The middle east was ahead of Europe in civilization and technology in the distant past; now it lags far behind the West.
Not the Muslims, but the dhimmis or non-Muslim peoples conquered by the Muslims were often times more advanced. Nevertheless, as soon as the dhimmis were eventually converted to Islam via harsh dhimmitude, Islam resumed back into backwardness.
If you look at every period of enlightenment in the Islamic world, it happens as a direct result of new Islamic conquests. However, as soon as the majority of those non-Muslim dhimmis are eventually converted to Islam, that period of enlightenment subsides and Islamic civilization reverts back into the darkness and backwardness in every case.
In the time of the Caliphate, hey had ambitions to rule the world that were percieved as an actual possibility;
What do you mean at the time of the Caliphate? Subjugating the entire world via the imposition of Sharia is still the overriding highest mandate of Islam, and every devout Muslim works towards that end or they are not devout.
now they are a backwater whose chief exports are oil and surplus population.
Uhm...don't look now but those surplus Muslim populations are actually Muslims participating in the form of non-violent stealth-jihad known as demographic conquest, as the majority of Muslim immigrants the world over don't ever assimilate and integrate. Instead, when the percentage of the population of Muslims becomes sufficient, they form Muslim no-go zones ruled by Sharia and in direct contravention to the laws of the states in which they reside. There ultimate goal is to replace our constitutions with the Koran and our rule of law with Sharia.
Clearly some long for the days of their greatness, feel offended by the primacy of the West, and hear the siren-song of radicalism, of Islamofascism, as a solution.
There is no radicalism or extremism except in the context that Islam itself is a very radical and extreme ideology that uses religion as a mask to hide behind, and everyone that adheres to this radical and extremist ideology is a radical and extremist. Which means that practically every Muslim, if they are indeed devout, are radicals and extremists. However, don't take my word for it, educate yourself by studying the contents of the Koran, Hadith, and Sira and also learn how they are traditionally interpreted and understood by the vast majority of Muslims.
The political correct multicultural model in vogue today whereby Islam is a so-called Religion of Peace™ and the vast overwhelming majority of Muslims are peaceful and moderate is demonstrably false, and to realize that fact all anyone has to do is take a good open-minded look around the world to recognize that reality.
I mean maybe with the exception of the former Soviet states where Islam was long suppressed, in every Muslim country in the world today where the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the world live, non-Muslims of all stripes as a rule are systematically persecuted, discriminated against, and often violently oppressed. If Islam is truly a Religion of Peace™ and the vast overwhelming majority of Muslims in the world are truly peaceful and moderate, why then are so many non-Muslims treated so horribly and brutally throughout the Islamic world?
I mean look inside Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Nigeria, etc., etc., etc. ad nauseum and tell me what you see. How many Christian churches were burned in Malaysia in the past month? How about in so-called moderate Indonesia?
In addition, can anyone point to a single non-Muslim country anywhere in the world where mass Muslim immigration has occurred where the majority of Muslims have assimilated and integrated and matriculated into becoming productive and contributing citizens of their newly adopted country?
The harsh reality is the majority of Muslims don't assimilate and integrate. Instead, when the percentage of the population of Muslims becomes high enough, they form Muslim no-go zones ruled by Sharia, as their sole purpose for migrating to the West was to fulfill their holy obligation for jihad.
While it is true that some Muslims do elect to become terrorists and participate in violent-jihad, the vast overwhelming majority of Muslims, on the other hand, for obvious reasons choose instead to participate in non-violent stealth forms of Jihad, with demographic conquest for the spread of Islam being one of the most prevalent forms of non-violent stealth-jihad in vogue today.
Further, take a look around the Islamic world, especially at where the borders of the Islamic world comes into contact with the non-Islamic world and tell me what do you see? If you are looking correctly and aren't ideologically blind, you will see Muslims pursuing jihad against non-Muslims while at the same time always presenting themselves as the victims in every case, and it is happening all over the world and not just against the Israelis, but in Mumbai, Kashmir, Jammu, Thailand, The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Chechnya, Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, throughout the Middle East, Sudan, North Africa, Nigeria, the Horn of Africa. Not to mention the cold stealth jihads also taking place throughout Western Europe, Russia, South America, The USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Moreover, if Muslims were truly interested in stopping all of the violence and terrorism committed in the name of Islam, then why all the silence in response to all of the Islamic motivated terrorist attacks? I mean if it involved any other people, they would be publicly teaching against the jihad ideology, but where are the Muslims?
Not to mention look what happens anytime a public official criticizes Islam, the Muslims see it as insults and worldwide riots inevitably ensue with the resulting consequence of non-Muslim kafir infidels being killed.
Meanwhile, the public official involved gets charged with hate crimes by useful-idiot delusional leftists willing to do the Muslims bidding for them like what is happening in the Netherlands today against Dutch MP Geert Wilders.
I mean just last month didn't another Muslim try again to kill the creator of the Muslim cartoons that were run by the Danish newspaper? None of this is happening by accident, as it is all a very carefully orchestrated stealth-jihad designed to silence any and all opposition through intimidation, and if they are successful in silencing all opposition, then the door will swing wide open for Islamization because it will then become literally impossible to defend ourselves from this stealth-jihad within our midst.
Indeed, the single biggest obstacle today standing in the way of us protecting ourselves from Islam is this insane political correct multicultural model whereby Islam is a Religion of Peace™ and the vast overwhelming majority of Muslims in the world are peaceful and moderate. If we can ever break the shackles of this multicultural insanity, then we can begin to take steps necessary to protect ourselves, but until this insane multicultural grip is broken, we will continue to spin our wheels, while the Muslims will continue to pursue their hot and cold jihads full steam ahead with impunity.
For instance, why are we still spinning our wheels pursing silly fantasy based nation building missions in both Iraq and Afghanistan in an attempt to lift up Muslims and win their hearts and minds? I mean it is literally impossible to win the hearts and minds of Muslims because they are obligated to hate our guts no matter what we do. Not to mention that poverty and despair have nothing whatsoever to do with Islamic motivated violence and terrorism. Was the Christmas terrorist a poverty stricken Muslim steeped in despair? How about the Fort Hood terrorist? We are simply shooting ourselves in the foot and it is all because of this silly political correct multicultural paradigm.
STOP the personal attacks NOW.
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