Reasonable—non-phobic—concerns about Islam

 
Al Masjid Al Nabawi, a.k.a. the Prophet’s Mosque, is situated in Medina, Saudi Arabia, and was built by Islam’s Prophet Muhammad in 622 AD. The green dome is situated directly above the burial chamber of Prophet Muhammad and his companions Abu Bakr and Umar. This mosque is the second holiest site in Islam (the first is the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, and the third is the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem). Photo credit: Magzter/ Asian Geographic AG 162.

Reasonable—non-phobic—concerns about Islam

By Hendrik van der Breggen

I have serious concerns about Islam, and my fellow Westerners should, too.

My focus in this article is on Islam itself, i.e., the religious ideology, not individual Muslims. My focus is on ideas, not persons.

Before I set out my concerns about Islam, please know this: Vandalizing mosques or otherwise treating Muslims with disrespect or hatred is wrong, full stop. Muslims, like all people, deserve respect (because, I believe, they are, like the rest of us, made in the image of God). But their behaviours and beliefs—as those of Christians, Buddhists, Atheists, etc.—can be legitimately criticized and judged from the point of view of reason and truth.

In other words, thinking carefully about Islam and criticizing Islam are not instances of Islamophobia. Whereas a phobia is an irrational fear or hatred, the fact remains that one can have reasonable, truth-based non-phobic concerns. Setting out accurate statements of objective truths about Islam is not Islamophobic.[1]

In this article I will do the following:

(1) question whether Islam is a religion of peace (it’s not);

(2) question whether Islam is good for women (it’s not);

(3) question whether Islam is good for persons who identify as LGBTQ+ (it’s not);

(4) question whether Islam is merely a personal religion (no, it’s also a political ideology);

(5) question the legitimacy of Islam’s overstepping the relationship between church—better: mosque—and state (no, it’s not legitimate to do so in a secular liberal society);

(6) question whether the notion of “moderate Muslim” means there is a “moderate Islam” (again, no).

I conclude that the West needs to understand that we should resist this religio-political ideology—Islam—which threatens to destroy us. How? For starters, by discerning evidence-based truth about Islam.

Let’s proceed.

 

1. Islam is a religion of peace?

Often we are told that Islam is a religion of peace. But is it? The facts are these: Islam is centered on the Quran (Allah’s literal words) and Muhammad (Allah’s latest and greatest prophet), and the Quran and Muhammad promote war—violent jihad against non-believers.

Yes, most Muslims don’t follow the Quran or Muhammad in this regard, which is good. They elevate the Quran’s peaceful verses and Muhammad’s peaceful traits above the violent ones.

But there are serious problems with this.

It turns out that the Quran’s chapters are ordered from longest to shortest, not chronologically. Chronologically, the Quran’s peaceful verses occur before Muhammad gains power, whereas its calls to jihad (war on unbelievers/ “infidels”) occur after Muhammad gains power. Significantly, according to the Quran, the later verses abrogate (cancel) the earlier verses.

In fact, according to the sayings and actions of Muhammad (Hadith) and biographies of Muhammad (Sirah), Muhammad is a warlord, responsible for hundreds of murders plus the enslavement of men, women, and children.

According to the Quran’s last revelation (which cancels the previous peaceful ones), Muhammad orders his followers to kill infidels, i.e., those who don’t agree with his views about God, especially Jews.

Again, most Muslims don’t follow the Quran or Muhammad in this regard, which is good. They elevate the Quran’s peaceful verses and Muhammad’s peaceful traits above the violent ones.

But why do this, if Muhammad’s call to violent jihad is his latest Quranic revelation and this latest revelation cancels the earlier peaceful revelation?

If Islamic “reform” means getting back to basics, what are those basics?

In the Protestant Christian reformation, getting back to basics meant getting back to Scriptures. If reform of Islam means getting back to Scriptures in Islam, this explains why those who closely follow the Quran and Muhammad are so violent. (Note: The former leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, earned a PhD in Islamic studies.)

As far as I can tell, Islam is a religion of peace only in the sense that peace is understood as submission. “Islam” means submission, and “Muslim” means one who submits. According to the Quran and Muhammad, the enemies of Allah, i.e., those who refuse to submit to Allah as revealed by the Quran and Muhammad, must submit to Allah. Or else.

Islam’s peace, then, is like the peace at the end of a battle, after Allah’s enemies are all subjugated. Or dead.[2]

 

2. Equality for women?

If, as Islam teaches, Mohammad is the latest and greatest prophet whom all Muslims should emulate, then equality for women is lost.

