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==Reviews== ==Reviews==
Many reviews criticised the film as being inaccurate, simplistic and biased against Islam.<ref>Dann Gire, "War and terrorism: What more could moviegoers want?", ''Chicago Daily Herald'', 7 July 2006, p. 37.</ref><ref> - ]. ], ]</ref><ref>Phillips, Michael <u>Movie reviews: 'The War Tapes' and 'Islam: What the West Needs to Know'</u> </ref> It has also been critiqued as being boring.<ref>Phillips, Michael <u>Movie reviews: 'The War Tapes' and 'Islam: What the West Needs to Know'</u> </ref><ref> - Gwinnett Daily Post. ], ]</ref> However, others considered the film to be important,<ref>http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/entertainment/15746693.htm</ref><ref> - ]. ], ]</ref> with the Gwinnett Daily Post describing its message as "mind-blowing".<ref> - Gwinnett Daily Post. ], ]</ref>
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" documentary-style film, "Islam: What the West Needs to Know," asserts that, properly understood and practiced by its followers, Islam is a violent, expansionary ideology that seeks the destruction or subjugation of other faiths, cultures and systems of government. bound-to-be-controversial project.. its stark look, long-winded interview segments and citations from Islamic texts, "Islam: What the West Needs to Know" isn't exactly scintillating viewing. But even those who don't share the perspective of the filmmakers will find themselves face to face with some disconcerting and thought-provoking suppositions, sure to fuel lively discussions about religion, politics, terrorism and war. " --Atlanta-Journal Constitution <ref> - ]. ], ]</ref>

"Directors Bryan Daly and Gregory Davis don't pretend to be neutral. Commentators use the Quran and Hadiths (religious commentaries) to make some points I could accept and some I couldn't. But if their central thesis is true -- and it's worth considering -- then this is the most horrific film of the 21st century so far." -- The Charlotte Observer <ref>http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/entertainment/15746693.htm</ref>

"The title of the shameless, alarmist documentary "Islam: What the West Needs to Know" isn't complete without the phrase "Before It's Too Late!" This film warns us about how Muslims come from a heritage of violence, seek world-domination, and will lie to infidels until they get enough of their kind into America to take it over. Several authors, academics and a former Islamic terrorist- turned- Christian point to the words from the holy Koran to prove that Islam isn't a religion of peace but of domination and control. Every piece of evidence in this fear-mongering movie might well be factual, but its creators miss the broader truth of religious texts. If non-Christians stumble over the Bible and read a history of Christianity, what would they make of the Inquisition, the same campaign of "convert or be destroyed" that the Koran advocates here? This movie doesn't want viewers to be educated. Just scared enough to act on intolerance. No MPAA rating, but suitable for narrow-minded paranoids."<ref>Dann Gire, "War and terrorism: What more could moviegoers want?", ''Chicago Daily Herald'', 7 July 2006, p. 37.</ref>

"Sept. 11, 2001 triggered a genre of films and books that all ask: why do they hate us? Because they are Muslims following in Mohammed's footsteps is the answer given by first-time producers-directors Gregory M. Davis and Bryan Daly in this alarmist documentary... What viewers need to know -- if provoked by this film -- is there's far more nuance in Mary Habeck's book Knowing the Enemy: Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror and Paul Berman's Terror and Liberalism. **½" --Chicago Sun-Times <ref> - ]. ], ]</ref>

"'What the West Needs to Know' relies on the same five talking heads parroting each other for 95 tedious minutes. One is Robert Spencer, who runs the Web site jihadwatch.org...Islam, Spencer asserts at one point, stands as the only big-league religion that 'mandates violence against non-believers.' Considering what has been done to whom in the name of other religions, that may well end up being the funniest line of 2006." -- Chicago Tribune<ref>Phillips, Michael <u>Movie reviews: 'The War Tapes' and 'Islam: What the West Needs to Know'</u> </ref>

"What they have to say is very interesting and, on occasion, nothing short of mind-blowing. It's just presented in a manner that, even to the most patient of viewers, is monotonous and dull... According to these folks, the majority of Islam-following Muslims wish to lay waste to the entire Western world - and at any cost." --Gwinnett Daily Post <ref> - Gwinnett Daily Post. ], ]</ref>

