Halting the Muslim Advance
We need to learn from history if we wish to prevent creeping sharia from overwhelming the West. If in the past the force of arms led to Islamic hegemony in so many parts of the world, today other methods are being employed, but they can be just as effective. While the means may differ, the goals are the same.
So a quick look at history can help us in the current battles we face. There were two decisive moments in European history in its war against imperialistic Islam. Both had to do with halting the Muslim advance at crucial stages of history. Both had to do with keeping Europe free of totalitarian Islam.
The first episode took place on October 10, 732. It is called the Battle of Tours, or the Battle of Poitiers, since it took place between these two cities in northwest France. Charles Martel led the Franks against the invading Muslim forces, turning the tide of the Muslim onslaught.
For the first 100 years Islamic expansionism showed no signs of being stopped. Muhammad died in 632 and in the next century his followers broke out of their small enclave to take over much of surrounding territory. In the first few decades Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Persia had been conquered, and at the time of the battle of Tours Islamic expansionism extended from Spain to Persia.
If France had fallen, the rest of Western Europe would likely have been taken over as well. That could well have spelled the end of Christendom and the West. So this was indeed a decisive battle in political, religious and historic terms.
The other key battle took place in 1683 when the Turkish attack on Vienna was repulsed. For 100 years the Ottoman Empire had been expanding, and it looked like Vienna would soon succumb. Their defeat marked the end of their expansion, and the eventual decline of the Empire.
Historians look at these two epic battles as being major turning points in European history, and the state of the church. Things would be very much different today if these two battles had had different outcomes. Except for modern Islamic terrorism, the threat of expansionist Islam had been solidly resisted and their military plans thwarted.
Today Islamic conquest is still underway, but this time much of the West is not so much threatened by military might as by cultural, social, political and evangelistic fervour. The spread of sharia law and Islamic values is continuing apace, and what may not have been accomplished by the sword is now being accomplished by other means.
Islamic da’wa, or mission, is well underway, and the West seems to be succumbing big time. While some Islamists resort to military jihad and violence, another very effective means is to take over the West from within. And they are now doing what their forebears could not do.
Ironically, historian Edward Gibbon had said that if the Franks had lost at the Battle of Tours, “Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet”.
But this of course is happening now, in hundreds of Western universities. Not just in our schools, but everywhere, creeping sharia and stealth jihad are taking place at an alarming rate. Gibbon’s words are now coming back to haunt us. I have documented plenty of such cases of Islamic inroads into the West on this website in the past.
Every day new gains are being made, and along with them, Western freedoms are being eroded and chipped away. And Europe is a main arena for all this. Thus what Islamic militarism could not accomplish centuries ago is now being realised by non-military means.
Let me cite just one example of this. I have written before about how all over Western European cities we find Muslim enclaves which have effectively become no-go zones for non-Muslims. Indeed, European citizens are afraid to enter many of these hot spots.
England and many European countries will likely have Muslim majorities this century if current demographic trends continue. Thus they will achieve what they have always wanted – complete control of these valuable non-Muslim lands.
One recent article laid out the case for all this, and how frightening conditions have become there. It speaks of an “occupation without tanks or soldiers”. It begins this way: “Islamic extremists are stepping up the creation of ‘no-go’ areas in European cities that are off-limits to non-Muslims.
“Many of the ‘no-go’ zones function as microstates governed by Islamic Sharia law. Host-country authorities effectively have lost control in these areas and in many instances are unable to provide even basic public aid such as police, fire fighting and ambulance services. The ‘no-go’ areas are the by-product of decades of multicultural policies that have encouraged Muslim immigrants to create parallel societies and remain segregated rather than become integrated into their European host nations.
“In Britain, for example, a Muslim group called Muslims Against the Crusades has launched a campaign to turn twelve British cities – including what it calls ‘Londonistan’ – into independent Islamic states. The so-called Islamic Emirates would function as autonomous enclaves ruled by Islamic Sharia law and operate entirely outside British jurisprudence.
