Islam’s Expansion and Conflict with the West
The Ron Paul Theory is named for Ron Paul, who is a congressman from Texas and was a presidential candidate. This theory states that if the United States withdraws all of its military forces from the Middle East, Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists will not attack the United States. Ron Paul has said that staying in the Middle East serves as a recruiting tool for Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders.

The world is becoming increasingly complex and diverse. This creates the possibility for more cultural conflict, but also more cooperation. The Ron Paul Theory believes that people will be at peace if they are left alone. He rejects the idea that Western ideas can have a moderating effect on Islam. In some ways, the Ron Paul Theory can be compared to the way that people deal with bees. Everyone knows that if you leave bees alone they leave you alone. Ron Paul believes that if we leave Islamic nations alone, they will leave us alone.

The Caliphate Theory has many supporters in the Muslim world. But it is interpreted in different ways. According to one group, the Caliph, the successor to Muhammad, would peacefully unify Muslims under a single Caliphate. The Caliph was often known as Amir al-Mum’inin, or the Commander of the Believers or leader of the Muslims. This could be done peacefully, many people believe. At a time when Muslims believe they are being attacked by the United States and other Western countries, the need for unity is great. But it would take a lot to peacefully overcome all of the divisions in the Muslim world.

A second, more radical group also believes in Caliphate Theory. But they believe that because Islam is under attack from the West, they need to unite and fight the West. Under this theory, the Caliphate would use violence to defend Islam from its enemies. This is seen in many of the messages from Osama bin Laden. Al Qaeda recently called one of its internet broadcasts “The Voice of the Caliph.”

I agree with the Ron Paul Theory about the Middle East. Here are the reasons. I believe that if we leave the Middle East, radical Muslims would not feel the need to use violent methods to attack us. Islam is largely a peaceful religion, although some of its followers are extreme. As a result, if we were to remove all of our military forces from the Middle East, then there would be no cause for tensions. The war in Iraq was not fought for oil, in my opinion. It was fought to remove Saddam Hussein from power. In reality, the war has not really helped bring down oil prices. But the war in Iraq has hurt our economy very much. In fact, while we have an economic crisis right now, it would help the United States a lot to pull our troops out of Iraq and use that money here at home.

There are many examples throughout the history of Islam of conquest and expansion. In fact, as the World History textbook shows, after Muhammad’s death, Islam expanded throughout Arabia under the leadership of Abu Bakr. In some ways, he was the true caliph because he unified so much of the Muslim world. That unity fell apart after the death of Abu Bakr. The spread of Islam was halted at the Battle of Tours, so the advance of Islam was stopped in Spain. This might have been a preview of the conflicts that were to come between the West and Islam.

Islam has had many different centers of power. The first caliphs ruled from Madinah, but after Mu’awiyah became caliph and established the Umayyad Dynasty, he moved the capital from Madinah to Damascus. During this period, Islam was deeply divided by internal disputes. The most important division occurred when Hussein led a revolt against Umayyad rule that led to the formation of two main groups of Muslims, Shiites and Sunnis. This split in Islam still is present today, and no leader since then has unified the entire Muslim world.

There were some periods of peace and prosperous times, however. The Abbasid Dynasty was one of these periods, lasting about 500 years. This period showed that when Islam is unified, there can be peace and economic power. However, even though the Abbasid Dynasty was dominant for a time, some groups began to separate from the dynasty and form their own caliphates. When Islam was divided, it was easier for outside enemies to attack it. When the Mongols struck in 1258, following the Crusades, the old Arab empire that began with Mohammed had been destroyed.

What this history shows is that the Ron Paul Theory is even more correct. Because we have little understanding of all of the complexities of Islam, it should make it more important for us to not become involved in wars in the Middle East. It can be very easy for the United States to be used by one side or another in a local dispute that does not have anything to do with us.

Louay Fatoohi believes that “Muslims need to recognize that the world they live in today has barely any resemblance to the world at the time of the Prophet Muhammad.” However, some of the same differences within Islam that existed at the time of Mohammed are still present today. That can be seen in the different ways that people look at the term Jihad. There are really two basic meanings of Jihad: the Jihad of force and the Jihad of persuasion. The word Jihad just means “struggle” in Arabic, so people interpret it in very different ways.

People in the United States think of Jihad only in military terms. They think that a Jihad is a war between Islam and the West. But it is really amazing how many different ways that people look at this term. There have been instances in the history of Islam when Muhammad and other leaders used the term Jihad to defend attacks on enemies. In addition, Saladin used the term Jihad to organize Muslims against the Crusades. But other people believe that Jihad means to peacefully win people over. For instance, the scholar Mahmoud Ayoub believes that the true goal of Jihad is to attain harmony between Islam, faith and righteous living. What this shows is that even though Louay Fatoohi is correct, some of the disputes from ancient Islam, such as the meaning if Jihad, still divide Muslims today.