you strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives, that will be better for you, if you but know! (If you do so) He will forgive you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow, and pleasant dwelling in Gardens of 'Adn - Eternity ['Adn (Edn) Paradise], that is indeed the great success."  This verse refers to physical battle in order to make Islam victorious over other religions (see above).  It uses the Arabic word, Jihad.   Quran (66:9) - "O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey's end."  The root word of "Jihad" is used again here.  The context is clearly holy war, and the scope of violence is broadened to include "hypocrites" - those who call themselves Muslims but do not act as such. Other verses calling Muslims to Jihad can be found here at AnsweringIslam.org
From the Hadith:   Bukhari (52:177) - Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him."   Bukhari (52:256) - The Prophet... was asked whether it was permissible to attack the pagan warriors at night with the probability of exposing their women and children to danger. The Prophet replied, "They (i.e. women and children) are from them (i.e. pagans)."  In this command, Muhammad establishes that it is permissible to kill non-combatants in the process of killing a perceived enemy.  This provides justification for the many Islamic terror bombings.   Bukhari (52:65) - The Prophet said, 'He who fights that Allah's Word, Islam, should be superior, fights in Allah's Cause.  Muhammad's words are the basis for offensive Jihad - spreading Islam by force.  This is how it was understood by his companions, and by the terrorists of today.     Bukhari (52:220) - Allah's Apostle said... 'I have been made victorious with terror'   Abu Dawud (14:2526) - The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Three things are the roots of faith: to refrain from (killing) a person who utters, "There is no god but Allah" and not to declare him unbeliever whatever sin he commits, and not to excommunicate him from Islam for his any action; and jihad will be performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as a prophet until the day the last member of my community will fight with the Dajjal (Antichrist)   Abu Dawud (14:2527) - The Prophet said: Striving in the path of Allah (jihad) is incumbent on you along with every ruler, whether he is pious or impious   Muslim (1:33) - the Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah   Bukhari (8:387) - Allah's Apostle said, "I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah'.  And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not interfere with them except legally."   Muslim (1:30) - "The Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah."   Bukhari (52:73) - "Allah's Apostle said, 'Know that Paradise is under the shades of swords'."    Bukhari (11:626) - [Muhammad said:] "I decided to order a man to lead the prayer and then take a flame to burn all those, who had not left their houses for the prayer, burning them alive inside their homes."   Muslim (1:149) - "Abu Dharr reported: I said: Messenger of Allah, which of the deeds is the best? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: Belief in Allah and Jihad in His cause..."   Muslim (20:4645) - "...He (the Messenger of Allah) did that and said: There is another act which elevates the position of a man in Paradise to a grade one hundred (higher), and the elevation between one grade and the other is equal to the height of the heaven from the earth. He (Abu Sa'id) said: What is that act? He replied: Jihad in the way of Allah! Jihad in the way of Allah!"   Muslim (20:4696) - "the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: 'One who died but did not fight in the way of Allah nor did he express any desire (or determination) for Jihad died the death of a hypocrite.'"   Muslim (19:4321-4323) - Three separate hadith in which Muhammad shrugs over the news that innocent children were killed in a raid by his men against unbelievers.  His response: "They are of them (meaning the enemy)."   Muslim (19:4294) - "When the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) appointed anyone as leader of an army or detachment he would especially exhort him... He would say: Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war...  When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them... If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them."   Bukhari 1:35  "The person who participates in (Holy Battles) in Allah’s cause and nothing compels him do so except belief in Allah and His Apostle, will be recompensed by Allah either with a reward, or booty ( if he survives) or will be admitted to Paradise ( if he is killed)."    Tabari 7:97  The morning after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared, "Kill any Jew who falls under your power."  Ashraf was a poet, killed by Muhammad's men because he insulted Islam.  Here, Muhammad widens the scope of his orders to kill.  An innocent Jewish businessman was then slain by his Muslim partner, merely for being non-Muslim.   Tabari 9:69  "Killing Unbelievers is a small matter to us"  The words of Muhammad, prophet of Islam.   Tabari 17:187  "'By God, our religion (din) from which we have departed is better and more correct than that which these people follow. Their religion does not stop them from shedding blood, terrifying the roads, and seizing properties.' And they returned to their former religion."  The words of a group of Christians who had converted to Islam, but realized their error after being shocked by the violence and looting committed in the name of Allah.  The price of their decision to return to a religion of peace was that the men were beheaded and the woman and children enslaved by the caliph Ali.   Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 484: - “Allah said, ‘A prophet must slaughter before collecting captives. A slaughtered enemy is driven from the land. Muhammad, you craved the desires of this world, its goods and the ransom captives would bring. But Allah desires killing them to manifest the religion.’”   Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 990: - Lest anyone think that cutting off someone's head while screaming 'Allah Akbar!' is a modern creation, here is an account of that very practice under Muhammad, who seems to approve.   Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 992: - "Fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah."  Muhammad's instructions to his men prior to a military raid.   Saifur Rahman, The Sealed Nectar p.227-228 - "Embrace Islam... If you two accept Islam, you will remain in command of your country; but if your refuse my Call, you’ve got to remember that all of your possessions are perishable. My horsemen will appropriate your land, and my Prophethood will assume preponderance over your kingship."  One of several letters from Muhammad to rulers of other countries.  The significance is that the recipients were not making war or threatening Muslims.  Their subsequent defeat and subjugation by Muhammad's armies was justified merely on the basis of their unbelief.
