Looking for the Moderate Muslim David Yerushalmi

Any serious student of Islam – of historical, traditional, and authoritative Islam – understands that Islam is as much a political ideology with hegemonic designs as it is a monotheistic religion. All major legal schools of Islam take the same view of the non-Muslim world: it must be converted through peaceful means, and if that is not possible, subdued through coercion, and if that is not successful, conquered militarily through war and the death (i.e., murder) of the infidels. Strategies and emphasis on active Jihad (i.e., offensive vs. defensive Jihad) differ, but the goal of all major Islamic sects -- of their legal rulings and of their faithful followers -- is quite focused and directed.

And, it is also true that Islam’s war against the Christian West, which began soon after Mohammed’s death by his successors, has continued unabated to this day although it remained dormant as long as Christian Europe was prepared to fight back and the ruling Caliphate was weak. Such was the case during the decline and ultimate breakup of the Ottoman Empire, but the political and theological teachings, exhortations, and jurisprudence demanding Jihad against the infidel nations of the West have remained a central aspect of Islam.

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