fredag 25. mai 2012

The eternal, fanatic Muslim

Louis Gustave Binger (1856- 1936), published in 1906* a work entirely
devoted to the representation of Islam and Muslims as a threat:

If the Muslim defends his country, his home, his independence, his
liberties, he is neither a patriot nor a man sacrificing himself for the
sake of a noble and lofty sentiment, he would be a fanatic.
   Does he regularly say his prayers, does he simply follow a
religion?... He is a fanatic. . . .
   Do we find him reading his Qur’an, the only book he
possesses? He must also be a fanatic.
   Does he refuse to serve your interests? That would be fuelled
by fanaticism.
   Does he meet his co-religionists to discuss the Pentateuch or
the Gospel, perhaps simply to learn to read his prayers properly?
This is for the purpose of later exercising his fanaticism.
   Has he allied himself with other Muslims in a war? This will
always be driven by fanaticism and hatred of Christians.
In a word, all the Muslim’s actions, especially those that run counter
to our policy or our interests, can be ascribed to fanaticism. And,
stranger still, we at home would consider most of these hostile acts
inspired by this so-called fanaticism as highly commendable
qualities, as highly patriotic acts or even as highly political acts. If
Vercingetorix were to appear among the Muslims, we would treat
him as a fanatic. (pp. 31 2)
Quoted from: Fernando Bravo López (2011): Towards a definition of Islamophobia:
approximations of the early twentieth century, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34:4, 556-573.

*Binger, L. G. (1906) Le pe´ril de l’islam, Paris: Comite´ de l’Afrique Francaise.

2 kommentarer:

Doremus sa...

Kontrollspørsmål: Skrev Binger _virkelig_ om islam, eller var han egentlig antisemitt og advarte mot jødefaren?
[/intern]

Konrad sa...

Si det. Jeg har ikke lest Binger, bare siterer fra en vitenskapelig artikkel.