"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries!"

"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; (Source: The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50
London )