Before You Read Beck’s New Book, “It IS About Islam”

I have Beck’s new book, “It IS about Islam,” and if you plan to read it, there is something you need to know before you do.  In many ways, Beck has finally arrived to the party, but true to form where Spiritual matters are concerned, he has missed the mark — again.  Still, this new book does have value.  It does accurately expose the teachings of the Qur’an and Hadith.  Unfortunately, Beck cannot bring himself to report the whole truth about Islam.  He cannot resist inserting a fallacy into the equation before the discussion even begins; a fallacy that, if the reader accepts it, leaves him with the exact wrong impression.  Thus, Beck seeks to undermine whatever good could come from his book before he even starts to expose the truth about Islam.  So that you might get the most out of this book, let me point out and correct this fallacy for you.

In the introduction to “It IS about Islam,” on page 8, last paragraph, Beck says:

“There’s a crucial distinction to be made between Islam and Islamism.  When discussing a topic this important, terminology is critical.  Islam is the faith of 1.5 billion people around the world.  Islamism is the supremacist political ideology that insists on imposing sharia, or Islamic holy law, on the world.”

Now, I agree: in a matter this important, getting terms accurately defined is crucial.  This is why I am telling you that, by creating a distinction between ‘Islam’ and ‘Islamist,’ Glenn Beck has inserted a deliberate lie into the discussion!

Unfortunately, and fore whatever reason, which I will not hazard to guess, Beck simply cannot bring himself to accept this simple fact: there is no distinction between Islam and the command to spread sharia law.  Muhammad said so — clearly, repeatedly and with an imperative force.  Sharia is Islam: Islam is sharia — period!  They cannot be separated.  This is not my ‘opinion;’ it is the command of Allah according to his prophet, Muhammad. So, why does Beck try to create a difference between Muslims and Islamists?

Again, I have my suspicions, but I am not going to hazard a public speculation as to why Beck creates an equivocation in the forward to his book.  But what I can and will say is that I know that Beck knows better.  After starting to read this book and listening to him promote it the past few days, I can say with absolute certainty that Beck knows this to be true! There is no such thing as a Muslim different from Islamist. On his internet TV show last night, August 17, 2015, Beck correctly said that Muhammad commanded that Islam does not change and that those who try to change it should be killed.  Muhammad called such people ‘hypocrites’ and ‘apostates’ and ordered they be killed even before the infidels.  But rather than explain that a Muslim must either accept everything Muhammad said or be a hypocrite/apostate, Beck proceeds to cloud the problem even further by implying the need for an Islamic Reformation. (read more on why Islam cannot be reformed).

Again, Muhammad said that Islam does not change.  He also said that his commands are those of Allah, and that anyone who refuses to obey them risks hell-fire.  Folks, Islam means submission.  In other words, like it or not, you submit to everything Muhammad commanded or you disobey Allah.  And since Muhammad said that Islam does not change, then the only way Islam could possibly have a ‘reformation’ is if the Muslims Beck calls ‘moderates’ were to convert back to active Jihad warriors trying to convert or kill everyone in the world.  This is not the same as the Christian Church undergoing a reformation where the believers tore themselves away from a Catholic Church that had become like Islam: political in nature.  The Reformation had the Gospel of Christ to which Christians could return.  But Islam has only Muhammad’s commands, and the people setting the world on fire right now are following Muhammad’s commands exactly as Muhammad lived them, himself!  There can be no ‘reform’ for these Muslims as they are already following their faith better than all but the most pious of Christians or Jews have ever followed their own.

One of the biggest mistakes we make in trying to understand Islam is in trying to apply Western thinking to what is an Eastern religion.  The Western and Eastern minds do not think the same.  You cannot apply Western values to the teachings of Islam and expect to arrive at a proper understanding.  In many ways, Western Jews and Christians have the same problem with reading their own Scriptures: our culture causes us to perceive a distorted view of the reality in these three religions.  But we can use some of our Western tools to help us get a clear understanding of the most crucial aspects of Islam.  As with all things that are the work of one man, that man is the highest authority on what he is saying.  So Muhammad is the highest authority on what Islam is and what it is not.  And according to Muhammad, Islam is the one true religion, and the only true Muslims are those that keep Muhammad’s commands.  What’s more, one of Muhammad’s most pressing commands is to spread Islam, by any means — especially the sword — either converting or killing everyone in the entire world until there is only Islam.  This means that anyone who tries to ‘reform’ Islam is not only not a Muslim, but must be killed, as well.  All of this is by definition, and to argue with a definition is to tell the sky it is not blue: you can do it all you want, but you will not change the truth of the matter.

So, what are we to make of Beck’s book?  Well, I am only 1/3 of the way into it, and — for the most part — it accurately cites the Qur’an and Hadith.  So Beck is presenting the truth about what is in the holy teachings of Islam — but only to a point.  Where Beck goes wrong is in inserting what can only be assumed to be a conscious and deliberate break from the truth.  By arguing that ‘peaceful’ Muslims are not the problem and should call for a reformation of Islam and focusing on the people he calls ‘Islamists,’ Beck leaves the reader with a dangerous misconception.  Beck is trying to create a belief that Islam can be salvaged.  This simply is not the case.  To salvage Islam would be a lot like ‘reforming’ baseball so that we take away the diamond, bases, gloves, ball and bat and then saying we still have baseball.  I don’t know what you might call it, but if you remove the diamond, bases, gloves, ball and bat, whatever it may be, it is no longer baseball.  The same applies to Islam: if you take away Muhammad’s commands, then whatever may be left, it is not Islam.