According to Islamic tradition and the Quran, Muhammad has a terribly low view of women. How so? Consider these points: a woman’s testimony is worth half that of a man, more women than men will be in hell, women can be beaten. Also, Muhammad married a girl when she was six, consummating the marriage three years later.

Consider the following words of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim:

“Under Islam, every woman is a second-class citizen. She can inherit only half as much as her brother. Her testimony in court—say, in the case of her own rape—is worth half that of her rapist. A Muslim woman has to ask a male guardian for permission to get married or have a child—in some places to even leave the house. And all these various oppressions are justified using the core texts of Islam: the Koran and the hadith.”[3]

Islam, then, is no friend of women’s rights. Nor the rights of little girls.

 

3. LGBTQ+ equality?

The Quran’s and Muhammad’s views about homosexuals are also negative. How does Islam fit with respect for those who identify as gay? Answer: It doesn’t.

Google AI is helpful here: “According to traditional Islamic jurisprudence (Sunni and Shia), homosexual acts are considered forbidden major sins, with most scholars recommending severe penalties, including the death penalty (stoning or throwing from a height) based on Hadith, though specific punishments vary.”

Surely, it is not phobic for members of the LGBTQ+ community to be reasonably concerned about the teachings of Islam.[4]

 

4. Islam is a personal religion?

We Westerners tend to forget that Islam is not merely a personal religion. Islam is also—at its essence—a political ideology. And not just any old political ideology: it’s a theocratic totalitarian ideology that seeks to dominate the world.

Don’t believe me? Then consider the history of Islam.

Islam’s violent conquests began in Arabia under the leadership of Muhammad (570–632 AD) and then rapidly spread by his followers. Within a bit more than a century an Islamic caliphate (i.e., a trans-national state governed by Sharia law) stretched from Spain to India, including Syria, Egypt, Persia, North Africa, and parts of Europe. Its goal was to conquer the globe via jihad. Happily, but at the cost of much bloodshed from those who resisted the Islamic forces, Islam’s spread was stopped.[5]

But that was then. At present, Islam’s goal of world conquest via jihad is upon us again. Witness the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Islamic proxies—Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Islamic militias in Iraq and Syria. Witness, too, the growing number of Islamic jihadists and their supporters among us.[6]

I repeat: Islam is not merely a personal religion. It is a totalitarian political-religious ideology that calls for the domination of the world.

 

5. Separation of mosque and state?

For Westerners, this brings up the question of separation of church and state, or, better, mosque and state.

I am a Canadian. Canada is a secular liberal state. As such, Canada has a commitment (at least) to individual liberty, including religious freedom and freedom of speech, equality before the law, and state neutrality (though our “neutral” state reflects values inherited from its Western/ Judeo-Christian history; for example, the dignity and worth of each individual).[7]

About any totalitarian political-religious ideology such as Islam, Canadians should ask:

—Can what is incompatible with secular liberalism be compatible with secular liberalism?

—Should liberal tolerance tolerate illiberalism?

—Does Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms require its own destruction by respecting political-religious ideologies that use the language of rights and freedoms to squelch rights and freedoms?

I believe all the answers are no. O Canada, we must stand on guard for thee![8]

 

6. What about moderate Muslims?

Yes, there are moderate Muslims, that is, Muslims who favour secular liberalism with its commitment to religious freedom and pluralism. And we should be grateful.

But the fact remains that the core teachings of Islam, as taken from the Quran and Muhammad—and which reflect Muhammad’s later violent teachings which cancel his earlier peaceful teachings—these core teachings of Islam are anathema to secular liberalism. They do not promote liberal values of freedom for all, do not promote women’s rights, do not promote LGBTQ+ rights, are not merely personal, and do not promote separation between mosque and state.

The fact that there are moderate Muslims, then, should not diminish our concerns about Islam per se.

Enter: Middle East historian Raymond Ibrahim—a historian for our time. Ibrahim’s knowledge of the history of Islam provides much-needed insights into the complexities of the present.

Ibrahim wisely points out that, yes, there are moderate Muslims, but, he quickly adds, and emphasizes, there is no moderate Islam.

In other words, Muslims who are moderate do not take Islam seriously insofar as Islam is constituted—which it is!—by the central teachings of the Quran and Muhammad and their requirements of global domination, war against infidels, women as second class citizens, denial of LGBTQ+ rights, and denial of separation between mosque and state.

