The 9th Anniversary of 9/11 Begs An In-Depth Examination Of The Koran

By Alicia Colon

Koran burning and Ground Zero mosques dominated the 9th anniversary of the most vicious attack by foreigners in our nation's history. It also generated much inane commentary by notables who should have known better. Recently, the former Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, appeared on the show "The View" and expressed his opinion that the Ground Zero mosque should go forward because, "The terrorists win if we become terrified and ... change who we are and what we are."

This is the same mealy-mouthed rationalization that gave Osama bin Laden the go-ahead to attack the paper tiger that failed to respond vehemently to the American embassy bombings in Africa and the attack on the U.S.S. Cole during the Clinton administration.

Gen. Powell went on to say that he understands the sensitivity of New Yorkers to the mosque's proposed location near the site of the September 11th terrorist attacks. No, general, you do not! You're spouting the same nonsense as our spineless mayor, Michael Bloomberg. If I hear one more useful idiot say that we'll betray the values that made this country great by not allowing this Islamic edifice to emerge amidst the ashes of jihadist triumph, I'll go ballistic.

What made this country as great as it is were Americans willing to fight and die for liberty, not to roll over and appease the sensitivities of our enemies. The truth is that the Muslim community has become the global bully, shutting down any possible criticism of their religion whether justified or not. Everyone from the Vatican to our president has now come out against the proposed burning of the Koran by a Florida Pentecostal pastor, Terry Jones, who has as much right to do so as Muslims have to build a megamosque at Ground Zero.

There's only one reason to denounce the pastor's proposed actions and that's because so much of the Muslim world is totally mad and there are many innocent people, including our soldiers - who are underfunded thanks to this anti-military administration - who would bear the brunt of its insanity.

In 2005, a fake story in Newsweek magazine that a Koran had been shredded and tossed into a toilet at Gitmo was enough for these maniacs to kill 15 people in a riot in Afghanistan. Christians in Gaza witnessed the burning of the Bible and crosses after the Fatah movement was defeated in 2007. Not much global protest then, was there?

How about Andres Serrano putting the crucifix in a jar of urine and calling it "Piss Christ"? This is called art and demands federal funding for the desecration of the Christian symbol. Anybody see a gross double-standard here?

Pastor Jones may have made a provocative and perhaps unwise gesture by his threat (now recanted), but other churches in the country are threatening the same action and it's not hard to understand why they're making these statements. As long as the Koran contains contradictory messages to its believers, it will be necessary to examine which Muslim passages are being adhered to by the believers.

Is Islam a religion of peace that forbids terrorism? There are certainly passages that definitely make that clear.

However, in Koran 8:12 there's also this: "I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers." Koran 9:5: "When the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them."

Koran 5:51: "Believers, take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another. Whoever of you seeks their friendship shall become one of their number. God does not guide the wrong-doers."

According to a Koranic scholar, Moorthy Muthuswamy, about 61 percent of the contents of the Koran speak ill of unbelievers or call for their violent conquest while at best only 2.6 percent of the verses show goodwill toward humanity. About 75 percent of the Prophet Muhammad's biography, or Sira, consists of jihad waged on unbelievers.

The Koran is too complex and deserves much more detailed study than I could commit to here, but I did try in vain to find any passage that could possibly justify flying commercial aircraft into office buildings, killing nearly 3,000 human beings.

If there were passages in the New Testament that exhorted Catholics to overthrow the government and establish one that would be subject to the Pope, the ACLU would be hell bent to remove the Church from the tax-exempt rolls. The FBI would be looking into charges of treason and sedition.

If chaplains were found trying to recruit prisoners for a Holy War, they'd be banned, yet imams are successfully recruiting American jihadists through the prison system and are allowed to do so. This is insane.

Meanwhile, certain imams and ayatollahs have made statements calling for the establishment of a caliphate. They regard this as the ideal form of government, because it follows the laws of God as set out in the Koran, rather than laws designed by man. The original name for the Ground Zero mosque was Cordoba House, recalling the great caliphate of Cordoba, Spain, in the Middle Ages.

Some Muslim apologists are explaining that this achievement would be accomplished by peaceful means, but according to the Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari of Iran, it means an armed conflict. In his discourse, "Jihad: The Holy War of Islam and Its Legitimacy in the Koran," the Ayatollah writes: "... Islam, however, is a religion that sees its duty and commitment to form an Islamic state. Islam came to reform society and to form a nation and government. Its mandate is the reform of the whole world ... It cannot be without a law of jihad. While the scope of Christianity is extremely limited, that of Islam is extremely wide ... It has laws which govern the society, economic laws and political laws. It came to organize a state, to organize a government. Once this is done, how can it remain without an army?"

The time for hypocrisy is over. It is now time for Islamic leaders from all over the world to display an ounce of the courage displayed by those passengers on United Flight 93 and those who died rescuing the innocent victims in the World Trade Center, such as my friend Donald Foreman, a Port Authority cop who kept returning to the Twin Towers until he died. If these so-called moderate Muslims refuse, then perhaps they deserve whatever contempt is heaped upon them and the Koran.

As for all Americans and especially our president, it's time to stop bowing down to bullies who despise our way of life and to lock and load. How 'bout that for a true American value?

Alicia Colon resides in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com