Islam meand Death
Mister_George
The late 20th century phenomena of the suicide bomber and shahada
[martyrdom] has been portrayed by the liberal intelligentsia as a
desperate move made necessary by the total incompetence of the Arab
military in its laughable performance against the tiny state of Israel
but this is as far removed from reality as one can get since the
Muslims have been DYING FOR ISLAM for many centuries.
Islam has always been a demonic cult that closely resembles the worship
of ancient pagan Gods of the Middle East who demanded living sacrifice
as the bloody 'ole Prophet Mohammed makes abundantly clear in the
psychotic hallucinations that have come to be know as the Qur'ran.
This barbaric ideology has a natural attraction for the career
criminals known as Arabs and has always enjoyed great popularity
amongst a primitive group of savages who hope only for death since they
don't have the guts to live.
Mohammed himself leads his retarded followers as he sets the example
for the collective societal psychosis that is know to history as Islam:
Abu Hurayrah, may Allaah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet
sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam said: "I swear by the One in Whose Hands
my soul is, I wish that I would fight for the sake of Allaah (i.e.,
Jihaad) and get martyred, then return and fight again and get martyred,
then return and fight again and get martyred" (Bukhaari & Muslim)
Mo had plenty of opportunities for martyrdom but was far more
interested in counting his war booty and raping his nine year old
'wife' to realize this noble vision.
Muslim:C31B20N4645 "The Prophet said: 'Whoever cheerfully accepts Allah
as his Lord, Islam as his Religion and Muhammad as his Apostle is
necessarily entitled to enter Paradise.' Abu wondered at it and said:
'Messenger of Allah, repeat that for me.' He did that and said: 'There
is another act which elevates the position of a man in Paradise to a
grade one hundred (higher), and the elevation between one grade and the
other is equal to the height of the heaven from the earth.' Abu said:
'What is that act?' He replied: 'Jihad in the Way of Allah! Jihad in
Allah's Cause!'"
FIGHTING - WAR - DEATH = ISLAM.
Bukhari:V4B52N53 "The Prophet said, 'Nobody who dies and finds Paradise
would wish to come back to this life even if he were given the whole
world and whatever is in it, except the martyr who, on seeing the
superiority of martyrdom, would like to come back to get killed again
in Allah's Cause.'"
Muslims truly believe that death is preferable to life and teach their
children that to die for the blood-thirsty demon known as Allah is the
ideal.
Bukhari:V4B52N54 "The Prophet said, 'Were it not for the believers who
do not want me to leave them, I would certainly and always go forth in
army units setting out in Allah's Cause. I would love to be martyred in
Allah's Cause and then get resurrected and then get martyred, and then
get resurrected again and then get martyred and then get resurrected
again and then get martyred.'"
Mo talked a great deal about dying for Allah but mysteriously always
managed to wind up smoking some good hash and sodomizing his nine year
old wife when the time for real battle arrived - MOHAMMED WAS HISTORY'S
GREATEST CON MAN!
Koran 33:22 "The Believers said: 'This is what Allah and his Messenger
promised us.' It added to their faith, obedience, and submission. Among
the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah
and have gone out for Jihad (holy fighting). Some have completed their
vow to extreme (and have been martyred) fighting and dying in His
Cause, and some are waiting, prepared for death in battle."
DEATH - SLAUGHTER - MURDER = ISLAM.
Bukhari:V4B53N386 "Our Prophet has informed us that our Lord says:
'Whoever amongst us is killed as a martyr shall go to Paradise to lead
such a luxurious life as he has never seen, and whoever survives shall
become your master."
Mo babbles on and on about martyrdom and is so busy talking that he
never shared in this great holy experience - MOHAMMED WAS A COWARD TOO.
Bukhari V4B52N46 "I heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'Allah guarantees
that He will admit the Muslim fighter into Paradise if he is killed,
otherwise He will return him to his home safely with rewards and
booty.'"
O YE MUSLIMS - DIE FOR ISLAM (my ideology and my booty) WHILE I SIT
BACK IN SAFETY AND RAPE MY MANY WIVES ALL NIGHT LONG! Says Mohammed
(and the Muslims are so gullible (i.e. dumb) that they fell for it and
are continuing to believe in this gigantic moral fraud)
Ishaq:518 "Masud was one of those who found martyrdom at Khaybar.
Muhammad said, 'He has with him now his two dark-eyed virgins. When a
martyr is slain, his two virgins pet him, wiping the dust from his
face. They say, "May Allah throw dust on the face of the man who did
this to you, and slay him who slew you!"
Masud never got the other 70 virgins? SHEESH!
Tabari VIII:153/Ishaq:533 "Abdallah Rawahah encouraged the men, saying,
'By Allah, what you loathe is the very thing you came out to
seek-martyrdom. We are not fighting the enemy with number, strength, or
multitude, but we are fighting them with this religion with which Allah
has honored us. So come on! Both prospects are fine: victory or
martyrdom.'"
DIE FOR MOHAMMED - while Mo sucks on his crack pipe and his 'young boys
who are pretty as pearls' (Mohammed was bi-sexual too)
Koran 9:111 "Allah has purchased the believers, their lives and their
goods. For them (in return) is the Garden (of Paradise). They fight in
Allah's Cause, and slay others and are slain, they kill and are killed.
