Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics

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Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics

Author	Daniel Ali & Robert Spencer
Subject(s)	Islam
Publisher	Ascension Press
Publication date	September, 2003
Media type	Paperback
Size and weight	8.7 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches, 9.6 ounces
ISBN	ISBN 0-9659228-5-5

Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics^[1] is a book by Iraqi Kurdish ex-muslim convert to Christianity Daniel Ali and Robert Spencer, the director of Jihad Watch.^[2]

The books aims to elucidate the differences in theological conceptions between Christianity and Islam addressing questions as the different concepts of God and Jesus in the 2 faiths and role of women, and views on a multitude of controversial topics. The content of the book is presented in a format of 100 questions and answers.

[edit] Content

The book posits that while Christianity is a faith built on love and a deep relationship with God, Islam on the other hand does not harbor such concepts but rather demands mostly obedience to its command that it be spread by the word or sword. Thus, the authors assert, Islam has little concerns with Western ideas of civil and human rights as it fundamentally denies the concepts of free will and thought. The book contends that the fatalistic nature of Islam , the idea that everything has been preordained by a God (Allah) whose dictates must be submitted to, promotes an attitude which only leads to cultural stagnation.

The book remarks that while the Qur’an purports to be original, it is replete with material directly drawn from Jewish and Christian scriptures and is filled with theological contradictions and has a 14 century track record of violence which betrays any in claim to peaceful intent.

The authors argue that the doctrine of jihad, which when taken to its logical conclusion makes it the duty of Muslims to try and convert the whole world to their faith—by the sword if necessary which has led to a long history of conflict and Islamic aggression, demonstrating that it only subsided as the West began to out perform the Islamic world militarily. They also state that the Crusades were essentially movements, “to take back the lands overrun by Muslim invaders and, by extension, to free those Christians living under Islamic oppression.” .

The material treated also includes numerous topics such as the differences between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, surveys the Islamic tradition, Hadith, Sharia law. Controversial aspects of Islam are also discussed such as its alleged inherent racism towards people of dark skin and the practice of slavery, polygamy and the inequality of women. Also discussed are alleged numerous contradictions and anachronological errors in the Qur’an , such as the claim that Alexander the Great was a Muslim though he lived nearly a 1000 years before the existence of Islam.