by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
Hudson New York<\/em><\/p>\n You can sit here and talk about jihad from here to doomsday, what will it do? Suppose you prove beyond any shadow of doubt that Islam is constitutionally violent, where do you go from there?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Such was Columbia professor Hamid Dabashi’s\u00a0response<\/a>\u00a0to my assertion that Islamists seek to resurrect the caliphate and wage\u00a0offensive jihad<\/a>\u00a0to bring the world under Islamic rule (during a 2008 debate titled “Clash of Civilizations<\/a>“).<\/p>\n Today, as onetime arcane words \u2014 caliphate, jihad, sharia \u2014 become common place in the media,\u00a0evoked by politicians<\/a>, and\u00a0comprehended by Americans<\/a>, Dabashi’s question returns.<\/p>\n You see, ever since Egypt became a hot topic in the media, there has been no shortage of pundits warning against the Muslim Brotherhood; warning that an Islamist takeover in Egypt may have a domino effect in the region; warning that the ultimate goal of Islamists around the world is the resurrection of an imperialistic and expansionist caliphate (see Andrew McCarthy’s\u00a0recent article<\/a>). Similarly, the controversy caused by the\u00a0Ground Zero mosque<\/a>\u00a0brought Arabic-Islamic concepts that were formerly the domain of academics, such as sharia, into the fore.<\/p>\n Yet, as the West begins to understand the unique nature of its enemy \u2014 caliphate, jihad, and sharia all pose a perpetual, transcendent threat \u2014 it must also understand that a unique response is required. The clean, hygienic way the West likes to deal with socio-political conflicts will simply not do this time, especially in the long run.<\/p>\n Consider the caliphate: its very existence would usher in a state of constant hostility. Both historically and doctrinally, the caliphate’s function is to wage jihad, whenever and wherever possible, to bring the infidel world under Islamic dominion and enforce sharia. In fact, most of what is today called the “Muslim world” \u2014 from Morocco to Pakistan \u2014 was conquered, bit by bit, by a caliphate that began in Arabia in 632.<\/p>\n A jihad-waging, sharia-enforcing caliphate represents a permanent, existential enemy \u2014 not a temporal foe that can be bought or pacified through diplomacy or concessions. Such a caliphate is precisely what Islamists around the world are feverishly seeking to establish. Without active, preemptive measures, it is only a matter of time before they succeed.<\/p>\n In this context, what, exactly, is the Western world prepared to do about it \u2014now<\/em>, before the caliphate becomes a reality? Would it be willing to launch a preemptive offensive \u2014 politically, legally, educationally, and, if necessary, militarily \u2014 to prevent its resurrection? Could the West ever go on the offensive, openly and confidently \u2014\u00a0now<\/em>, when it has the upper-hand \u2014 to incapacitate its enemies?<\/p>\n One may argue in the affirmative, pointing to the preemptive Iraq war. Yet there are subtle and important differences. The rationale behind the Iraq war was\u00a0physical<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0practical<\/em>: it was limited to the elimination of suspected WMDs and against a specific government, Iraq’s Saddam regime. War to prevent the creation of a caliphate, on the other hand, is\u00a0metaphysical<\/em>\u00a0andimpractical<\/em>: it is not limited to eliminating material weapons, nor confined to one government or person.<\/p>\n The fact is, the West does not have the political paradigms or language to justify an offensive against an ideological foe in religious garb. After all, the same international culture that saw to it that an autocrat like Egypt’s Mubarak stepped down \u2014 simply because he was handicapped from responding to the protestors in the name of human rights \u2014 certainly cannot approve a preemptive offensive by the West articulated in terms of a “religious” threat.<\/p>\n What if an important nation like Egypt does go Islamist? Will it be a big domino in the quest of a caliphate? It is a distinct possibility. Can we also say that it is distinct possibility that the West would do everything in its power to prevent this from happening? Of course not: all the Muslim Brotherhood has to do is continue pretending to be “moderate” \u2014 recently by removing its by-laws from the Web, as shown by\u00a0Steven Emerson<\/a>, including its intention of creating an “Islamic state” presaging the caliphate.<\/p>\n Indeed, the Obama administration has already made it clear that it is willing toengage the Brotherhood<\/a>, differentiating them from “radicals”\u00a0like al Qaeda<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 even as the Brotherhood’s motto is “Allah is our objective, the prophet is our leader, the Koran is our law, jihad is our way, dying in the way of Allah our highest hope.” Likewise, a theocratic, eschatologically-driven Iran is on its way to possessing nuclear weapons \u2014 all while the international community stands by.