Essay Fourteen
Local Honor Brigades
In a nearby town is a tight knit community of Muslims, mostly from Thailand, Pakistan, India, among others. Some years back a person who lived there asked me for help in moving her out of that area. In the process, I asked her why she was moving. She said to get away from the young toughs who were accosting women who were caught outside and not wearing a head covering. She described pushing and shoving, loud name calling, and more. These bands of young Muslim men and boys did this on a regular basis and she was scared to death they would attack her even though she was not a Muslim. A neighbor told her that she could be picked on as they did not want non-Muslims in their community.
What is this all about?
This sort of grouping of mostly young males is not officially sanctioned but are very real none-the-less. They will be found in every community where Muslims are the majority. Those who so engage either are real believers in that they are convinced it is their duty to enforce Sharia law, or they follow along out of fear of being the object of the brigades themselves; they must show loyalty.
Based on my personal experience, I have found that some percentage of those born and raised Muslim do not believe in Allah at all. They are virtual atheists. They perform religious duties and rituals in order to be accepted by their Muslim families, friends, and communities. They would escape Islam if they could. But, so very often, they cannot.
How do I know this is so? By speaking with them in places away from the mosque. It is a sad thing, and I am surprised when they are interested in hearing about Jesus. Yet, to let this be known would certainly bring unwanted attention and concern from members of the brigade. It is not an easy thing to be a Muslim.
Being a Muslim is a full-time job. If one were to faithfully follow all the proscriptions of that faith, there would be little time for anything else. The early Muslims did not live a life most of those on the planet have to live to survive in this world today. What with having to earn a living, with families to look after, dwellings to keep up, and so on, there is not enough time and space to do all that is required. This is why so many Muslims look to local, state, and national assistance.
Attending the local Sunni Mosque over the years, I observed, and week after week, a good half of the congregation rushes in to be part of the service even if for a minute, or less. And this just to be seen by either fellow Muslims, the imam, or even Allah. And those who are to be impressed are the local honor brigade plus the good angel who is sitting on the right shoulder, and who is taking notes, and the devil sitting on the left shoulder, who is also taking notes.
National Honor Brigades
Local honor brigades are hardly known to most people outside Muslim dominated communities. This is not so in some countries, like England, where ninety plus communities are openly only for Muslims, and in these Sharia law dominates.
Operating largely under the radar in America are the large national organizations that function as honor brigades. These are collections of academics, activists, bloggers, and others, whose mission it is to protect and defend the honor of “true Islam.” One of the familiar themes of such organizations is that Muslim violent extremists do not represent Islam. And any one person or organization that so declares is guilty of being “Islamophobic,” which is the fear of Muslims.
Today the face of the honor brigade is seen in American academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and the media in general, who present a kind of soft propaganda aimed at silencing any criticism of Islam. Part of the mission of these groups is to discredit anyone who speaks or writes about Muslim extremism, intimating these groups or individuals have an irrational fear of Islam. Some of these groups are: The Council on American-Islamic Relations, known as CAIR, Muslim Advocates, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and the Islamic Council of North America. These organizations use the words “racists,” “bigots,” “Islamaphobes,” and other derogatory terms to describe those, like myself, who will present extremist Islam as it really is. And there is no question, despite the misrepresentations, that for these their sole objective is to bring the entire world under subjection to Islamic Sharia law. And for all non-Muslims, one must either convert to Islam, be subservient to Muslims, or be killed.
These organizations are often funded by large and wealthy Muslin countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iran. Yes, here Sunni and Shia branches of Islam will cooperate.
There is a Muslim Reform Movement whose mission it is to not make excuses for Muslim terrorist activities, but to uphold an “Islam of grace.” And there are such, who want to have Islam seen as a religious faith along with others like Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. However, this approach will not pacify or appease many Muslims as they realize that at the core of Islam is that it must dominate and control, and purge the world of opposing religions. This is seen in the sayings of the Muhammad of Medina, not the Muhammad of Mecca, who changed from being cooperative to being otherwise. And thus the world downgraded even further.