The One with The Grand Jihad

160. Title & Author: The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America by Andrew C. McCarthy (376 pages)

Genre: Nonfiction—Politics, Religion, & Current Events

Completed: 8 October 2010

Summary & Review:

While most in the media and the general public are fixated on the threat of terrorism, Andrew McCarthy argues that we should be even more concerned with the quieter branch of jihad: Islamism. In this book, McCarthy identifies the groups who are stealthily, rather than violently, subverting American laws and values to impose sharia, the Islamic legal code, and how their aims and ideals make the far Left excellent bedfellows.

This was an incredibly interesting and well-argued book. McCarthy did an excellent job of juxtaposing the incompatible principles of the American tradition and sharia law. He pointed out, “To begin with, Islam is not merely a religion. It is a comprehensive socio-economic and political system, which believers take to be ordained by Allah.” He continues, “Allah’s law happens to be antithetical to bedrock American principles: It establishes a state religion, rejects the freedom of citizens to govern themselves irrespective of a religious code, proscribes freedom of conscience, nullifies economic freedom, destroys the principle of equality under the law, subjugates non-Muslims in the humiliation of dhimmitude, and calls for the execution of apostates.”

Thus, the book brings up an unsettling dilemma. As McCarthy points out, while of course the vast majority of Muslims are not terrorists, many, if not most, believe that sharia is in fact Allah’s law. The problem there is that sharia is simply not compatible with American law or traditions but if we try to fight sharia, many will argue that we are discriminating against people’s religious beliefs. Hence, the dilemma: how do we fight against sharia? The key, I think, is that “Islam is not merely a religion,” but a political system as well, much like Soviet Communism was more than just an economic system but an all-encompassing and totalitarian societal structure. Therefore, it is not prudent or even justifiable to allow Islamists to impose sharia in this society under the guise of religious freedom.

I recommend this book.

Rating: 9.5