Islam is a complete civilization with a religion, a culture, and a political system. The foundation of this civilization rests on a trilogy of three major doctrinal texts: the Koran, the words of the Islamic god, Allah; the Hadith, the Traditions or examples of Mohammed; and the Sira, Mohammed’s biography.
In analyzing these Islamic doctrinal texts, Dr. Bill Warner found two major things. Islam is dualistic and divides humans into two groups, “Us” (Muslims) and “Them”, everyone else (Kafirs). Kafirs are dehumanized and described as the “worst of created beings” (Koran 98:6) who can be mocked, beaten, robbed, raped, enslaved,and killed.
Dr. Warner also noticed the word Kafir appeared over and over in the doctrinal texts. Having studied other religions and not found a significant mention of non-believers in their doctrines, he decided to find out how much significance the Kafir has. He used simple statistics to quantify how much of the Islamic foundational texts was devoted to the Kafir and he found that:
- 64% of the Koran addresses the Kafir
- 81% of the Sira deals with the struggle against the Kafir
- 37% of the Hadith of Bukhari, the most commonly used collection, concerns the Kafir.
In total, these Islamic doctrinal texts devote 51% of their content to the Kafir. You can view the precise calculations (incl. source files) on our dedicated page.
Islam, the Kafir, and Politics
The legal system of Islam is called the Sharia, These are rules formalized from the doctrinal texts that all humans, not only Muslims, must follow. The Sharia defines what is allowed and what is forbidden in Islam. For example, Muslims are forbidden to have any serious interaction with Kafirs. Precisely defined, Islam is a theocracy of universal domination.
What is the difference between Political Islam and religious Islam? Here are some examples. Religious Islam requires prayers five times a day. These prayers can be said alone or with others in the home or at a mosque. When streets and sidewalks are commandeered for prayers and obstruct traffic, this is a political action showing domination. Eating halal (ritually slaughtered) meat is a religious obligation but requiring all meat sold be halal is a political demand. Wearing a veil is an Islamic religious requirement. To demand that even Kafir women wear a veil or else they risk a violent attack and/or rape is a violation of civil liberties, and thus, political.
The success of Islam comes primarily from its political system. In thirteen years as a spiritual leader, Mohammed converted a little over a hundred people. When Mohammed became a political leader and warlord, Islam exploded in growth and he became ruler of Arabia in ten years.
It is entirely true that, from the Islamic point of view, the Islamic doctrine (Islam) is one—politics and religion are inseparable. However, by accepting this point of view of an undivided doctrine, you must operate, to certain extent, within the already predefined formal Islamic setting that is widely rooted in non-Islamic societies (such as the incorrect definition of Islam within non-Islamic legal systems, academia influenced by Islamic scholars and funding, and politicians unknowingly influenced by dawa, etc.). This leads to becoming stuck in the emotional “quicksand” of theology instead of switching to the free range of pragmatic politics.
Political Islam creates new non-Islamic formal framework, shifting control of the subject from Islamic authorities to non-Islamic ones. While Islamic authorities strategically position themselves, and are generally accepted, as the “go-to” sources on Islam, they are provably incompetent in the field of Political Islam. Why? Their own doctrine does not allow them to extract Political Islam from Islamic doctrine and treat it as a separate political system.
Those authorities are submitted to Mohammed and Allah, and, therefore can face a death penalty if considered non-Muslim for critically examining their own doctrine. This disqualifies Islamic authorities as experts on Political Islam, as a political ideology, in full. This approach makes the subject accessible through a new, non-Islamic analytical lens. Therefore, using Political Islam gives not only tactical, but strategic advantage in any debate, policy discussion or by addressing any national and/or international security issue. By using Political Islam, Islamic "competition" becomes irrelevant and obsolete. A correct definition and use of Political Islam redefines the whole market of information and shifts the power center from an Islamic to a non-Islamic one.
Using a precise definition of “Political Islam” enables the subject to be recategorized and de-religionized, moving it away from the field of theology into the fields of national security, political science, and political geography. This is where, from a non-Islamic point of view, Political Islam—an embedded political ideology within the primary Islamic doctrine itself—belongs.
While more and more people are ready to outlaw Sharia, there is hesitation by many to address the foundation of Sharia - Islamic doctrine itself which is perceived as religious (or religious as well). Those who oppose Sharia are empowered because it is primarily a legal and political concept. That's why it makes it easier to target. Our precise definition of Political Islam, as a political ideology, enables everyone to treat this part of the Islamic doctrine accordingly.
Once the separation is made, clergy, politicians, academics, national security professionals, and others can discuss (and address) Political Islam as they would any other political ideology—in a clear, structured, non-emotional, and, most importantly, non-religious manner. This surgical approach makes it easy to introduce the discussion into a wide range of settings. It is strongly empowering. It switches the discourse from a short-term tactic into a long-term strategy.