Feature: Islam and Terrorism
Americans need to better understand Islam, a religion that terrorists have invoked to justify their actions.
The Sept. 11 tragic events perpetrated by Muslim extremists, and the war in Afghanistan, have inevitably focused world attention on the relationship between Islam and terrorism.
Media accounts and statements by American religious leaders have presented a distorted image of this great religion, describing Islam as a religion of violence and barbarism. Fortunately, a few sane and well-informed Western observers have assiduously argued that in no way does terrorism perpetrated by Muslim militants represents the true teachings of Islam.
For their part, Muslim leaders and theologians deeply disturbed by such an onslaught on their religion, have condemned the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and disassociated Islam from all forms of violence against innocent civilians. The Rector of al-Azhar, the supreme institution of Islam, declared: “The Noble al-Azhar is against terrorism in all its forms, because killing innocent men, women, and children is an act against humanity, the principles of heavenly religious, and sound reason.” His message was also posted on the Internet.
At the same time, at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Damascus, Syria, on Nov. 4, the officials declared that Osama bin Laden does not represent Arabs and Muslims, or speak in their name. Nabil Fahmy, Egypt’s ambassador to the United States, said on the CBS News Program Face the Nation that “bin Laden has been trying to take advantage of Islam, distort Islam to take on the world . . . But it is a distortion . . . Islam, has nothing to do with what he is propagating.” All agree that a “just and comprehensive” Middle East peace agreement would rob terrorists of a cause they have used as a cover. They also point out that no such association has been made between Christianity and terrorism of Christians in Ireland, Spain, and Oklahoma.
Aware that there is a great deal of ignorance of Islam in the West, Muslim governments and private organizations have sent emissaries to explain Islam’s true message of peace, benevolence and tolerance. They insist that a distinction must be made between Islam as a religion and ‘political Islam’ as a movement using religion for political and economic ends. A brief analysis of the most fundamental principles and teachings of Islam will reveal its true nature.
Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, is a monotheistic religion. Muslims worship the same God of Abraham, and recognize all the prophets of the Old and New Testaments. The term ‘Islam’, derived from the root verb SLN, means peace and surrender to the will of God. The Muslim greeting ‘al-Salamu Alaykum’ echoes the Hebrew ‘Shalom’ and the Christian ‘Peace be unto you.’ There are 42 Qur’anic verses citing the greeting ‘Salam’ (peace), plus a number of derivatives. It is true that Islam enjoins Jihad, normally translated as ‘holy war,’ but Jihad is more than war against pagans and the enemies of the Muslim community. Most Westerners understand the term to mean that Muslims seek to kill non-Muslims. As reiterated by the Islamic Research Academy, Islamic Jihad primarily means to exert one’s self in championing right, warding off injustice, and affirming justice, peace, and security in all spheres of life. Fighting is justified only in self-defense. The highest form of Jihad is by one’s heart, then by one’s tongue, by one’s hands, and finally by the sword against the enemies of the faith. Most Muslims, and there are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, 6 million of whom are in the United States, have dismissed bin Laden’s appeal to wage Jihad against the United States and the West as the ravings of a madman. Despite all appearances, bin Laden remains a marginal figure in the Muslim world.
Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, preached a religious message, and built a political community around it. It is a universal message addressed to all mankind, calling for the worship of the One God, and the observance of His ordinances. “Come ye unto the prayer,” is the Muslim call, which is meant to be a witness to the new allegiance to God. An illiterate orphan, he had suffered many deprivations before he was called to preach the new message. During one of his retreats in a cave on a hill outside of Mecca during the month ofRamadan, and in the course of his meditations and reflections, he heard a voice commanding him to read [iqra’ – from which the name Qur’an, the Holy Book of Islam is derived]. “Read in the name of the Lord…”[Q. 96:1] This was the first revelation, followed by many others over a period of 22 years. The early revelations were in the nature of exhortation to believe in the one God, exercise moral rectitude, do justice, and acknowledge the brotherhood of all human beings.
