Multiculturalism and IslamrnLiberal Fiction and Historical Truthrnby Srdja TrifkovicrnSome say there is an inevitable clash between Westernrncivilization and Western values, and Islamic civilizationsrnand values. I believe this view is terribly wrong. Falsernprophets may use and abuse any religion to justify whatever politicalrnobjectives they have—even cold-blooded murder. Somernmay have the world believe that almighty God himself, thernmerciful, grants a license to kill. But that is not our understandingrnof Islam…. There are over 1,200 mosques and Islamicrncenters in the United States, and the number is rapidly increasing.rnThe six million Americans who worship there willrntell you there is no inherent clash between Islam and America.rnAmericans respect and honor Islam.”rnAnd so, on September 21,1998, at the United Nations, PresidentrnClinton declared the quest by our ruling establishmentrnfor a “moderate Islam” officially over. If “six million Americans”rnbelieve in something, that in itself is taken as proof thatrntheir ideals include religious tolerance, kindness to strangers,rnand aversion to violence. Like the unicorn or phlogiston, however,rn”tolerant Islam” can be defined and visualized, but it cannotrnbe made real. In the name of “diversity,” we are required tornpraise alternative religions, but Islam itself cannot tolerate diversityrnv^-ithout ceasing to be what it is.rnTo the ruling post-Christian elite, this notion is unbearable.rnHaving no faith themselves (except the baby boomers’ belief inrntheir own uniqueness), they do not take Islam’s faith seriously.rnSrdja Trifkovic is the executive director of The Lord ByronrnFoundation for Balkan Studies.rnSmugly observing the demise of Christian belief and culture onrnboth sides of the Atlantic, they trust the combined efforts of television,rnthe Big Mac, and the public education system to makernlitde Muhammad and Azra into carbon copies of Johnny andrnChelsea.rnIt may not work. Contrary to Mr. Clinton’s “understandingrnof Islam,” this peculiar creed has been synonymous with violencernand intolerance since its earliest days. Like Bolshevismrnand Nazism, Islam is part religion and part ideology, and itrnseeks to impose uniformity of thought and feeling on the faithful,rnand to subjugate and ultimately to destroy its non-adherents.rnThe beginnings of Muhammad’s public career are littlernknown to most Westerners. A non-Muslim reading the Koran,rnhowever, might conclude that Muhammad’s career wasrnmarked by a long string of killings, armed robberies, and rape,rninterspersed by a series of inspired pronouncements of varyingrncoherence. Outsiders—the Jews of Medinah, or Muhammad’srnArabic kinsmen who were reluctant to accept his self-proclaimedrndivinity—could testify to his unique concepts of justicernand mercy.rnWhen, in A.D. 626, for instance, six of Muhammad’s henchmenrnmurdered an elderly Jew by the name of Abu Rafi in hisrnsleep, they argued afterwards whose weapon had actually endedrnthe victim’s life. The prophet decided that the person whornowned the sword that still had traces of food on it was entitled tornthe credit. Abu Rafi had just finished his dinner before fallingrnasleep, and the fatal slash went through his stomach.rnFEBRUARY 1999/21rnrnrn