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January 7th, 2009 9:49 pm

Nonie Darwish: “The Non-Muslim World Must Have No Illusions.”

In addition, this is a very important book on the subject of women and Sharia law. Darwish explores the internalization of sexism by Muslim women and explains why Muslim women in the free West are so aggressive on behalf of a reactionary status quo; why they insist on veiling as a personal form of virtuous jihad; and what it means when they remain so cold-hearted and disconnected from the female victims of Sharia law who are being stoned, flogged, impoverished, separated from their children, etc.

I recently interviewed Nonie Darwish. However, I want to pre-empt that longer interview and share her response to my question about Gaza, her hometown. She views the Gaza conflict as completely and utterly “rooted in Sharia.” I have slightly edited her long answer, below.

Phyllis Chesler: What compelled you to write this important book?

Nonie Darwish: I wrote this book for several reasons. Every time I delved into the ills and challenges of Muslim society I discovered that there is an Islamic Law, inspired by scriptures, that stood in the way of any reform or change. Change itself is forbidden by Islamic Law. I also wrote this book to warn the West about what Sharia really is and how devastating it will be for human rights, relationships, and Western democracy. We have recently seen Muslim groups demand the practice of Islamic law (Sharia) in the West and with the blessing and support of some Western intellectuals and journalists.

By writing this book, I have no desire to offend the good and peace loving Muslims, but the truth must be told. Unfortunately the majority of Muslims do not know what is in their scriptures or their divine Laws that have a huge destructive impact on their society.

PC: What do you hope to accomplish?

ND: My hope is for the West to understand the threat that Islamic Sharia law poses to their democracy, their concept of equality under the law and their human rights values. The West should never allow Sharia to be practiced in Western democracies. I am also hopeful that my book will inspire Muslims to take an honest look at their oppressive religious laws and reform.

PC: Talk to me about Gaza, your hometown. What, in your opinion, is really going on there?

ND: The world needs to understand the roots of the eternal conflict, which is the Sharia law commandment to kill all Jews. Peace can only happen if such roots are exposed and understood.

For decades, Arabs had demanded that Israel end the occupation, and in 2005, Israel did so, disengaging unilaterally from Gaza. With their demands met, there was no ‘cycle of violence’ to respond to, no further justification for anything other than peace and prosperity. With its central location and beautiful beaches on the East Mediterranean, a peaceful and prosperous Gaza could become another Hong Kong; a shining trade and commerce center. But instead of choosing peace they chose Islamic jihad. Arabs of Ghaza rolled their rocket launchers to the border and started bombing Israeli civilians.

The reasons for choosing violence over peace is due to Sharia. Mainstream Sharia books define Jihad as: “to war against non-Muslims to establish the religion.” (Shafi’i Sharia 09.0). Jihad is not just the duty of the individual Muslim, it is also the main duty of the Muslim head of State (the Calipha): “A Muslim calipha is entrusted to take his people into war and command offensive and aggressive Jihad. He must organize Jihad against any non-Muslim government.

Zia-Ul-Haq, former President of Pakistan, said “jihad in terms of warfare is a collective responsibility of the Muslim Ummah.”

Some people seem to think that such laws are just historical relics, on the books, but not in practice or in control of the minds of Muslims. But that is the kind of denial we cannot afford; these laws rule the hearts, minds and actions of a majority of Muslim individuals and States around the world today. These scriptures are taught, preached and promoted as the incontrovertible and eternal word of God and funded by Saudi petrodollars throughout the world, including Western nations such as the U.K. and the United States.

How can a Muslim leader or individual avoid the hundreds of Quran and Hadith commandments to Muslims to kill Jews and Christians? How can a Muslim leader face his devout Muslim subjects with a decision of friendship and peace with Jews when the mosques all over the Middle East recite Mohammed’s commandment to Muslims: “The Hour [Resurrection] will not take place until the Muslims fight the Jews, and kill them. And the Jews will hide behind the rock and tree, and the rock and tree will say: Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, this is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!” (Sahih Muslim 41:6985, also Sahih Bukhari 4:52:177).

This Hadith, issued by Mohammad was issued in the 7th century, not after the 1948 creation of the State of Israel. It is not a response to modern-day grievances; it is a permanent commandment.

This is the real basis of the Arab/Israeli conflict: not a conflict over land or occupation, but a divine Muslim obligation to destroy neighboring (non-Muslim) Israel, where Jews are no longer dhimmis but are free to rule themselves. We cannot ignore the root of the problem in Muslim scriptures. That is the true force behind the hate and propaganda Jihadist machine against Jews in the Muslim world.

Some Muslims tell me that they don’t believe in Sharia and question why am I making a big deal about it. My answer is that Sharia is the law of the land in 54 Muslim countries and many Muslim groups are demanding Sharia in the West. In 1990, 45 Muslim countries signed the Cairo Human Rights Declaration which stated that Sharia has supremacy over the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Muslim world must look within to its sacred laws, scriptures, sermons, teaching and preaching, and reform the obstacles for peace that have condemned them to a permanent state of jihad. The non-Muslim world must have no illusions.

