Peter Bergen Quotes
The reason that Islamist militants can assert that jihad is necessary against the perceived enemies of Islam is that there is sufficient ammunition in the Quran to buttress their beliefs. The same could also, of course, be said for the Old Testament, which is full of scenes of violent death visited on the enemies of God.
Bergen, Peter. "Is Islam to Blame for ISIS?" CNN, Cable News Network, 2016.
Son of Reverend Billy Graham. While parts of the Koran do preach violence, parts of the Old Testament also do, as do parts of the New Testament such as the Book of Revelations.
See {586041} for a Koranic quotation that urges world domination by Islam. In this quotation, The Prophet was talking to his followers at a time when Islam was not even a dominant religion in Arabia. And war was the way in which tribes, groups, and religions and sects, established themselves and grew. Although there are other Koranic passages which tell the faithful that people can only legitimately come to Islam through individual commitment and willingly, this passage not only seems to contradict that but also reflects a desire to punish and disgrace “non-believing” groups. This vengeance motif is also contradictory to much else of the Koran which generally preaches love, forgiveness, and understanding. However, there are contradictions and intellectual inconsistencies within the Koran just as there are within the Old and New Testaments.
See {586916} for a passage from the Koran supporting his point.
Fanatic Muslims believe that suicide bombers when they blow themselves up have done so to defend Islam and therefore will not only go directly to heaven but will get 72 Virgins when they get there. Most of the suicide bombers are young men with very little or no sexual experience. At the time that Trainor made this remark, there had been an enormous increase in suicide bombers in the Iraq war.
She had been covering Muslim nations and leaders for a long time and saw the relationship between the contemporary domination of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism long before most.
Most Americans and Europeans and their governments feel that Muslim leaders and organizations have not done very much in terms of “drawing the line” and publicly condemning terrorism. However many of the critics did not understand the intimidation that exists in most Islamic communities where the fascist fundamentalists target any Muslim public critics as heretics and apostates themselves. Many have been killed or injured in assassination attempts.
A Fatwa is an Islamic theological legal ruling. Islam has no hierarchy. So this Fatwa is not necessarily binding on any Muslims who do not wish to be bound by it. This is one of the relatively few Islamic theological organizations who have taken a public stand against terrorism.
Peter Bergen is an American journalist, author, and producer who serves as CNN's national security analyst, New America's vice president, and as a professor of practice at Arizona State University. He produced the first television interview with Osama bin Laden in 1997. The interview, which aired on CNN, was the first time that bin Laden was interviewed by Western media.