Additional Notes: Other than the fact that Muslims haven't killed every non-Muslim under their domain, there is very little else that they can point to as proof that theirs is a peaceful, tolerant religion.  Where Islam is dominant (as in the Middle East and Pakistan) religious minorities suffer brutal persecution with little resistance.  Where Islam is in the minority (as in Thailand, the Philippines and Europe) there is the threat of violence if Muslim demands are not met.  Either situation seems to provide a justification for religious terrorism, which is persistent and endemic to Islamic fundamentalism.   The reasons are obvious and begin with the Quran.  Few verses of Islam's most sacred text can be construed to fit the contemporary virtues of religious tolerance and universal brotherhood.  Those that do are earlier "Meccan" verses which are obviously abrogated by later ones.  The example of Muhammad is that Islam is a religion of peace when Muslims do not have the power and numbers on their side.  Once they do, then things change.   Many Muslims are peaceful and do not want to believe what the Quran really says.  They reach for "textual context" across different suras to subjectively mitigate harsher passages with others so that the message fits their personal moral preferences.  Although the Quran itself claims to be clear and complete, these apologists speak of the "risks" of trying to interpret verses without their "assistance."    The violent verses of the Quran have played a key role in very real massacre and genocide.  This includes the brutal slaughter of tens of millions of Hindus for five centuries beginning around 1000 AD with Mahmud of Ghazni's bloody conquest.  Both he and the later Tamerlane (Islam's Genghis Khan) slaughtered an untold number merely for defending their temples from destruction.  Buddhism was very nearly wiped off the Indian subcontinent.  Judaism and Christianity met the same fate (albeit more slowly) in areas conquered by Muslim armies, including the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Europe, including today's Turkey.  Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of a proud Persian people is despised by Muslims and barely survives in modern Iran.   So ingrained is violence in the religion that Islam has never really stopped being at war, either with other religions or with itself.    Muhammad was a military leader, laying siege to towns, massacring the men, raping their women, enslaving their children, and taking the property of others as his own.  On several occasions he rejected offers of surrender from the besieged inhabitants and even butchered captives.  He actually inspired his followers to battle when they did not feel it was right to fight, promising them slaves and booty if they did and threatening them with Hell if they did not.  Muhammad allowed his men to rape traumatized women captured in battle, usually on the very day their husbands and family members were slaughtered.    It is important to emphasize that, for the most part, Muslim armies waged aggressive campaigns, and the religion's most dramatic military conquests were made by the actual companions of Muhammad in the decades following his death.  The early Islamic principle of warfare was that the civilian population of a town was to be destroyed (ie. men executed, women and children taken as slaves) if they defended themselves and resisted Islam.  Although modern apologists often claim that Muslims are only supposed to attack in self-defense, this is an oxymoron that is flatly contradicted by the accounts of Islamic historians and others that go back to the time of Muhammad.   Some modern-day scholars are more candid than others.  One of the most respected Sunni theologians is al-Qaradawi, who justifies terror attacks against Western targets by noting that there is no such thing as a civilian population in a time of war: "It has been determined by Islamic law that the blood and property of people of Dar Al—Harb [ie. non-Muslim people who resist Islamic conquest] is not protected... In modern war, all of society, with all its classes and ethnic groups, is mobilized to participate in the war, to aid its continuation, and to provide it with the material and human fuel required for it to assure the victory of the state fighting its enemies. Every citizen in society must take upon himself a role in the effort to provide for the battle. The entire domestic front, including professionals, laborers, and industrialists, stands behind the fighting army, even if it does not bear arms."   Consider the example of the Qurayza Jews, who were completely obliterated only five years after Muhammad arrived in Medina.  Their leader opted to stay neutral when their town was besieged by a Meccan army that  was sent to take revenge for Muhammad's deadly caravan raids.  The tribe killed no one from either side and even surrendered peacefully to Muhammad after the Meccans had been turned back.  Yet the prophet of Islam had every male member of the Qurayza beheaded, and every woman and child enslaved, even raping one of the captives himself (what Muslim apologists might refer to as "same day marriage").    One of Islam's most revered modern scholars, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, openly sanctions offensive Jihad: "In the Jihad which you are seeking, you look for the enemy and invade him. This type of Jihad takes place only when the Islamic state is invading other [countries] in order to spread the word of Islam and to remove obstacles standing in its way."  