Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism, and Slavery

380 Pages·2009·7.61 MB·English

by  M. A. Khan

NONFICTION - RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY
Th e attacks of September 11, 2001, changed the way the world looks at Islam. And
rightfully so, according to M.A. Khan, a former Muslim who left the religion after
realizing that it is based on forced conversion, imperialism, and slavery: the primary
AAAAAAAAAAA LLLLLLLLeeeeeeeegggggggggggaaaaaaaaaaacccccccccccyyyyyyyyy ooooooooooofffffff FFFFFFFFFFooooooooooorrrrrrrrrccccccceeeeeeedddddddddd CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrssssssssssiiiiiiiiioooooonnnnnnn,,,,,
demands of Jihad, commanded by the Islamic God Allah.
IIIIIIIIIImmmmmmmmmmppppppppeeeeeeerrrrrrrriiiiiiiiaaaaaaalllllliiiiiiissssssssmmmmmm,,,,, aaaaaannnnnnndddddd SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSlllllllllaaaaaaaavvvvvvvveeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyy
In this groundbreaking book, Khan demonstrates that Prophet Muhammad meticu-
lously followed these misguided principles and established the ideal template of Islamic
Jihad for his future followers to pursue, and that Muslims have been perpetuating the
cardinal principles of Jihad ever since.
Find out the true nature of Islam, particularly its doctrine of Jihad, and what it means
to the modern world, and also learn about
• Th e core tenets of Islam and its history
• Th e propagation of Islam by force and other means
• Islamic propaganda
• Arab-Islamic imperialism
• Islamic slavery and slave-trade
• And much more!
Th e commands of Allah are perpetual in nature, so are the actions of Prophet Muham-
(cid:2)
mad. Jihad has been the way to win converts to Islam since its birth fourteen centuries
ago, and it won’t change anytime soon. Find out why in Islamic Jihad.
M
.

A
M. A. KHAN, a former Muslim, is a freethinker and liberal humanist. He holds .
K
a master’s degree in journalism and is an independent researcher, freelance writer, and
H
editor of the Islam-watch.org Web site.
A
N
Cover image: A Slave Raid in Central Africa (Illustrated London News, 1877).
Arab slave-hunters harvest the women and children (near top), while kill the men (below).
$ 24.95 U.S.
M . A . K H A N
Editor, Isl am-watch.org

Islamic Jihad
A Legacy of Forced Conversion‚
Imperialism‚ and Slavery
M. A. Khan
iUniverse, Inc.
New York Bloomington
Copyright © 2009 by M. A. Khan
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,
graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by
any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author
and do not necessarily refl ect the views of the publisher, and the
publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:
iUniverse
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.iuniverse.com
1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in
this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views
expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily refl ect the
views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
ISBN: 978-1-4401-1846-3 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4401-1847-0 (dj)
ISBN: 978-1-4401-1848-7 (ebbok)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009921498
Printed in the United States of America
iUniverse rev. date:01/23/09
‘Based on meticulous investigation of the Quran, the author
has abundantly demonstrated that Islam—more specifi cally,
its doctrine of Jihad or holy war—unequivocally calls for
forced conversion and enslavement of non-Muslims and for the
establishment of an imperial Islamic rule globally. Th ereafter,
based on extensive study of the original biographies and traditions
of the Prophet, he demonstrates how these commands of the
Islamic God, of eternal relevance, were scrupulously applied
by Prophet Muhammad: he engaged in forced conversion and
enslavement, and established the fi rst imperial Islamic state in
Arabia. Th rough rich historical documentation, this book further
demonstrates how Muslims have expanded and perpetuated
these paradigmatic models of Jihad over vast parts of the world
throughout history to this day. Th e author predicts that Islamic
Jihad, in all likelihood, will intensify over coming decades with
serious consequences for humankind, for the infi del and Western
world in particular.
Th is book, I believe, will be a very important contribution for
making a thorough understanding of the rising challenges both
Muslim and non-Muslim world faces from Islamic extremists.’
– Ibn Warraq, Author of Why I Am Not a Muslim
‘Th is is a must read book, very important and eloquently written,
that sheds light on the violent imperialist nature of jihad: a main
doctrine in Islam that can only be accomplished at the expense of
violating human rights of non-Muslims as well as Muslims.’
– Nonie Darwish, Author of Now They Call Me Infidel

