Some people think that radical Islam is merely an extreme version of Islam, based on a cultural-social ideology. Such a notion is only partly correct. When a Muslim wants to truly follow the Qur’an and Muhammad’s example, he or she becomes what today the Western media calls a radical or militant Muslim. Radical Islam’s primary objective is to dominate all those within its reach and suppress all other ideologies, movements, and beliefs in its path. Islam as a faith sees non-Muslims and other faiths as a threat. Christians and Jews, as well as people of other beliefs, have been persecuted around the world whenever a Muslim group decides to go back to practicing fundamental Islam. In many Middle Eastern and South Asian countries, Christians are forced to keep their faith undercover in order to avoid personal attacks.
Islam does not embrace freedom of any other ideology except its own. The Qur’an in three places mentions that Allah has revealed the religion of Islam to take over all others (Sura 9:33; 48:28; 61:9). To establish this goal, a Muslim has many avenues open to him or her: evangelism, population explosion, political influence and using force to the extent of even “killing for Allah” to “suppress and submit the opposition.” In the Qur’an, a Muslim is told, “Allah loves those who kill for His cause” (Sura 61:4). Islam includes the political and jurisprudential project of Shari’a (Islamic law). Muslims who truly follow the Qur’an and the hadith recognize that Shari’a cannot be separated from Islam.