JSPES, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Summer 2017)
pp. 251–272

Jihadism and Muslim Immigration Three Recent Books

Dwight D. Murphey

Wichita State University, Retired

There is little in today’s world that is more contentious than the debate over the nature of Islam and the role of Muslim immigration into the United States and Europe. Major figures take the position that Islam is a religion of peace and that Muslim immigration is to be welcomed. An opposing view points to much in Islamic teaching that is not peaceful, to the widespread jihadist presence that is bringing violence both to Islamic societies and those of the West, and to the inability effectually to know what is going on inside Muslim communities and to “vet” newcomers. Still another perspective, thus far latent because it is presently outside what is “politically correct,” is that it is mostly irrelevant how peaceful Islam is, because in any event it is existentially unwise for the West to invite an influx of a major new population element whose religion and culture diverges so greatly from Western society’s. Those who grapple with these issues find that the subject is vast in its extent and complexity. The article here reviews three books. The first is by an author we presume to be Muslim, and tells much about the jihadist hatreds that produce not just attacks upon the West but a great deal of internecine violence among the world’s many Muslim factions. The others are by American authors, each a Christian, pointing to the dangers and social costs of large-scale Muslim immigration. These reviews are put forward not as a final word, but for the benefit of the information they contain and as an invitation to further study.