Viewpoint: What do radical Islamists actually believe in?
In the aftermath of the Woolwich attack in which a British soldier was killed, apparently at the hands of Islamist fundamentalists, Quilliam Foundation researcher Dr Usama Hasan argues that moderates must do more to win over Muslim youth.
For decades in the UK and abroad, Muslim discourse has been dominated by fundamentalism and Islamism.
I spent two decades, starting in my teens, as an activist promoting these narrow and superficial misinterpretations of Islam in the UK, along with thousands of others here and millions in Muslim-majority countries, until deeper and wider experiences of faith and life helped me out of these intellectual and spiritual wastelands.
These discourses need to be defeated, and the developing counter-narratives to these worldviews and mindsets need to be strengthened.
By fundamentalism, I mean the reading of scripture out of context with no reference to history or a holistic view of the world.
Specific examples of literalist, fundamentalist readings that still dominate Muslim attitudes worldwide are manifested in the resistance to progress in human rights, gender-equality and democratic socio-political reforms that are too-often heard from socially-conservative Muslims.
The universal verses of the Koran (eg 49:13, "O humanity! We have created you from male and female and made you nations and tribes so that you may know each other: the most honoured of you with God are those most God-conscious: truly, God is Knowing, Wise") promote full human equality and leave no place for slavery, misogyny, xenophobia or racism.
However, other Koranic verses that may seem to accommodate slavery, discrimination against non-Muslims and women and even wife-beating (eg 4:34) were clearly specific for their time and always meant as temporary measures in a process of liberation.
Islam exalted the status of women and slaves in 7th Century Arabia. Ahistorical, fundamentalist readings treat these specific stages as universal and obstinately refuse any progress, effectively insisting on a return to 7th Century values for all societies at all times.
Islamism is often described as "political Islam". A more accurate description would be "over-politicised, fundamentalist Islam", since believers have every right to build their politics on basic religious ideals such as truth, justice and the welfare of all people.
The following may be regarded as the major components of Islamism: Umma, Khilafa, Sharia and Jihad - all of which have become excessively politicised.
Umma (nation) translates for Islamists into an obsession with the "Muslim people" and its imagined suffering worldwide (the blessings are never counted, only the problems) that in turn becomes a firmly entrenched victimhood and perpetual sense of grievance.
Conflicts involving Muslims with others are continually cited - Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan and Iraq - while ignoring savage internecine Muslim conflicts, such as the Iran-Iraq war or the current wars in Darfur and Syria, or the appalling persecution of Christians in many Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt, Iran and Pakistan.
Khilafa (caliphate) for Islamists is the idea that they are duty bound to establish "Islamic states" - described by vague, theoretical, idealistic platitudes - that would then be united in a global, pan-Islamic state or "new caliphate".
Sharia (law) for Islamists is the idea that they are duty-bound to implement and enforce medieval Islamic jurisprudence in their modern "Islamic state".
Hence the obsession with enforcing the veiling of women, discriminating against women and non-Muslims and implementing penal codes that include amputations, floggings, beheadings and stonings to death, all seen as a sacred, God-given duty that cannot be changed.
Jihad (sacred struggle) for Islamists is an obsession with violence, whether of a military, paramilitary or terrorist nature. Their Jihad aims to protect and expand the Islamic state. Extremists even dream of conquering the whole world for Islamism by militarily defeating the US, Europe, Israel, India, China and Russia.
Counter-narratives to the Islamist narrative may be developed.
The Koranic references to Umma include the historical aspect, such as the prophets of other faiths and their followers, a strong, interfaith and spiritual notion.
In early Islam, Umma also referred to political communities that included Jews and Christians, such as Medina under the Prophet Muhammad. The Ottomans abandoned the legal pluralism of the "millet" system (a faith-community framework) in the 19th Century and adopted a citizenship model that granted equal rights to all, irrespective of religion.
The founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, articulated the same vision for his new Muslim-majority state with Hindu, Sikh and Christian minorities, but these developments have been forgotten under the avalanche of fundamentalist Islamism over the past half-century.
Sharia has had dozens of schools and interpretations over the centuries.
Narrow approaches do not work in our modern world. The holistic approach to Sharia known as Maqasid al-Sharia (universal objectives of law) posits equality, justice and compassion as the basis of all law, and is the only way forward.
The work of the recent or contemporary scholars Ibn Ashur, Nasr Abu Zayd and Ibn Bayyah are crucial in this regard.
It has to be recognised that Koranic penal codes, always accompanied by exhortations to mercy and forgiveness, were often suspended or replaced by imprisonment or financial penalties in the early centuries of Islam, since punishment, deterrence, restorative justice and rehabilitation were the operative concerns.
