The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades) by Robert Spencer

Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.¹

— Omar Ahmad, 1998

Infidel, Islam is a religion of peace! Muslim, someone should have told Muhammad.

If you are not familiar with Islam or have felt that you’re possibly, most likely, unconsciously, hopelessly Islamophobic, Robert Spencer’s The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades) is a good introductory book to help you understand that being an Islamophobe is a necessary, rational response to Islam.

Islamophobe (iz-la-ma-f?b) n. [you should be one] a person with a rational dread of Islam based on 14 centuries of conquests, wars, invasions, beheadings, rapes, slavery, child marriages, deceit and lying see also: population replacement, open borders, rape gangs, The Koran, Muhammad and the entire history of Islam.

The book has three parts:

Introduction to Islam
The Crusades
Today’s Jihad

Each chapter in the book begins with a helpful bullet point summary. For example, the first chapter about Muhammad, “Muhammad: Prophet of War,” begins thus:

Guess what?
Muhammad did not teach “peace and tolerance.”
Muhammad led armies and ordered assassinations of his enemies.
Islamic tradition allows for negotiated settlements only in service of the ultimate goal of Islamic conquest.²

If you simply went through the book and read these summaries you’d learn a tremendous amount about Islam.

The chapters contain lots of callouts that dispense information about

books “You’re Not Supposed to Read”
the contrast between Muhammad and Jesus
“Just Like Today” (where Spencer shows how Islamists use their history to justify current beliefs and actions)
quotes by other authors and more

For example here’s one about “Muhammad vs. Jesus”:

Muhammad vs. Jesus
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Jesus (Matthew 5:44)
“Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into the hearts of the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know.”
Qur’an 8:60³

The first section about Islam is thorough because Spencer wants to make sure readers understand why the Crusades happened. There was a reason and it wasn’t because the crusaders were all evil men who simply wanted to harass peaceful Muslims who were living in harmony with the infidels they conquered. Here are the bullet points from Chapter 10, “Why the Crusades Were Called”:

Guess what?
The Crusades were not acts of unprovoked aggression by Europe against the Islamic world, but were a delayed response to centuries of Muslim aggression, which grew fiercer than ever in the eleventh century.
These were wars for the recapture of Christian lands and the defense of Christians, not religious imperialism.
The Crusades were not called in order to convert Muslims or anyone else to Christianity by force.⁴

The last section of the book begins with Chapter 15, “The Jihad Continues”:

Guess what?
Islam has not reformed or changed its traditional doctrines of jihad warfare.
Modern-day jihad groups are working to restore the caliphate as a means to further their war with the West.
These groups despise democracy as a Western import at odds with the caliphate and sharia.⁵

I highly recommend The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades). It is a quick read, easy to understand and easy to skim if you want.

Robert Spencer has been publishing books about Islam since 2002. He has 32 books in print with more on the way. You can read a short biography of Spencer on his website, Jihad Watch.

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Notes

Spencer, Robert. Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades), first published in 2005, Kindle Edition. p. 190. Quote by Omar Ahmed comes from Lisa Gardiner, “American Muslim leader urges faithful to spread Islam’s message,” San Ramon Valley Herald, July 4, 1998.
Ibid. p. 2-3
Ibid. p. 12.
Ibid. p. 120-121.
Ibid. pp. 182-183,