Islam: What the West Needs to Know

Islam: What the West Needs to Know

Front Cover
Directed by Gregory M. Davis, Bryan Daly
Produced by Quixotic Media
Starring Robert Spencer, Walid Shoebat, Bat Yeor, Serge Trifkovic, Abdullah Al-Araby
Release dates
  • January 15, 2006 (2006-01-15) (American Renaissance Film Festival)
  • July 7, 2006 (2006-07-07) (United States)
Running time
 98 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Islam: What the West Needs to Know is a 2006 documentary film produced by Quixotic Media. The film is an examination of Islam and its violence towards non-Muslims.

It features discussions using passages from religious texts and includes commentaries by Robert Spencer, Serge Trifkovic, Bat Ye'or, Abdullah Al-Araby, and Walid Shoebat.

The film premiered at the American Film Renaissance Festival in Hollywood on January 15, 2006, and had a limited theatrical release in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta in summer 2006. The film had caught attention mainly through its distribution via web.

Synopsis

Islam: What the West Needs to Know argues that Islam is a violent religion bent on world domination. The documentary uses passages from the canonical texts of Islam as its source material. It is presented in six parts:

1. There Is No God But Allah and Muhammad Is His Prophet: In the first part, various commentators argue that Islamic violence stems from the teachings and examples of Muhammad and that the Qur'an prescribes and sanctions violence against non-Muslims.
2. The Struggle: In the second part, according to the teaching of the Quran,[1] Walid Shoebat defines the word "Jihad" to mean the struggle to impose Allah's will over the earth, resulting in holy war against the non-Muslim world to bring it under the rule of Islam.
3. Expansion: In the third part, Bat Ye'or describes the expansion of Islam through conquest and presents historical evidence of enslavement and massacres of Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians and Hindus by Muslim invaders.
4. War Is Deceit: In the fourth part, Robert Spencer and Serge Trifkovic discuss the Islamic principle of Taqiyya, Islamic dissimulation, which, the lecturers argue, enjoins Muslims to deceive non-Muslims to advance the cause of Islam.
5. More Than a Religion: In the fifth part, the documentary asserts that "Islamic law governs every aspect of religious, political, and personal action, which amounts to a form of totalitarianism that is divinely enjoined to dominate the world, analogous in many ways to Communism".
6. The House of War: The final part covers the division of the world into Dar al-Islam ("the house of Islam" or "the house of peace"), the land governed by the Islamic law, and Dar al-Harb ("the house of war"), the land of non-Muslims. According to the film, Muslims are enjoined to bring the Dar al-Harb under the control of Islam. The film argues, "Muslims in Western nations are called to subvert the secular regimes in which they now live in accordance with Allah's command."[2]

Reviews

Some have considered the film to be thought-provoking and important,[3][4] with the Gwinnett Daily Post describing its message as "mind-blowing".[5] Other reviewers criticised the film as being inaccurate, simplistic, biased and propagandist against Islam.[6][7][8] The Chicago Tribune's reviewer, Michael Phillips, describes it as a "deadly dull anti-Islam propaganda piece",[5][8] The Washington City Paper's review, Louis Bayard, argues that "If [the directors] Davis and Daly had a little imagination, they might see that the devil they’re chasing isn't Islam but fundamentalism, which assumes many forms."[9]

A film review by The Charlotte Observer, which does not accept or reject the film's thesis, is summarized on the back cover of the video wrapping with the phrase, "...if their central thesis is true – and it's worth considering – then this is the most horrific film of the 21st century so far."[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Jihad The Holy War of Islam and Its Legitimacy in the Quran | Books on Islam and Muslims". Al-Islam.org. 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
  2. ↑ 'About the project' (whatthewestneedstoknow.com)
  3. 1 2 'Hot-button film should provoke discussions now' by Lawrence Toppman, The Charlotte Observer
  4. ↑ MOVIE mojo – Islam Film opening today – Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 12 July 2006
  5. 1 2 Message of 'Islam' bogged down by boring delivery Gwinnett Daily Post. 7 July 2006
  6. ↑ Dann Gire, "War and terrorism: What more could moviegoers want?", Chicago Daily Herald, 7 July 2006, p. 37.
  7. ↑ "Islam: What the West Needs to Know" **1/2 – Chicago Sun-Times. 7 July 2006
  8. 1 2 'Movie reviews: 'The War Tapes' and 'Islam: What the West Needs to Know' by Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
  9. ↑ Bayard, Louis (Jul 7–13, 2006). "Islam: What the West Needs to Know".
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