Raymond Ibrahim, an American author of Coptic Egyptian descent, runs a YouTube channel called, um, Raymond Ibrahim, and writes books exploring the conflict between Islam, Christianity, and the West.

'Islam means submission'

And he doesn't hold back.

Islam’s political theology rejects compromise—unlike Christianity, it demands submission, threatening democratic values.

— Samuel Huntington, political scientist

More specifically, he has written:

• The Al Qaeda Reader (2007)
• Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (2013)
• Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West (2018)
• Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam (2022)

What he argues

In a nutshell, Raymond Ibrahim argues that Islam has a long history of conflict with the West, starting with early Muslim conquests that took over Christian lands through warfare, like the Battle of Yarmuk.

Raymond says that jihad ('holy war') is a core part of Islam’s teachings, based on the Quran. He also says Islamic doctrines, like taqiyya (deception) and dhimma (rules for non-Muslims), show intolerance and encourage Muslims to dominate others, pointing to historical practices like the jizya tax.

He strongly rejects the idea that Islam is peaceful. For example, simply consider the persecution of Christians in Muslim-majority countries.

He adds that academia and media downplay Islam’s violent past to be politically correct and to avoid offending Muslims.

I have found this to be true, anecdotally speaking, and I'm reminded of that time, around 2006, when Muslims caused chaos after cartoons of Mohammad were published in Denmark.

Here's the late (and great) Christopher Hitchens discussing the controversy and echoing my aforementioned comments:

Anyway, while Raymond doesn't hate Muslims, his central argument is that Islam is simply not compatible with either the West or Christianity.

Yes, we all have decent Muslim friends.

We all have decent Jewish friends too.

Or communist friends.

And so on.

Was Jesus a Jew (and why does it matter)?

I was taught that Jesus was a Jew.

Jerm WarfareJerm

Raymond’s point isn’t about that.

It's about the overarching system.

For 1,400 years, Islam’s armies battered Christendom—from Tours to Vienna, it’s a war of conquest, not coexistence.

— Bernard Lewis, historian

🎙️ Podcast episode

As I write, I’ve hosted nearly a thousand podcast episodes, and this is my first focused on Islam. I’m not sure why, but there you go.