Mar 31, 2025 8:00 am By Christine Douglass-Williams
The premise of the following article is what Jihad Watch has been saying for over two decades.
“Why Islam and the West will never be able to truly coexist,” by David Ben-Basat, Jerusalem Post, March 30, 2025:
Understanding Islamic ideology is essential to addressing the global processes reshaping our region and unsettling the entire world. Analyzing the implications of these developments allows Western nations to take meaningful steps against what many see as a creeping attempt at Islamic dominance across various countries.
Islamic jihad is a core concept in Islam, referring to the struggle for the faith. While the term includes spiritual and cultural dimensions, in historical and political contexts, it has often been interpreted as a military struggle aimed at expanding Islamic control. The Western world has failed to fully grasp the depth and scope of this ideology….
What sets this article apart is its appearance in a mainstream publication. Since October 7, more people have woken up about Islam, as they witnessed the “globalize the intifada” movement create chaos in their communities and on campuses. They also observed the absurd expectation of pro-Hamas activists that Israel must simply ignore Hamas and other jihad groups that surround it, and passively allow them to annihilate it “from the River to the Sea.” Israel’s retaliation against forces that seek to obliterate it was portrayed as “genocide” against Palestinians. Most people know by now that Hamas and other jihadists were (and continue) using human shields as a means to rack up the numbers of the dead, in order to paint Israel as the international law-breaking aggressor. Victimhood and propaganda are powerful strategies in the contemporary jihad war of conquest.
Islam is based on Sharia law, which is embraced by numerous prominent Islamic countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia. Yet there are still many non-Muslims who question the inclusion of Islamic scripture in discussions about the Middle East conflicts, such as can be regularly found on Jihad Watch. They still fail to grasp the fact that jihadists place overriding importance upon their religious tenets. It is not prudent to limit one’s view of a world to what one can see through Western lenses. To do so has led to the belief that Islam is a religion of peace, with the underlying trust that all people want the same things, such as a peaceful world, unity, equal rights, human rights, prosperity, health and well-being. They don’t. There are those who strap bombs to themselves, celebrate “martyrdom,” crave and exploit disorder, and who live in caves and under harsh conditions in the way of jihad.
David Ben-Basat continues:
Islam defines two primary global divisions: Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb.
Dar al-Islam refers to regions governed by Islamic rule, where Sharia is enforced. In these territories, Muslims live under Islamic governance, and religious law shapes all aspects of life.
A devout Muslim is obligated to expand the domain of Dar al-Islam, aspiring to bring the entire world under Islamic control.
Conversely, Dar al-Harb, or the “House of War,” refers to territories not yet under Islamic rule. Traditional Islamic thought divides the world into these two realms, asserting that regions outside Islamic control must ultimately be absorbed into Dar al-Islam through jihad – a continuous effort to subdue non-believers and establish Islamic governance.
According to classical Islamic jurisprudence, jihad is not merely a personal duty but a collective obligation (fard kifayah) of the Muslim community, or Ummah….
It is prudent to study what is of key importance to those who are the subjects of study. Jihad groups are dedicated to establishing and upholding the all-encompassing supremacy of the Sharia, which they regard as divine and immutable law. Those Muslims who reject Sharia and jihad are not relevant when discussing the jihad threat. There are some four million peaceful Ahmadis in Pakistan alone, and they emphasize Islam as a religion of peace and compassion, despite their own persecution as apostates by mainstream Islam, but their existence does nothing to deter or change the minds of the jihadis in the same land.
The critical topic is that there have been 1,400 years of jihad by the sword; the jihad persists in its advance to this day, and the question at hand is how the West and Israel are going to stop it. Like it or not, war has long ago been declared against unbelievers, while too many of the latter are projecting their social justice culture upon Islam. “Islamic jihad is a core concept in Islam,” continues Ben-Basat, “referring to the struggle for the faith”:
While the term includes spiritual and cultural dimensions, in historical and political contexts, it has often been interpreted as a military struggle aimed at expanding Islamic control. The Western world has failed to fully grasp the depth and scope of this ideology.”
