A podcast by Abu Yusuf Charles-André Julien, a French historian wrote a very interesting article in 1940 for Foreign Affairs magazine. He wrote how the French failed to control their Muslim colonial possessions, unlike other non-Muslim possessions due to Islam. The issue for the French is Islam and nothing else because Muslims simply refuse to submit to their will. The Europeans see the battle with Muslims as the ongoing battle from the past. Although, they differ among themselves in terms of styles and means, when it comes to the ‘Islam and Muslim problem’, they are united on their goal. وَمَا نَقَمُوا مِنْهُمْ إِلاَّ أَن يُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَمِيدِ“The only reason they punished them was because they had iman in Allah, the Almighty, the All-Praiseworthy” (Al-Buruj: 8) This is an important fact that Muslims need to be aware of, and not be fooled in to thinking that European states and elites are tolerant of Islam and Muslims or that they just have an issue with ‘extremists’. Charles-André Julien, said, “The capture of Algiers in 1830 marked …

When Charles De Gaulle, was Minister of Algerian Affairs in Occupied Algeria he tried an experiment to force French values on Algerian Muslims. It ultimately failed because Islamic thought is too powerful to be defeated by kufr (disbelief). He responded to his critics, “What can I do if the Qur’an is greater than France?”