Militant Islam Reaches America

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 336 pages
• Published by: W. W. Norton & Company September 2003
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0393325318
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0393325317
• Book Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 12.8 ounces

From Library Journal
The director of the Middle East Forum on the growth of Islamic fundamentalism.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
In the introduction to this polemic against political Islam, Pipes stakes out the political territory just to the left of Pat Buchanan and well to the right of almost everyone else. From this "moderate" position, Pipes argues that Islam is not an inherent threat to Western civilization, but that militant Islam, a branch of Islamic piety that seeks to bring the world under control of Islamic law, is the greatest threat since the cold war. He goes on to explore the threats posed to America by an influx of Muslim immigrants, extol the benefits of racial profiling, and argue that the only viable form of Islamic belief is "secularist" Islam, which embraces Western values and eschews traditional Islamic ones. Never mind that Pipes' argument about the inferiority of Islamic values is precisely the same argument that radical Islamists make about Western values. It's controversial and often interesting stuff--but hardly new. Some of the essays collected here are more than ten years old (although they have been updated to reflect September 11). There's nothing here that hasn't been said by Ann Coulter or Buchanan or their ilk, but Pipes will make appearances on conservative radio and TV shows, which should drum up some attention. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Militant Islam Reaches America (Hardcover) Pipe's key contribution in Militant Islam Reaches America is the distinction he makes between Islam the religion and Militant Islam or Islamism the ideology. Militant Islam is comparable to Nazism or Marxism in that it is a radical political ideology that has the stated goal of taking over the world. In light of 9-11, Fukiyama's "end of history" theory - that the West has won and the rest is faits accomplis - is seen as a little pre-mature. And this threat is very real. Unlike the President and others who use confusing and inaccurate labels like "evil doers" and "war on Terrorism", Pipes clearly defines the enemy: Militant Islam. As Pipe so eloquently states: "And if it is true that most Muslims are not Islamist, it is no less true that all Islamists are Muslims.". Pipes does a good job of describing the peaceful - yet insidious groups that use our court system and our ultra-tolerant media to get special treatment and promote their cause - as well as the more visible violent strain of Islamism. Tolerance toward Islam in America allows a double standard - e.g. a sanitized view of Islam is pushed in public schools and the main stream media and negative Islamic views are not tolerated. Contrast that with negative reviews of Christian or Jewish groups that are all too prevalent in schools and our media. Pipes holds out hope that Turkey, as secular moderate Islamic state, can co-exist with the west and be a model for other Islamic states. What is not so hopeful is the fact that virtually all the other Islamic states in the Middle East are moving closer toward Muslim fundamentalism - not closer to Western secularism. Pipes shows us an interesting fact that the core of the Islamist movement is in fact highly educated over-achieving Westernized men (most of the WTC highjackers) - not the underclass in abject poverty that we have been told is behind this radical movement. On the contrary, this is very convincing evidence that indeed ideology - not poverty is the driving force behind Militant Islam. The issue is not that poverty causes radicals. The issue is that intelligent radical ideologues use poverty, intimidation, and brainwashing (Madrasas) to help promote their cause. Pipes devotes a couple of chapters to Jamil Al-Amin - a.k.a Rap Brown and Elijah Mohammed - a.k.a. Elija Pool - and the Nation of Islam and the Black Muslim movement. It is clear that radical Islamists have used these demagogues and their ilk to their advantage. It is important for Black and White and all Americans to understand this phenomenon and realize that NOL and the Black Muslim movement is not just a reaction to racism. As Al-Amin commented in his book Revolution by the Book "..the Constitution of the United States..its main essence it is diametrically opposed to what Allah has commanded". This is a statement of sedition. These people want to take away your constitution and replace it with the Qur'an. For moderate Muslims and the West to win this war, the West must not appease these neo-fascists hiding behind a head-dress. We must realize that so-called moderate Muslim organization like Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), American Muslim Council (AMC), Muslim American Society, et. al. all defended Al-Amin a convicted murderer as a good Muslim. This is perhaps the least of their sins. These groups could prove to us that they are not supporters of Militant Islam by denouncing the likes of Al-Amin, Ahmad Adna Chaundry (another convicted murderer), Mohammad Salah (accused of financing aid to Hamas). In all cases their silence is deafening. So what can we do? The first step is to wake up and call the enemy what it is: Militant Islam and understand that it is as insidious and dangerous as any strain of fascism we have witnessed in our lifetime. We should set about not to just defeat the nebulous notion of "global terrorism", it is time to put a face on who the enemy is. Perhaps the Bush administration is using the vague "terrorist" label for diplomatic reasons. I hope that is their reason. But I agree with Pipes and von Clausewitz that "contradictory goals in war is a mistake". And we are at war. So who exactly is the enemy? The inner core is the likes of Al-Qaeda, Bin Laden, the Taliban and their ilk. Our strike in Afghanistan was a good first pass, but the job is far from over. The second ring is larger population of militant sympathizers in most of the Arab world and other Islamic countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bosnia. Pipes estimates that as many as 150 million or 15% of the Muslim world fall into this group. And the third ring is non-Militant Muslims, but those infected with Anti-American hate - Saddam and Qadhadhafi fall into this group. So the final toll is about half the Muslim population. So we must realize that what we have is not what Huntington called the "Clash of Civilizations". I think it makes more sense to call it a class of ideologies. A good example is that fact that militant Muslims do a great job of killing other Muslims that do not go along with the program - as exemplified in 100,000 plus dead Muslims in Algeria, and many times that number in the Iran-Iraq war. So the answer appears to be an updated version of George Kennan's cold war doctrine that Pipes paraphrases: "a long term patient but firm and vigilant containment of (its) expansive tendencies." And by our fortitude and will we will convince the moderate Muslim world that it is worth fighting for Western tolerance and freedom rather than a world of fascism and chains.