It is a promise binding on Him in the Taurat (Torah), the Injeel
(Gospel), and the Koran. And who is more faithful to his covenant than
Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. It is the
achievement supreme."
DEATH IS SUPREME - YOU MUST DIE FOR MOHAMMED DUMMY! (and the dumb
Muslims did it too and continue to go to their death while ISLAMIC PIGS
like Yassir Arafat and Osama bin Laden grew INCREDIBLY WEALTHY!)
Koran 4:74 "Let those who fight in the Cause of Allah sell the life of
this world for the hereafter. To him who fights in the Cause of Allah,
whether he is slain or gets victory-soon shall We give him a great
reward."
ISLAM SAYS YOU MUST DIE FOR YOUR REWARD - all Islamic societies are
failed polities that have been the laughing stock of the entire world
for 1,400 years - so the Ayatollahs, Imams and Mullahs promise their
DUMB MUSLIMS that THEIR REWARD IS IN HEAVEN - and THE MUSLIMS ARE SO
SEVERELY RETARDED THAT THEY ACTUALLY BELIEVE IT.
Muslim:C29B20N4634 "The Messenger of Allah said, 'Nobody who dies and
has something good for him with Allah will (like to) return even though
he were offered the whole world and all that is in it (as an
inducement), except the martyr who desires to return and be killed for
the merit of martyrdom.'"
You will LOVE DEATH MORE THEN YOU EVER LOVED LIFE - see dummy?
Muslim:C29B20N4635 "The Prophet said: 'Nobody who enters Paradise wants
return even if he were offered everything on the surface of the earth
except the martyr who will desire to return and be killed ten times for
the sake of the great honor that has been bestowed upon him.'"
If you CAN DIE and get the 72 virgins, "boys pretty as pearls", rivers
of wine and all the food you could ever want why live? DEATH FOR ISLAM!
Bukhari:V8B76N550 "I heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'From my followers
there will be a crowd of 70,000 in number who will enter Paradise all
together.'"
Mo never had 70,000 followers at any one time in his life - but Muslims
can't count once they run out of fingers and toes so no one knows the
difference.
Muslim:C33B20N4651 "We asked Abdallah about the Koranic Verse: 'Think
not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they are alive,
finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord.' (Koran 3:169)
He said: 'We asked the Holy Prophet the meaning of the verse and he
said: "The souls of martyrs live in the bodies of green birds who have
their nests in chandeliers hung from the throne of the Almighty. They
eat the fruits of Paradise from wherever they like and then nestle in
these chandeliers. Once their Lord cast a glance at them and said: 'Do
you want anything?' They said: 'What more shall we desire? We eat the
fruit of Paradise from wherever we like.' Their Lord asked them the
same question thrice. When they saw that they would continue to be
asked and not left, they said: 'O Lord, we wish that Thou mayest return
our souls to our bodies so that we may be slain in Thy Way once again.'
When He (Allah) saw that they had no need, they were left (to their
joy)."'"
Sure - YOU LIVE INSIDE OF LITTLE GREEN BIRDS - AND HAVE ALL THE FRUITS
YOU WANT TOO! And the gullible Muslims are promised an Eternity of
Bliss reclining upon couches arranged face to face a cup from a
fountain being passed round to them, a pleasure to the drinkers and
with them wide-eyed maidens flexing their glances as if they were
slightly concealed pearls." ( The Rangers 40: 45 ) Whereas Chinese have
preferred flat-chested women, the Arabs are fond of rising bosoms. So,
in keeping with the Arab taste, the Koran declares: "Surely for the
God-fearing awaits a place of security, gardens and vineyards and
maidens with swelling bosoms." ( The Tidings 30 ) PLUS YOUNG BOYS WHO
ARE PRETTY AS PEARLS.
Ishaq:400 "One whom I do not suspect told me that he was asked about
these verses and he said, 'We asked Muhammad about them and we were
told that when our brethren were slain at Uhud Allah put their spirits
in the crops of green birds which come down to the rivers of the Garden
and eat of its fruits. They say, "We should like our spirits to return
to our bodies and then return to the earth and fight for You until we
are killed again.'"
These dudes really dig those little green birds and have a REAL PASSION
FOR FRUITS!
Muslim: C41B20N4678 "Proof Of The Martyr's Attaining Paradise: Jabir
said that a man said, 'Messenger of Allah, where shall I be if I am
killed?' He replied: 'In Paradise.' The man threw away the dates he had
in his hand and fought until he was killed."
FIGHT - DIE - JIHAD = ISLAM.
Muslim:C41B20N4681 "Abdallah heard it from his father who, while facing
the enemy, reported that the Messenger said: 'Surely, the gates of
Paradise are under the shadows of the swords.' A man in a shabby
condition got up and said: 'Abu, did you hear the Prophet say this?' He
said: 'Yes.' He returned to his friends and said: 'I greet you (a
farewell greeting).' Then he broke the sheath of his sword, threw it
away, advanced with his (naked) sword towards the enemy and fought with
it until he was slain."
DEATH - DEATH - DEATH = ISLAM.
Muslim:C44B20N4690 "The Messenger said, 'A troop of soldiers who fight
in Allah's Cause and get their share of the booty receive in advance
two-thirds of their reward, and in the Hereafter one-third will remain
(to their credit). If they do not receive any booty, they will get
their full reward.'"