After the establishment of the Muslim community, the revelations assumed the nature of detailed legislation. Despite the notorious hostility to him by his own people, Muhammad persevered in his mission against great odds. His career did not fare better in Western Christendom, and to this day he is misrepresented in Western literature. In view of a traditional Christian hostility to him and denigration of him, it is assuring to read a sympathetic appreciation of his spiritual greatness by a Western historian. In his book The Religious Experience of Mankind, Ninian Smart writes: “Like his spiritual forebears in Ancient Israel, Muhammad…had some kind of direct acquaintance with the numinous power of God…His message was original and unique…Islam had the strength of Jewish monotheism without its national confinement; it had the brotherliness of Christianity without its political uncertainties…The Prophet seems to have been remarkable for the loyalty he inspired and the persuasiveness with which he customarily dealt with opponents. He preferred to win men over rather than crush their spirit.”
The Qur’an, the revealed message from God, was sent down through the archangel Gabriel. The revelations were recited by Muhammad before his companions or followers who happened to be present. They were either committed to writing upon palm leaves, leather, stones, etc. and/or to memory. They were not collected and arranged systematically until two decades after the Prophet’s death. Together with the Qur’an, the sayings and practice [Sunna] of Muhammad constitute the foundation of Islamic laws and teachings. Most Muslims in the world are Sunni, who regard the Sunna as important as the Holy Book, although they were not revealed. The Prophet’s sayings and practice have acquired the force of law and some of the authority of inspiration. [Cf. Q. 53:3-4]
The principal or cardinal duty in Islam is the Shahada (Witness): “ There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger.” This profession of faith not only affirms the existence of God, it also denies the existence of any other deity. Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam affirms most emphatically the unity of God, differing of course by affirming the prophetic mission of Muhammad. Shirk (polytheism-idolatry) is the greatest sin in Islam. “He is God alone, God the eternal, He does not beget and He is not begotten. There is none co-equal with Him.” [Q.112] Islam recognizes Christ as just a prophet, and not as the son of God.
The most important attributes of God are al-Rahman al-Rahim (the Compassionate, the Merciful). The invocation “In the name of God, the compassionate, the Merciful” is used at the head of every chapter in the Qur’an. It is also used by Muslims at the beginning of every action, be it starting work, going on a journey or eating daily meals, as, in the words if Kenneth Craig, “a recognition of Allah in all ventures and vicissitudes of daily life.”
Next in importance to the profession of faith is the Salat (Prayer), which is strictly regulated. “Islam and the Muslim prayer are inseparable.” Mecca is the direction of prayer, toward which every Muslim must turn his face “in a gesture which makes him part of one history and one solidarity.” There are five obligatory prayers each day, and some optional ones. They are brief, but they underscore the believer’s obligation to recognize God “in the midst of, rather than in escape from his distraction and duties. The daily hours replace the holy day.” The ritual prayer may be performed anywhere, but the Friday prayer must be performed in a Mosque. It is obligatory upon all adult males; women take no part in it. In recent years some Muslim countries have included women in Friday prayer.
The rest of Islam’s fundamental duties--almsgiving, fasting the month of Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to the Holy Sanctuary in Mecca—stress charity, self-restraint, contemplation, peace, social equality and responsibility, and spiritual discipline. Islam’s ultimate message to the believers is to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. [Q.3: 110]
Whenever they are Muslims form one community [Umma], a community in which all members, irrespective of color or race, are equal. No on can claim superiority except in piety. All Muslim instructions are intended to strengthen the community and bind together by faith as well as by practice. It is “unlike and above all other nations” only is its total submission to God’s will and in its recognition of His absolute sovereignty.
“Let there be no compulsion in religion.” [Q. 2:256] is one of the most important teachings in Islam. The Prophet’s aim was to convert the people by means of persuasion, from their false gods to the One God. He opposed violence except against those who attacked the Muslim community. The only punishment with which he threatened his heathen adversaries was Eternal Punishment on the Day of Judgement. Islam does not prohibit battle in self-defense. It certainly condemns aggression; In Qur’an 2:190, we read: “Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for God loveth not transgressors.” Against all contentions, there is nothing in Islam that condones terrorism or violence.