In other words again, as Ibrahim also points out, such moderate Muslims, when it comes to following the full teachings of the Quran and the model of Muhammad, are better described as non-observant or lackadaisical or nominal Muslims (i.e., they are merely cultural Muslims, like atheist Richard Dawkins is a cultural Christian). On the other hand, Muslims who take Islam seriously—that is, who follow the full teachings of the Quran and fully emulate Muhammad, including the violent teachings that abrogate the non-violent teachings—are better described not as “radical” but observant or practicing Muslims. Let. That. Sink. In.[9]

Also, as Ibrahim points out, we should contemplate the fact that the Islamic doctrine of deception, a.k.a. taqiyya, allows for observant or practicing Muslims to pretend they are non-observant or “moderate.” Taqiyya allows Muslims to tell lies to non-Muslims for the sake of furthering Islam. Let. That. Sink. In. Too.[10]

Of course, we should not become paranoid and unjustly suspect or charge every Muslim with lying simply because they are Muslim. We should hold to the (Western) principle that all people should be given the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. And we should remember that all people—including Muslims—deserve respect (which is yet another Western value, historically based on the notion that people are made in the image of the Judeo-Christian God). Keeping this in mind, we should nevertheless realize that the doctrine of taqiyya casts at least some reasonable doubt over the proliferation of Islamophobia accusations levelled against those who criticize Islam from the point of view of reason and truth.[11]

 

Conclusion

I will say it again: Vandalizing mosques or otherwise treating Muslims with disrespect or hatred is wrong, period. Nevertheless, Islam—the religious ideology—is deeply problematic.

Islam is not a religion of peace. Islam is not good for women. Islam is not good for persons who identify as LGBTQ+. And Islam is not merely a personal religion—it’s also a political ideology.

Moreover, Islam oversteps—and threatens to obliterate—the boundary between mosque and state, and it thereby challenges the legitimacy of secular liberal society. And, although there are moderate Muslims, there is no moderate Islam.

We in the West must understand the truth that Islam is a political-religious ideology which threatens to destroy Western society and values.

We must understand, too, that this is a reasonable judgment about Islam. This is not hatred directed at Muslims nor is it Islamophobia. It is, rather, an instance of careful, critical thinking for the sake of truth—and freedom.[12, 13, 14]

 

Notes

1. What is a phobia? Google AI’s answer is helpful here: “A phobia is an intense, irrational, and persistent fear of a specific object, situation, or activity that isn’t genuinely dangerous, leading to overwhelming anxiety, panic, and significant avoidance behaviors that disrupt daily life.” Also, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine: “A phobia is an uncontrollable, irrational, and lasting fear of a certain object, situation, or activity.” A phobia, then, is an irrational or ungrounded fear, aversion, or hatred. Consider arachnophobia, an irrational ungrounded fear or hatred of spiders. Clearly, however, it is possible to have reasonable, non-phobic concerns about some spiders if the spiders display evidence of being harmful or lethal to humans. Merely having a reasonable fear or concern about something is not a phobia. (Note: I am not making an analogy between Islam and spiders; I am here merely making the point that not all fears or concerns are unreasonable, even if such fears or concerns are intense and serious.)

2. For additional thought on this topic, see Middle East historian Raymond Ibrahim’s 12-minute video, Moderate Islam Is a Lie – The West Is Deluding Itself. Also, see former Muslim Nabeel Qureshi’s 5-minute video, Why I stopped believing Islam is a religion of peace. Yes, the Bible has calls to war in the Old Testament. But the Bible’s calls to war are specific and limited to particular times and places, whereas the Quran’s call for jihad is Muhammad’s latest revelation and is open-ended—and continues. Also, according to the New Testament, Jesus promotes his message by allowing his blood to be shed on a cross. But Muhammad, according to the Quran and tradition, promotes his message by shedding the blood of others.

3. “Koran” is an older, anglicized spelling of “Quran.” Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s comment is from a conversation with Sam Harris, a conversation titled Lifting the Veil of ‘Islamophobia’.

4. Also from Google AI: “The Quran and Islamic tradition generally condemn homosexual acts, viewing them as sinful, unnatural, and ‘exceeding limits,’ often citing the story of Lot (Lut) as a warning. While the Quran describes the behavior of Lot’s people as a ‘horrible sin,’ the Hadith (teachings of Muhammad) contains stricter prohibitions. Mainstream scholars consider homosexuality taboo and a serious sin.”