MUSLIMS LOVE THEIR BOOTY - over half of MUSLIM MEN ARE HOMOSEXUALS so
they get a DOUBLE DOSE OF BOOTY.
Muslim:51B20N4706 "Allah's Messenger said: 'Whom do you consider to be
a martyr among you?' The Companions said: 'One who is slain in Allah's
Cause is a martyr.' He said: 'Then (if this is the definition of a
martyr) the martyrs of my Umma [Islamic community] will be small in
number.' They asked: 'Prophet, who are martyrs then?' He said: 'One who
is slain in Allah's Cause is a martyr; one who dies in the Way of Allah
is a martyr; one who dies of plague is a martyr; one who dies of
cholera is a martyr.'" Bukhari:V4B52N282 "Allah's Apostle said, 'Five
are regarded as martyrs: They are those who die because of plague,
abdominal disease, drowning, a falling building, and the martyrs in
Allah's Cause.'"
MUSLIMS BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE ALL MARTYRS - these anthropoids have been
blaming the whore world for their incompetence and recurrent problems
for 1,400 years and continue to do so today - DEATH is the ideal
solution for the COWARDLY MUSLIM WHO DOES NOT HAVE THE GUTS TO LIVE and
deal with life's problems a day at a time.
Bukhari: V5B59N377 "A man came to the Prophet and said, 'Can you tell
me where I will go if I get martyred?' The Prophet replied, 'To
Paradise.' The man fought till he was martyred."
GOT IT, DUMMY? FIGHT AND DIE SO GREEDY MOHAMMED CAN GET RICH - and
Paradise is your reward. Mohammed grew incredibly wealthy and powerful
utilizing this satanic ideology while the sad sycophants who followed
his advice were slaughtered and are still burning in the ETERNAL FIRES
OF HELL.
Tabari VII:55 "Allah's Messenger went out to his men and incited them
to fight. He promised, 'Every man may keep all the booty he takes.'
Then Muhammad said, 'By Allah, if any man fights today and is killed
fighting aggressively, going forward and not retreating, Allah will
cause him to enter Paradise.' Umayr said, 'Fine, fine. This is
excellent! Nothing stands between me and my entering Paradise except to
be killed by these people!' He seized his sword, and fought until he
was slain."
MOHAMMED got his booty - BUT HE WAS TOO BUSY RAPING HIS MANY WIVES TO
COUNT IT.
Bukhari:V5B59N379 "When we wrote the Koran, I missed one of the verses
I used to hear Allah's Apostle reciting. Then we searched for it and
found it. The verse was: 'Among the Believers are men who have been
true to their Covenant with Allah. Of them, some have fulfilled their
obligations to Allah (i.e. they have been killed in Allah's Cause), and
some of them are (still) waiting to be killed.' (Surah 33.23) So we
wrote this in its place in the Koran."
WAITING TO BE KILLED? Yes, this is what these retarded Neanderthals
really believe - they DESIRE DEATH MORE THAN LIFE.
Koran 61:10 "Believers, shall I lead you to a bargain or trade that
will save you from a painful torment? That you believe in Allah and His
Messenger (Muhammad), and that you strive and fight in Allah's Cause
with your property and your lives: That will be best for you!" Koran
61:12 "He will forgive you your sins, and admit you to Gardens under
which rivers flow, and to beautiful mansions in Eden: that is indeed
the Supreme Achievement. And another (favor) which you love: help from
Allah for a speedy victory over your enemies."
GO DIE FOR ME DUMMY! Your reward will be in heaven - Mohammed was a
MASTER FLIM-FLAM MAN and HIS IGNORANT MUSLIMS BELIEVED IT TOO.
Bukhari:V4B52N72 "The Prophet said, 'Nobody who enters Paradise likes
to go back to the world even if he got everything on the earth, except
a Mujahid [Islamic fighter] who wishes to return so that he may be
martyred ten times because of the dignity he receives.' Our Prophet
told us about the message of Allah: 'Whoever among us is killed will go
to Paradise.' Umar asked the Prophet, 'Is it not true that our men who
are killed will go to Paradise and those of the Pagan's will go to
Hell?' The Prophet said, 'Yes.'"
DEATH IS BETTER THAN LIFE - see?
Bukhari:V4B52N63 "A man came to the Prophet and said, 'Shall I fight or
embrace Islam first?' The Prophet said, 'Embrace Islam and then fight.'
He became a Muslim and was martyred. The Prophet said, 'A little work,
but a great reward."
AND A PAINFUL DEATH THAT MOHAMMED NEVER HAD THE BALLS TO SUFFER - Mo
was a master at deception and convinced hundreds of thousands of the
Arab simians to fight and die for his silly cave rambling while he grew
incredibly wealthy and powerful - BUT THE MUSLIMS NEVER FIGURED THIS
OUT - and these ignorant baboons are doing the same thing today.
Koran 3:140 "If you have received a blow and have been wounded, be sure
a similar wound has hurt others. Such days We give to men and men by
turns: that Allah may know those who believe, and that He may take to
Himself from your ranks Martyrs."
