Recent Readings on Islam, Sharia and Jihad

There are many areas of concern when it comes to standing up for a free and democratic West. One of the biggest threats is posed by the ongoing activities of creeping sharia and stealth jihad. Whether by demographics, outright terrorism, or indirect jihad, the West is under assault and it needs to be aware of the threat.

A number of important works continue to come forth from the presses, and these are some of the newer and better volumes worth recommending. They cover a number of related issues, offering theological, political, historical, legal, social, cultural and geo-political considerations.

All have been penned in the last few years, and all are well worth getting to understand the situation the West now finds itself in. Some are written by Christians, and some by secular authors. Some deal with political and ideological concerns while others look at religious and theological issues.

I offer these twenty books in no particular order, but do suggest that you try to get at least a few of these important works in order to better understand the new Cold War we are in.

Durie, Mark, The Third Choice. Deror Books, 2010.
Mark Durie is one of Australia’s leading experts on Islam. He has written much on Islam in general and dhimmitude in particular. The condition of Christians in Muslim nations is getting worse, and believers will fare no better as Islam gets further entrenched in the West. Here is a first-rate look at the issue from historical, theological and pastoral perspectives. We ignore the warnings here at our own peril.

Ye’or, Bat, Europe, Globalization, and the Coming of the Universal Caliphate. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2011.
Egyptian-born Ye’or is perhaps the world’s leading authority on dhimmitude. This book is a continuation of her very important 2005 volume, Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis. Here she shows how the Islamic advance in Europe has only intensified since six years ago. She carefully demonstrates how Islam is wielding tremendous power through the EU, the UN and other bodies. This is a wake-up call for Europe and the West.

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Goldman, David, How Civilizations Die: (And Why Islam Is Dying Too). Regnery, 2011.
In this very important volume a number of themes are discussed, all tied in with demographics. Religion and fertility are intertwined, and when people lose faith, they stop having children. That is how civilisations commit suicide. But when Muslim women become educated and literate, they too tend to abandon their faith and stop having kids, so even the Muslim world is now in upheaval in this regard. This book is must reading.

Geller, Pamela, Stop the Islamization of America. WND Books, 2011.
As the subtitle says, this is “A practical guide to the resistance.” And resistance is certainly needed. America is being Islamised big time, with stealth jihad occurring with increased intensity. Geller documents the many ways in which this is taking place, and offers some much-needed strategies to turn it around.

Reilly, Robert, The Closing of the Muslim Mind. ISI Books, 2010.
Why is scientific inquiry almost non-existent in the Muslim world? Why does open debate and genuine intellectual inquiry seem to be so hard to come by in the Islamic world? Why is genuine peace so illusive in the Middle East and the Muslim world? Why does Islam seem to be trapped in a seventh century mindset? These and other issues are nicely dealt with in this important volume.

Muthuswamy, Moorthy, Defeating Political Islam. Prometheus Books, 2009.
Muthuswamy argues that we in the West are in a new Cold War. There is an international Islamic political agenda being financed and promoted by Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, with a war of ideas just as important as any armed conflict. The West needs to fully engage in this ideological battle, and urgently take steps to reverse the main gains of the Islamists.

Babbin, Jed, In the Words of Our Enemies. Regnery, 2007.
Just what do the Islamists and the jihadists actually want? What are their goals, their aims, their strategies and their plans? Actually, it is not hard to discover the answers to these questions, because they have in fact told us all this and more. Here Babbin simply compiles what the enemies of the West have been saying, what they hope to achieve, and how they seek to go about it. Sobering reading.

Bennett William and Seth Leibsohn, The Fight of Our Lives: Knowing the Enemy, Speaking the Truth, and Choosing to Win the War Against Radical Islam. Thomas Nelson, 2011.
In this well documented volume the authors lay out for us the dangers we face with Islamic terrorism, and show us how we might better deal with it. They examine a number of issues, and make it clear that we must be sure of who our enemy is and what it is they want. A brief but helpful look at the struggle we all face.

Shoebat, Walid, Why We Want to Kill You: The Jihadist Mindset and How to Defeat It. Top Executive Media, 2007.
As a former Islamic terrorist, Shoebat knows a thing or two about the forces at war against the West. Here he describes in detail the terrorist mind, the plan and goals of the Islamists, and how “moderate” Muslims are paving the way for stealth jihad. Must reading from an authority on the topic.

