They Ruined Empires. They Will Do It to the USA Too
The two countries I grew up in, Persia (Iran) and Syria were once part of great civilizations and empires. Just look at them now. The Persian Empire stood tall for thousands of years. It had depth, culture, resources, continuity. In just a few decades, however, after being taken over in 1979 by those identified with Islamic Sharia law, it was brought down into economic ruin, widespread suffering, and some of the most unspeakable human rights atrocities ever. Today, despite oil and other resources, Iran's economy is a disaster. People suffer. Women are subjected to forced covering and endless restrictions supposedly to "protect" them. Dissent is crushed. Basic freedoms are stripped. What took centuries to build was reversed overnight.
It is not only Iran. Look at other countries where people identified with Islamist Sharia law gained control — Afghanistan, Yemen and Sudan, to name just a few. The pattern repeats: Their economies rank among the weakest. Their human rights records are among the most repressive. The painful daily life of ordinary people shows a plummeting trajectory.
Why? Because for those who identify with Islamist Sharia law, the economy does not matter. The livelihood of ordinary people does not matter. The prosperity of children, the quality of schools, opportunity, happiness or material progress do not matter. What matters is imposing their version of Sharia law. That is the ultimate and only goal.
They will not, of course, announce this goal that way.... They conceal the endgame until they hold power. In Iran in 1979, they did not campaign by saying, "We will force the hijab on every woman." They used women's participation and broader grievances to gain support. Once in power, the compulsion begins: the scarf is forced. Opposition is met with imprisonment, torture, rape and execution. You either accept what they say or you are treated as an infidel. That is how we grew up. The method of imposing these views is not persuasion. It is force.
Once Islamists hold power, the foundational American protections — freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, the Second Amendment, an independent judiciary, property rights, women's and children's rights, due process and equal justice under the law — will become targets. They are not compatible with the enforced supremacy of Islamist Sharia law as these actors understand it. All your rights can be narrowed, redefined, or removed in the shortest time, just as they were elsewhere.
Americans tend to be straightforward; unfortunately, many of those identified with the Islamist ideology are not. They will lie. They will use promises, concealment, and the doctrine of taqiyya (dissimulation in the service of Islam) when useful. They will say what is needed to gain votes and positions of influence. After their power is secured, the agenda hardens and the country is driven back to the seventh century, just as larger and older civilizations were.
Once they control the levers of power, what follows is the same script that played out in Iran, as in other places. So when you go to vote, be careful. More depends on it than you know.
It is extremely important to be careful when you vote. Do not vote for people who are identified with Islamism and Islamist Sharia law. This ideology has ruined countries and empires. If Americans are not careful, it will happen in the USA. Just look at England and France.
The two countries I grew up in, Persia (Iran) and Syria were once part of great civilizations and empires. Just look at them now. The Persian Empire stood tall for thousands of years. It had depth, culture, resources, continuity. In just a few decades, however, after being taken over in 1979 by those identified with Islamic Sharia law, it was brought down into economic ruin, widespread suffering, and some of the most unspeakable human rights atrocities ever. Today, despite oil and other resources, Iran's economy is a disaster. People suffer. Women are subjected to forced covering and endless restrictions supposedly to "protect" them. Dissent is crushed. Basic freedoms are stripped. What took centuries to build was reversed overnight.
It is not only Iran. Look at other countries where people identified with Islamist Sharia law gained control — Afghanistan, Yemen and Sudan, to name just a few. The pattern repeats: Their economies rank among the weakest. Their human rights records are among the most repressive. The painful daily life of ordinary people shows a plummeting trajectory.
Why? Because for those who identify with Islamist Sharia law, the economy does not matter. The livelihood of ordinary people does not matter. The prosperity of children, the quality of schools, opportunity, happiness or material progress do not matter. What matters is imposing their version of Sharia law. That is the ultimate and only goal.
They will not, of course, announce this goal that way. Western political movements often state theirs. Western civilization tends to express its aims openly. These actors frequently do not. They conceal the endgame until they hold power. In Iran in 1979, they did not campaign by saying, "We will force the hijab on every woman." They used women's participation and broader grievances to gain support. Once in power, the compulsion begins: the scarf is forced. Opposition is met with imprisonment, torture, rape and execution. You either accept what they say or you are treated as an infidel. That is how we grew up. The method of imposing these views is not persuasion. It is force.
They begin at the margins. They promise free things, benefits, relief—language that often sounds socialist or redistributionist. They acquire positions in government, institutions, and civil society. When they finally secure power, the real program is imposed. The whole direction of the country reverses. Economies that had flourished for generations stagnate or collapse: the priority is not growth, innovation, or the welfare of the living population. The priority is the enforcement of their theocratically legal vision. They believe it secures them an eternal reward in the next life – including virgins, young boys and paradise. Everything else is secondary.
The United States is relatively young— 250 years. The empires and countries that were undone were also filled with people who did not believe it could ever happen to them.
Once Islamists hold power, the foundational American protections — freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, the Second Amendment, an independent judiciary, property rights, women's and children's rights, due process and equal justice under the law — will become targets. They are not compatible with the enforced supremacy of Islamist Sharia law as these actors understand it. All your rights can be narrowed, redefined, or removed in the shortest time, just as they were elsewhere.
I am writing this because I love this country and I know its people are decent and honest. Americans tend to be straightforward; unfortunately, many of those identified with the Islamist ideology are not. They will lie. They will use promises, concealment, and the doctrine of taqiyya (dissimulation in the service of Islam) when useful. They will say what is needed to gain votes and positions of influence. After their power is secured, the agenda hardens and the country is driven back to the seventh century, just as larger and older civilizations were.
If you care about your future, and your children's and grandchildren's future, as well as freedom of speech, a free press, freedom of (or from) religion and the other rights the founding generation treasured and fought for, do not vote for people who will take these freedoms away. Even if they avoid showing their cards in public, what they reveal when they speak or by their evasions when they do not speak, are warnings. Once they control the levers of power, what follows is the same script that played out in Iran, as in other places. So when you go to vote, be careful. More depends on it than you know.
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a political scientist, Harvard-educated analyst, and board member of Harvard International Review. He has authored several books on the US foreign policy. He can be reached at dr.rafizadeh@post.harvard.edu
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