Many Muslims try to explain away violent jihad, insisting that “jihad” refers to a spiritual struggle. While jihad may also incorporate a spiritual struggle, Muhammad and Islamic texts are clear on what kind of jihad constitutes the holiest in Islam.
“Let those who sell the life of this world for the next fight in the way of Allah. Whoever fights in the way of Allah, whether he is killed or victorious, on him we will bestow a great reward.” Quran 4:74
A man asks Muhammad “which of men is the best?” Muhammad replies that it is the man who is always ready for battle and flies into it “seeking death at places where it can be expected.” Sahih Muslim 20:4655
“I would love to be martyred in Allah’s Cause and then get resurrected and then get martyred, and then get resurrected again and then get martyred and then get resurrected again and then get martyred.” Sahih Bukhari 52:54
“Surely, the gates of Paradise are under the shadows of the swords.” Sahih Muslim 20:4681
It is violence that spread Islam throughout its history, and that violence continues to this day. David Ben-Basat continues: “As long as Palestinian children are taught to hate and are raised on martyrdom instead of science, the sword will remain necessary.” That is true, and another important question to address is this: why is the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in full support of the Palestinian ethic and ethos, and, in fact, has already embraced “Palestine” as a state, and East Jerusalem as its capital? It’s because there is nothing about the Palestinian jihad with which the OIC does not agree. Consider also the fact that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, a member of NATO, has stated of the Taliban: “Turkey has nothing that contradicts their beliefs.” And Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iran blamed Israel’s “occupation” for the October 7 jihad massacre on the very day it occurred.
Ben-Basat points out another problem with Western thinking:
While the West seeks immediate solutions and quick resolutions, Islamic ideology is patient. It is willing to pursue its goals over centuries, unlike the West, which often views war as episodic and conclusive…..Israel finds itself descending a slope of false hope, where peace gestures are perceived by adversaries as surrender.
Israel has plenty of company “descending a slope of false hope,” and fanning that false hope are stealth jihad leaders who work in tandem with the violent jihadis. The OIC has been maintaining a low profile as its members have managed to squeeze money out of kafir states under the pretense of “charity” and “humanitarianism.” Willfully blind leftist leaders such as Joe Biden and others poured money into the coffers of Iran, the Taliban and now jihadist-led Syria. As Robert Spencer stated of the Taliban: “You gotta give these jihadists credit: they know how to play the idiot globalists of the West like a fiddle. The jizya is virtually certain to start flowing in abundance in response to this canny call.”
The Trump administration is in many ways realistic about what jihad is about, but critics claim it is too heavy-handed in dealing with Hamas and the Houthis, and in rejecting the absurd plan for the equally jihadist Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza. Last week, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth faced backlash after photos of him were taken during a training exercise at Pearl Harbor, revealing a tattoo on his arm of an Arabic word, kafir, which meaning unbeliever. The controversy created over this drew out the usual “Islamophobia” pushers, including Hamas supporter Nihad Awad, national executive director of CAIR, who said in a statement:
“It appears Islam lives so rent-free in Pete Hegseth’s head that he feels the need to stamp himself with tattoos declaring his opposition to Islam alongside a tattoo declaring his affinity for the failed Crusaders, who committed genocidal acts of violence against Jews, Muslims and even fellow Christians centuries ago,”
This is a well-known tactic of deception that Islamic supremacists use frequently: they malign kafirs who highlight their motives, and and even use them when it suits them. Awad celebrated October 7, yet now laments the long-ago actions of the Christians during the Crusades, just as he also remains silent about Muslims who are currently committing genocide against Christians in Africa. The mindset of the deceptive Awad et al is a glowing example of the problems between Islam and the West co-existing. Unless the West intends to be conquered by guilt-manipulation of guilt, social justice or whatever feel-good phenomenon Islamic supremacists play upon, or unless Western leaders intend to continue serving as dhimmis, doling out the jizya by the billions, Western leaders and the public alike need to wake up. The West needs to come to terms with the fact that normative Islam is not a religion of peace, that war has long been declared on the West, and that there are cogent reasons why Islam and the West will never be able to truly coexist.