A Muslim on Twitter threatened my children with death/war. Yes, a keyboard jihadi actually said to me: “By 2060 we will hit 3 billion and your murtad kids will be paying us jizya (a tax for non muslims) when we dominate and if they refuse ⚔️”
This mirrors the rhetoric some imams spew from their mimbars like this guy:
In a video uploaded on January 9, 2019, Sheikh Al-Khamis said that apostasy is tantamount to scorning Islam. In an October 14, 2015 video, Sheikh Al-Khamis said that only infidels may be enslaved, adding that people who do not worship Allah must convert to Islam, pay the jizya poll tax, be forced into slavery, or be fought against and killed. He urged people to not be ashamed of their religion and not to feel sorry for the apostates Al-Khamis added that people should not feel sorry for infidels who are punished for refusing to obey Allah.
This is definitely one of the worst interpretations of Islam. But what triggered this guy to behave like this and personally attack me and even my kids like this? How did it get to this point? I had been discussing how the numbers are showing that in America Islam gets as many people leaving Islam as converting to it. In Turkey people are leaving Islam as well. In the Arab world the BBC survey done across 10 countries and the Palestinian territories shows that Arabs are increasingly saying they are no longer religious. It seems that I got under his skin. If people are leaving Islam and becoming less religious all over the world, thats a bad sign for Islamists. It means that they are losing the game. It means that more and more people are realizing that Allah is not real, that Muhammad did not speak to any god and that the Quran is written by man. I think some just equate pure numbers with power and validation. Sounds like they need that validation because, somewhere deep inside, they know their belief is nonsense. If you are a true Muslim, you wouldn’t care about the numbers, because its quality not quantity that matters. You would focus on your own self, which is really the best thing to do when you have a relationship with god. The rest comes automatically.
We can’t take this drop in religiousity for granted. We can never take this for granted. The very existence of people that are willing to say to you “We will take your family as slaves and force you to pay jizyah or convert” is disturbing to say the least. Where does this come from? Obviously from the Islamic narrative. The fact that people like the American convert Johnny Walker Lindh,who joined the Taliban or the American convert John Georgelas who became one of the top positions in ISIS can go from their previous peaceful Christian lives to become terrorists should give us pause.
“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture – [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.” (9:29)
The very worst of Islam rears its ugly head from time to time and we cannot take it lying down. Horrid backward ideas that we need to get rid of. However we can. So that our children grow up in a better world than the one we inherited. We need to establish our narrative so that our children will not be influenced by these nasty ones.
The numbers show that 2060 there will be an equal number of Christians and Muslims in the world. That over the next 45 years Islam will grow faster than any other major world religion. Why is that? If people are leaving Islam, what is the reason? Simple. Births. Muslims have more kids. This numbers game is very important. Pay attention. 3 Billion Muslims in the world. What type of beliefs do you want them to have? Do you want to have 3 billion fundamentalists, or do you want them to be secular? If the latter, you’re in the right place and we need your support. Ex muslims and critics of Islam need your support.
We would do good to acknowledge that these evil ideas exist out there. That these people want to subjugate and humiliate disbelievers and make us second class citizens paying a special tax. These are the minority no doubt, but we have to deal with it.
You know whats ironic? That they proudly boast that Islam eliminated racism. That there is no difference between a black slave and an Arab man. But what’s the point of eliminating racism if you just replace it with something else? A faith based tribalism where disbelievers are treated as less than believers?
In Islam, there are three classes of people. Muslims, Non-Muslims, and hypocrites. There are special laws for those who are non-Muslim. A non-Muslim child cannot inherit from his Muslim father. A Muslim cannot marry a non-Muslim (except for some exceptions). In Islamic law, Dhimmis have to pay Jizyah (a special tax) or convert to Islam. And so on. Muslims usually cringe when you bring up ISIS. but ISIS is one manifestation of the sunni hadith corpus. And it’s horrid. But that’s what happens when you try to cut and paste a 7th century worldview with no room for reinterptetation.
There is hope. Imams and preachers have admitted that Muslims are leaving Islam.
As you see, we are having an impact. We are not just triggering internet keyboard jihadis but getting Muslim Imams to acknowledge and respond. This is what we want to see. I hope this is a piece of good news you were looking for. Keep strong, and keep fighting the good fight alongside us, so that we will one day get paradise. Not in the next life, but as close as we can get to here on earth.