Preface
I was born and brought up in a conservative Muslim society. After graduating in
India, I moved to the West for furthering my education. Despite my conservative
Muslim background, I grew up with a liberal outlook. In my school and university
days, my closest friends were Hindus and Sikhs: I felt more comfortable with them
as they were more liberal, easy-going and humble with fewer religious scruples. I had
wholly given up religious rituals by the time I completed my university studies: they
just didn’t attract me.
When 9/11 occurred, I had lived in a liberal society for over a decade. I had
become consciously convinced that religious rituals—prayers, fasting, pilgrimage—
were all meaningless. I should be rewarded, I felt, for working hard, and intelligently,
not for aping some wasteful rituals, which brings good to nobody. Non-Muslims
were my best friends; shocking my Muslim peers, I ate haraam (prohibited) foods,
drank alcohol (in moderation).
Despite the kind of a liberal person I had become, let me be honest that I was not
excluded from those Muslims who felt that the 9/11 attacks were justified, although I
felt those perished in it died undeserving deaths. Muslim societies universally portray
America as a mortal enemy of Islam, particularly for its stance on the Israel-Palestine
conflict. America’s mindless support for Israel has been causing terrible oppression
and untold sufferings to Palestinian Muslims. There was, undoubtedly, an overriding
sense of justification for the 9/11 attacks amongst Muslims; it gave the unjust
superpower a bloody nose: I, so little a Muslim, thought that way too.
Weird as it may sound, I still believed in Islam. I thought the terrorists, acting
in the name of Islam, were misguided. After 9/11, I slowly started reading about
Islam: Quran, Sunnah and Prophet Muhammad’s biographies; I hadn’t read them in
the thirty-five years of my life. I was shocked. I had been told all my life that Prophet
Muhammad was the ideal human being: most merciful and just; that Islam is the
most peaceful religion; and I believed it. But the Quran reads like a manifesto of
open-ended war against non-Muslims for converting them or for subjugating them
into horribly degraded dhimmi subjects. In his prophetic career, especially during the
critical last ten years, Prophet Muhammad was anything but what a peace-loving,
merciful and just person stands for.
My curiosity grew. Over the past years, I have done extensively research on
Islamic theology as well as on Islamic history: from Prophet Muhammad to modern
times. It has been a harrowing tale of forced conversion, brutal imperialism and
devastating slavery. It’s a saga of great human tragedy—all in the name of Islamic
holy war or Jihad, the foundational creed of Islam. This tragic tale is the subject of
this book.
M.A. Khan

Acknowledgment
First, I must acknowledge my wife’s encouragement and patient sacrifi ce in the course
of this work; without her support, this book would not possible.
This work has been based on the works of human and superhuman scholars and
authors; most of the credit should go to them. Prominent mention must be made
of Allah, the author of the Quran, of al-Bukhari, Abu Muslim, and Abu Dawud,
the compliers of prophetic traditions, of Ibn Ishaq and al-Tabari, the authors of
prophetic biographies, and of Muhammad Ferishtah, Ibn Battutah, HM Elliot and J
Dawson, Jawaharlal Nehru, KS Lal, Giles Milton, Barnard Lewis, VS Naipaul, GD
Khosla, PK Hitti, M Umaruddin, Andrew Bostom, RM Eaton, Baharistan-i-Shahi
and Aberuni’s India amongst others.
I am also no less indebted to my friends, namely Abul Kasem, Mohammad
Asghar, Syed Kamran Mirza, Sher Khan, Mumin Salih, C Lee, Warner Mackenzie
and many others, who have given me tremendous encouragement in the course of
this work. Many of them have given me valuable feedback and suggestions. Special
thanks go to C Lee for sharing his large collection of books with me, which has been
very helpful to my research.
The topics discussed in this work are of universal interest but the historical data
presented more extensively from India mainly for two reasons: firstly, a good body
of historical information on India is available from the works of contemporaneous
scholars; secondly, not to make the book too voluminous. While reading it, readers
should bear in mind that the treatment of non-Muslims by Muslim rulers was the
mildest in India; elsewhere, it was worse except rare instances (Spain).
There will remain some linguistic errors in this book, which, I hope, will not be
too distracting to readers.
M.A. Khan
15 October 2008