Also, arbitrary interpretations of Sharia were not enforced at state level in early Islam and most of Sharia is voluntary, relating to believers' daily worship and social transactions.
The Koranic spirit of freedom, equality, justice and compassion must be reclaimed, with an emphasis on Sharia as ethics rather than rigid ritualism.
The Koranic notion of Jihad is essentially about the sacred and physical-spiritual nature of life's struggles, as summed up by "strive in God", a verse revealed in the pacifist period of Islam before war was permitted.
In our times, we need non-violent Jihads; social struggles against all forms of inequality and oppression, and for justice and liberation.
Socio-political Jihads are needed to achieve the goals of noble causes such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that may be seen as an extension of the themes of equality contained in the Prophet Muhammad's farewell sermon.
The military aspects of Jihad are covered by the ethics of warfare. The voluminous Geneva Conventions are in keeping with the spirit of the Koran, which also has a strong pacifist message.
Role-models for such counter-narratives include the many Muslim social reformers of the past century, such as Jinnah's sister Fatima, who is still an inspiration to millions of Pakistani women, and the many Muslim activists who contributed to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.
More recently, the youth of the Arab spring, with an instinctive Islamic, Christian or humanist love of freedom and justice, have broken through the impasse maintained by dictatorships and their subservient clergy.
Such counter-extremist, reform movements must be led at the grass-roots by community and intellectual activists.
Democratic government has a role, but a healthy civil society is best-equipped to resist tyrannical dictatorship, whether religious or secular.
We have much to do, but where there is faith, there is much hope.
What they want
What they want
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: What they want
Well, I think that should be rather obvious...What they want
They want us dead...
They want to create an Islamo-fascist regime from the Indonesian Islands in the East, that spans a tier across all of Northern Africa, to the Southern ports of Spain...
We simply cannot have that...
It's just not on...
Last edited by Lord Jim on Sat May 25, 2013 6:22 am, edited 5 times in total.
Re: What they want
Pretty much what Lord Jim posted.
The United States would do well to monitor Muslims via the FBI, CIA, ICE, and the BSA.
The United States would do well to monitor Muslims via the FBI, CIA, ICE, and the BSA.
Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.
yrs,
rubato
Re: What they want
The nations not so blessed as thee, shall in their turn to tyrants fall...
While thou shalt flourish great and free, the dread and envy of them all...
Rule Britannia...
Britannia Rules The Waves..
Britons never never never shall be slaves....
While thou shalt flourish great and free, the dread and envy of them all...
Rule Britannia...
Britannia Rules The Waves..
Britons never never never shall be slaves....
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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: What they want
As the Beatles said, "a damn good whacking".
(Or did they mean, "wacking"? hmmmm)
(Or did they mean, "wacking"? hmmmm)
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
Re: What they want
Harrison is dead, can't ask him.
Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.
yrs,
rubato
Re: What they want
Countries where ethnic groups are forced into social and economic ghettos create and feed radical and violent groups like this. We have known this for a long time.
If you want to undo and neutralize their power to organize you have to take away the group they recruit from.
We cannot eliminate the random individuals who froth to the surface on a regular basis and some of whom latch onto this kind of ideology to explain or excuse the hatred which is their real motive. But by taking away the social forces which drive large numbers into these groups we can get a reduce a crippling disease of society to a mild fever which we can tolerate.
The success of the civil rights movement in the US kept the Nation of Islam, for an example, from growing into a tumor so that it is more a benign cyst.
And then hunt down and kill the ones who use violence, of course.
yrs,
rubato
If you want to undo and neutralize their power to organize you have to take away the group they recruit from.
We cannot eliminate the random individuals who froth to the surface on a regular basis and some of whom latch onto this kind of ideology to explain or excuse the hatred which is their real motive. But by taking away the social forces which drive large numbers into these groups we can get a reduce a crippling disease of society to a mild fever which we can tolerate.
The success of the civil rights movement in the US kept the Nation of Islam, for an example, from growing into a tumor so that it is more a benign cyst.
And then hunt down and kill the ones who use violence, of course.
yrs,
rubato
Re: What they want
Like in Sweden, for example.Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 9:03 am
Countries where ethnic groups are forced into social and economic ghettos create and feed radical and violent groups like this. We have known this for a long time.
Aren't you the one who blathers on and on incessantly what an advanced country the nation of Sweden is?
Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.
yrs,
rubato
Re: What they want
The example actually proves my point, you mental pustule. Pity you can't stop the ignorant smartass stream of consciousness long enough to learn a new fact:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... smoke.html
"... Two decades on, though, "white flight" has left only one in five of Husby's flats occupied by ethnic Swedes, and many of their immigrant replacements do not seem to share his view that a new life in Sweden is a dream come true. Last week, the neighbourhood erupted into rioting, sparking some of the fiercest urban unrest that Sweden has seen in decades, and a new debate about the success of racial integration. ... "
By whatever mechanism the ghetto is produced, Ghettoization is a direct cause.
yrs,
rubato
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... smoke.html
"... Two decades on, though, "white flight" has left only one in five of Husby's flats occupied by ethnic Swedes, and many of their immigrant replacements do not seem to share his view that a new life in Sweden is a dream come true. Last week, the neighbourhood erupted into rioting, sparking some of the fiercest urban unrest that Sweden has seen in decades, and a new debate about the success of racial integration. ... "
By whatever mechanism the ghetto is produced, Ghettoization is a direct cause.
yrs,
rubato
Re: What they want
By calling names you just relegated any point you attempted to make down the toilet.The example actually proves my point, you mental pustule.
'bye....
Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.
yrs,
rubato
Re: What they want
Gave you a lame excuse not to have to think, you mean.
but to get back to the point.
but to get back to the point.
Re: What they want
But getting back to the point.
The point, as it appears to be the case, is that for us to live together we have to actually live together. Social isolation between groups is a powerful means of promoting racist, homophobic, and religious hatreds and resentments. That is why integration, affirmative action in the workplace, and the 'coming out' movement have been so effective in reducing racism, religious bigotry, and homophobia. When we see each other every day it provides the evidence of our commonality. By forcing police departments to include women and blacks it created the opportunity for both black and white officers to learn that they can rely on each other, to learn that the person who can be trusted to watch your back might be a woman or of a different race. By coming out gays forced their neighbors and family to see that they were people first and everything else second; they had to confront the fact that people they admired and respected were gay.
Social isolation allows false beliefs to be perpetuated and amplified. It allows feelings of resentment and victimhood to be nurtured and thus stoke the fires of hatred; one of the things Slobodan Milosevich did was to nurture Serbian feelings of being persecuted. Just as they are doing in the Islamic Ghettos. Just like the KKK did in the south. &c.
In order to live together we have to live together.
It is a lesson for all of us, even those countries which are higher-functioning overall than we are; like Sweden. Sweden is a country of human beings and the social forces which shape human beings effect them too. The fact is beneficial to note because it means that all of the ways which they are better than we are are things we can do as well.
yrs,
rubato
The point, as it appears to be the case, is that for us to live together we have to actually live together. Social isolation between groups is a powerful means of promoting racist, homophobic, and religious hatreds and resentments. That is why integration, affirmative action in the workplace, and the 'coming out' movement have been so effective in reducing racism, religious bigotry, and homophobia. When we see each other every day it provides the evidence of our commonality. By forcing police departments to include women and blacks it created the opportunity for both black and white officers to learn that they can rely on each other, to learn that the person who can be trusted to watch your back might be a woman or of a different race. By coming out gays forced their neighbors and family to see that they were people first and everything else second; they had to confront the fact that people they admired and respected were gay.
Social isolation allows false beliefs to be perpetuated and amplified. It allows feelings of resentment and victimhood to be nurtured and thus stoke the fires of hatred; one of the things Slobodan Milosevich did was to nurture Serbian feelings of being persecuted. Just as they are doing in the Islamic Ghettos. Just like the KKK did in the south. &c.
In order to live together we have to live together.
It is a lesson for all of us, even those countries which are higher-functioning overall than we are; like Sweden. Sweden is a country of human beings and the social forces which shape human beings effect them too. The fact is beneficial to note because it means that all of the ways which they are better than we are are things we can do as well.
yrs,
rubato
Re: What they want
"What they want" is an interesting question. And one of the most central.
Because you can ask "what do people want" as a way of understanding the present moment in society. It can teach you what inducements will be effective in shaping present behavior.
Or you can ask "How do people develop desires" as a completely different way of changing the future.
I'll think about this some more.
yrs,
rubato
Because you can ask "what do people want" as a way of understanding the present moment in society. It can teach you what inducements will be effective in shaping present behavior.
Or you can ask "How do people develop desires" as a completely different way of changing the future.
I'll think about this some more.
yrs,
rubato
Re: What they want
Well, we've talked about this before...
We have radical Islamo Fascists in this country, (like Speed Bump and Dry Dock) but for the most part, they are few and far between...
We do not have the sort of thing going on in this country that is going on in Great Britain...
We do not have hundreds of Islamo-Fascists taking to the streets in mass demonstrations shouting "Death to America" or, "if you don't cover yourself you're a whore"...
Despite the fact that we have a higher percentage of Arab and Islamic population in this country than they do in Europe, that sort of thing just doesn't seem to happen here...
I think that has a lot to do with the nature of how this country operates...