5. To learn more about the imperialist-conquering nature of Islam, take some time to view and contemplate the following:

Andrew Bostom, The Hidden Truth of Islamic Conquest, Slavery and Jihad, Winston Marshall, October 15, 2025 (130 minute video).

Raymond Ibrahim, The Islamic Conquest Of Europe and Why It Was Covered Up! The Winston Marshall Show, May 10, 2025 (116 minute video).

Raymond Ibrahim, The Real History of Islam with Raymond Ibrahim, Triggernometry, December 14, 2025 (122 minutes).

Raymond Ibrahim, RIBAT: Islam’s Blueprint to Conquer Europe, Raymond Ibrahim, December 8, 2025 (11 minute video).

Konstantin Kisin, Why They’ll Never Be Honest About Islamist Violence, Triggernometry, October 6, 2025 (4 minute video).

Robert Spencer et al., Islam: What the West Needs to Know, produced and directed by Gregory M. Davis and Bryan Daly (Lorain, Ohio: Quixotic Media Productions, 2006) (98 minute video).

6. For a list of the Islamic jihadists and their supporters among us, see Thane Rosenbaum’s recent article, Islam Is Calling.

7. The preamble to Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that “Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.” This means that our “secular” state assumes the legitimacy and truth of some principles that reflect the Judeo-Christian worldview which informed our founders’ Western understanding of civilization when Canada became a nation in 1867.

8. For a look at how Islam and the secular state are at odds, see Glen Scrivener’s Top Historians CLASH on Islam: What’s Really Going On? (18 minute video). In this video the insights from Tom Holland (who describes Islam as “indigestible” for Secularism) and Kevin Flatt (who briefly discusses the “sacred-social order”) are very helpful. For more about Keven Flatt’s thesis, see Paul VanderKlay, Everyone in the World HAD a Sacred Social Order, not a “Religion” (9.5 minute video). See too Flatt’s new book (which, I confess, I haven’t yet read but only have read good things about) Secularization, Social Order, and World History: Toward a Global Perspective (Routledge, 2026). Kevin Flatt is Professor of History and Associate Dean of Humanities at Redeemer University, and is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Societal Futures at the University of Waterloo.

9. About moderate Muslims and moderate Islam, see Raymond Ibrahim’s analyses here and here. It would also be reasonable to describe observant or practicing Muslims as what Ayaan Hirsi Ali calls “Medina Muslims,” i.e., they follow the violent teachings of the Prophet Muhammed when in Medina the prophet effectively became a warlord after his peaceful approach to spreading Islam in Mecca was rejected (“Mecca Muslims” follow the Prophet Muhammad’s peaceful teachings when he first began his religion in Mecca). For more on the distinction between Medina Muslims and Mecca Muslims, see Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Islam Is a Religion of Violence.

10. According to Merriam-Webster, taqiyya is “the principle of practicing the dissimulation of outward conformity permitted Muslims in a hostile or persecuting non-Muslim environment for the sake of their personal safety.” This is true, but not the whole truth. Merriam-Webster misses the full understanding as endorsed by Islam’s prophet Muhammed. For Islamists (i.e., those Muslims who take all of Mohammed’s teachings seriously), taqiyya also allows and encourages Muslims to lie to achieve the goals of Islam. On the Islamic doctrine of deception/taqiyya, see Raymond Ibrahim’s analyses here and here and here and here. And see David Wood’s analysis here.

11. For more on Islamophobia and how Islamic ideology is very apparently infiltrating Canadian education—and how it is not Islamophobic to point this out—see my blog article Orwellian Concerns about Manitoba’s Anti-Islamophobia Action Plan.

12. For additional thought on Islam, see my Islam and Christianity (blog article), Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s After Bondi: We Can No Longer Ignore Islam (60 minute video), and Danny Burmawi’s Islam, Israel, and the West: A Former Muslim’s Analysis (book).

13. My above article “Reasonable—non-phobic—concerns about Islam” is a much-shortened and revised version of my January 2026 blog article “Orwellian Concerns about Manitoba’s Anti-Islamophobia Action Plan.”

