"Islamic Imperialism" The Commonality in Many of Today's Conflicts
Were the events of Sept. 11 the result of U.S. foreign policy or part of a historic continuum that began with Islamic expansion in the seventh century?
by Melvin Rhodes
Since Sept. 11, 2001, there have been two basic explanations of what lay behind the attacks.
There are those who believe that 9/11 was part of a historic continuum, the beginning of another round in the "clash of civilizations" that began with the birth of Islam in the seventh century.
"Not so, argues a vast cohort of academics, journalists, writers and retired diplomats" who believe that "the attacks were a misguided, if not wholly inexplicable, response to America's arrogant and self-serving foreign policy by a fringe extremist group, whose violent interpretation of Islam has little to do with the actual spirit and teachings of this religion."
The quote is from a new book by Efraim Karsh, professor and head of the Mediterranean Studies Program at King's College, University of London. His book Islamic Imperialism: A History (2006) details Islam's imperial tradition that goes back well over a thousand years. Sept. 11 was indeed part of a historic continuum, the beginning of another period of Islamic expansionism or imperialism.
Note the following quotes from prominent Muslims down through the centuries.
The prophet Muhammad in his farewell address in March 632 said: "I was ordered to fight all men until they say 'There is no god but Allah.'"
Saladin, who drove the Europeans out of Jerusalem in the 12th century, proclaimed in January 1189: "I shall cross this sea to their islands to pursue them until there remains no one on the face of the earth who does not acknowledge Allah."
More recently, note the words of the leader of the 1979 Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini: "We will export our revolution throughout the world - Until the calls 'there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah' are echoed all over the world."
Two months after Sept. 11, Osama bin Laden said: "I was ordered to fight the people until they say there is no god but Allah, and his prophet Muhammad."
