I have serious concerns about Islam, and my fellow Westerners should, too.

My focus in this article is on Islam itself, i.e., the religious ideology, not individual Muslims. My focus is on ideas, not persons.

Before I set out my concerns about Islam, please know this: Vandalizing mosques or otherwise treating Muslims with disrespect or hatred is wrong, full stop. Muslims, like all people, deserve respect (because, I believe, they are, like the rest of us, made in the image of God). But their behaviours and beliefs – as those of Christians, Buddhists, Atheists, etc. – can be legitimately criticized and judged from the point of view of reason and truth.

In other words, thinking carefully about Islam and criticizing Islam are not instances of Islamophobia. Whereas a phobia is an irrational fear or hatred, the fact remains that one can have reasonable, truth-based non-phobic concerns. Setting out accurate statements of objective truths about Islam is not Islamophobic.

In this article I will do the following:

  1. question whether Islam is a religion of peace (it’s not);
  2. question whether Islam is good for women (it’s not);
  3. question whether Islam is good for persons who identify as LGBTQ+ (it’s not);
  4. question whether Islam is merely a personal religion (no, it’s also a political ideology);
  5. question the legitimacy of Islam’s overstepping the relationship between church – better: mosque – and state (no, it’s not legitimate to do so in a secular liberal society);
  6. question whether the notion of “moderate Muslim” means there is a “moderate Islam” (again, no).

I conclude that the West needs to understand that we should resist this religio-political ideology – Islam – which threatens to destroy us. How? For starters, by discerning evidence-based truth about Islam.

Let’s proceed.

1. Islam is a religion of peace?

Often we are told that Islam is a religion of peace. But is it? The facts are these: Islam is centered on the Quran (Allah’s literal words) and Muhammad (Allah’s latest and greatest prophet), and the Quran and Muhammad promote war – violent jihad against non-believers.

Yes, most Muslims don’t follow the Quran or Muhammad in this regard, which is good. They elevate the Quran’s peaceful verses and Muhammad’s peaceful traits above the violent ones.

But there are serious problems with this.

It turns out that the Quran’s chapters are ordered from longest to shortest, not chronologically. Chronologically, the Quran’s peaceful verses occur before Muhammad gains power, whereas its calls to jihad (war on unbelievers/ “infidels”) occur after Muhammad gains power. Significantly, according to the Quran, the later verses abrogate (cancel) the earlier verses.

In fact, according to the sayings and actions of Muhammad (Hadith) and biographies of Muhammad (Sirah), Muhammad is a warlord, responsible for hundreds of murders plus the enslavement of men, women, and children.

According to the Quran’s last revelation (which cancels the previous peaceful ones), Muhammad orders his followers to kill infidels, i.e., those who don’t agree with his views about God, especially Jews.

Again, most Muslims don’t follow the Quran or Muhammad in this regard, which is good. They elevate the Quran’s peaceful verses and Muhammad’s peaceful traits above the violent ones.

But why do this, if Muhammad’s call to violent jihad is his latest Quranic revelation and this latest revelation cancels the earlier peaceful revelation?

If Islamic “reform” means getting back to basics, what are those basics?

In the Protestant Christian reformation, getting back to basics meant getting back to Scriptures. If reform of Islam means getting back to Scriptures in Islam, this explains why those who closely follow the Quran and Muhammad are so violent. (Note: The former leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, earned a PhD in Islamic studies.)

As far as I can tell, Islam is a religion of peace only in the sense that peace is understood as submission. “Islam” means submission, and “Muslim” means one who submits. According to the Quran and Muhammad, the enemies of Allah, i.e., those who refuse to submit to Allah as revealed by the Quran and Muhammad, must submit to Allah. Or else.

Islam’s peace, then, is like the peace at the end of a battle, after Allah’s enemies are all subjugated. Or dead.

2. Equality for women?

If, as Islam teaches, Mohammad is the latest and greatest prophet whom all Muslims should emulate, then equality for women is lost.

According to Islamic tradition and the Quran, Muhammad has a terribly low view of women. How so? Consider these points: a woman’s testimony is worth half that of a man, more women than men will be in hell, women can be beaten. Also, Muhammad married a girl when she was six, consummating the marriage three years later.

