PrintNovember 14, 2009
'Islamism or Islam? Islamist or Islamic?'
During the autumn of 1843, in the heart of Istanbul, Turkey, Sir Henry Layard, the British archeologist, writer, and diplomat, witnessed the punishment mandated by Sharia (i.e., Islamic) Law for apostasy from Islam. He described this abhorrent spectacle as follows:An Armenian who had embraced Islamism [emphasis added] had returned to his former faith. For his apostasy he was condemned to death according to the Mohammedan [Islamic] law. His execution took place, accompanied by details of studied insult and indignity directed against Christianity and Europeans in general. The corpse was exposed in one of the most public and frequented places in Stamboul [Istanbul], and the head, which had been severed from the body, was placed upon it, covered by a European hat. Layard's narrative demonstrates how in mid-19th century parlance, "Islamism" and "Islam" were synonymous, meant to be equivalent to "Catholicism," "Protestantism," and "Judaism"...(Read Full Article)
