Islam: What the West Needs to Know
Encyclopedia
Islam: What the West Needs to Know is a 2006 documentary film
produced by Quixotic Media. According to the producers, the film is an examination of Islam
and its violence towards non-Muslims
.
It features discussions using passages from religious texts and includes commentaries by Robert Spencer, Serge Trifkovic
, Bat Ye'or
, Abdullah Al-Araby, and Walid Shoebat
.[0]
The film premiered at the American Film Renaissance Festival in Hollywood on January 15, 2006 and had a limited theatrical release in Chicago, Washington DC, and Atlanta in summer 2006. The film had caught attention mainly through its distribution via web.
. The documentary uses passages from the canonical texts of Islam as its source material. It is presented in six parts:
's reviewer, Michael Phillips, criticizes it as being a "deadly dull anti-Islam propaganda piece", The Washington City Paper's review, Louis Bayard, argues that "If [the directors] Davis and Daly had a little imagination, they might see that the devil they’re chasing isn’t Islam but fundamentalism, which assumes many forms."
A film review by The Charlotte Observer
, which does not accept or reject the film's thesis, is summarized on the back cover of the video wrapping with the phrase, "...if their central thesis is true -- and it's worth considering -- then this is the most horrific film of the 21st century so far."[0]
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
produced by Quixotic Media. According to the producers, the film is an examination of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and its violence towards non-Muslims
Kafir
Kafir is an Arabic term used in a Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as "unbeliever" or "disbeliever"...
.
It features discussions using passages from religious texts and includes commentaries by Robert Spencer, Serge Trifkovic
Srđa Trifković
Srđa Trifković is a Serbian writer on international affairs and foreign affairs editor for the paleoconservative magazine Chronicles. He was director of the Center for International Affairs at the Rockford Institute until his...
, Bat Ye'or
Bat Ye'or
Bat Ye'or is a pseudonym of Gisèle Littman, née Orebi, an Egyptian-born British writer and political commentator who writes about the history of non-Muslims in the Middle East, and in particular the history of Christian and Jewish dhimmis living under Islamic governments.She is the author of eight...
, Abdullah Al-Araby, and Walid Shoebat
Walid Shoebat
Walid Shoebat is a Palestinian immigrant to the United States and campaigner for Christianity and Israel, against Islam. He was born to a Jordanian father and Caucasian American mother, and claims to have been a former PLO militant, although neither the PLO nor the Israeli government have any...
.[0]
The film premiered at the American Film Renaissance Festival in Hollywood on January 15, 2006 and had a limited theatrical release in Chicago, Washington DC, and Atlanta in summer 2006. The film had caught attention mainly through its distribution via web.
Synopsis
Islam: What the West Needs to Know argues that Islam is a violent religion bent on world dominationPan-Islamism
Pan-Islamism is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic state — often a Caliphate. As a form of religious nationalism, Pan-Islamism differentiates itself from other pan-nationalistic ideologies, for example Pan-Arabism, by excluding culture and ethnicity as primary...
. The documentary uses passages from the canonical texts of Islam as its source material. It is presented in six parts:
- 1. There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet: In the first part, various commentators argue that Islamic violence stems from the teachings and examples of MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
and that the Qur'anQur'anThe Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
prescribes and sanctions violence against non-Muslims. - 2. The Struggle: In the second part, Walid Shoebat defines the word "JihadJihadJihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
" to mean the struggle to impose Allah's will over the earth, resulting in holy war against the non-Muslim world to bring it under the rule of Islam. - 3. Expansion: In the third part, Bat Ye'or describes the expansion of IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
through conquest and presents historical evidence of enslavementDhimmiA , is a non-Muslim subject of a state governed in accordance with sharia law. Linguistically, the word means "one whose responsibility has been taken". This has to be understood in the context of the definition of state in Islam...
and massacres of ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s, Jews, Zoroastrians and HinduHinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
s by Muslim invaders. - 4. War is Deceit: In the fourth part, Robert Spencer and Serge Trifkovic discuss the Islamic principle of TaqiyyaTaqiyyaTaqiyya , meaning religious dissimulation, is a practice emphasized in Shi'a Islam whereby adherents may conceal their religion when they are under threat, persecution, or compulsion...
, Islamic dissimulation, which, the lecturers argue, enjoins MuslimMuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s to deceive non-Muslims to advance the cause of Islam. - 5. More than a Religion: In the fifth part, the documentary asserts that "Islamic lawShariaSharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
governs every aspect of religious, political, and personal action, which amounts to a form of totalitarianismTotalitarianismTotalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
that is divinely enjoined to dominate the world, analogous in many ways to CommunismCommunismCommunism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
". - 6. The House of War: The final part covers the division of the world into Dar al-IslamDar al-IslamThe idea of geographical divisions along religious lines i.e. the dur is neither mentioned in the Qur'an nor in the sayings of the Prophet , which are considered the primary sources in Islamic jurisprudence...
("the house of Islam" or "the house of peace"), the land governed by the Islamic lawShariaSharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
, and Dar al-Harb ("the house of war"), the land of non-Muslims. According to the film, Muslims are enjoined to bring the Dar al-Harb under the control of Islam. The film argues, "Muslims in Western nations are called to subvert the secular regimes in which they now live in accordance with Allah's command."
Reviews
Some have considered the film to be thought-provoking and even important, with the Gwinnett Daily Post describing its message as "mind-blowing". Other reviewers criticised the film as being inaccurate, simplistic and biased and even propagandist against Islam. The Chicago TribuneChicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
's reviewer, Michael Phillips, criticizes it as being a "deadly dull anti-Islam propaganda piece", The Washington City Paper's review, Louis Bayard, argues that "If [the directors] Davis and Daly had a little imagination, they might see that the devil they’re chasing isn’t Islam but fundamentalism, which assumes many forms."
A film review by The Charlotte Observer
The Charlotte Observer
The Charlotte Observer, serving Charlotte, North Carolina and its metro area, is the largest newspaper, in terms of circulation, in North Carolina and South Carolina...
, which does not accept or reject the film's thesis, is summarized on the back cover of the video wrapping with the phrase, "...if their central thesis is true -- and it's worth considering -- then this is the most horrific film of the 21st century so far."[0]