Consider the following words of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim:

“Under Islam, every woman is a second-class citizen. She can inherit only half as much as her brother. Her testimony in court – say, in the case of her own rape – is worth half that of her rapist. A Muslim woman has to ask a male guardian for permission to get married or have a child – in some places to even leave the house. And all these various oppressions are justified using the core texts of Islam: the Koran and the hadith.”

Islam, then, is no friend of women’s rights. Nor the rights of little girls.

3. LGBTQ+ equality?

The Quran’s and Muhammad’s views about homosexuals are also negative. How does Islam fit with respect for those who identify as gay? Answer: It doesn’t.

Google AI is helpful here: “According to traditional Islamic jurisprudence (Sunni and Shia), homosexual acts are considered forbidden major sins, with most scholars recommending severe penalties, including the death penalty (stoning or throwing from a height) based on Hadith, though specific punishments vary.”

Surely, it is not phobic for members of the LGBTQ+ community to be reasonably concerned about the teachings of Islam.

4. Islam is a personal religion?

We Westerners tend to forget that Islam is not merely a personal religion. Islam is also – at its essence – a political ideology. And not just any old political ideology: it’s a theocratic totalitarian ideology that seeks to dominate the world.

Don’t believe me? Then consider the history of Islam.

Islam’s violent conquests began in Arabia under the leadership of Muhammad (570–632 AD) and then rapidly spread by his followers. Within a bit more than a century an Islamic caliphate (i.e., a trans-national state governed by Sharia law) stretched from Spain to India, including Syria, Egypt, Persia, North Africa, and parts of Europe. Its goal was to conquer the globe via jihad. Happily, but at the cost of much bloodshed from those who resisted the Islamic forces, Islam’s spread was stopped.

But that was then. At present, Islam’s goal of world conquest via jihad is upon us again. Witness the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Islamic proxies – Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Islamic militias in Iraq and Syria. Witness, too, the growing number of Islamic jihadists and their supporters among us.

I repeat: Islam is not merely a personal religion. It is a totalitarian political-religious ideology that calls for the domination of the world.

5. Separation of mosque and state?

For Westerners, this brings up the question of separation of church and state, or, better, mosque and state.

I am a Canadian. Canada is a secular liberal state. As such, Canada has a commitment (at least) to individual liberty, including religious freedom and freedom of speech, equality before the law, and state neutrality (though our “neutral” state reflects values inherited from its Western/ Judeo-Christian history; for example, the dignity and worth of each individual).

About any totalitarian political-religious ideology such as Islam, Canadians should ask:

  • Can what is incompatible with secular liberalism be compatible with secular liberalism?
  • Should liberal tolerance tolerate illiberalism?
  • Does Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms require its own destruction by respecting political-religious ideologies that use the language of rights and freedoms to squelch rights and freedoms?

I believe all the answers are no. O Canada, we must stand on guard for thee!

6. What about moderate Muslims?

Yes, there are moderate Muslims, that is, Muslims who favour secular liberalism with its commitment to religious freedom and pluralism. And we should be grateful.

But the fact remains that the core teachings of Islam, as taken from the Quran and Muhammad – and which reflect Muhammad’s later violent teachings which cancel his earlier peaceful teachings – these core teachings of Islam are anathema to secular liberalism. They do not promote liberal values of freedom for all, do not promote women’s rights, do not promote LGBTQ+ rights, are not merely personal, and do not promote separation between mosque and state.

The fact that there are moderate Muslims, then, should not diminish our concerns about Islam per se.

Enter: Middle East historian Raymond Ibrahim – a historian for our time. Ibrahim’s knowledge of the history of Islam provides much-needed insights into the complexities of the present.

Ibrahim wisely points out that, yes, there are moderate Muslims, but, he quickly adds, and emphasizes, there is no moderate Islam.

In other words, Muslims who are moderate do not take Islam seriously insofar as Islam is constituted – which it is! – by the central teachings of the Quran and Muhammad and their requirements of global domination, war against infidels, women as second class citizens, denial of LGBTQ+ rights, and denial of separation between mosque and state.

In other words again, as Ibrahim also points out, such moderate Muslims, when it comes to following the full teachings of the Quran and the model of Muhammad, are better described as non-observant or lackadaisical or nominal Muslims (i.e., they are merely cultural Muslims, like atheist Richard Dawkins is a cultural Christian). On the other hand, Muslims who take Islam seriously – that is, who follow the full teachings of the Quran and fully emulate Muhammad, including the violent teachings that abrogate the non-violent teachings – are better described not as “radical” but observant or practicing Muslims. Let. That. Sink. In.