Thank you, Nonie. Stay tuned for Part Two of my conversation with this most admirable dissident.

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18 Comments

1. in 1990… « monoman on air:

[...] 8, 2009 “45 Muslim countries signed the Cairo Human Rights Declaration which stated that Sharia has su… Verfasst von monoman Abgelegt in Politics, da real world, the others Getaggt: declaration, [...]

Jan 8, 2009 - 9:54 am 2. David W. Lincoln:

As long as the Sons of Allah, to quote Orianna
Fallaci, continue to stake their existence on
the final word has been communicated (namely the Koran and the sayings of Mohammed), then the West will have to crush them. Why? Because the West is largely based upon the premise that the final word has not been communicated.

So, given this incompatibility, is it any surprise that the status quo is what it is.

Jan 8, 2009 - 1:05 pm 3. Gianni:

….funded by Saudi petrodollars throughout the world….

Great interview. Darwish should send the book to Archbishop Williams who, instead of helping women gain access to episcopate in the Church of England, has offered his blessings to sharia law in the Uk.
This happens when women’s equality is not on one’s mind.

For Uk readers there is this campaign you can support:
http://www.onelawforall.org/

For all:

….funded by Saudi petrodollars throughout the world….

This sentence, taken from the interview, says it all. Unless we don’t stop or at least, lessen our dependency from oil nothing will change.
Unfortunately oil comes very rarely as an issue in the comments.
Martha Burk wrote in a previous MS Magazine issue a briliant article called “Oil is a feminist issue”.
I can’t agree more.

Jan 8, 2009 - 2:34 pm 4. Norman Simms:

Phyllis

The snippets of your interview with Nonie Darwish are extremely important, and we will all hold our breath until the completed conversation is printed.

She is a very brave and perceptive woman. These are dangerous times for those who dare to speak the truth.

We are confronted by a war which has its roots in ancient hatreds and bigotry, as well as in modern geo-politics. The Iranians now fund, man, guide and manipulate the terrorists in Gaza and elsewhere, a war which may have different rationaizations in various nations, but which is all essentially the same.

This is not time for political correctness and sentimental niceties. Peace without justice is defeat and chaos.

Norman

Jan 8, 2009 - 2:46 pm 5. Fern Sidman:

After reading Ms. Darwish’s words, I would imagine that the original architects of our western democracy,such as Thomas Jefferson and Edmund Burke must be rolling over in their graves. To say that the imposition of Sharia law is the complete antithesis of democratic principles is a gross understatement.

It seems that very few are safe under this 7th century “religious” dogma. Dhimmis, women, children, homosexuals and other assorted infidels are choice targets for the caliphate and others who implement the precepts of the Koran. As to the Jews, ask any one of our Sephardic brethren who resided in Islamic countries prior to the creation of the State of Israel and their testimonies of persecution can fill the pages of an entire book.

I recall reading about Dr. Chesler’s hellacious experience in Afghanistan almost five decades ago and how her ex mother-in-law bemoaned the fact that once Israel was established all her Jewish neighbors left “as quickly as they could”. I wonder why??

There is no question that the proliferation of Sharia law is fast becoming a reality. Europe has morphed in to Eurabia and in sections of the United Kingdom Sharia Law is the norm, not the anomaly. This nascent phenomenon threatens the civilized world with its baneful tenets, yet because of those in the “western academy” who rigidly subscribe to a “multi-cultural relativism”, they cannot see the forest from the trees.

Accolades to Ms. Darwish for documenting the inherent dangers that this political ideology represents.

Jan 8, 2009 - 8:54 pm 6. Letalis Maximus, Esq.:

Islam has had one unwavering goal from its very inception: world domination by whatever means necessary. Islam is at war with the rest of the world. But most of the rest of the world refuses to admit that.

Fools.

Jan 9, 2009 - 5:04 am 7. John Galt:

Darwish explains that Islam is not exactly a religion in the same way that Judaism or Christianity are; it is, rather a political ideology which seeks world domination and total control over the private lives of each individual.>>

While this is true today, Christianity via the Vatican during the Dark and Middle ages sought world domination and total control over the private lives of each individual. Thankfully that is no longer the case for Christianity.

Jan 9, 2009 - 6:45 am 8. John Galt:

I do not believe that this statement is correct.

My understanding of Sharia law regarding all infidels; i.e. all non-Muslims is that that the law states that Muslims are to procede as follows regarding infidels

1. Attempt to convert them to Islam, just as Mohammed initally did with the Jews living on the Saudi peninsula.

2. If they cannot be converted then turn them in Dhimmis by subjugataing them.

3. If that cannot be accomplished then you are obligated to kill them.

———————–
The Muslim-Israel conflict has to do with the fact that you have 5 million Jews living in the middle of Muslim rules countries.

1. The Jews in Israel refuse to be converted
2. Islam has attempted through wars to conquer Israel and subjugate the Jews there turning them into Dhimmis. They have failed miserably at accomplishing this.
3. Therefore, the only choice left is choice number three, which says if you can’t convert them or enslave them then you are commanded to kill them.

