“I have been made victorious with terror.” Muhammad, Islam’s prophet, reportedly said this before his death in 632. Robert Spencer’s new book The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS puts facts behind the claim.

Deadly Doctrines

Spencer writes of violence throughout Islam’s 1,400 years. Jihad is a basic tenet of Islam. Islam demands jihad warfare. Violent jihad is the best act for a Muslim. 

This was seen in Islam’s conquests in its first century, which were unequaled in history. Mainstream Muslims were never concerned about human equality. “There was no Era of Good Feeling, no Golden Age of Tolerance,” writes Spencer. Centuries later, it’s still this way. 

There were jihad horrors like the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul). Tamerlane’s 1398 Mongol invasion of India was also bloody. He had 100,000 Hindu prisoners killed in one day.

Muslims didn’t just wage jihad against non-Muslims. Tamerlane, for instance, beat the Ottomans at the 1402 Battle of Ankara. The defeated sultan’s wife then became a naked table servant.

Also, Jihad slavery of non-Muslims has been prevalent in places like Eastern Europe. The name “Slav” derives from the Arabic word “saqlab” for slave. In 1842, a British consul general shocked Moroccans by suggesting limits to slavery.

Muslim Tyranny

Muslim tyranny changed people. Conversion to Islam was a means of escape. Istanbul was 50 percent Christian even in 1914, but today is 99.99 percent Muslim.

Muhammad’s example showed that truth was unimportant. Ottoman rulers could break treaties according to a 1571 fatwa. The only exception to war was peace with non-Muslims when it benefitted Muslims. Otherwise war was required.

Further, Spencer debunks interfaith myths about Muslim Spain. Events like the 1066 Granada pogrom happened. What’s more, after the 1086 Battle of Sagrajas, Muslims were called to prayer atop piled Christian heads.

Spencer also denies unique Western self-loathing shown by the Crusades. The Crusades’ counterattack defended against jihad, despite crimes like Jerusalem’s 1096 sack. By contrast, a Muslim 1180s traveler found Muslims in Crusader lands living better than in Islamic areas.

As with Islamic Spain, Spencer offers facts concerning the Crusaders’ famed opponent Saladin. Saladin’s myth supports Islam’s nobility. Yet he killed Christian captives defeated at the 1187 Battle of Hattin. He later also thought of killing Jerusalem’s Christians, but enslaved and ransomed them instead.

Hear No Jihad, See No Jihad

For the Catholic Spencer, Catholic history reflects Western lost knowledge of jihad. Muslim raiders attacked Rome in 846. Leo IV began as pope the next year by improving Rome’s defenses. In contrast, today Pope Francis calls Islam peaceful and condemns walls.

Spencer also notes Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 address in Regensburg, Germany. His quoting of 15th-century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus appeared “Islamophobic.” Modern listeners are much more naïve than in Manuel’s time.

Spencer criticizes the Catholic Church’s abandonment of centuries of counter-jihad leadership. The Vatican does not remind the world “how Islam had been set against Europe for fourteen hundred years.” It does not warn people that “mass Muslim migration into Europe might not be such a good idea.”

Spencer writes that elites have misinformed the public about jihad. This lack of responsibility is unique in history. Meanwhile Muslim Brotherhood organizations have for decades misled America.

Spencer examines the bad results following Al Qaeda’s September 11, 2001, attacks. He condemns President George W. Bush’s remarks& at Washington, DC’s Islamic Center six days later. The concession he made would have shamed past Byzantine emperors.

Bush’s companions that day included Abdurahman Alamoudi. This prominent Muslim fake “moderate” had never hid his support for jihad. He later went to jail for terror financing.

Whitewashed Islam

Politically correct whitewashes of Islam have blinded officials, Spencer notes. “America was going to war against jihadists while forbidding itself to understand jihad.” President Barack Obama only made things worse. The leader of the free world’s 2012 United Nations speech hinted at Islamic blasphemy bans.

For too long Spencer has been alone in warning of jihad. This is all the more reason why his richly researched book deserves a wide audience.