Sydney, December 2003: Dr Paul White’s observations in an article entitled "France’s ‘New Secularism’: The French War on Islam?" published in this issue of SALAM magazine are particularly revealing. We have written before about the war against Islam by the secularists, more specifically the secular imperialists. Their wish is to "secularise" Islam. We say that such a thing cannot be done to Islam, except to destroy it. In fact, this is what they really wish to achieve.

Dr White outlines the ploy used in France whereby the State wishes to control the practice of Islam in that country. This is in line with most Western democracies where the Judeo-Christian religions are state controlled. France’s neighbours are eagerly awaiting the outcome of this experiment to control the ever-growing minority of Muslims.

The War on Terrorism is nothing but a façade for a War against Islam. Who is Al-Qaeda and what purpose does it serve? Al-Qaeda definitely does not serve the interests of Islam. In fact, everything that it has done has harmed Muslims. Only a crazy person will blow himself up to kill innocent Muslims and non-Muslims. And to do so in Muslim Turkey in the Holy month of Ramadan is beyond belief.

The contention by the secularists that Islam breeds violence and terrorism is an absurdity. The falsity of this claim lies in the proof that the last century has witnessed the largest scale of intolerance and fanaticism. Dr Will Durant, in the fourth volume of his monumental work "Story of Civilisation", noted that the present age of Western domination, "has killed more people in war, and snuffed out more innocent lives without due process of law, than all the wars and persecutions of our time, it is among the darkest blots on the record of mankind, revealing a ferocity unknown in any beast."

The Australian government’s current attempts to strengthen anti-terrorism laws at the expense of the civil liberties of all Australians but mainly Muslims signals a move towards a secular fascism. Keeping the general populous "alert but not alarmed" serves only to strengthen the elite’s grip on power. They can now operate above and beyond the rule of law to tyrannise and oppress. The very day that the proposed amendments to the ASIO bill were tabled in the Senate, the first Australian, Zak Mallah, was arrested and charged under terrorism laws. That same night the amendments, which threaten to return Australia to the days of secrecy and intimidation by intelligence-gathering agencies, were passed without any amendments. Coincidence or impeccable timing?

Interestingly, the solution to the problem of secularism is discussed in this issue of SALAM magazine. Brother Elsayed Kandil started a new series of articles summarising Dr Yusuf Alqaradawi’s "The Inevitability of the Islamic Solution." Episode 1 outlines "Imported solutions and how they harmed our nation". He writes: "The next phase is for true, integrated, comprehensive, and pure, unpolluted Islam."