What have we done to them that they hate us?

Our audiences always ask us, “What have we done to Muslims that their leaders hate us so much?” They wonder what they and the West have done that Muslim leaders in the world hate the West. Is it because of colonialism, petrol exploitation, or slavery that Muslims hate the West? They love to ask this and to hear answers that address this problem.

To our audience’s surprise, our answers were different from what they expected to hear. We took them to the history; back to the rise of Islam as the state religion in Saudi Arabia.

Christians (or Jews or Hindus or Zoroastrians) of the seventh century AD did not do any particular wrong to Arabs whereby Muhammad and his successors could label them as unclean, animals or worst of beasts who deserved to die and go to hell unless they became Muslim. Every attitude of Muhammad and his successors was based on the call of the political religion of Islam, which forces others to join the army of Islam. The motivation was fully a politico-religious one, not social or moral. If it was social or moral, why then would Muslims forgive non-Muslims if they joined Islam? Even the Qur’an proves that it is not anything other than a religious reason. Only 5% of the references for hell in the Qur’an are for moral failure, but the remaining 95% are for those who do not follow Islam. The second reason that it couldn’t be any other reason but politico-religious is because Islam, in every aspect of life, is harsher than other beliefs in the world. Look at the following verses of the Qur’an:

• (Muhammad) Do not treat your wives alike, no matter how eager you may be to do so (Q.4:129)
• Wives should not be saddened for anything you may give/tell them (Q.33:51)
• …as to those women on whose part you fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds, beat them… (Q.4:34)
• The party of Allah (In Arabic: Hezballah) … shall be triumphant(Q.5:56).
• Prepare against the infidels (Christians and Jews) whatever arms and weaponry you can muster so that you may terrorize them (Q.8:59).
• I will instill terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them (Q.8:12)
• Muhammad is the apostle of Allah; and those who are with him are strict with Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other (Q.48:29)
• Of a truth ye are stronger (than they) because of the terror in their hearts, (sent) by Allah. This is because they are men devoid of understanding (Q.59:13)
• So fight them (non-Muslims) until there is no more disbelief (in the whole world) and all submit to the religion of Allah alone (Q.8:39).

Why then would a wise Muslim push non-Muslims to follow Islam if non-Muslims are more loving and less authoritarian to their family members and others than Muslims?

For Islam, it does not matter how loving or harsh you are in your attitudes to others; if you do not follow Islam, you are guilty and have to be humiliated or killed (Q.9:5, 29).

Christian nations have always been in the forefront in helping the poor Islamic countries. Do Allah and Muhammad appreciate this? If you give your whole wealth to Islam but not your heart, you are still not in a right relationship with Islam and you, therefore, have to be frightened, terrorized and killed.

So, it is not what you have done to Muslims, it is that you are not yet Muslim, and for this reason you are hated.