Shortly after yesterday's barbaric jihad attack in London, someone calling themselves Nur al-Iman (light of the faith), posted a claim of responsibility from "The Secret Organisation Group of Al-Qa'ida of Jihad Organisation in Europe" on the messages boards at "The Castle" Qal3ah jihadi website. The BBC's news site has an English translation of this posting:

In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, may peace be upon the cheerful one and undaunted fighter, Prophet Muhammad, God's peace be upon him.

Nation of Islam and Arab nation: Rejoice for it is time to take revenge against the British Zionist Crusader government in retaliation for the massacres Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan. The heroic mujahideen have carried out a blessed raid in London. Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters.

We have repeatedly warned the British Government and people. We have fulfilled our promise and carried out our blessed military raid in Britain after our mujahideen exerted strenuous efforts over a long period of time to ensure the success of the raid.

We continue to warn the governments of Denmark and Italy and all the Crusader governments that they will be punished in the same way if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. He who warns is excused.

God says: "You who believe: If ye will aid (the cause of) Allah, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly."*

*Qur'an, 47.7

In the coming days we will be hearing a lot of statements from incredulous pundits along the lines of "this is a previously unknown group." Some will blame George W. Bush and the United States for "creating new terrorists" because hunt down Islamic terrorists where they live. We will additionally hear from Islamic apologists and multicultists about how we need to distinguish the terrorists from the peaceful teachings of Islam. They will likely implore us to look for the "root cause" of this homicidal Islamic rage (again, this will probably end up on America's doorstep). And yes, we will, of course, also be told (again) about how this hellacious act of savagery was just an isolated incident of violence carried out by extremists who don't represent the real Islam, which is really the religion of peace and tolerance™.

It doesn't matter whether or not we've heard of this group, or if it even exists. What happened yesterday, and its intrinsic character, do exist. Jihad is diffuse, universal, and self-reliant in a localized way. Al-Qaeda is just a name. So are Islamic Jihad, Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah (Hamas), Abu Sayyaf, Tanzim Qa'idat Al-Jihad in Bilad al-Rafidayn (al-Qaeda in Iraq), Hizbullah, Al-Ikhwan Al-Moslemoon (the Muslim Brotherhood), and countless others. As much as we Westerners like our information and our lives to be neatly compartmentalized and labeled, jihad is amorphous, messy, and nameless. Whatever name you call it, it always means the same thing: Kill the infidels who stand between Islam and its delusions of world supremacy.

These people are not "made" by U.S. foreign policy, they are only mobilized by it when it resists them, and the names they operate under are subordinate to the cause of their ideology. That ideology, of course, is jihad—warfare to expand the dominion of Allah's religion, as elucidated in the Qur'an. That's the root cause.

It is jihad, not exotic and menacing Arabic titles, that is the enemy of Western civilization—indeed of all non-Islamic civilizations. Jihad is an integral part of mainstream Islamic doctrine, and it always has been. Islam is not a religion of peace, and never has been. Its borders have been bloody since its inception, and will stay that way unless one of three things happens:

1. a spectacular and absolute annihilation of Islam's ability to wage jihad (including ideological jihad, hearts and minds, etc.)
2. the establishment of worldwide khilfah (Islamic rule under a caliph)
3. a top to bottom reform of Islam's core principles, followed by a long overdue enlightenment of the ummah (Muslim nation/community)

Other than that, you can be sure that Islam's holy war will just grind on and on because Allah has thus ordained it, and only a fool would make the mistake of thinking that the mujahideen aren't hardcore true believers. To die a martyr while fighting in the service of Allah's religion is the highest honor, and is rewarded with instant access to paradise (everyone else has to wait until judgment day), where the mujahid/shahid (holy warrior/martyr) will enjoy a hedonistic orgy of sex with scores of eternal virgins, wine (nonalcoholic, of course) and gastronomic bliss forever and ever, amen. Plus, he can intercede to get seventy of his family members and homeboys into this afterlife V.I.P. party.

It doesn't matter what Islamic terrorists call themselves or if we've heard of them. It doesn't matter how desperately you may want to convince yourself that this sickness couldn't possibly be an essential part of a great world religion. It doesn't even matter if we ever catch Osama bin Laden or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (although I personally hope we find and kill them—preferably with some excruciating pain before they are dispatched to Allah's madman's paradise). It's the ideology of jihad that we are fighting, and terror happens to be its most potent tool.

What does matter is that these isolated incidents occur several times per day, every day, every year, year in and year out, all around the world. It matters that such horrible acts of holy violence are committed by Muslims, who are following Islam's teachings to the letter. How many times does this need to happen before the West gets it and resolves to unite and beat it? Israel understands this nightmare. Chen Keinan presciently warned after witnessing the Arab/Islamic murder of her mother and daughter with her own eyes three years ago, "You're next, buddies."

The mujahideen are speaking directly to us, loudly and clearly with each attack. If you think they are handily dismissed "extremists" or "terrorists" who have "hijacked" Islam, then perhaps it is time for you to consult the same material that they do. The message of the mujahideen's imperative is not at all ambiguous—we're just ignorant of it. They are not.

Read the book, pay atttention to the news, and use your faculties of reason. The enlightenment that our civilization went through to afford us the benefit of reason is what Islam is so greatly in need of, and right now is definitely not the time for us to abandon the hard-won legacy that our forbears worked for, and which freedom's children have died for.

Every time we fail to learn the heart and mind of our enemy after these wicked, brutal acts of mass murder, we dishonor our dead and set the stage for those who will die tomorrow.

(With profound sorrow and empathy for the people of Britain, and quiet, resolute anger for the mujahideen savages who only kill and destroy.)

Copyright ©2005 Patrick D. O'Brien: may not be copied, published, or otherwise used (except for quotes) without express permission of author. Originally posted at Clarity & Resolve.