That's right, once you have seen the truth the handhold Allah has with you can never break.

But I digress. Let's get back to this argument that Muslims are so different in so many cultures, with so many different races and nationalities that it is gross error to blame the whole of Islam for the barbarities of some small segment of the religion. I get this kind of defense of Islam constantly.

Islam Carries On Ancient Tradition of Murder of Females

If I write that Muslim Honor Killings against women has brought brutality to a level worthy of primitive savages, the defense is that this is a Middle Eastern thing, not a Muslim-wide concept and that less than 20% of Muslims are from the Middle East, therefore I cannot attack the entirety of Islam for the beliefs of a paltry few hundred million Middle-Eastern Muslims.

Yes, yes, I agree, the murder of females in the Middle East is an ancient tradition even predating the arrival of Islam in AD 622. However, the Qur'an perpetuates this savagery by its view of women. Indeed, Shariah Law in almost all Muslim countries sanctifies the practice. It is rare for a man to be punished for honor killing his female relatives.

If I write that Muslim Female Genital Mutilation occurs every 10 seconds in Africa and is an abomination that tortures its victims for their entire lives, the defense is that this is an African cultural thing, not a Muslim-wide concept and that less than 30% of Muslims are from Africa, therefore I cannot attack the entirety of Islam for the beliefs of a paltry few hundred million African Muslims.

Yes, yes, there are millions of non-Muslims in Africa who practice FGM, but why have Muslims in the millions taken up the barbaric procedure? I am not the only one who sees this as an Islamic problem:

Middle East Quarterly, Is Female Genital Mutilation an Islamic Problem?

Many Muslims and academics in the West take pains to insist that the practice is not rooted in religion[1] but rather in culture. "When one considers that the practice does not prevail and is much condemned in countries like Saudi Arabia, the center of the Islamic world, it becomes clear that the notion that it is an Islamic practice is a false one," Haseena Lockhat, a child clinical psychologist at North Warwickshire Primary Care Trust, wrote.[2] True, FGM occurs in non-Muslim societies in Africa. And in Arab states such as Egypt, where perhaps 97 percent of girls suffer genital mutilation,[3] both Christian Copts and Muslims are complicit.

But at the village level, those who commit the practice believe it to be religiously mandated. Religion is not only theology but also practice. And the practice is widespread throughout the Middle East. Many diplomats, international organization workers, and Arabists argue that the problem is localized to North Africa or sub-Saharan Africa,[4] but they are wrong. The problem is pervasive throughout the Levant, the Fertile Crescent, and the Arabian Peninsula, and among many immigrants to the West from these countries. Silence on the issue is less reflective of the absence of the problem than insufficient freedom for feminists and independent civil society to raise the issue.

Then there are the readers who call me a hypocrite for not condemning Jewish male circumcision as an equally barbaric mutilation. To tell you the truth, I encourage male circumcision; also I do not have problems enjoying sex nor do I experience lifelong pain as FGM victims do. One may want to conflate the two in order to mitigate the sting against Islam but male circumcision is about as life altering as ear piercing. This is not to say that there aren't any mental defectives that somehow have foreskin envy.

If I complain that Muslims with billions in oil revenues have spent the money on sponsoring terrorism instead of advancing technology, the defense is that oil billions are only enjoyed by a few Arab countries and that less than 20% of Muslims are Arabs and not all Arabs are Muslims, therefore I cannot attack the entirety of Islam for the beliefs of a paltry few hundred million Arab Muslims.

SO let me get this straight, because not all Muslims are Arabs, not all Arabs are Muslims, not all Muslims are African, not all Africans are Muslims, that Muslims are Chinese, Indonesian, Arab, African, white, black, brown and yellow, because some Islamic practices like al taqiyya, or deception against the infidels, is practised by Shia but not by Sunni Muslims, because I cannot say with absolute certainty that all Muslims are alike, therefore I cannot criticize any Muslim beliefs, practices, or savageries, because these different barbarities are practiced by different sects, cultures, races of Muslims? Is that it Ahmed?

Suppose Communists Use the Muslim Excuse

But consider for a moment that communists come in many flavors and colors. There are Chinese communists, Venezuelan communists, Cuban communists, Angolan communists; there are Marxists, Maoists, Leninists, Trotskyists, and Stalinists; therefore one may try to argue that Communism or communists themselves should be exempt from condemnation simply because there is no one consistent brand of Communism to really attack. Obviously no one is so stupid as to think that this immunizes communists from intellectual attack.

Likewise the argument that Muslims-come-in-too-many-flavors-to-attack-the-whole-of-Islam also has to fail. In fact Muslims have less ground to stand on - whereas Communism as practiced in Cuba may be radically different in application and philosophy than that practiced in China, Islam has no such diversity. The Qur'an is immutable and unchangeable from Kazakhstan to Somalia, from Morocco to Indonesia. On this there is no discussion. To even doubt that the Qur'an is the authentic, final Word of God is a sin worse than murder. For in murder we only sin against man, but in questioning the Qur'an we sin against God. In Islamic Law, sins against God are all unforgivable offenses punishable by death: apostasy (seeing God's truth yet turning away), blasphemy (speech or writing which defames Allah, including doubting the Qur'an), and idolatry (comparing another god to Allah); whereas sins against man such as rape and murder are forgiven if the rapist and murderer sincerely repent to Allah.

We rightfully condemn Communism because it is a failed system that brutalizes its captive population and is inimical to the spirit of Man. We do this despite the fact that there is no one homogeneous group of Communists. Likewise Islam cannot insulate itself from criticism because there exist numerous variations among its faithful that are barbaric, primitive, violent, intolerant, murderous, plundering, raping, pillaging, brutal, ignorant savages. Don't blame me if my left hand slaps you, after all, my moderate, non-extreme right hand did nothing. Give me a break.

---

Photo Caption: October 12, 2008- NY, NY - Participants in the 19th Annual Muslim Day Parade on Madison Ave. from 41st. St to 23rd. St. in Manhattan which attracted Muslims from different ethnicities including Indonesian, African-American, Middle Eastern, Pakistani, and African.