As I've pointed out before, I have a number of Arab clients that I go out for drinks with...
In fact a couple of weeks ago, we went to a wedding that one of my "Muslim" ( He's Muslim in the same way I'm Catholic...) clients was hosting for one of his daughters...(great food and an open bar...and one of his other daughters tried to hit on me which at 53 I found flattering..but that's another story...)
But my point is, that in this country we have a history and tradition of drawing people into our "melting pot" culture, while many European societies tend to isolate foreign elements, and separate them from the dominant social order.....
We have radical Islamo Fascists in this country, (like Speed Bump and Dry Dock) but for the most part, they are few and far between...
We do not have the sort of thing going on in this country that is going on in Great Britain...
We do not have hundreds of Islamo-Fascists taking to the streets in mass demonstrations shouting "Death to America" or, "if you don't cover yourself you're a whore"...
Despite the fact that we have a higher percentage of Arab and Islamic population in this country than they do in Europe, that sort of thing just doesn't seem to happen here...
I think that has a lot to do with the nature of how this country operates...
As I've pointed out before, I have a number of Arab clients that I go out for drinks with...
In fact a couple of weeks ago, we went to a wedding that one of my "Muslim" ( He's Muslim in the same way I'm Catholic...) clients was hosting for one of his daughters...(great food and an open bar...and one of his other daughters tried to hit on me which at 53 I found flattering..but that's another story...)
But my point is, that in this country we have a history and tradition of drawing people into our "melting pot" culture, while many European societies tend to isolate foreign elements, and separate them from the dominant social order.....
Re: What they want
....and one of his other daughters tried to hit on me which at 53 I found flattering..but that's another story....
Oh, do tell........
Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.
yrs,
rubato
Re: What they want
Someone stole her white stick?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
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MajGenl.Meade
- Posts: 21234
- Joined: Sun Apr 25, 2010 8:51 am
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Re: What they want
He gave treats to her guide dog.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
Re: What they want
Oh my my my...
I see it was open mike night at The Plan B Punchline again last night...
I see it was open mike night at The Plan B Punchline again last night...
Re: What they want
According to this, Muslims as percentages of various countries' populations are:Lord Jim wrote:Despite the fact that we have a higher percentage of Arab and Islamic population in this country than they do in Europe ....
United States: 0.8%
Austria: 5.7%
Belgium: 6.0%
Denmark: 4.1%
France: 7.5%
Germany: 5.0%
Greece: 4.7%
Italy: 2.6%
Netherlands: 5.5%
Norway: 3.0%
Spain: 2.3%
Sweden: 4.9%
Switzerland: 5.7%
United Kingdom: 4.6%
Reason is valuable only when it performs against the wordless physical background of the universe.
Re: What they want
The European welfare states tend to draw a lot of worthless immigrants who are keen to suckle at the breasts of the Nanny States, and ripe for such indoctrination, while at the same time those very European welfare states absolutely require large numbers of young immigrant workers to pay taxes to sustain their generous medical and retirement programs. Unfortunately, Europeans do not reproduce rapidly enough to maintain their populations.
In the interest of avoiding claims of bigotry, Western nations have abandoned the previously de facto requirement that when you emigrate to a country, you must assimilate both culturally and legally because presumably you went there because that's where you wanted to live. The current thinking is that it is perfectly OK for people to come to a country, refuse to learn its language, scorn its culture and religions, insist on living in an enclave of immigrants from their own godforsaken homeland, and bitch to high heaven when all of the benefits of that society are not automatically bestowed on them because they happen to squat there.
One used to hear the words, "GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM!" [or where your parents came from, as the case may be] when situations like this would arise, but now we are too sympatico, to sophisticated, to free of bigotry, to express such atavistic thoughts.
But they are entirely apropos. If these fuckers don't like their lives in Britain, France, Sweden (for God's sake), or the fucking U.S of A., they should go back where the fuck they came from and STFU.
In the interest of avoiding claims of bigotry, Western nations have abandoned the previously de facto requirement that when you emigrate to a country, you must assimilate both culturally and legally because presumably you went there because that's where you wanted to live. The current thinking is that it is perfectly OK for people to come to a country, refuse to learn its language, scorn its culture and religions, insist on living in an enclave of immigrants from their own godforsaken homeland, and bitch to high heaven when all of the benefits of that society are not automatically bestowed on them because they happen to squat there.
One used to hear the words, "GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM!" [or where your parents came from, as the case may be] when situations like this would arise, but now we are too sympatico, to sophisticated, to free of bigotry, to express such atavistic thoughts.
But they are entirely apropos. If these fuckers don't like their lives in Britain, France, Sweden (for God's sake), or the fucking U.S of A., they should go back where the fuck they came from and STFU.