A Muslim against Islamism

A blogger called Amil Imani, who, as I guess, is an Iranian living in the U.S. (he doesn’t provide any biographial information himself), opposes “Islamism.” He is confused as to whether Islamism is a “mutation” of Islam or an intrinsic feature of Islam. Here is his summary description of Islam and his list of what he wants us to do about it:

Islamism is a pincers, with the world in its jaws between the end-of-the-world Shiism and the jihadist Sunnis. The two jaws aim to crush the life of all non-believers. It is imperative that people who value liberty rise up and act to defeat Islamism. Here are some specific suggestions:

• The Hate Crime Laws should be vigorously enforced and strengthened.

• Any mosque, Islamic center or front organization that condones or promotes hate or violence must be shut down.

• Islamic studies centers at universities must be scrutinized to guard against mercenary academes who deceptively preach the gospel of Islamism.

• Lobbyists and front organizations serving Islamism must be investigated as to their sources of funds.

• Laws should be enacted to protect all media and individuals against lawsuits, so that they can report the truth without risking ruinous litigations.

• Imams, mullahs and others who promote Islamic hate doctrine should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

• Racial, sexist and all other forms of discriminatory hate teachings should be banned.

• Local Muslims should review Islamic literature, including the Quran, and should mark them with an asterisk, disavowing teachings of hate and violence or purge them entirely.

His silence about reducing Muslim immigration, his sole focus on the openly “hateful” aspects of Islam combined with his concern about stopping “hate” against Muslims, show him as someone who, notwithstanding his opposition to extremists, would allow the total power of Islam—along with, inevitably, its extremism—to keep increasing in the West.

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By the way, the article by Amil Imani was by sent to me by Jeff in England, who put this in the subject line of his e-mail:

THE IMANI I WAS LOVING COULD NEVER GET CLEAN

That’s an amusing paraphrase from the Bob Dylan song, “Where Are You Tonight?”

Your partners in crime hit me up for nickels and dimes,
The man you were loving could never get clean.
It felt out of place, my foot in his face,
But he should have stayed where his money was green.

Emily in Australia writes:

I think that Amil Amani would be horrified if he knew that you had classified him as a Muslim, as he is very much an apostate! I know this to be true, as he has written many excellent articles, such as this one, for the website Islam Watch (“Islam Under Scrutiny by Ex-Muslims”).

Jeff in England writes:

Larry, after reading several of Amani’s articles I think this a man who could get ‘clean’ and whom we shouldn’t write off. Of course he would have to come out for severe immigration restriction. His mention of the Hate Laws seemed to be aimed at restraining Muslims’ hate for us, not the other way around. However I might be misinterpreting both him (and you) on that one.

Look, I don’t agree with EVERYTHING he says. Your criticism is valid. I would love him to renounce Islam and support 100% immigration restriction. But he is ‘getting there’ and makes a lot of sensible points about Islam and Muslims. The fact that he is a Muslim saying these points is important as it gives a certain credibility to them.

We must make alliances, that’s how the process of political change has always worked. His heart seems in the right place. This side of Ali Sina, he goes further than any Muslim in his views. We must encourage him as well as criticise him.

Your reply to this might say we shouldn’t depend on Muslims to get us out of this mess. My reply to that would be that NO MOVEMENT IS AN ISLAND. We would not be depending on Muslims, we would simply be working in conjunction with a selected few.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at July 26, 2007 11:10 AM | Send