“The Islamic Emirates Project names the British cities of Birmingham, Bradford, Derby, Dewsbury, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Sheffield, as well as Waltham Forest in northeast London and Tower Hamlets in East London as territories to be targeted for blanket Sharia rule.”
It is the same in Europe: “In France, large swaths of Muslim neighborhoods are now considered ‘no-go’ zones by French police. At last count, there are 751 Sensitive Urban Zones (Zones Urbaines Sensibles, ZUS), as they are euphemistically called. A complete list of the ZUS can be found on a French government website, complete with satellite maps and precise street demarcations. An estimated 5 million Muslims live in the ZUS, parts of France over which the French state has lost control.
“Muslim immigrants are taking control of other parts of France too. In Paris and other French cities with high Muslim populations, such as Lyons, Marseilles and Toulouse, thousands of Muslims are closing off streets and sidewalks (and by extension, are closing down local businesses and trapping non-Muslim residents in their homes and offices) to accommodate overflowing crowds for Friday prayers. Some mosques have also begun broadcasting sermons and chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’ via loudspeakers into the streets.”
The article goes on to discuss the situation in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden. These matters are occurring on a daily basis. Indeed, as if on cue, I just received this in my inbox: it seems that Muslim police in London do not have to protect Jews. Although it turns out that this story is in fact from 2006, it is nonetheless very telling indeed: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,218145,00.html
A video of his remarks can be seen here, if FB allows: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1292651095513
If things were that bad five years ago, how much worse are they now? The expansion of Islam’s universal caliphate with worldwide submission to Allah seems to be proceeding nicely. They may have failed to achieve this with the sword, but now they are getting to the same place without it.
People gave their lives in the past to stop the spread of militant Islam. We may find ourselves in a similar situation today. But certainly it cannot be business as usual, as we lose more and more of our freedoms each day, and become more and more of a Western Mecca.
http://www.hudson-ny.org/2367/european-muslim-no-go-zones
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So it seems the current stock of French leaders are just as pathetic as the ones at the time of WWII! Yet none of our leaders are learning from the past at all.
Aaron Downs
Yes quite so Aaron.
Assuming you refer in part to my previous article on France and WWII, I link to it here for those who have not made the connection: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2011/10/31/the-folly-of-warnings-unheeded/
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
It’s comon sense really. They’re averaging 8 babies per family, we’re (the west broadly) averaging 1.2 or less (and often not in families). The humanistic worldview of the west has blinded us to it, most are not able to apprehend the totality and goal of the Islamic worldview – as it is so foreign to their own. We no longer have the sharpness of mind even to accurately appraise our situation and realise our danger, and we will wake up one day wondering how the world changed.
God has used foreign powers to discipline His people in the past, this may be His plan to wake up and purge His Church in the west and see His name glorified here again.
Blessings,
Isaac Overton
ACT
To those who say that all religions are basically the same I point out that Islam is the only religious system that advances itself, not by appealing to the hearts and minds of people, but by geo-political means. It measures its success through the expansion of government and territory submitted in all things to Islam. The loss of Islamic controlled territory, Spain, the Balkans, Israel, even East Timor, is anathema to Islamists and they will never accept this loss but will keep trying, by any means, to regain control of these lands and expand throughout the whole world. No concession to Sharia law must be allowed in Australia at any level of government or social organisation.
Col Maynard, Sydney NSW
Forfeiting sovereignty over one’s own territory. And why?
Because the prevailing mindset in philosophy and politics is relativisam, so that no one culture is allowed to be better than the others, but all are allowed to be regarded equally.
However, culture is an expression of a collective set of beliefs, and only one set of beliefs can dominate.
If the beliefs are coherent, like Christianity or Islam, then they will eventually dominate for a long time.
But if the beliefs are incoherent or internally inconsistent, such as humanism/relativism, then they can’t stay around for long, because they will self-destruct.
