Such men are not “lone wolves”; nor can their behavior be dismissed as merely symptoms of mental instability. They are part of a worldwide movement to awaken Muslims from what they consider the passivity of a purely religious Islam. Part of their strategy is to make existing Muslims politically active. And their starting point is always the Shahada. If you are a true Muslim, they argue, it’s not enough to confess that there is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger. You need to do something about it.
These preachers also seek to convert non-Muslims. Many converts may at first be attracted to the spiritual component of the Shahada but they pretty soon find themselves caught up in political Islam.
This latest act of terror will prompt the usual claims that Islam is a religion of peace, and the usual denunciations—as “Islamophobes”—of those, like me, who disagree. The reality is that Islam is both a religion and a political ideology, and its latter form is anything but peaceful. In political Islam, the assertion that there is no god but Allah is full of menace for those who worship another god or no god at all. I well remember my last visit to Australia, just last year, when I was greeted by a pack of baying Islamists carrying signs that read: “Message to INFIDEL Ayaan Hirsi Ali. BURN IN HELL FOREVER.” Those same thugs were also carrying a flag inscribed with the Shahada.
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