"As the film begins clips of Western world leaders – Bush, Blair, Rice, et al – are shown one after the other decrying terrorists and making the distinction between their barbarous acts and the Islam faith. Islam is a religion of peace they are quick to assert and is sullied by the horrific acts of these fanatics but a trio of self-described experts on Islam and a former terrorist quietly debunk this idea throughout the rest of the movie. As the film sees it, the opposite is true and followers of Islam won’t be happy until every non- believer joins their ranks or failing that, is wiped off the face of the earth " --Richard Knight, Jr,<ref> - www.knightatthemovies.com. ], ]</ref>


==References== ==References==

Revision as of 15:48, 16 July 2007

Islam: What the West Needs to Know - Front Cover
Islam: What the West Needs to Know - Front Cover

'Islam: What the West Needs to Know', a controversial documentary film produced by Quixotic Media, is an examination of Islam, violence, and the fate of the non-muslim world featuring discussions using passages from the religious texts.

The film includes commentaries by Robert Spencer, Serge Trifkovic, Bat Ye'or, Abdullah Al-Araby, and former terrorist Walid Shoebat.

The film premiered at the American Film Renaissance Festival in Hollywood on January 15, 2006 and had a limited theatrical release in summer 2006 in Chicago, Washington DC, and Atlanta.

Synopsis

File:Islam What the West Needs to Know - Back Cover.gif
Islam: What the West Needs to Know - Back Cover

Islam: What the West Needs to Know argues that Islam is a violent religion bent on world domination. The documentary uses passages from the canonical texts of Islam as its source material. It is presented in six parts:

1. There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet: In the first part, various commentators argue that Islamic violence stems from the teachings and examples of Muhammad and that the Qur'an prescribes and sanctions violence against non-Muslims.
2. The Struggle: In the second part, Walid Shoebat defines the word "Jihad" to mean the struggle to impose Allah's will over the earth, resulting in holy war against the non-Muslim world in order to bring it under the rule of Islam.
3. Expansion: In the third part, Bat Ye'or describes the expansion of Islam through conquest and presents historical evidence of enslavement and massacres of Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians and Hindus by Muslim invaders.
4. War is Deceit: In the fourth part, Robert Spencer and Serge Trifkovic discuss the Islamic principle of Taqiyya, Islamic dissimulation, which, the lecturers argue, enjoins Muslims to deceive non-Muslims in order to advance the cause of Islam.
5. More than a Religion: In the fifth part, the documentary asserts that "Islamic law governs every aspect of religious, political, and personal action, which amounts to a form of totalitarianism that is divinely enjoined to dominate the world, analogous in many ways to Communism".
6. The House of War: The final part covers the division of the world into Dar al-Islam ("the house of Islam" or "the house of peace"), the land governed by the Islamic law, and Dar al-Harb ("the house of war"), the land of non-Muslims. According to the film, Muslims are enjoined to bring the Dar al-Harb under the control of Islam. The film argues, "Muslims in Western nations are called to subvert the secular regimes in which they now live in accordance with Allah's command."

Reviews

Many reviews criticised the film as being inaccurate, simplistic and biased against Islam. It has also been critiqued as being boring. However, others considered the film to be important, with the Gwinnett Daily Post describing its message as "mind-blowing".

References

  1. Dann Gire, "War and terrorism: What more could moviegoers want?", Chicago Daily Herald, 7 July 2006, p. 37.
  2. "Islam: What the West Needs to Know" **1/2 - Chicago Sun-Times. 07 July, 2006
  3. Phillips, Michael Movie reviews: 'The War Tapes' and 'Islam: What the West Needs to Know' Chicago Tribune
  4. Phillips, Michael Movie reviews: 'The War Tapes' and 'Islam: What the West Needs to Know' Chicago Tribune
  5. Message of 'Islam' bogged down by boring delivery - Gwinnett Daily Post. 07 July, 2006
  6. http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/entertainment/15746693.htm
  7. MOVIE mojo - Islam Film opening today - Atlanta-Journal Constitution. 12 July, 2006
  8. Message of 'Islam' bogged down by boring delivery - Gwinnett Daily Post. 07 July, 2006

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