Why then is the Muslim polity so agitated and so politicized? Undoubtedly, economic and political reasons play a central role in radical Islamic movements. Rampant unemployment disparities in income and in standards of living, high rates of illiteracy, and absence of democratic participation drive the youth in particular to join militant movements. Desperation breeds violence, while religion provides the appeal to attract the disaffected. But why is Islam so susceptible to such manipulation?
There is in Islam a relationship between religion and politics that does not exists in any other great religion. The Prophet as well as later Muslims regarded religion as necessary for the organization and integration of society. There is the divine purpose in sending prophets. The faith, therefore, finds its ideal expression in a political community—first in the theocracy of Medina under Muhammad himself and, after his death, the caliphate. In Joseph Schacht’s words, “A state grew out of a congregation.”
Consequently, the Islamic state came into being as an instrument for the realization of the Divine Will. From its inception Islam was associated with political community and identified with its fortunes. The early transformation of the community of the faithful into a state has been formative of all else in the history of Islam. Adherence to the faithful meant immediate admissions to membership in a political community with corollary rights and privileges. This new religious loyalty to a political community superseded the tribal loyalties and kinship relationships of pre-Islamic Arabia, and fused a heterogeneous society into a single brotherhood.
Thus Islam must be looked upon not only as a faith and a system of morality but also as a system of laws, a Shari ‘a, which purports to regulate all human activities including the conduct of state. As such, it envisions a politico-religious community managed by divine guidance through the revealed law and embodying God’s pattern for human society. The Umma is sometimes called Ummat Allah or Ummat Muhammad, the Prophet being at the same time its religious and political ruler. In theory, there is no separation between the ‘religious’ and the ‘political.’ Islam is all embracing, it combines spiritual and temporal matters and differentiates between them only in terms of emphasis. Although the spiritual is prior to the temporal, it can only be achieved through it. God’s kingdom is, in an important sense, of this world: man must serve God through a social organization. “In the mind of Muhammad, as in the minds of his opponents,” wrote H.A.R. Gibb, “the new religious association had long been conceived as a community organized on political lines, not as a church within a secular state.” Human life cannot be divided into compartments, each of which leads a different kind of life. Within the framework of divine purpose, every human activity is religiously relevant. “Islam is a religion a state,” goes a traditional Islamic saying.
Yet under the pressure of modernity, some Muslims scholars have disputed the theory that Islam is a religion and a state. They argue that Muhammad was no more than a Messenger [Rasul] with a purely prophetic mission. They dismiss as inconsequential and inconclusive the fact that the Prophet actually ruled a community, legislating for, and adjudicating among, its members. But for most Muslims Islam is more than a religion; it represents a political and a juridical theory. It is a cultural whole, encompassing religion and state.
In the contemporary period, the crisis agitating the Muslim mind centers on the relationship between the modern believer and his past. Muslims have been confronted with challenges from Western technological and secular civilization. They fear the loss of their religious values and way of life. Consequently, there are different interpretations of Islam in terms of modern life. Most Muslims seem to adopt Western ideas, institutions, and methods, without necessarily abandoning their basic beliefs. At the other end, radical Islamist movements reject modernity, and insist on going back to pristine Islam.
They not only reject Western culture, they also regard existing ‘Muslim” states as un-Islamic since they are not fully governed by the Shari ‘a law. In particular, they reject Western secularism for its separation of religion and state. On this point there is more agreement between the extremist and the moderates than appears on the surface. Most Muslims regard secularism as atheist, and pay more than lip service to the principle that the Shari ‘a must be the primary source of legislation.
The Islamic militants have equated the terms ‘secularism’ and ‘ secularist’ with jahiliyya [the pre-Islamic paganism] and apostasy from Islam. They used them to vilify, threaten, and murder their adversaries, including foreigners. Among the foreigners, the United States and Israel in particular are looked upon as enemies of Islam. Moderate Muslims, although critical of American policies, especially in Arab-Israeli conflict, make the distinction between theses policies and the American people and their culture. Many crave immigrating to the United States, and revel in owning American gadgets. Needless to repeat, the militants do not represent Islam or all Muslims. Most Muslims reject their version of Islam, and consider it a travesty of the true religion.
