This is the second in a two part series of posts written in response to Geert Wilders’ visit to Australia in early 2013. In a previous post I contrasted Geert Wilders’ view that ‘Islam is the problem’ with the claims of many Muslims who preach with...
Today in Woolwich, England, a man reported to be a British soldier was cut down by two Anglo-African Muslims wielding knives and a machete. One of the killers, speaking in a home-grown English accent, is heard (here) to say: The only reason we have killed this...
This in an edited transcript of an interview of Mark Durie by David Wheaton on Christian Worldview Radio. David Wheaton: Perhaps you watched the Boston Marathon bombings that killed four people and injured more than 200 others and wondered, “Why would two young Muslim men,...
Over the past decade I have had the opportunity to speak to thousands of people about Islam across five continents. At question time, the same issues keep coming up. The questions which have stayed in my mind are all about world view assumptions. These are...
On March 21 2013, Sheikh Dr Mohamed Said Ramadan Al-Bouti of Syria was killed, along with 40 others, by a suicide bomber at the Iman mosque in Damascus. A 2009 publication edited by John Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin listed the 500 most influential Muslims in the...
In sharia law, jizya refers either to tribute paid by non-Muslim nations to ward off jihad attack, or to a head tax paid by conquered non-Muslim adult males living under Islamic conditions. Muhammad instructed his followers: Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of...
Wilders in Melbourne Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders’ recent speaking tour in Australia brought him to my home town of Melbourne. I have been pondering his message since his visit, and this is the first of two blog posts which engage with it. Wilders came to warn Australians...
In the early biography of Muhammad written by Ibn Ishaq there are many fascinating and intriguing incidents. One unforgettable story tells how Huwayyisa came to embrace Islam: The apostle said, ‘Kill any Jew that falls into your power.’ Thereupon Muhayyisa b. Mas'ud leapt upon Ibn Sunayna,...