I had  the following conversation with Shabana Muhammad, a contributor to our website:

Dear Khan,

It is always good to hear that more and more people are coming out with books to fight Islam. How far have we progressed in defeating Islam? That is very interesting to know from the perspective of the visitors of Islam-Watch and Faithfreedom. How many copies of Robert Spencer's DVD have been sold? Was it a success? How many copies of his book "The truth about Muhammad" has been sold? When will Ali Sina's book gets published? When will "Beyond Jihad" gets published? 

Not only me, there are thousand who would like to know how far we have progressed. 

Shabana

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Hi Shabana, 

We can definitely do some research to make a semi-quantitative estimate of how we have progressed since the 9/11. As far as the purpose of Internet campaigns is concerned, we definitely witness a sea-change in the Western world front. Although Islamic radicalism has gone high, which is hard to stem, but creating awareness about its danger has moved upward equally fast, probably faster. Since, mainstream media didn't do much in that front - sites like Faithfreedom, Jihad Watch and Islam-watch have definitely played a crucial part that we see hundreds of websites & blogs on the net now dealing with doctrines and dangers of Islam. 

On the book publication front, except Ibn Warraq – we, the ex-Muslims haven't done much. Ibn Warraq's 'Why I am not a Muslim' may have sold half-a-million copies in last 10+ years and are still on brisk sale in the Amazon.com. 'Beyond Jihad' has already been published by Academica Press in Jan, 2006 but it could not probably make much of a difference because of the prohibitive price tag (US$ 70) for a book written by a few first-time amateurs. I was told that the first print was sold out in about 6 months. I am not sure what is the standard copy-number for the first-print for Amademica Press. Second print is being sold now. However, it has been placed in over a hundred libraries mostly in the USA and should get some good reading along the way. 

Ali's book should have been a big hit but he dragged it a bit too long which probably dented some of the enthusiasm about his book. I hope, it will come out and make some valuable impact - which will be long-term solution of Islam theologically; not a short-term political one. 

Of course, the most significant impact probably came from Robert Spencer's books (I think 3 titles) and Andrew Bostom's Legacy of Jihad - which may have sold in the hundred of thousands of copies each. There are other few brilliant books that have come mainly from Kuffr writers. As ex-Muslims, we probably have failed to contribute as significantly as we should have. 

In the Muslim world, we have definitely lost. It is impossible to win there as well; there is just no way as of now. We can only win there in the long-term, say 5-10 decades. It has to come through a suffering of their own which is quite critical right at this time. My personal belief is that these books and materials on the net that we have been producing will play a critical role in emasculating Islam in the Islamic world as well, although we may never be able to measure the influence.  

We have to be patient, which is the key. Sanity and reason will survive and outdo fanaticism of Islam. Internet has been a huge tool in that survival game. Yet, we have to count the cost. We are already counting it but the question is how much and for how long??  

Thanks, MA Khan

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Dear Khan,

It is good to hear that though we are slow, we are surely proceeding towards final victory. But I will point out some of the failures as per my perception:-

1)      Though the west is aware of the Islamic danger, the East doesn't know a bit. Countries like Russia, China and India are sleeping.

2)      West is trying to give the impression that the war is between Islam and the west. The reality is that the war is between Islam and Non-Muslim world.

3)      Some people try to give the impression that there exists something called Islamofascism. The reality is that Islam itself is fascism. 

Educating people on Islam is the only way to win this war. We have to go for inexpensive methods. Booklets with 20-25 pages can give a bit of understanding what Islam is. These booklets can be sold for even $2. Powerpoint presentations and Flash movies are also inexpensive methods.

Let us hope for a better world.

Thanks, Shabana