Islam

I just finished some light summer reading that involved U.S. history, the CIA, Islam, and the Koran.  I also just read Ken's ominous Iran update, so I thought the timing might be right for starting this thread.

The book I read was The Last Patriot by Brad Thor.  It is (pulp) fiction that takes place in the years not long after 9/11, with international intelligence agents and Muslim terrorists, reminding me of Homeland.  It also has Koranic scholars, reminding me a bit of The Da Vinci Code.  It references some specifics of Islam and the Koran, as well as Thomas Jefferson and Ismail al-Jazari (sometimes referred to as the "Arab Leonardo da Vinci").

I was surprised to learn that U.S. military action in the Mediterranean and North Africa against Muslims goes back to the beginning of our country.  The line in the U.S. Marine Corp hymn "...To the shores of Tripoli..." refers to the Marines fighting Muslim pirates and taking the city of Derna in Tripoli (present day Libya) in 1805 during the First Barbary War.

The premise of the book relies on the Koranic concept of "abrogation".  I learned that the Koran is said to be a series of revelations to Muhammed from God through the angel Gabriel.  Much like other inspired texts, it contains inconsistencies and outright contradictions.  Early chapters speak of peaceful co-existence with Jews and Christians.  Later chapters go beyond mere evangelism, and state outright that non-believers can/should be robbed, enslaved, and killed.  If all of the passages are divinely inspired, how to reconcile the contradictions?  Abrogation says "a later divine revelation supersedes or cancels an earlier revelation."  The premise of The Last Patriot is that a final revelation was given to Muhammed, disavowing jihad, and requiring peaceful co-existence with non-believers.  Muhammed was murdered to suppress this final chapter being included in the Koran, and modern Jihadists want to keep it that way.

I'm not necessarily recommending this book, at least not to anyone I don't know, although I did enjoy it.  There were a few cringe-worthy writing lapses, but overall the complex plot and grounding in historical fact were good enough for me.

I bring it up now in part because of the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran someday (soon?) facing off with nuclear armed Israel.  In the book, the "good guys" are hoping that the final, lost Koranic revelation, teaching peace, will embolden the billion-plus moderate, peaceful Muslims, to toss aside the fundamentalists who promote jihad and the eventual destruction of all non-believers.

Is there hope for the human race, or are we doomed?  Have you met, worked with, known, befriended any Muslim people?  Can "fundamentalists" of all stripes be overcome by our shared humanity?  Can't say I'm feeling terribly optimistic lately.  I will add that I've met and worked with some Muslim people, and they were good people, but I haven't met many.