Addressing the Muslim-Arab world and Egyptian intellectual state that linking Islam to terrorism is “a mean lie,” but what is taking place in most Arab and Muslim countries helps to make it credible. He added: “We do not deny there are fanatic religious movements in our countries, some of which turned to violence and terrorism.” He also recognized that these movements find justification for their actions in some old religious text. These movements have become active as a result of a series of crises and setbacks to modernization and democratization in Muslim and Arab countries. With no other outlet to air their grievances, they find expression in religious fundamentalism and at its most narrow-minded. Unfortunately, instead of helping to overcome these difficulties, the advanced nations “tightened their grip on us, abused us, and encourage these extremist religious organizations to put themselves froward as folkloric alternative to reform.” He blames the CIA for recruiting Osama bin Laden to help chase the Soviets form Afghanistan. So between1979-89 these extremist organizations were in the service of the Western camp. “Islamic terrorism is mostly a Western product,” he asserted. In conclusion, he deplored what these organizations are wreaking in Arab-Muslim societies: “They feel with their axes upon the constituents of our life, the constitution and law, security and the economy, literature and the arts, and finally upon women and fashions. It is natural law that we oppose terrorism and fight it, but it is our war and not the war of someone else.”
Tension and enmity have characterized relations between Christendom and Islamdom since the Crusades of the 12th an 13th centuries. The Ottoman Turkish invasion and occupation of parts of Europe for 400 years deepened the enmity. So did the colonial movement of the 19th and 20th centuries. After WWI, most Muslim countries were ruled by Western (Christian) powers. The establishment of the state of Israel with the help of Western powers on land that Arabs consider theirs, and the displacement of Palestinians, have inflamed a relationship already aggravated by a long history of confrontation and humiliation.
The religion of Islam has not fared any better in Western literature. From Dante’s Inferno and Italy’s Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi’s remarks about the alleged inferiority of Islam to Rev. Franklin Graham’s remark that “Islam is evil and wicked,” Muslims have felt offended and besieged. For their part, Muslims have responded in kind. Thus a legacy of hatred and suspicion endured.
Yet, against this background, relations between modern Muslim countries and the West have been relatively friendly and peaceful. Western ideas and technology have been integrated, no matter how precariously, with Islamic institutions, laws, and practices. But a “gulf of misunderstanding” still exists between the two worlds. The West insists on interpreting Jihad as a call to kill Christians and the Muslims see in the word “crusade” a Christian war against Islam. Although President George W. Bush apologized for using the term “crusade” prior to the attack on Afghanistan, implying it was used in the sense of campaign, most Muslims recall a time when the Muslim world was invaded by the Crusaders.
At the same time, just as some Western writers are propagating “clash of civilization,” so have Muslim fundamentalists who, after the American military action in Afghanistan, labeled it “a religious war against Islam.” Fortunately, wiser counsels have prevailed. To his credit, President Bush paid a visit to the Islamic Center in Washington, D.C., where he declared that the war was against terrorism an not against Islam. So did U.S. allies in Europe. Similarly, the Islamic Research Academy in Cairo has rejected both the “clash of civilizations” and the “religious wars” notions. Muslim intellectuals have asserted that Islamic civilization is not anti-Western or anti-Christian. Both civilizations share common features.
Instead of a clash, they called for a dialogue, free of bias and stereotyping as the only guarantee of a future free of terrorism and violence.
Fauzi M. Najjar, born in Lebanon, graduated from the American University of Beirut with a B.A. in political science and received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He taught at both schools before coming to MSU in 1956. A professor of social science, he taught Islamic Studies in the History Dept. and at Justin Morrill College, received the Distinguished Faculty Award in 1973 and retired in 1987. Since retirement he has continued his research and writing.
NEW CLASS—MSU’s History Dept. currently offers History 451: “9/11: The Causes, Consequences and Implications of the Sept. 11 events in their international dimensions. David Robinson, university distinguished professor of history, is one of three coordinator of the class.