The Islamist fear of change

Claude Salhani:

Recent news reports from the Iraqi capital indicate radical Islamists are launching a campaign to prohibit the sale of ... falafel. Yes, you heard right, falafel. While this is the sort of news you might expect to hear from a late-night stand-up comedian on television, sadly, this is not a joke, and a number of falafel vendors who failed to heed the warnings have paid with their lives.
Several vendors of the popular deep-fried chickpea sandwich were told they had just two weeks to change their profession or face death. And indeed, several vendors where shot and killed simply for selling falafel sandwiches. The logic offered by the religious zealots -- if there is any -- in imposing this inane diktat on the people is that there were no falafels in the time of the Prophet Muhammad.
Indeed there were no falafels in ancient Arabia. However, it might be worth pointing out to these same zealots -- preferably with much tact -- that in the days of the prophet there were no Kalashnikov automatic rifles with which to shoot those who did not follow orders. Neither were there any improvised explosive devices. In the days of the prophet there were no cars in which to make speedy getaways, or vans that could be packed with explosives to be detonated using a cellular telephone.
The same backward-minded fundamentalists who enacted stricter-than-medieval laws in Afghanistan when the Taliban controlled the country are now trying to do the same in Iraq and drag the country and its people back into a paleontologic existence.
It might also be well worth noting to these religious fundamentalists that in the Prophet Muhammad's time, the Internet had not yet been invented. Therefore, by the same logic applied to the ban on falafels, all Internet sites maintained by radical Islamic groups ought to be shut down. Similarly, the videotaping of attacks on coalition forces by Islamist insurgents, which are quickly loaded onto propaganda Web sites, should stop.
And by the same token, any jihadist fighter wounded in action should not receive modern medical treatment. Antibiotics, painkillers, the use of all X-rays, MRIs, and all the benefits of modern medicine that over the centuries have saved countless of lives, should not be applied.

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Islamist think that things are going bad for them so they rachet up Islamic nonsense in the hope that it will be pleasing to Allah and they will be more successful, but when that does not happen they rachet up even more. It is a movement that is domed to failure.