14. A note for Christians who wish to share their faith with Muslims: Christian philosopher and apologist William Lane Craig recommends that we focus on the person of Jesus. See Craig’s videos” Advice for Evangelizing Muslims! (4 minutes), How Should Christians Share Their Faith with Muslims? (3 minutes), and The Historical Achilles’ Heel of Islam (2 minutes). Also be sure to understand the Islamic Dilemma, as set out by Canadian apologist Wes Huff:

Cameron Bertuzzi, Wes Huff Drops Islamic Dilemma On Piers Morgan! Capturing Christianity, April 18, 2025 (10 minute video).

Wes Huff, Wes Huff Exposes 3 Huge Problems For Islam (Quran vs History), Daily Dose of Wisdom, March 8, 2025 (15 minute video).

Wes Huff, The Quran is False, Capturing Christianity, December 13, 2024 (11 minute video).

Wes Huff, The Qur’an has a problem, Wes Huff, October 16, 2024 (3 minute video).

Wes Huff, Comparing the Qur’an with the New Testament, Wes Huff, April 29, 2022 (46 minute video).

Michael Jones, An Even DEADLIER Islamic Dilemma – Introducing: The Clear Quran Dilemma, Inspiring Philosophy, December 5, 2025 (9 minute video).

 

For further thought 

Articles

Joe Adam George, Ontario Schools Promote Islamist Agenda in Name of ‘Equity’: Parents Object as Group With Ties to Muslim Brotherhood Sets Curriculum, Middle East Forum, December 12, 2025.

Ahmed Charai, The Muslim Brotherhood’s Stealth Jihad, The National Interest, April 3, 2025.

Raymond Ibrahim, How Trustworthy Are Muslim Professions of Peace? Raymond Ibrahim blog, December 14, 2020.

Ches W. Parsons, Sophie Milman & Sheryl Saperia, Canada can no longer ignore its violent jihadist extremism problem, National Post, January 1, 2026.

Hendrik van der Breggen, Is Hamas a legitimate representative of Islam? Yes, it is, APOLOGIA, February 24, 2025.

Hendrik van der Breggen, Islam and Christianity, APOLOGIA, March 16, 2017.

Hendrik van der Breggen, Questioning Islamophobia, APOLOGIA, March 2, 2017.

Books

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, The Challenge of Dawa: Political Islam as Ideology and Movement and How to Counter It (Stanford, California: Stanford University/ Hoover Institution Press, 2017).

Andy Bannister, Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? (London, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2021).

Danny Burmawi, Islam, Israel, and the West: A Former Muslim’s Analysis (Gerasa Books, 2025).

Mark A. Gabriel, Islam and the Jews: The Unfinished Battle (Lake Mary, Florida: Charisma House, 2003).

William Kilpatrick, Christianity, Islam, and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012).

Douglas Murray, Islamophilia: A Very Metropolitan Malady (Amazon KDP, 2020).

Nabeel Qureshi, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A devout Muslim encounters Christianity, 3rd edition (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018).

R. C. Sproul Abdul Saleeb, The Dark Side of Islam (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2003).

Videos

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, “After Bondi: We Can No Longer Ignore Islam,” John Anderson Media, February 2, 2026 (60 minute video).

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, “Our Crisis of Antisemitism & Islamism,” University of Austin, April 11, 2025 (70 minute video).

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, The Muslim plan to ‘bring the world under Islam dominion’, GBNews, May 31, 2024 (41 minute video).

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, The Growing Threat of Radical Islam, Triggernometry, May 26, 2024 (63 minute video).

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Ayaan Hirsi Ali on the West, Dawa, and Islam, Hoover Institution, August 3, 2017 (42 minute video).

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Douglas Murray, et al., “Islam Can’t Be Trusted” Ayaan Hirsi Ali Dismantles Muslim Panel In Heated Debate! By The Book Ministries, March 29, 2025 (17 minute video). (This is from a few years ago. The title is overly sensationalist. Nevertheless, the discussion is insightful and important.)

Mark Durie, The Quran Says Jews Are Almost Sub-Human, John Anderson Media, December 21, 2025 (5 minute video).

Raymond Ibrahim, Can Muslims Assimilate into the West? iCatholicRadio, August 18, 2025 (33 minute video).

Raymond Ibrahim, The Dangers of Radical Islam, PragerU, September 28, 2015 (5 minute video).

Gad Saad, The Woke Islamic Alliance – Gad Saad Interview, Nick Freitas, December 30, 2025 (65 minute video).

Nabeel Qureshi, Muhammad’s Life Exposed: What History Really Says, 100 Huntley Clips, March 20, 2025 (21 minute video).

 

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Hendrik van der Breggen, PhD, is a retired philosophy professor.