Muslims BLOW EACH OTHER ALL NIGHT LONG - HALF OF MUSLIM MEN ARE GAY -
Join the Queer Jihad today at <a
href="http://queerjihad.blogspot.com/">Queer Jihad</a>
Koran 3:156 "If you are slain, or die, in Allah's Cause [as a martyr],
pardon from Allah and mercy are far better than all they could amass."
DYING IS BETTER THAN LIVING! See Dummy?
Ishaq:397 "There is no escape from death, so death for Allah's sake in
battle is better than all one can amass in life while holding back from
fighting in fear of death. Let not the world deceive you and be not
deceived by it. Let fighting and the reward which Allah holds out to
you be the most important thing."
Mo teaches "You're gonna die anyway, so why not DIE FOR ME and help me
get rich?" - Muslims smoke so much dope and are so retarded that
they've never realized that the rest of the word is LAUGHING AT THEM.
Koran 3:169 "Think not of those who are slain in Allah's Cause as dead.
Nay, they live, finding their provision from their Lord. Jubilant in
the bounty provided by Allah: and with regard to those left behind, who
have not yet joined them (in their bliss), the Martyrs glory in the
fact that on them is no fear, nor have they cause to grieve. Allah will
not waste the reward of the believers."
Yeah sure, and inside the LITTLE GREEN BIRDS THEY GET THEIR OWN PRIVATE
WHORES TOO - refer to Hadith Tirmzi, volume two (p 35-40) which gives
details of houris, the ever-young virgins of paradise:
1. A houri is a most beautiful young woman with a transparent body.
The marrow of her bones is visible like the interior lines of pearls
and rubies. She looks like a red wine in a white glass.
2. She is of white colour, and free from the routine physical
disabilities of an ordinary woman such as menstruation, menopause,
urinal and offal discharge, child-bearing, and the related pollution.
3. She is a woman characterized by modesty and flexing glances; she
never looks at any man exce
her husband, and feels grateful for being the wife of her husband.
4. A houri is a young woman, free from odium and animosity. Besides,
she knows the meaning of love and has the ability to put it into
practice.
5. A houri is an immortal woman, who does not age. She speaks softly
and does not raise voice at her man; she is always reconciled with him.
Having been brought up in luxury, she is a luxury herself.
6. A houri is a girl of tender age, having large upright breasts.
Houris dwell in palaces of splendid surroundings.
7. If a houri looks down from her abode in heaven onto the earth, the
whole distance shall be filled
with light and fragrance
8. A houri's face is more radiant than a mirror, and one can see one's
image in her cheek. The
marrow of her shins is visible to the eyes.
9. Every man who enters paradise shall be given seventy-two houris; no
matter at what age he had died, when he enters paradise, he will become
a thirty-year-old, and he will not age any further.
Ishaq:468 "Then Allah said, 'Some of you have fulfilled your vow to Me
by dying; you have finished your work and returned to Me like those who
sought martyrdom in prior battles. And some are still waiting to
capitalize on Allah's promise of martyrdom. You do not hesitate in your
religion and never doubt.'"
DIE FOR ISLAM!
Muslims have been dying for this barbaric ideology for 14 centuries and
continue to do so in 2005 but they never seem to realize that it is the
Muslim Clergy and the Atavistic Oligarchs and cabal of brutal dictators
they facilitate who are enjoying their heavenly rewards right here on
earth. While the mujahideen continue to fight and perish for this
demented theology and their families live and die in poverty and
despair the Arab 'leaders' reap enormous rewards right here on earth
and never appear to be too willing to wait for heaven to get their
share of the holy booty.
How can SO MANY MILLIONS BE SO DUMB AND GULLIBLE?
This explains this odd historical anomaly:
* Muslims have been the world's largest suppliers of OPIATE DRUGS for
all of recorded history and they are the LARGEST GROUP OF DOPE FIENDS
ON EARTH. Chronic Drug Abuse causes Serious BRAIN DAMAGE - the Arabs
have FRIED THEIR MEAGER BRAINS for thousands of years on hard drugs.
* Muslim males are also HIGHLY PROMISCUOUS and will have sex with as
many women as they can afford, also with men (which many prefer - 52%
of Saudi males admit they are homosexuals) and even domestic animals
since it is blessed by Islam. Promiscuity leads to VENEREAL DISEASE
which often goes untreated for many years and atrophies large portions
of the brain. VD ALSO LEADS TO SERIOUS BRAIN DAMAGE
* Muslims often marry sisters, half sisters and close cousins and it is
not uncommon for fathers to marry (rape is more like it) their own
daughters. This practice evolved in the Stone Age to protect the
Tribal grouping that most Muslims still live in. FORNICATION WITH
FAMILY MEMBERS ALSO CAUSES SERIOUS MENTAL RETARDATION AND BRAIN DAMAGE.
These dilemmas have been a constant or Arab history and the lack of
medical care has compounded this societal psychosis over thousands of
years, accounting for the nearly incomprehensible thought processes
seen so often in Al-Alam.
Muslims don't just SEEM CRAZY - THEY ARE CRAZY!
Thus we can ascertain that most MUSLIMS WISH TO DIE FOR ALLAH -
SO WHY DON'T WE HELP THEM OUT!