Since Islam has failed in to accomplish againsta the Jews in Israel either steps #1 or #2 then they have proceeded to step #3 as commanded by Sharia law

Jan 9, 2009 - 7:01 am 9. Almost Ali:

With the election of Barack Obama, our conversion to Sharia is all but complete.

Ironic, too, because just when the we needed a lion, we got a lamb. A hope-born goat leading American Gothic to the slaughter.

Jan 9, 2009 - 9:51 am 10. Idler:

While this is true today, Christianity via the Vatican during the Dark and Middle ages sought world domination and total control over the private lives of each individual.

How did Christianity seek world domination during the Dark and Middle Ages? Colonialism came later. During that period Christians were mainly fighting (and usually losing to) Islamic expansion, from Syria to Iberia. Also, is there really anything in Christianity analogous to Sharia? Christian countries had a tradition of a legal separation between the spiritual and temporal spheres.

Jan 9, 2009 - 12:15 pm 11. David Ross:

7 John Galt, the Vatican has never sought political domination over the whole world.

The ideal state of affairs from a Vatican perspective would be a mosaic of independent states who ignored religion and whose citizens all went to Mass voluntarily. Failing that last, the Vatican has settled for alliances with princes who have established Catholicism, or at least promise to protect the Church against interference from powerful monarchs like (usually) the King of France.

The Vatican has on occasion attempted political domination over central Italy, but this it did in order to stave off interference by France, Sicily, various northern citystates and finally Austria. The biggest supporters of this policy were the Borgias who weren’t even Italian.

(I’m leaving aside that in the Vatican you’re picking a small and unrepresentative sect of Christianity from a Dark Age perspective. In those days most Christians were Asian Nestorians under Arab or Turkish rule. I somewhat agree that they don’t matter, because their policy turned out to be a total failure compared to that of the Vatican.)

Jan 9, 2009 - 1:47 pm 12. Gail:

Phyllis, this lady is speaking truth which many want to ignore. I pray that ears and hearts be receptive to her wisdom and her words! She is spot on!!

My heart is grateful to you and to her for telling truths most do not want to hear. May God go before you both and prepare the hearts and minds of those who are fortunate enough to hear truths!

Many Blessings to You, my Friend,
Gail

Jan 9, 2009 - 4:42 pm 13. South America « Sake White:

[...] particularly good look at Islam comes from an insider. Gazan-Egyptian, Nonie Darwish, well known as a “Muslim Shahid’s daughter,” (her father died [...]

Jan 9, 2009 - 4:48 pm 14. Chaz:

May I clear things up concerning the comments on the Vatican:
1) It is true that some popes were waging wars! Some for just causes, others for causes not so just.
2) The crusades were a response to Islamic Aggression. Most notably in Spain and France where the Castellans and Franks respectively had to turn back the Moors. The only way to stop them was (ironically enough!) to bring the fight to their front door (and if any of this sounds familiar, congratulations!).
3) The crusades were done when most of Europe was Catholic.
4) There was no way whatsoever that the crusades would’ve worked if Individual nations were to try the same thing.
5) it wasn’t until a while later (when protestant religions started popping up) that the Vatican tried to re-impose Catholicism on unwilling nations. In particular the Spanish Armada (Spain vs England) and Germany’s 30 years war come to mind.

Jan 9, 2009 - 6:55 pm 15. Book review by Phyllis Chesler on Nonie Darwish’s new book on sharia law | Vlad Tepes:

[...] Author Nonie Darwish on Gaza and on the “Terrifying Global Implications of Sharia Law. Gazan-Egyptian, Nonie Darwish, well known as a “Muslim Shahid’s daughter,” (her father died in battle against the Israelis), is an amazingly brave woman who, unsurprisingly, writes amazingly brave books. Her first book, Now They Call me Infidel. Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror was first published in 2006. She is also the founder of the organization Arabs for Israel. [...]

Jan 9, 2009 - 8:11 pm 16. Gaza and Sharia « PurpleSlog:

[...] The reasons for choosing violence over peace is due to Sharia. Mainstream Sharia books define Jihad as: “to war against non-Muslims to establish the religion.” (Shafi’i Sharia 09.0). Jihad is not just the duty of the individual Muslim, it is also the main duty of the Muslim head of State (the Calipha): “A Muslim calipha is entrusted to take his people into war and command offensive and aggressive Jihad. He must organize Jihad against any non-Muslim government. [Link: PJ Media] [...]

Jan 12, 2009 - 10:32 am 17. Nicolas Krebs:

“Europe has morphed in to Eurabia” (Fern Sidman)

No, except in the mind of conspiracy theorists and Europeans-haters.

May 9, 2009 - 8:37 am 18. David Adetona:

Dear brethren,
calvary greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus christ. During the process of surfing the web, i came across your crusade which is holding towards the ending of this year.i will be very glad to make two of our church anoited men of God to be partaker of the powerful crusade. I will be very glad to recieve your response,thanks and God bless everyone of us in the name of christ our Lord.

yours faithfully,
Pastor David Adetona,
General overseer.

Jul 13, 2009 - 3:39 am