History: Islam

"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." This quote attributed to Edmund Burke, British Statesman and Philosopher (1729-1797), is a part of American culture. We repeat the quote in an offhand manner often without real concern for what we are saying.

The recent incident in which Christians were arrested at the Arab Festival in Dearborn, Michigan, points out the need for all Americans to become better informed of the history of Islam.

All of us should at least have a working knowledge of the centuries of  conflict between this "Religion of Peace," the rest of the world, and its actual practices when in power.

For this reason, and in the hopes of enlightening those who read this blog, I have been granted permission to post the following short history. The author Baron Bodissey maintains the blog Gates of Vienna which is dedicated to following the incursion of Islam around the world. 

The Newest Phase of a Very Old War

by Baron Bodissey


Some people refer to the current war as the GWoT (Global War on Terror). Others call it WWIV (Norman Podhoretz). We at Gates of Vienna prefer to call it GIJ3W: The Great Islamic Jihad, Third Wave.


This conflict of cultures has endured for more than a millenium. The first wave began with the conquest of Mecca by Mohammed in 630 CE. It crested in Al Andalus (Moorish Spain) in 711, only receding in 1492 whenLos Reyes Católicos entered Granada.


The second wave began when Osman raided Western Byzantium in 1299and founded the Ottoman Empire. It crested during the reign of Süleyman I in the 16th century, and receded after the failure of the second siege of Vienna under Kara Mustafa in 1683.


From our perspective at the dawn of the 21st century it is hard to realize that a little more than three centuries ago the whole of Christian civilization was threatened. When the Turks stood at the Gates of Vienna it seemed that all of Europe would be overrun by the legions of the Prophet.


This war never ended. While many individual treaties were made between various states over the centuries, no truce was ever declared between Islam and the infidels, and no permanent peace was established (as General Gordon discovered at Khartoum in 1885).


So when did the Third Wave begin?

• Was it with the establishment of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna?
• Was it the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979?
• Or was it on September 11th, 2001?

When will the Third Wave crest? And when will it begin to recede?
The thesis of this blog is that, like it or not, we are in a religious war. We do not define the terms but we should take careful note of them. We are mistaken if we think the Enemy wants merely to kill us. Once again, Jihad offers two choices to the West: conversion or death. Jihad exists in order to annihilate unbelief. Christians, Jews, Hindus, atheists, or Wiccans, it is all the same to him.

Once again, our survival depends on our capacity to unite in a common cause against physical and cultural destruction.

Full disclosure: the authors are practicing (non-evangelical) Christians, staunch supporters of Israel and the Jews, and tolerant of all. Even those who don't agree with us or with one another.
We invite comments and discussion on GIJ3W and related topics.