Fear not, for I am with you. I have called you by name, you are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I shall be with you. When you walk
through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flames scorch
you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your
Savior." Isaiah 43:1b-3a
Remember MOHAMMED The obliterator."! (nickname given by Tabari)
"I say to our enemies: We are coming. God may have mercy on
you, but we won't." - Senator John MacCain
Praise the Lord and God Bless America,
Zionist/Infidel/Neocon/Crusader/Jew/Kafir
George M Weinert V
http://www.americanjihad.blogspot.com/ - American Jihad Blog
http://www.valleyofdeath.blogspot.com/ - The Valley of Death Blog
http://queerjihad.blogspot.com - Queer Musllms
http://islamsux.blogspot.com - Islams Ultimate Expose
http://groups.yahoo.com/americanjihad/messages/ - American Jihad Yahoo
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/AmericanJihad/ - American Jihad
USENET
Chief
news:1130267539.3...@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
And that good ole born agin Georgie Bush has killed two thousand
Americans, maimed and wounded fifteen thousand more for a piece of crap
bullshit war he lied us into.
Mister_George
Islamic Militant Movements
The third Nordic conference on Middle Eastern Studies:
Ethnic encounter and culture change
Joensuu, Finland, 19-22 June 1995
Islamic militant movements
between tradition and modernity
Abdel-Qader Yassine
Gothenburg University
How can the militant protest movements fighting for an Islamic state in
which
Shari'ah (Islamic Law) rules supreme best be understood: as part of a
world-wide
reaction against modernist thought or as a broad and diverse attempt to
understand and tackle the problems of modernity through reconnecting
with an
indigenous system of references for producing meaning? This is the main
question
discussed in this paper.
The Arab world is in turmoil. In most parts of the transcontinental
land that
extends from Casablanca to Baghdad, internal conflict has become the
norm and
uneasy stability is the exception. The growing cult of Islamic
militancy in the
Arab world owes much more to socio-political than to religious factors.
The
major causes of Islam being articulated as answer to the prevailing
ills of the
Arab polities are basically two:
1) The failure of the Arab political elites to evolve responsive
political
systems to take the place of traditional ones which no longer exist;
and
2) The humiliating defeat of the Arabs in the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War
of June
1967 causing reverberations not only in the Middle East but the wider
Muslim
world.
Islamic theory
In traditional Islamic political theory the state rested on three
pillars: the
Ummah (the community of Muslim believers), the Caliphate, and the
Shari'ah
(Islamic Law). Except perhaps in the early decades of Islam, this
theory,
however, did not always conform to what happened in real life.
The Ummah embodied an ideal which could not be realised in full even in
the
early period of Islam. As long as Islam was confined to the Arabian
Peninsula,
the Ummah was a homogeneous community held together by the bonds of
Islam. But
once Islam spread into the non-Arab territories to the north, the
dichotomy
between the Arab and non-Arab Muslims arose. The Arabs found it
difficult to
accept the non-Arabs as full members of the Ummah and gave them the
unflattering
title of mawla (client). The Persians accepted Islam but refused to be
reconciled to Arab supremacy and led the revolt against the first
Arab-Islamic
dynasty headed by the Umayyads. The Abbasids, who succeeded the
Umayyads, were
accommodative to non-Arab Muslims.
>From the tenth century onward, regional pressures reinforced by ethnic
self-assertion splintered the Islamic empire and it was progressively
displaced
by feuding kingdoms across the massive arc stretching from the plains
of central
Asia to the Atlantic coast of Africa.
In the 16th century, the Ottomans did succeed in bringing large chunks
of the
Arab world under the umbrella of the Turkish empire but remained at
loggerheads
with the Shiite rulers of Iran, called the Safavids. Towards the end of
the 19th
century, the Arabs were stirred by sentiments of modern nationalism and
took
full advantage of the opportunities offered by the First World War to
break
loose from the Ottoman hegemony.
The 20th century has witnessed Iran and Turkey emerge as independent
states, and
a fragmented Arab world into 20 odd nation-states. The Ummah had thus
ceased to
be a fact of political life long before the advent of the present day
nation-states.
The institution of Caliphate emerged out of a practical necessity in
the
aftermath of Prophet Muhammad's death. His closest companion Abu Bakr
al-Siddiq
was chosen to head the Ummah, and he assumed the modest title of
Khalifah
("caliph" being its Western corruption) or deputy. But within the span
of a few
decades the caliphate degenerated into an absolute hereditary monarchy.
Islamic political theorists supplied the necessary religious
underpinnings for
the institution to suit its changing requirements. It was generally
held that
the caliph must be from Quraish (the Prophet's clan); he was the
defender of the
faith and the political leader of the Ummah. All Muslims were obliged
to
proclaim allegiance to him.
The principle of hereditary succession also found general acceptance.
In later
centuries, power slipped from the hands of the caliph but the caliphate
lingered
on as a notional institution. Kings and sultans of the Muslim world
found it
expedient to seek the caliph's formal recognition in return for
offerings of
salutations and gifts. The Shi'ah, of course, did not recognise the
caliphs and
looked to their own imams for political leadership and spiritual
guidance. The
late Ottomans staked their claim to caliphate, if only to beef up their
bargaining power vis-à-vis the European states. But when the
empire
disintegrated after the First World War, the new Turkish leaders,
aspiring to
build a modern republican state, abolished the caliphate in 1924.
