How is Islam different? In Islam there is no humanity. There is no unitary ethic. There is no Golden Rule. Instead, there is the duality of the believer and the unbeliever. When we look at the ethical statements from the Hadith we see the illustration of duality.
A Muslim should not Lie, cheat or steal from another Muslim. But a Muslim may Lie, deceive of kill an unbeliever… if it advances Islam. The term human being has no meaning is Islam.
There is no universal statement of ethics in Islam. Muslims, believers, receive one treatment. Kafirs, unbelievers are receive a different sort of treatment. Perhaps the closest Islam comes to a universal statement of ethics is: The world must submit to Islam. Understand this: After Mohammad became a prophet; he never treated a Kafir, an unbeliever, the same as a Muslim. Islam denies the Golden Rule.
The Islamic dualistic ethic is the basis for jihad. The Islamic ethical system sets up the unbeliever as less than human. Therefore it is easier to kill, harm or deceive the Kafir. Unbelievers have failed frequently trying to apply the Golden Rule to Islam. But unbelievers can be judged and condemned on the basis of having broken it. We are human. We can fall short, we do fall short, but it is our ideal.
Have there been other dualistic cultures? Sure, but certainly none as successful as Islam. Think about the KKK. The KKK is simple dualism. KKK members adherents hate black people, all the time, there is only one choice. It is as straight forward as it is bigoted.
Islam is more deceitful than the KKK. This is true in that it offers two choices of how to treat the Kafir. The unbeliever receive nice treatment. It is done most commonly when Muslims are a fairly small minority of the population. The unbeliever can be treated nicely, in the way a farmer treats his cattle, pigs or chickens well.
Islam can be nice. However, in no case is the Kafir, the unbeliever a “brother” or a friend. There are more than a dozen verses in the Koran that state a Muslim is never to be a friend to the unbeliever. A Muslim may be friendly but he should never be a friend. The degree to which a Muslim is actually a true friend is the degree to which he is not a Muslim. He is a hypocrite.
