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Islam: What the West Needs to Know

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Islam: What the West Needs to Know - Front Cover
Islam: What the West Needs to Know - Front Cover

Islam: What the West Needs to Know is a documentary film produced by Quixotic Media. The film is an examination of Islam, violence and the fate of the non-muslim world featuring discussions using passages from the religious texts. The film includes commentaries by Robert Spencer, Serge Trifkovic, Bat Ye'or, Abdullah Al-Araby, and former terrorist Walid Shoebat.

The film premiered at the American Film Renaissance Festival in Hollywood on January 15, 2006 and had a limited theatrical release in summer 2006 in Chicago, Washington DC, and Atlanta.

Synopsis

File:Islam What the West Needs to Know - Back Cover.gif
Islam: What the West Needs to Know - Back Cover
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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, 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 in order 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 in order 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."

Reviews

Some have considered the film to be important, with the Gwinnett Daily Post describing its message as "mind-blowing". Other reviewers criticised the film as being inaccurate, simplistic and biased and even propagandist against Islam. It has also been critiqued for being boring or for demanding a certain level of concentration.

A film review by The Charlotte Observer which does not accept or reject the film's thesis is summarized into 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."

See also

Other similar documentaries

References

  1. ^ 'Hot-button film should provoke discussions now' by Lawrence Toppman, The Charlotte Observer
  2. ^ MOVIE mojo - Islam Film opening today - Atlanta-Journal Constitution. 12 July, 2006
  3. Message of 'Islam' bogged down by boring delivery - Gwinnett Daily Post. 07 July, 2006
  4. Dann Gire, "War and terrorism: What more could moviegoers want?", Chicago Daily Herald, 7 July 2006, p. 37.
  5. "Islam: What the West Needs to Know" **1/2 - Chicago Sun-Times. 07 July, 2006
  6. Phillips, Michael Movie reviews: 'The War Tapes' and 'Islam: What the West Needs to Know' Chicago Tribune
  7. Phillips, Michael Movie reviews: 'The War Tapes' and 'Islam: What the West Needs to Know' Chicago Tribune
  8. Message of 'Islam' bogged down by boring delivery - Gwinnett Daily Post. 07 July, 2006

External links

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