Since then, there has been no serious proposal from any quarter to
revive this
supra-national politico-religious institution. Even the Islamic
Conference
Organisation (ICO), which pays lip-service to Islamic solidarity, takes
ground
realities into consideration to exclude political unification of the
Muslim
world from its proclaimed agenda.
In the field of Shari'ah, too, the Arab societies have traversed a long
way from
the early beginnings when the divine law, derived mainly from the
Qur'an and the
Sunnah (sayings of the Prophet), governed all aspects of life. In
classical
argument, the institution of caliphate itself was justified in terms of
the need
for a central authority to enforce the Shari'ah. Ironically enough, it
was under
the late Ottoman caliphate that the application of Shari'ah was
progressively
circumscribed.
Beginning in the mid-19th century, the Ottoman sultans launched legal
reforms,
supplanting the Shari'ah from the penal and commercial fields, under
the grand
project of "tanzimat", or "putting things in order." The project also
stipulated
creation of "nizamiyah" (secular) courts to adjudicate the man-made
penal and
commercial laws.
The 1917 Ottoman Law of Family Rights made inroads into the hitherto
forbidden
territory of Muslim personal law by introducing administrative
regulations
governing divorce and relief to deserted wives. Violation of these
regulations
was punishable under the secular criminal law. Most of the Arab
countries,
stretching from Iraq to Morocco, effected further reforms in the Muslim
personal
law besides endorsing the general principle of sovereignty of
legislatures to
enact laws for all aspects of life. It can thus be said that in most of
the Arab
countries today the Shari'ah applies only to limited segments of life
involving
marriage, divorce and inheritance. There are, however, two sets of
exceptions to
this rule. At one end of the spectrum stand Saudi Arabia and the
smaller states
of the Arabian Peninsula which enforce, with varying intensity, the
Islamic
penal codes. Iran, too, falls into this category.
At the other extreme is Turkey which, in the wake of the Kemalist
revolution of
the early 1920s, adopted a militant secularist stance. It proclaimed
modern
secular laws for all areas of life including marriage and divorce. It
is seldom
realised that outside the "communist" fold Turkey is the only Asian
nation to
opt for full-scale secularisation of social and political life in a
strictly
modern sense of the term. And it has stayed that way since the days of
Mustapha
Kemal Atatürk, notwithstanding recurrent clamour by the Islamists
for a return
to the good old days of the Shari'ah.
It follows from the above that the concept of ummah and the institution
of
caliphate had either become dysfunctional or changed beyond recognition
long
before the advent of western influence in the region. It was only in
the field
of Shari'ah that increasing contacts with Europe and modernisation of
social and
economic life contributed to its shrinking influence.
Alternative order
While Arab modernising political elites can justly claim credit for
managing the
transition to certain areas with reasonable efficacy, they cannot
escape blame
for their failure to provide a credible alternative to the traditional
system of
government. This does not mean that no effort was made in this
direction. On the
intellectual level, a whole generation of thinkers from Abdel-Rahman
al-Kawakibi
to Ahmad Lutfi as-Sayyid, Ali Abdel-Raziq and Taha Hussein, joined the
quest, in
the late 19th and the early part of this century, for an alternative
order based
on reason and rule of law.
The Syrian-born Abdel-Rahman al-Kawakibi argued that despotism had been
the bane
of Muslim polities through the ages; that the just state, in which men
could
find fulfilment, was one in which the individual was free and freely
served the
community; and that the government should be controlled by the people
and act as
a watchdog to ensure that freedom. Ahmad Lutfi as-Sayyid, for his part,
made the
case that good government is one that springs from the will of the
people. All
other forms end up in tyranny.
The case for an out and out secular order was, however, made by Sheikh
Ali
Abdel-Raziq in his book al-Islam wa Usul al-Hukm (Islam and the Basis
of
Political Authority, 1925). A product of al-Azhar and Oxford,
Abdel-Raziq used
his theological scholarship and analytical skill to advance the thesis
that the
entire theory of caliphate (the kingpin of Islamic political thought)
had no
basis in the Qur'an and the Sunnah and that the practice of the
caliphate was
often at variance with its theory.
Abdel-Raziq's book aroused a storm of protest. But the works of Dr Taha
Hussein
(also an alumnus of al-Azhar) were greeted with much less hostility.
For Taha
Hussein approached his subject from a pragmatic rather than theological
angle.
In his Future of Culture in Egypt, he argued that the dichotomy between
religious dogma and everyday secular practice is an inescapable part of
life.
Early Arabs, he reasoned, had no inhibitions about borrowing
extensively from
Greek and Persian civilisations and they gained a great deal in the
bargain.
Hence, contemporary Arabs need not be averse to borrowing from the
Western
civilisation.
On a practical footing, the quest for alternative basis of polity found
expression in eclectic approach. It favoured liberal borrowings from
Western
constitutional forms and adapting them to local needs and
circumstances. In
quick succession, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt adopted
constitutions
patterned after the British, French or Belgian models. This stupendous
experiment in constitutionalism, however, did not carry much
credibility as it
was generally devoid of democratic content.
In the 1950s, most of these edifices collapsed like houses of cards. A
succession of coups d'etat and civil disorders made the whole region
reverberate
with the sound of crashing thrones. Egypt and Iraq turned into
republics and the
soaring spirit of republicanism rattled the remaining monarchies in the
region.
