CHURCHILL ON ISLAM - 1899

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries!
Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog,
there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries,
improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce,
and insecurity of property, exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.

A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement, the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.

Individual Muslims may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion
paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde
force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant
and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless
warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms
of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern
Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome ..."

Sir Winston Churchill; (The River War, first edition, Vol II, pages 248-250 London).