Elsewhere, he notes: "Islam has the right to take the initiative…this is God’s religion and it is for the whole world. It has the right to destroy all obstacles in the form of institutions and traditions … it attacks institutions and traditions to release human beings from their poisonous influences, which distort human nature and curtail human freedom. Those who say that Islamic Jihad was merely for the defense of the 'homeland of Islam' diminish the greatness of the Islamic way of life."   The widely respected Dictionary of Islam defines Jihad as "A religious war with those who are unbelievers in the mission of Muhammad. It is an incumbent religious duty, established in the Qur'an and in the Traditions as a divine institution, and enjoined specially for the purpose of advancing Islam and of repelling evil from Muslims…[Quoting from the Hanafi school, Hedaya, 2:140, 141.], "The destruction of the sword is incurred by infidels, although they be not the first aggressors, as appears from various passages in the traditions which are generally received to this effect."   Dr. Salah al-Sawy, the chief member of the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America, stated in 2009 that "the Islamic community does not possess the strength to engage in offensive jihad at this time," tacitly affirming the legitimacy of violence for the cause of Islamic rule - bound only by the capacity for success. (source)   Muhammad's failure to leave a clear line of succession resulted in perpetual internal war following his death.  Those who knew him best first fought to keep remote tribes from leaving Islam and reverting to their preferred religion (the Ridda or 'Apostasy wars').  Then, within the closer community, early Meccan converts battled later ones.  Hostility developed between those immigrants who had traveled with Muhammad to Mecca and the Ansar at Medina who had helped them settle in.  Finally there was a violent struggle within Muhammad's own family between his favorite wife and favorite daughter - a jagged schism that has left Shias and Sunnis at each others' throats to this day.    The strangest and most untrue thing that can be said about Islam is that it is a Religion of Peace.  If every standard by which the West is judged and condemned (slavery, imperialism, intolerance, misogyny, sexual repression, warfare...) were applied equally to Islam, the verdict would be devastating.  Islam never gives up what it conquers, be it religion, culture, language or life.  Neither does it make apologies or any real effort at moral progress.  It is the least open to dialogue and the most self-absorbed.  It is convinced of its own perfection, yet brutally shuns self-examination and represses criticism.   This is what makes the Quran's verses of violence so dangerous.  They are given the weight of divine command.  While Muslim terrorists take them as literally as anything else in their holy book, and understand that Islam is incomplete without Jihad, moderates offer little to contradict them - outside of opinion.  Indeed, what do they have?  Speaking of peace and love may win over the ignorant, but when every twelfth verse of Islam's holiest book either speaks to Allah's hatred for non-Muslims or calls for their death, forced conversion, or subjugation, it's little wonder that sympathy for terrorism runs as deeply as it does in the broader community - even if most Muslims personally prefer not to interpret their religion in this way.   Although scholars like Ibn Khaldun, one of Islam's most respected philosophers, understood that "the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and (the obligation to) convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force", many other Muslims are either unaware or willfully ignorant of the Quran's near absence of verses that preach universal non-violence.  Their understanding of Islam comes from what they are taught by others.  In the West, it is typical for believers to think that their religion must be like Christianity - preaching the New Testament virtues of peace, love, and tolerance - because Muslims are taught that Islam is supposed to be superior in every way.  They are somewhat surprised and embarrassed to find that this is contradicted by the Quran and the bloody history of Islam's genesis.   Others simply accept the violence.  In 1991, a Palestinian couple in America was convicted of stabbing their daughter to death for being too Westernized.  A family friend came to their defense, excoriating the jury for not understanding the "culture", claiming that the father was merely following "the religion" and saying that the couple had to "discipline their daughter or lose respect." (source).  In 2011, unrepentant Palestinian terrorists, responsible for the brutal murders of civilians, women and children explicitly in the name of Allah were treated to a luxurious "holy pilgrimage" to Mecca by the Saudi king - without a single Muslim voice raised in protest.   For their part, Western liberals would do well not to sacrifice critical thinking to the god of political correctness, or look for reasons to bring other religion down to the level of Islam merely to avoid the existential truth that this it is both different and dangerous.   There are just too many Muslims who take the Quran literally... and too many others who couldn't care less about the violence done in the name of Islam.