Most American Muslims may condemn violence, but their organizations are actively supporting, or look favorably upon, creating a Muslim state in the U.S., writes Daniel Pipes in Commentary magazine (November).
Pipes, a Middle Eastern specialist, writes that an ambition to create an Islamic America has taken root among a growing number of Muslim groups and educated believers. This outlook is spelled out in a popular book (unavailable in book stores but widely available on Muslim web sites, such as: http://www.halaco.com/dawah.html) by Shamim A. Siddiqi known as “The Need to Convert Americans To Islam.”
The book, published in Brooklyn, claims that since the U.S. is the major world power, representing Christianity and liberalism, it is necessary that Islam be established there, and then “God’s Kingdom” would no longer be a “distant dream.” Because violence would be counterproductive in achieving such goals, it is eschewed by most of these activists, Pipes adds.
The book outlines steps to creating “Islamic rule,” including increasing the number of Muslims through aggressive proselytism, and, more importantly, extending Islamic influence through laws and other political and legal means. The strategy would be to increase Muslim presence in the public square (for example, broadcasting the Islamic calls-to-prayer over loudspeakers), seeking financial aid and other legal accommodations for schools and other organizations and, finally, imposing its system of law.
While Pipes calls this vision far-fetched, he writes that the majority of U.S. Muslim organizations — if not American Muslims — agree with Sidiqqi’s goal of building an Islamic state in America, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, and the Muslim Alliance of North America.
(Commentary, 165 E. 56th St., New York, NY 10022).