<\/p>\n In short, as it becomes clear that violence and intolerance are inextricably linked to concepts like caliphate, jihad, and sharia, so too should it become clear that the threat they pose is here to stay: the caliphate, jihad, and sharia have a 1400-year legacy, prompting Dabashi’s observation: “Suppose you prove beyond any shadow of doubt that Islam is constitutionally violent, where do you go from there?”<\/p>\n \u00a92011 Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York You can sit here and talk about jihad from here to doomsday, what will it do? Suppose you prove beyond any shadow of doubt that Islam is constitutionally violent, where do you go from there?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[140,227],"tags":[1035,1080,1017,1061,1044,1043,1060,545,1030],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-Tn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1081,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/muslim-brotherhood-seeks-mastership-of-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":3433,"position":0},"title":"Muslim Brotherhood Seeks ‘Mastership of World’","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch Although many Muslim leaders openly articulate their efforts as part of a larger picture \u2014 one that culminates in the\u00a0resurrection of a caliphate\u00a0adversarial by nature to all things non-Muslim \u2014 many Western leaders see only the moment, either out of context or, worse, in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Muslim Brotherhood"","block_context":{"text":"Muslim Brotherhood","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/muslim-brotherhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6321,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-return-of-al-qaeda-and-jihad\/","url_meta":{"origin":3433,"position":1},"title":"The Return of Al Qaeda and Jihad","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0FrontPage Magazine With the ousting of Muhammad Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, al-Qaeda has been vindicated and the terror-jihad exonerated, in the opinion of many Islamists, that is. According to the\u00a0Associated Press, in a new video, al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri \u201csaid the military coup that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Muslim Brotherhood"","block_context":{"text":"Muslim Brotherhood","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/muslim-brotherhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":994,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/when-elections-fail-jihad\/","url_meta":{"origin":3433,"position":2},"title":"When Elections Fail, Jihad","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch The Obama administration supports \"democracy\" and \"self determination\" in the Middle East \u2014 two euphemisms that, in the real world, refer to \"mob-rule\" and \"Islamic radicalization,\" respectively. Yet, as\u00a0Jimmy Carter\u00a0recently put it: \"I don't have any problem with that [an \"Islamist victory\" in Egypt], and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Islam"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1671,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/tunisian-election-and-the-read-to-caliphate\/","url_meta":{"origin":3433,"position":3},"title":"Tunisian Election and the Read to Caliphate","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch Tunisia, where the 2011 Arab uprisings began, remains an ominous model for where these uprisings will end. The nation's first round of elections are in, and, as expected, the Islamist party, al-Nahda, won by a landslide, gaining over\u00a040% of the seats\u00a0in the national constituent assembly.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Islam"","block_context":{"text":"Islam","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/islam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1179,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/far-from-the-madding-islamists-ignoble-strife\/","url_meta":{"origin":3433,"position":4},"title":"Far from the Madding Islamists’ Ignoble Strife","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch Review of\u00a0Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat\u00a0by Youssef Aboul-Enein (Naval Institute Press, 2010. 288 pp.). Reading CDR Youssef Aboul-Enein's book,\u00a0Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat, one can see why US leadership is far from \"understanding the global threat\"; why the Obama administration is\u00a0supportive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/opinion\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1447,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/in-the-jaws-of-sharia-the-liberal-and-the-temptress\/","url_meta":{"origin":3433,"position":5},"title":"In the Jaws of Sharia: The Liberal and the Temptress","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Private Papers Editor\u2019s Note: These postings were taken from\u00a0Jihad Watch\u00a0and\u00a0Pajamas Media, internet journals in which the author posts frequently. 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