We are seeing the shift from a Christian-dominated 19th century (and earlier) through the destructive 20th century of humanism, with Christianity in retreat, to a 21st century of something else. We may go back to Christianity, but at the moment, everything points to Islam growing in the West, and maybe Christianity elsewhere (Africa, South America, Asia).
Ponders to self: could this be a bit like the fall of the Western Roman Empire, retreating to Byzantium, before returning in the “Holy” Roman Empire in the West?
John Angelico
We have Asian supermarkets etc, kosher food is available in supermarkets in a special area but how many people are aware that so many of our everyday products are now certified halal. Yoghurt, cheese, pasta sauce, Cadbury’s chocolate to name just a few products make supermarket shopping much more time consuming as I refuse to buy these products.
Sharia loans are next on the list. While Australians have to pay interest, muslims will not.
It is interesting to read Exodus 22:25 in relation to the payment of interest.
Will it take the ‘call to prayer’ over a loud speaker before people realise just what is happening?
Madge Fahy
Madge,
“Sharia loans are next on the list. While Australians have to pay interest, muslims will not.”
Who makes these loans? Muslim middle eastern banks? Or are they trying to convince Australian banks to do the same?
Graeme Cumming
Please be aware that MARS bars now attract Halal Certification. The Barnabas Fund had a online petition against Halal certification, but i do not know if it is still active.
Wayne Pelling
Thanks Wayne
Yes you can see it here:
https://barnabasfund.org/US/Act/Campaign/Operation-Nehemiah/Campaign-updates/Have-you-signed-the-Halal-Petition.html
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Bill this is indeed sobering and Australians should not be complacent either. Although some 20 years behind Europe and the US our political elite on both sides of the
House still promote Multiculturism as an ideal. Any that challenge this ideal and talks about the disaster befalling the West at the hands of Islamists are marginalised and demonised. The Q Society has invited Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch to Australia to bring these things to our attention. He arrives towards the end of November and Q Society needs all the help they can get to help promote and support this campaign and I would invite those of your reader who are so disposed to look up Q Society which has all the information.
Keith Lewis
Thanks Keith
Yes we all need to hear Spencer. Info is here: http://www.qsociety.org.au/
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
There were 3 battles. Vienna was the advance by land and was the only choice the Ottomon’s had after the crushing defeat at Malta and the follow-up victory at Lepanto:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_%281565%29
Being of Maltese descent it surprises me no end how little people outside of Europe know or recognise the importance of this battle. Control of Malta would have allowed Suleiman to strike anywhere in the Mediterranean More importantly his plan was to use it as a hoping off point for the invasion of Italy and the destruction of Rome. For those interested I cant recommend this book for a historical dramatisation of the battle – without it falling into historical inaccuracies:
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Siege-Wordsworth-Military-Library/dp/1840222069
Europe should look for a new Martel or de Vallette. Or even a Sulla…
Michael Mifsud
One more example for you…
Another no-go area in Londonistan by Melanie Phillips
http://melaniephillips.com/another-no-go-area-in-londonistan
Boyd Hawkins
The writing is on the wall.
http://melaniephillips.com/another-no-go-area-in-londonistan
David Skinner, UK
Thanks Boyd and David
You two are on the same wavelength. And her very important 2006 volume by that name is still well worth getting. See my review here:
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2006/08/31/a-review-of-londonistan-how-britain-is-creating-a-terror-state-within-by-melanie-philips/
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Bloke in my office sells chocolates to raise money for a group of youths who live with disabilities. I told him about MARS bars and halal certification garbage and he thanked me for the warning.
Wayne Pelling
Greens policies support Sharia Law in Indonesia
http://australianconservative.com/2006/12/greens-policies-support-sharia-law-in-indonesia/
David Williams
The history of Maltese resistance against constant attacks from the Turks is essential reading. The brave Knights of Malta stood fast against the vast armies of Suleiman.
Peter Coventry