Sharia A-O-K: Gerecht

Smartypants Reuel Marc Gerecht clears up the "misunderstanding" that sharia poses any threat to us. He says it's only the "terrorism" and not "jihad is the way; sharia is the goal" we need fear:

Misunderstanding Islam's internal problems and miscasting the Sharia and its clerical custodians as our primary enemies aren't, however, the biggest problems with some American conservative commentary. Many conservatives -- and liberals -- utterly fail to appreciate the extraordinary continuing power of Western, especially American, culture among Muslims. Declinism may be all the rage among trend-chasers in the West, but the apocalyptic tactics of Osama bin Laden and his followers offer, among other things, evidence that we, the West, have been winning the war for the hearts of everyday Muslims. Among Muslims fixed to their computers and televisions, we still embody both hope and hell on earth. As Khomeini put it so well, we remain the satanic whisperer, who seduces men -- and especially women -- from the righteous path.

Sharia not our "primary enemy"? Quel relief, eh? But for Gerecht and his "nuanced" understanding of Islam, its foundational dogma and history, I, a silly, misunderstanding "conservative," would have assumed that the eternal command for Muslims to wage jihad on us infidels until such time as we say "Uncle?" and submit to Islam's universal law was serious, stamped it, no rub outs. Now I realize that it’s an “internal Islamic problem"--something Muslims have to figure out for themselves. It would therefore be conterproductive for us to try to butt in with our "misunderstanding" of shaira--how unfair and inequitable it is to non-males and non-Muslims, and how it’s the antithesis of the man-made law on which Western civilization is predicated and because of which the modern world developed. Islam, after all, has a big “internal” problem with that “modernity” thing, too, and it would be less than helpful of us to point that out.

Then again, it's going to be hard to sit on our hands and wait for Muslims to resolve their "internal" difficulties because it means lots more people--mainly Muslim, but lots of non-Muslims, too--will get killed. At the same time, sharia, a law that’s plainly incompatible with our own, is making great inroads in the West.

Reuel Marc Gerecht may counsel that the best thing to do is stay out of it and let Muslims sort out their own problems on their own schedule. But the last time that happened, Islam and its all-encompassing law almost ended up encompassing all the planet---so nuts to him and that.

Update: Some Muslims who were working on their, er, "internal problems" screamed "Allah Akbar!" as they barged into the Chechen parliament today.

Update: Some more thoughts on the Gerecht: Call me crazy, but whenever I hear the word “internal” bandied about in connection with Islam, loud alarm bells go off. First, we’re told that jihad, the holy war Muslims are commanded to wage until such time as infidels are vanquished and sharia law prevails, should more properly be understood to be an “internal” struggle to follow what God prescribes (never mentioning of course, that what God prescribes is, well, sharia law). Now, according to Reuel Marc Gerecht, we’re informed that sharia per se is not the problem, that sharia is merely the fall guy, so to speak, for “Islam’s internal problems.”


Funny, isn’t it, how all their “internal” difficulties keep spilling over onto us?