Saudi crown prince: Islam “was not about conquering, it was about peacefully spreading the word”

BY ROBERT SPENCER, JIHAD WATCH

“Islam is a religion of peace. This is the translation of Islam.”

No, the translation of “Islam” is “submission.”

“For 1,400 years, Muslims have been trying to spread the word of God. In the Middle East, in North Africa, in Europe, they weren’t allowed to spread the word. That’s why they fought to spread the word.”

This is a novel excuse for the jihad conquests, but clearly Mohammed bin Salman is working from the stipulation in Islamic law that Muslims should live peacefully with non-Muslims unless the non-Muslims put any obstacles in the way of the spread of Islam. In that event, the Muslims have the responsibility to wage jihad in order to clear away the obstacles.

His claim, however, is utter nonsense. In my forthcoming book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, which you can preorder here, I trace the history of jihad worldwide from its beginnings to the present day — this is the only book to have done this. I show that in the places MbS mentions — the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, as well as in India and elsewhere — the jihad was an unprovoked attack on non-Muslims who had not placed any obstacles in the spread of Islam, or had anything to do with it at all.

“But you also see that, in a lot of countries in Asia—Indonesia, Malaysia, India—Muslims were free to spread the word. They were told, ‘Go ahead, say whatever you want to say, the people have free will to believe whatever they want to believe in.’ Islam, in this context, was not about conquering, it was about peacefully spreading the word.”

This is outrageously false particularly regarding India. As I show in The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, the jihad in India was especially bloody, because the Hindus were not “People of the Book,” and hence had only the choice to convert or die, while the “People of the Book” were given the third choice of living in submission to Islamic law. The Hindus were granted honorary “People of the Book” status rather early on, simply because there were too many of them to kill, but the jihadis nonetheless treated them and their houses of worship with stunning and sustained brutality.

Mohammed bin Salman is counting on people in the U.S. not knowing that history, so that he can manipulate them more easily. Don’t allow him to fool you. Arm yourself with the truth about jihad that all too few Americans today know: preorder The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIShere.

“Saudi Crown Prince: Iran’s Supreme Leader ‘Makes Hitler Look Good,’” by Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic, April 2, 2018:

Goldberg: It’s good to hear about some of the things you are promising to do in Saudi Arabia, but it’s very early in the process. Yours is a big, complicated country, and it’s very hard to shift culture. Could you start by talking about Islam, the role you think Islam should play in the world?

Mohammed bin Salman: Islam is a religion of peace. This is the translation of Islam. God, in Islam, gives us two responsibilities: The first is to believe, to do good things, and not bad things. If we do bad things, God will judge us on Judgment Day.

Our second duty as Muslims is to spread the word of God. For 1,400 years, Muslims have been trying to spread the word of God. In the Middle East, in North Africa, in Europe, they weren’t allowed to spread the word. That’s why they fought to spread the word. But you also see that, in a lot of countries in Asia—Indonesia, Malaysia, India—Muslims were free to spread the word. They were told, “Go ahead, say whatever you want to say, the people have free will to believe whatever they want to believe in.” Islam, in this context, was not about conquering, it was about peacefully spreading the word.

Now, today, in the triangle of evil—

Goldberg: The triangle of evil?

MbS: Yes, I will explain in a moment. In this triangle, they are trying to promote the idea that our duty as Muslims is to reestablish the caliphate, to reestablish the mindset of the caliphate—that the glory of Islam is in building an empire by force. But God didn’t ask us to do this, and the Prophet Muhammad did not ask us to do this. God only asked us to spread the word. And this mission is accomplished. Today, every human has the right to choose their belief. In every country, it is possible to buy religious books. The message is being delivered. We have no duty anymore to fight to spread Islam. But in the triangle of evil, they want to manipulate Muslims, to tell them their duty as Muslims—their dignity as Muslims —requires the establishment of a Muslim empire.

MbS: First in the triangle we have the Iranian regime that wants to spread their extremist ideology, their extremist Shiite ideology. They believe that if they spread it, the hidden Imam will come back again and he will rule the whole world from Iran and spread Islam even to America. They’ve said this every day since the Iranian revolution in 1979. It’s in their law and they’re proving it by their own actions.

The second part of the triangle is the Muslim Brotherhood, which is another extremist organization. They want to use the democratic system to rule countries and build shadow caliphates everywhere. Then they would transform into a real Muslim empire. And the other part is the terrorists—al-Qaeda, ISIS—that want to do everything with force. Al-Qaeda leaders, ISIS leaders, they were all Muslim Brotherhood first. Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of ISIS. This is very clear.

This triangle is promoting an idea that God and Islam are not asking us to promote. Their idea is totally against the principles of the United Nations, and the idea of different nations having laws that represent their needs. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Yemen—all of these countries are defending the idea that independent nations should focus on their own interests, in building good relations on the foundation of UN principles. The evil triangle doesn’t want to do that….