Then came the era of charismatic leaders espousing heady ideologies of
pan-Arabism, socialism and redressal of the unequal relationship with
the West.
Even the Shah of Iran donned the mantle of a modernising monarch
heralding his
"white revolution".
In most cases, where some form of constitutional structures existed,
the single
party system of political mobilisation was introduced. But this was
mostly used
as a facade behind which dictatorial rule thrived. The press and other
media
were firmly controlled.
The system allowed no possibility of free debate on public priorities
or
policies. Even the Shah of Iran felt tempted to emulate the
undemocratic devices
designed by the radical republics in the region which he otherwise
abhorred.
As for the paternalistic kingdoms and emirates of the Arabian
Peninsula, the
rate of their social and economic transformation in the wake of the oil
boom of
the 1970s has been mind-boggling. Literacy advanced in rapid strides
and the
benefits of housing, health and general economic welfare were extended
to all
sections of these sparsely populated oil-exporting countries. But there
was no
corresponding change in the political arena. Political power still
vests in
kings and sheikhs amidst growing popular clamour for accountability and
rule of
law.
Divisions and disjunctions
If the absence of credible political systems responsive to popular
expectations
has driven the people to protest under the banner of Islam, the failure
of the
ruling elites to hold their own against an expansionist Israel or to
contain
super-power pressures on the region gave a militant edge to the call of
Jihad
against the internal and external foes of Islam.
The Islamic militants, commonly called "fundamentalists" because of
their
strident call for a return to the fundamental tenets of Islam, view the
defeat
of Arab armies at the hands of the Zionist state in a series of wars,
beginning
in 1947, and the loss of entire Palestine to Israel in the process, as
a
catastrophe for the Arab and Islamic peoples. The fundamentalists no
doubt blame
the Zionist and their Western backers, in particular the United States,
for this
calamity; but they blame their own rulers even more.
They ascribe the Arab-Islamic defeat to the alienation of the ruling
classes
from Islam, their worship of the false idols of nationalism (local as
well as
pan-Arab) and their addiction to foreign ideologies such as socialism,
communism
or capitalism. The same malaise, they argue, accounts for the apathy
and
inaction of the present rulers in face of the ongoing tragedy in Bosnia
and
Herzegovina.
Exacerbating the grievous injury to the Arab sense of dignity and
honour caused
by defeat is the relentless pressures on and manipulations of the
region by the
industrialised West which not only accounts for close to two-thirds of
the
world's proven oil reserves but also serves as a lucrative market,
thanks to the
oil boom of the 1970s, for their consumer products and weapons. The
Islamists
see in this a replay of the medieval crusades.
It is, however, necessary to point out that the fundamentalists in the
Arab
world are not a monolithic entity nor is their upsurge irreversible.
The
fundamentalist camp, although clamouring for Islamic solidarity,
suffers from
inner divisions and disjunctions. Saudi Arabia, for example, has long
been the
home of what might be called controlled fundamentalism.
The Saudi royalty took shelter behind Islam to deny its own people a
constitution. And to gain respectability for their archaic domestic
set-up, the
Saudi rulers created the Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami (World Islamic
League) to
mobilise goodwill of Muslim `ulama' from all over the world through an
elaborate
system of patronage.
With a substantial spurt in oil royalties in the 1970s, Saudi Arabia
sponsored
the Islamic Conference Organisation as a handy platform to demonstrate
its
Islamic credentials. It is hardly surprising that the United States
found Saudi
Arabia's championship of Islam as a convenient weapon to beat the Arab
radicals
with, and look benignly on it.
In the wake of the Suez War, which spelled disaster for Britain as a
custodian
of Western interests in the Middle East, US president Dwight Eisenhower
seriously toyed with the idea of promoting king Saud as the "pope" of
Islam. But
the project failed to take off.
For some time now, Saudi Arabia is having second thoughts about the
efficacy of
its own brand of Islam as an instrument of its foreign policy. It all
started
with the Iranian clergy mounting a rebellion against the Shah and
eventually
seizing political power. In 1979, the Pahlavi monarchy of Iran was
replaced by
an Islamic republic with Ayatollah Khomeini as its "Supreme Guide".
The cause of Saudi Arabia's discomfiture lay in the fact that whereas
Riyadh had
always invoked Islam to uphold political status quo, Iran's new rulers
presented
Islam in a revolutionary attire seeking to topple despotic kings,
ushering in an
egalitarian social and economic order, and fighting foreign dominance
in the
region.
The Saudis were indeed scared when, in 1979, a bunch of home-grown
fundamentalists occupied the Holy Mosque of Mecca in an undisguised
attempt to
overthrow the monarchy, ironically, in the name of Islam.
In Iran, too, in the past 16 years since Ayatollah Khomeini returned to
Iran
from his long exile, public zeal for the Islamic revolution has
steadily
diminished. Khomeini strongly believed in the unquestioned power and
efficacy of
Islam to establish and sustain a just social and political order. He
encouraged
export of the Iranian revolution to other parts of the Islamic world
and
envisaged eventual triumph of Islam the world over. He came to be
identified
with what may be called messianic fundamentalism.
