Why the U.S. should not take in Muslim immigrants

 

End the culture of jihad if you wish to join the rest of the world in peace and harmony”

Islamic turmoil never fails to dominate the headlines, and the West is yet again split on how to deal with the polarizing issue of Islamic immigration. But liberals can no longer afford to be motivated by only political short-term goals expressed with the usual shouting, name-calling and emotion. This issue can really hurt liberal and progressive causes, as well as conservative causes.

Looking at the big picture of relocating populations, the first thing that comes to mind is that it should benefit and not hurt either the Muslim nations that are sending the immigrants out or Western nations that are absorbing the immigrants in.

If by absorbing large numbers of moderate Muslims from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan etc., are we really helping these nations to reform? The answer is no, and this is why.

Western governments are reassuring their alarmed citizens that they are vetting the Muslim immigrants and bringing in only the good and peace-loving Muslims, which is questionable, to say the least. Judging from past history, Western governments have failed in their vetting of Muslim immigrants and have allowed in many shady characters, jihadists, radicals, haters, Islamic groups and mosque leaders that are loyal to the jihadist agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood and other terror groups. It is good to remember the efficiency of our vetting process when ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sent an extension to the visa of one of the 9/11 terrorists about 6 months after 9/11/2001.

But let us assume that Western governments this time will succeed in vetting Muslim immigrants. The important questions we should also ask ourselves are:

1- If we keep taking in the so-called “moderate Muslims” from the Middle East and leave the terrorists and bad guys, who will be left to fight ISIS, Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Boko Haram or whatever the future name might be for the next Islamic terror group? Every time a terror group seem to be defeated, a new one much more radical and stronger pops up.

2- Who will lead the badly needed reform movement in Islam in the heart of the Middle East if most or all moderates move to the West?

3- Are we giving the wrong message to the Muslim world and showing them that we are serious about calling for an Islamic reformation if we keep rescuing those who might reform Islam? It seems that the more radical and tyrannical they become, the faster we come to the rescue. Are we rewarding bad behavior? It certainly seems so.

It is also good to ask, before we allow them in, if large numbers of Muslims immigrant will benefit the West?

That should not be difficult to answer, since we have 1400 years of history of Islamic conquest and immigration around the world. The one thing we must learn is that Muslims do not assimilate and are forbidden from doing that by Sharia. The political and social structure and culture of every country that absorbs large number of Muslims was challenged and changed. Muslims aim at changing the government of host countries rather than adjusting. If you do not believe that, please read the demands of any Muslim minority in a non-Muslim countries.

I have no doubt that many immigrants to the US from the Middle East, of whom I am one, both Muslim and Christian, have assimilated and positively contributed to America.

But unfortunately, it is a fact that a good portion of Muslim immigrants to the West have jihadist goals closely tied to the best interest of Jihadist Islam. Even if the original parents who moved to America were vetted as moderate, there are no guarantees that their children will not radicalize. All they need to do to get radicalized is read the Quran and follow the requirements of Sharia.

The West must also ask itself: what is the West rescuing Muslim refugees from? The honest answer would be from Islam itself as it is practiced today; from the political chaos caused by Sharia and the extreme poverty the Islamic system perpetuates, since Islam is mostly interested in jihadist expansion rather than improving quality of life.

Political Islam is in control of the Muslim world today and is expanding. There are about 49 to 50 majority Muslim countries around the world taking about 1/3 of the habitable land on Earth. Most Western nations that are absorbing a large number of Muslims are not reproducing; they have a low birth rate. Muslims are aware of this population imbalance in the West, and are taking full advantage of it as part of their jihad.

Western leadership and media are sympathetic to rescuing Muslims, but are obviously ignoring the fears of their own citizens — fears of losing Western values, freedoms and democracy to Islamic jihad, which is at war with and despises Western freedoms.

Last night, I was told by a Middle East source that ISIS is in fact encouraging and intentionally herding desperate refugees merged with ISIS infiltrators towards its Northwest borders to head to Europe, for the sole purpose of invading and overwhelming the West. Pushing Muslims to Europe will also takes the pressure off of ISIS and other Muslim countries, which would rather give their problems to the West to solve.

What the West does not understand is that Muslim governments are dependent on and in need of getting rid of their ever-expanding population to the West, in order to lift the pressure on them for reform, modernity and change. It is important to mention that modernity, change and novelty are rejected by name in Sharia. According to Islamic law, the number one duty of a Muslim head of state is to rule by Sharia, which rejects any novelty (meaning reform). Thus the message to Muslims who aspire for Western style reform and democracy is to go live in the West, because you are not getting reform or democracy inside any majority Muslim country.

What the West needs to know is that by constantly absorbing the moderate Muslim population that wants reform, the West is not doing the Islamic reformation movement a favor, but just the opposite; it is delaying any hope for a reformation when the West releases the pressure on Muslim governments by absorbing those who want change.

If the West is serious about helping bring about an Islamic reformation in the heart of Islam, it should do just the opposite of what its policy has been for the last decades. It should stop immigration from Muslim countries for at least until the West is able to figure what is in its best interests and also while Islamic jihadists are waging war on Western civilization.

Some journalists in the West have been criticizing Donald Trump for wanting to do just, and for saying what the gut feeling of most Americans is telling them. Prominent journalists are telling Trump that if we stop immigration from Muslim-majority countries, we will upset moderate governments and turn the moderates against us.

I believe that what will happen is just the opposite. This is one of the most important bargaining chips the West has, if not the number one, after US petrodollars. If we stop immigration from Muslim countries, both radical and moderate Muslim governments will learn to respect America more and will be ready for concessions, especially in regards to the hate and hostile education towards the West in all Muslim countries.

What Donald Trump is suggesting is probably the strongest message from the West, telling the Muslim world “you must change and reform and end the culture of jihad if you wish to join the rest of the world in peace and harmony.”

It is time for the West to cut off the lifeline that it is extending to the Muslim world without realizing and that is empowering radical Islamic jihad. It will need much awaited guts from the West. Muslim countries will not be uncooperative and hostile to the US as a result, but in fact they will start respecting our conditions and will move towards reform. The West needs strong leadership that will do just that.

AFDI Geller Fellow Nonie Darwish is the author “The Devil We Don’t Know” and president of “Former Muslims United,” a program of the American Freedom Defense Initiative.