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Source: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/30/many-shades-islam/
The Many Shades of Islam
(Washington Times) Clifford D. May - Many members of al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, the regime that rules Iran, Hizbullah, Hamas, and the Houthis self-identify as "Salafi-Jihadis," meaning they see their version of Islam as akin to that of the Prophet Muhammad's 7th century companions and followers whose armies marched out of Arabia, swords raised, conquering foreign peoples and settling in foreign lands. Vast Islamic empires and caliphates soon dominated much of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as significant swaths of Europe and Asia. It was not until the 1920s, in the aftermath of World War I, that the Ottoman Empire collapsed. Hassan al-Banna, an Egyptian, saw this as a historic tragedy. In 1928, he founded the Muslim Brotherhood. Its mission is to reestablish Islamic supremacy and domination everywhere and anywhere. Since then, Brotherhood theologians have provided inspiration to pretty much every group committed to waging jihad against Jews, Christians, Hindus, and others. Those "others" include Muslims who decline to embrace the jihadis' reading of Islam. The writer is founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.