Tarek Fatah provides historical evidence, from the time of Prophet Muhammad to the present, of the illusion of an Islamic State. He also points outs that most Muslims would individually prefer to live in the state of islam (submission to God) rather than an Islamic State.

O you who believe, you shall embrace total submission (islam); do not follow the steps of Satan, for he is your most ardent enemy. [2:208]

If GOD renders one’s heart content with Submission (islam), he will be following a light from his Lord. Therefore, woe to those whose hearts are hardened against GOD’s message; they have gone far astray. [39:22]

Moreover, Abraham exhorted his children to do the same, and so did Jacob: “O my children, GOD has pointed out the religion for you; do not die except as submitters (muslims).” [2:132]

Had you witnessed Jacob on his death bed; he said to his children, “What will you worship after I die?” They said, “We will worship your god; the god of your fathers Abraham, Ismail, and Isaac; the one god. To Him we are submitters (muslims).” [2:133]

Say, “We believe in GOD, and in what was sent down to us, and in what was sent down to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Patriarchs, and in what was given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction among any of them. To Him alone we are submitters (muslims).” [3:84]

Indeed, the Quran is explicit that an individual has the freedom to make a decision to be a submitter (muslim) and practice the religion of submission (islam) to God.

Tarek Fatah correctly points out that there is nothing in the Quran which even remotely advocates an Islamic State. Neither is there anything in the Quran which allows an individual to accept any source of law (sharia) other than God’s words in the Quran.

• The Quran is a fully detailed scripture per 6:114, 10:37
• The Quran is the only source of law or the only criterion per 6:114
• The words of God in the Quran are complete per 6:115
• No words can abrogate God’s words in the Quran per 6:115 and 10:37
• Quran is Hadith per 7:185, 12:111, 39:23, 45:6, 52:34, 68:44, 77:50
• The Quran is the only acceptable Hadith per 77:50, 45:6, 7:185
• The Arabic word sunnah (system) refers only to God’s sunnah and never as the Prophet’s sunnah per 17:77, 33:62, 48:23
• That God is the Teacher of the Quran per 55:2

The above is not acceptable to most who call themselves ‘Muslims’ whether they consider themselves Sunni, Shia or any other sect. The above is not acceptable to the Wahhabis, Salafis, Muslim Brotherhood or the followers of Sayyid Qutb or Abul A’la Maududi.

Belief in God dictates that a person believes God. The Quran, a proven scripture, stands on its own. Worshipping God alone mandates that only God’s words be upheld as the source of law. The path out of misery for Muslims around the world is to believe, accept, obey and submit to God’s words in the Quran. The illusion of an Islamic state will vanish with the acceptance of the Quran as complete, perfect and fully detailed.

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Tareq Fatah’s book is well written and researched. Part one of the book covers the theology of an Islamic State with Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia as examples of woeful states. He examines the mixing of Islamism and Marxism to the Palestine case as weakening of their cause.

Part two covers period after Prophet Muhammad’s death and subsequent empires in Damascus, Cardoba and Baghdad. He correctly points out that the empire flourished in Damascus, Cardoba and Baghdad because of freedom  – God’s gift to mankind in the Quran (2:256, 18:29).

We, however, take issue with history at the time of Prophet Muhammad and the ‘Rightly Guided Caliphs.’ This period and history is presented well by Dr. Fred Donner and his research.

Part three of the book explores Hijab, Jihad and Sharia as understood by the Muslims with that understanding having no support whatsoever in the Quran.

Tareq Fatah ends the book cautioning the West about the Islamists agenda (which has no support in the Quran).