| By Jon Anderson IT'S BEEN MORE than eight years since Islamist terrorists succeeded in killing 3,000 people in the infamous Sept. 11 attack and America has yet to identify Islam as the ideological cause. I was 37 and a full-time student at JMU when the first images of the falling twin towers flooded our televisions. I enrolled in an Introduction to Islam course the next semester. The course presented Islam as a religion of peace, justice and equality. Sometimes I asked questions in class motivated by suspicion that we were not getting the whole truth. I began to realize that the instructor was evading these kinds of questions. For instance, after learning that it was obligatory for Muslims to give 2.5 percent of their income to charity, I asked if there was any means for donors to track how their money was spent. The instructor gave a reply, but didn’t answer the question. I had to press him pretty hard before he admitted that charities provided no such information. Years later, FBI raids on Islamic “charities” proved that at least some of them were funneling donated funds to terrorist organizations. It wasn’t until working on the final research paper that I began to develop a conviction that Islam was a harmful ideology. I set out to discover if militant jihad was a part of Islamic doctrine. I determined to base my findings on Islamic scripture, not on the acts of terrorists. I discovered that “jihad” could correctly be interpreted as “a personal struggle” in certain places in Islamic scripture; however, “warfare” was much more often the intended meaning of the term. In contrast to Biblical commands to conquer, which were isolated to a specific region in Israel’s history, Koranic commands to engage in warfare are universal and are to continue until Islam is the only religion. Examples include: “Make war on them until idolatry does not exist any longer and Allah’s religion reigns universally” (8:39). “Kill the unbelievers wherever ye find them, capture and besiege them and prepare for them every kind of ambush” (9:5). “Fight against them! Allah shall punish them, at your hands and give you victory over them...” (9:14). “Wage war on the people of the Book, who ... do not accept the religion of Islam” (9:29). “Fight the unbelievers in your surroundings, and let them find harshness in you” (9:123). “Those who follow Muhammad are merciless for the unbelievers but kind to each other” (48:29). “Truly Allah loves those who fight in His cause in battle array… ” (61:4). Self-study in more recent years has only increased my conviction. My frustration with the national press is at an all-time high for its near blackout on the doctrines of Islam. More problematic is the media’s ignorance concerning Islamic advocacy groups that engage in deception to further the cause of jihad. After the Fort Hood massacre, leaders of CAIR (Council of American-Islamic Relations) made appearances on all the major news networks. Invariably, CAIR’s message is one of shock and strong condemnation of the violence. This is followed by a portrayal of Muslims as the victim of hostility. In January of this year, the FBI severed all ties with CAIR due to evidence revealing close ties between its leaders and Hamas. More recently, evidence stemming from a six-month non-government undercover investigation was made public in the book, “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that’s Conspiring to Islamize America.” Documents prove that CAIR has fully supported the international jihad against the United States, having the goal of transforming American society through terrorist activities, fraud, and infiltration of our political and intelligence organizations. Some members of Congress are calling for a full congressional investigation. Being knowledgeable of Islam’s dark side neither makes me fearful of, nor violent toward, Muslims. I befriend Muslims whenever and wherever I can. I also encourage others to do the same. My willingness to publicly speak out against Islam should not be perceived as hostility toward Muslims. I’m following the Biblical instruction to expose fallacy and teach truth (Matthew 18:20; 1 Timothy 4:16; Titus 1:9). Jon Anderson is a resident of Harrisonburg. | 
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