Internal apostates are treated as more dangerous enemies than external infidels

Evidence

Islam provided more than symbols and slogans. As interpreted by the revo­ lutionary leaders and spokesmen, it formulated the objectives to be attained and, no less important, it defined the enemies to be opposed. These were familiar from history, law, and tradition: the infidel abroad, the apostate at home. For the revolutionaries, of course, the apostate meant all those Muslims, and espe­ cially Muslim rulers, who did not share their interpretation of authentic Islam and who, in their perception, were importing alien and infidel ways and thus subverting the community of Islam, and the faith and law by which it lived. In principle, the aim of the Islamic revolution in Iran and eventually in other countries where such movements established themselves was to sweep away all the alien and infidel accretions that had been imposed on Muslim lands and peoples in the era of alien dominance and influence and to restore the true and divinely given Islamic order. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1122 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Internal-structure threats are easier to dramatize than external military threats — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 1176; Hindutva’s real purpose of the Muslim enemy is to alibi internal caste exploitation — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 1194; Perceived internal enemies generate far deadlier hatred than external ones (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Perceived internal enemies generate far deadlier hatred than external ones #corroborates (1.00)
• For many Islamist radicals the internal enemy takes priority over foreign ones #exemplifies (0.95)
• Islamic revolution defined its enemies as the infidel abroad and apostate at home. #exemplifies (0.95) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1122