The Sword of the Prophet by Serge Trifkovic

[Tikhon.of.Colorado]

does anyone have an opinion of The Sword of the Prophet: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam ?

[Riddikulus]

does anyone have an opinion of The Sword of the Prophet: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam ?

I know that there have been claims that the book is racist and alarmist and, while I don't necessarily see it as being that, I can see how such claims have come about. It's certainly a blunt piece of writing. Mr Trifkovic doesn't pull any punches with regard to the history/danger of Islam as he sees the situation and, while I do applaud him for his honesty in that regard, the book does tend to come over as a little polemic.

It's an easy book to read in the sense that the author presents his facts in readable prose, but I'm not actually familiar enough with the history of Islam itself to comment on its accuracy in that regard. While some people claim that Mr Trifkovic is right on the button, others claim him to be myopic and fear-mongering and, in failing to present a balanced viewpoint of Islam, he has merely recited a litany of the horrors perpetrated by Muslims. But, of course, it's very hard to make the statments that Mr Trifkovic makes with regard to the changes that have come about in countries that were once Christian, where Christians were enslaved by Muslims, without getting up someone's nose in the process. The knee jerk reaction of some readers is no yardstick in judging Mr Trifkovic's historical accuracy and how he interprets the threat surrounding the development of Islamic fundamentalism in modern times.

The book certainly speaks to something I have noticed in more recent years; that there has been a lot of whitewashing of the conflicts between Islam and Christiandom, with *our side* coming off as the unwashed barbarians invading peaceful Muslim lands with no regard to the Muslim incursions into what were originally Christian territories in the first place. Still, there can be no doubt that the Crusades and the reasons for them are an ugly piece of history with neither side coming out as the good guy. We both resorted to terrible, terrible things in either the promotion or defence of our beliefs. 

It's the kind of book that has a mixed reception. It might have you looking over your shoulder, or scoffing it off as a piece of fear mongering, or simply wishing you hadn't read it in the first place. 

In all honesty, if you do read it, I would advise that you make sure that you do so away from any of the emotion that might have been stirred up by 9/11 observances. Try to read it objectively and definitely read something else to balance Mr Trifkovic's strong opinions.

My two cents worth.

[Iconodule]

It already bodes ill if the book self-describes as "Politically Incorrect."

[xariskai]

I own the book and have read it; I thought it was superlative. If anyone wants a book that isn't slanted they should give up reading altogether.

You can download The Sword and the Prophet free here. Another very good "politically incorrect" book on Islam is Ibn Warraq, Why I Am Not a Muslim (NY: Promethius Books, 1995); free download here. Trifkovic is Orthodox; Ibn Warraq is a former Muslim now atheist.

For something shorter on video which may serve as a warning to the wise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXtrKQjAesY

"The massacres perpetrated by Muslims in India are unparalleled in history, bigger in numbers than the Holocaust, or the massacre or the Armenians by the Turks; more extensive even than the slaughter of the South American native populations by the invading Spanish and Portuguese. They are insufficiently known in the outside world"

“It is rare in one's life that one has an opportunity to show on what side of an important life and death issue one stands…” p. xii

“The present work attempts… an uncompromising and critical look at almost all the mental tenets of Islam.” –p. xiv

 “I was born into a Muslim family and grew up in a country that now describes itself as an Islamic republic. My close family members identify themselves as Muslim: some more orthodox, others less. My earliest memories are of my circumcision and my first day at Koranic school…” p.xiii

It is well to bear in mind while reading this book the distinction between theory and practice; the distinction between what Muslims ought to do and what they in fact do; what they should have believed and done as opposed to what they actually believed and did. We might distinguish three Islams: Islam 1, Islam 2, and Islam 3. Islam 1 is what the Prophet taught, that is, his teachings as contained in the Koran. Islam 2 is the religion as expounded, interpreted, and developed by the theologians through the traditions (Hadith); it includes the sharia and Islamic law. Islam 3 is what Muslims actually did do and achieved, that is to say, Islamic civilization.
If any general thesis emerges in this book it is that Islam 3, Islamic civilization, often reached magnificent heights despite Islam 1 and Islam 2, and not because of them…

The treatment of women, non-Muslims, unbelievers, heretics, and slaves (male and female) was appalling both in theory and practice. In other words, Islam 1, Islam 2, and Islam 3 all stand condemned. The horrendous behavior toward women, non-Muslims, heretics, and slaves manifested in Islamic civilization was a direct consequence of the principles laid down in the Koran and developed by the Islamic jurists. Islamic law is a totalitarian theoretical construct, intended to control every aspect of an individual's life from birth to death. Happily, the law has not always been applied to the letter—Islamic civilization would scarcely have emerged otherwise. pp.1-2

[Riddikulus]

It already bodes ill if the book self-describes as "Politically Incorrect."

I wouldn't say that, iconodule. There is a refreshing honesty to it, which is why it has caused a bit of controversy. It certainly isn't a whitewash of Islamist fundamentalist history, a call to sit around the campfire singing kumaya and pretend none of our historical differences ever happened. Even though I might consider it a little polemic, its purpose is to warn the west of what many countries have lived through due to Islamist incursions and that it does well. 

[biro]

If you don't mind the more provocative, blunt school of thought, there's the books by Robert Spencer. He wrote The Truth About Mohammed and The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran, among others. They may have them at the library, and if not, there's always Amazon.

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