Abu Bakar Bashir, Indonesian Muslim cleric, in AlJazeera.net

Dr. Farish A. Noor interviews Abu Bakar Bashir on Islam and the necessity of Islamist states:

The only model to follow is pure Islam. Because Islam in its original form was tough and hard, not weak and pliable. Islam is fixed, stable, ordered and disciplined, and so are Muslims.

If we return to the real practice of true Islam...the kafirs will fear us. That is why we need to uphold the Shariah and return to real Islam. But the West is trying to weaken Islam...from within with ideas like secularism, liberalism and democracy. This is all designed to contaminate our pure Islam.

Well, this may be one of those cases where reasonable people can work for pro-pollution laws.

So we want an Islamic state where Islamic law is not just in the books but enforced, and enforced with determination. There is no space and no room for democratic consultation. The Shariah is set and fixed, so why do we need to discuss it anymore? Just implement it!

I get the feeling that anyone who disagrees with him even a bit is considered a non-Muslim. More on that later.

The Jews are cunning and cannot be trusted, as it states in the Qur'an. At the moment the United States is just being the donkey for Israel, who is riding the USA.

How can we dialogue for peace in the Arab world as long as Israel exists? Israel cannot dream of having peaceful borders because Israel has no right to exist, no right to be there. That is the land of Palestine, for the Palestinians. How can any Muslim leader say that Israel has the right to safe borders? It should not be there in the first place!

Pretty clear there.

In Islam there is only one way, the Islamic way. Dialogue with the kafirs is useless unless we Muslims are already living in Islamic states and not secular democracies....

When our governments engage with enemy kafir states, is that not going against Islamic principles? When you dialogue with countries that are anti-Islam and kill Muslims, how can you call yourself an Islamic state?

It is the duty for Muslims to oppose their governments when their leaders dialogue with our enemies. It says so in the Quran (Surah 60:9), that those who oppose Islam are our enemies and we must fight against them.

OK, no dialog with the US. It says so right in the Koran. So, explain why we should think Iran is planning on dialoguing in good faith, instead of buying time to build some nuclear weapons.

There is not a single Islamic state in the world, not even in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are hypocrites and friends of the United States; their leaders are all corrupt and worldly.
The closest we ever got to an Islamic state was the Taliban government in Afghanistan, but the Americans destroyed that, with their Western allies.

So, even the Taliban didn't get serious enough for Abu Bakar Bashir. I wonder if he gives them credit for at least trying.

It is clear that the Quran is not to be discussed by those who do not follow the rules that are set. There is no democracy in Islam, so do not try to interpret the Quran and turn Islam into a democracy to suit your needs. God's law comes first. It is not up to the will of the people to decide what is right and how to live. Rather the will of the people have to be bent to suit the will of God. It is not democracy that we want, but Allah-cracy!

The principles of Islam cannot be altered and and there is no democracy in Islam or nonsense like 'democratic Islam'.

Democracy is shirik (unbelief) and haram. Here we do not compromise. Those who claim to be Muslims and do not support Shariah one hundred per cent are all munafik and kafirs, they are out of Islam. No need to discuss with these people, they are not part of the ummat anymore. There is no need to listen to public opinion: kafirs, apostates, liberals, atheists - they are all non-believers.

He's pretty clear here as well: Democracy is anti-Islam. No need to discuss, no need to listen to public opinion. Rile the mullahs and apparently they get to cut off your head.

Worked pretty much the same way for Stalin and Hitler. And Pol Pot.

Just to be clear:

Elections are quite useless.

In particular all the Muslims who oppose us are apostates (murtad) and they in particular need to be dealt with firmly. We need not care for them, or feel sorry for them. They were the ones who chose to reject Shariah, to reject Islam, and so they chose to become apostates.

If you aren't his kind of Muslim, you aren't a Muslim at all.If you are in favor of democracy, you need to be dealt with firmly.

Now, as I recall, the Quranic punishment for apostasy is public execution. So, all you Iraqis with purple fingers are fair game.

And this is what the Western Left now embraces as an ally against the Western world. Is it because the Western Left has no interest in democracy? Or is it just self-hatred sublimated as hatred of the West?