Unforgivable Sentences

At this moment, one has the impression that people are moving toward stigmatization—they stigmatize themselves. For what is wearing the veil, if not the act of imposing a stigma upon oneself, and then complaining about the stigmatization of which they feel they are victims? One must think of all those who simply have no religion at all. There is something one-sided in the behavior of the devout.

Islam means polygamy, the seclusion of women, the absence of any public life, and a tyrannical, mistrustful government that forces people to hide their private lives and confines all affections of the heart within the family circle. I have studied the Qur’an extensively (…) I must admit that I came away from this study with the conviction that, all things considered, few religions have been as harmful to humankind as that of Muhammad. In my view, it is the principal cause of the decline—so evident today—of the Muslim world. I regard it as a form of decay rather than progress.

It is better to avoid ostentatious symbols.

And if this young (female) politician believes that wearing her veil will bring people together, she is mistaken — it divides. I urge her to draw lessons from the history of France. Not because it is French history, but because we have endured three centuries of religious wars. She must not be prideful; she should learn to draw nourishment from the struggles of the past.

He who claims to be the prophet of Allah should possess proper credentials — namely, prophecy, miracles, and integrity throughout his entire life. None of this can be found in Muhammad, that man of plunder
and blood who spread his doctrine by the sword, carrying death across a third of the then-known world.

Islam is contrary to the scientific spirit, hostile to progress; it has turned the countries it conquered into fields closed to the rational cultivation of the mind.

The influence of this religion paralyzes the social development of its followers. There is no more powerful retrograde force in the world. If Christianity were not protected by the strong arms of Science, modern European civilization could collapse just as the civilization of ancient Rome once did.

Religion? It’s about time we let that thing go. We should move on to something else.

Doubt is the key to all knowledge; he who doubts nothing knows nothing.

Ce n’est pas le doute, c’est la certitude qui rend fou.

I was struck by the kinship between National Socialism and Islam, and this impression has only grown clearer and stronger ever since.

The religion of Muhammad, the simplest in its dogmas, seems to condemn to eternal slavery and incurable stupidity that vast portion of the earth over which it has spread its empire.

Islam is the indiscernible union of the spiritual and the temporal; it is the reign of dogma — the heaviest chain humanity has ever borne.

I dispute the term Islamophobia, although I understand it. It is Muslims who believe that people dislike them because they are Muslims. For my part, I defend the idea that one has the right not to like Islam, just as one has the right not to like the Catholic religion — and that this is part of our freedoms.

The Nazis are Islam’s best friends.