Also, as Ibrahim points out, we should contemplate the fact that the Islamic doctrine of deception, a.k.a. taqiyya, allows for observant or practicing Muslims to pretend they are non-observant or “moderate.” Taqiyya allows Muslims to tell lies to non-Muslims for the sake of furthering Islam. Let. That. Sink. In. Too.

Of course, we should not become paranoid and unjustly suspect or charge every Muslim with lying simply because they are Muslim. We should hold to the (Western) principle that all people should be given the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. And we should remember that all people – including Muslims – deserve respect (which is yet another Western value, historically based on the notion that people are made in the image of the Judeo-Christian God). Keeping this in mind, we should nevertheless realize that the doctrine of taqiyya casts at least some reasonable doubt over the proliferation of Islamophobia accusations levelled against those who criticize Islam from the point of view of reason and truth.

Conclusion

I will say it again: Vandalizing mosques or otherwise treating Muslims with disrespect or hatred is wrong, period. Nevertheless, Islam – the religious ideology – is deeply problematic.

Islam is not a religion of peace. Islam is not good for women. Islam is not good for persons who identify as LGBTQ+. And Islam is not merely a personal religion – it’s also a political ideology.

Moreover, Islam oversteps – and threatens to obliterate – the boundary between mosque and state, and it thereby challenges the legitimacy of secular liberal society. And, although there are moderate Muslims, there is no moderate Islam.

We in the West must understand the truth that Islam is a political-religious ideology which threatens to destroy Western society and values.

We must understand, too, that this is a reasonable judgment about Islam. This is not hatred directed at Muslims nor is it Islamophobia. It is, rather, an instance of careful, critical thinking for the sake of truth – and freedom.

For further thought

Articles

  • Joe Adam George, “Ontario Schools Promote Islamist Agenda in Name of ‘Equity’: Parents Object as Group With Ties to Muslim Brotherhood Sets Curriculum,” Middle East Forum, December 12, 2025.
  • Ahmed Charai, “The Muslim Brotherhood’s Stealth Jihad,” The National Interest, April 3, 2025.
  • Raymond Ibrahim, “How Trustworthy Are Muslim Professions of Peace?” Raymond Ibrahim blog, December 14, 2020.
  • Ches W. Parsons, Sophie Milman & Sheryl Saperia, “Canada can no longer ignore its violent jihadist extremism problem,” National Post, January 1, 2026.
  • Hendrik van der Breggen, “Islam and Christianity,” APOLOGIA, March 16, 2017.
  • Hendrik van der Breggen, “Questioning Islamophobia,” APOLOGIA, March 2, 2017.

Books

  • Ayaan Hirsi Ali, The Challenge of Dawa: Political Islam as Ideology and Movement and How to Counter It (Stanford, California: Stanford University/ Hoover Institution Press, 2017).
  • Andy Bannister, Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? (London, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2021).
  • Danny Burmawi, Islam, Israel, and the West: A Former Muslim’s Analysis (Gerasa Books, 2025).
  • Mark A. Gabriel, Islam and the Jews: The Unfinished Battle (Lake Mary, Florida: Charisma House, 2003).
  • William Kilpatrick, Christianity, Islam, and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012).
  • Nabeel Qureshi, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A devout Muslim encounters Christianity, 3rd edition (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018).
  • R. C. Sproul Abdul Saleeb, The Dark Side of Islam (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2003).

Videos

  • Ayaan Hirsi Ali, “After Bondi: We Can No Longer Ignore Islam,” John Anderson Media, February 2, 2026 (60 minute video).
  • Mark Durie, “The Quran Says Jews Are Almost Sub-Human,” John Anderson Media, December 21, 2025 (5 minute video).
  • Raymond Ibrahim, “Can Muslims Assimilate into the West?” iCatholicRadio, August 18, 2025 (33 minute video).
  • Gad Saad, “The Woke Islamic Alliance – Gad Saad Interview,” Nick Freitas, December 30, 2025 (65 minute video).
  • Nabeel Qureshi, “Muhammad’s Life Exposed: What History Really Says,” 100 Huntley Clips, March 20, 2025 (21 minute video).

Hendrik van der Breggen, PhD, is a retired philosophy professor who lives in Steinbach, Manitoba.