Gabriel, Brigitte, They Must Be Stopped. St. Martin’s Press, 2008.
The author of the very important 2006 volume Because They Hate, here continues her clarion call for the West to wake up and face this threat head on. The former Arabic news program anchor knows full well the struggle we face, and here offers numerous helpful proposals on how we can keep the West free and prevent stealth jihad from succeeding.

Sultan, Wafa, A God Who Hates: The Courageous Woman Who Inflamed the Muslim World Speaks Out Against the Evils of Islam. St. Martin’s Press, 2009.
The author spent 30 years in Syria and knows firsthand the oppressive and misogynist world of Islam. She now resides in the US and regularly debates Muslims, informing us about the deplorable condition of women in Islam, and how women in the West are also in danger. A revealing and eye-opening volume.

Weigel, George, Faith, Reason and the War Against Jihadism. Doubleday, 2007.
Weigel is always well worth reading, and in this insightful volume we find a helpful essay on the struggle the West is engaged in, and how we must face it. Historical, political and religious considerations are examined as he discusses how we can confront this challenge. Philosophical reflections are combined with public policy proposals in this wide-ranging work.

McCarthy, Andrew, The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America. Encounter Books, 2010.
Leftists have long ago declared war on America, as have the Islamists. In fact, we often find them working together arm in arm to achieve their aims. In this very thorough and well-documented volume McCarthy looks at how these two movements have combined to wage war on the US and subvert its constitutional democracy. A real wake-up call to the imminent dangers the US and the West face.

Spencer, Robert, The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran. Regnery, 2009.
The Koran is a closed book to most people – even to most Muslims. Here the American expert on Islam provides an in-depth view of what the Koran teaches and how we are to understand it. It offers detailed chapters on all the crucial issues, such as Islam and violence, Islam’s treatment of women, Islam and Christianity, and the Koran’s treatment of Jews. A helpful and revealing volume.

Warner, Bill, Sharia Law for Non-Muslims. Center for the Study of Political Islam, 2010.
In this thin volume (just 48 pages) Bill Warner outlines what sharia is and how it relates to how women are treated, how jihad is waged, and how infidels are dealt with. Also examined are sharia finance, Islamic family law, and so on. He demonstrates how creeping sharia is making huge inroads in America and the West and the very real threat this poses.

Boykin, William et al, Shariah: The Threat to America. The Center for Security Policy, 2010.
This is a lengthy, detailed and careful study of what sharia is and how it operates. This study is the result of an indepth analysis by a team of security policy experts, and makes it clear what very real dangers America is confronted with. A very comprehensive and meticulous work which makes it clear that we are not just up against “extremists” but a political and unyielding religion.

Bawer, Bruce, Surrender. Doubleday, 2009.
Surrender is exactly what the West is doing in the face of radical Islam, especially Europe and the UK. In this well-argued and well-researched volume Bawer shows how we are undermining our own efforts as we attempt to appease the Islamists. We are surrendering our freedoms, our values and our beliefs as we cave in to the demands of those pushing for a global caliphate and universal sharia law. An important wake-up call.

Janson, Vickie, Ideological Jihad. Castle Publishing, 2009.
This Melbourne writer has long been involved in reaching Muslims. Here she examines how Islam is pushing its agenda ideologically, and in particular, she examines the writings and influence of Muslim apologist, Waleed Aly. She shows how in spite of the smooth-sounding propaganda, Islam and Christianity are on two different roads, and can never meet. She dissects the various myths being perpetrated by Muslim apologists, and makes the case for the uniqueness of Christ. A helpful response to the misinformation and half-truths being peddled in our mainstream media by Muslim activists.

Solomon, Sam and E al Maqdisi, Modern Day Trojan Horse: The Islamic Doctrine of Immigration. ANM, 2009.
Armed jihad is not the only way the Islamists can defeat a nation. There are numerous other ways in which stealth jihad occurs. How an Islamic minority can consolidate power in a Western nation and eventually take it over is the focus of this work. Plenty of Arabic sources are utilised as the authors solidly make their case for this very real type of jihad.

Phares, Walid, The War of Ideas. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
The war between democracy and Islamism is the supreme battle of our time. This volume offers a learned, incisive and careful look at this conflict, and how the two sets of ideas can never be reconciled. A very valuable discussion of the ideological crisis of our age, and how the West can defeat this dangerous foe.

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