Khomeini, however, glossed over one basic fact about the Islamic
revolution: it
was made possible by the active support and sacrifices of a good
section of the
educated youth and the merchant class who would loathe to see Iran
converted
into an obscurantist theocracy. As it happened, the clergy squeezed
their
non-clerical partners out of the newly created governing institutions
and
eventually suppressed them.
The eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war, which was patently senseless for
both sides,
scotched all hopes of a just and humane order taking shape in Iran. In
the end,
Khomeini was compelled by his closest advisers to swallow his pride and
call for
a cease-fire. The post-Khomeini Iran is surely, though haltingly,
moving towards
a rational and pragmatic approach to the moulding of Iran's domestic
and foreign
policies. Dr Qassem Ihsanzadeh, an outspoken member of the Iranian
parliament
recently observed: "We must decide whether we want a parliamentary
system or an
Islamic government - the two are incompatible." Predictably, he was
shouted down
by the Islamists but not before he made it quite clear that there were
many more
who shared his views but would not utter them publicly.
President Ali Hashimi Rafsanjani, for his part, knows that he cannot
bring the
fruits of revolution to the restive people of Iran without the inputs
of science
and technology and modern managerial skills. He is, therefore, keen to
loosen
the stranglehold of clergy on the system so that Iranian technocrats
who fled
the country in the wake of the revolution can return and a new
generation of
technocrats could be trained at home.
Rafsanjani admittedly sees no contradiction between modernity and Islam
and he
speaks of the need for close co-operation between Iran, India and China
so that
they can have a say in post- cold war world politics. All this is a far
cry from
the heady days of February 1979 when Ayatollah Khomeini had unfurled
the flag of
Islamic revolution.
Hence the real breeding grounds of militant Islam and Islamic
fundamentalism
today are not in Iran or Saudi Arabia or the mini-states of the Gulf.
On the
contrary, these states are either apprehensive of Islamic militancy or,
as in
the case of Iran, having second thoughts about its efficacy as an
instrument of
public policy. Islamic militancy is, however, rampant in the more
populous Arab
countries of Egypt, Algeria and the Sudan. All three have certain
features in
common: population explosion, soaring unemployment and varying degrees
of
repression of political dissent. And this has given rise to Islamic
protest
movements which can be generally designated as retributive
fundamentalism.
The political stalemate in Egypt during the 1940s, resulting from the
triangular
conflict between the British, the king and the mass-based Wafd Party,
and public
disenchantment with the politicians in the wake of Egyptian defeat in
the first
Arab-Israeli War of 1947-48, swelled the ranks of al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun
(Muslim
Brothers), founded by Hassan al-Banna in 1929. The Ikhwan preached that
the
redemption of Egypt (and of the Islamic world) lay neither in reform
nor in
reinterpretation of the Islamic doctrine but in its full-scale
resurrection.
They declared that the real issue was not Islam's inadequacy to meet
the
challenges of modern times but that Islam was never given a chance to
prove its
efficacy, and that the Qur'an and the Sunnah provide essentials of a
just
political order and a universal brotherhood of men. Above all, the
Ikhwan
claimed that the fault lay not in Islam but in its internal and
external
enemies: the West strangled it politically and economically from the
outside and
the westernised Muslims undermined it from within.On the eve of the
revolution of July 1952, which toppled the monarchy and put
General Muhammad Naguib and Colonel Jamal Abdel-Nasser into power, the
Ikhwan
claimed a million followers in Egypt alone. Two years later the Ikhwan
faced a
showdown with the military regime and lost. For a while, Nasser's Egypt
offered
a future of hope to its teeming millions. Pursuit of the ideals of
socialism,
unification of the Arab world into a single polity, and an independent
role in
world affairs enthused the whole Arab world. But the defeat of Egypt in
the June
1967 war turned that dream into a nightmare. Nasser's image as saviour
of the
Arabs was shattered and he died soon after.
That was the time when the Islamists regrouped and mounted a frontal
assault
taking advantage of Egypt's mounting economic problems, the occupation
of Sinai
by Israel and the vacillations and waywardness of Anwar al-Sadat who
succeeded
Nasser. Al-Sadat's compromise agreement with Israel over Sinai was seen
by the
Islamists as a betrayal of Egypt and Islam and as a justification to
take up
arms against the regime.
The turmoil gave birth to several militant groups, collectively know as
al-Jama'at al-Islamiyyah (Islamic Groups). Currently the intensity of
their
violence and the virulence of their propaganda make the old Ikhwan look
like a
moderate outfit. One such group, called al-Jihad al-Islami, plotted the
assassination of president Anwar al-Sadat in October 1981. Amongst
their
principal targets are top members of the Coptic Christians, who make up
over 15
per cent of Egypt's population, and foreign tourists.
The most visible protagonist of the movement is a 55-year-old sightless
Dr Omar
Abdel-Rahman, now under detention in the United States for his alleged
involvement in the car-bomb attack on the World Trade Centre at New
York, in
February 1993, that killed six people and injured many more.
In Algeria, the monopoly on power enjoyed by the National Liberation
Front (FLN)
and its failure to find credible solutions to the nation's economic
problems,
notwithstanding its substantial oil and gas reserves, have thrown up an
Islamic
backlash. Opponents of the FLN rallied under the banner of Islam not
because
Islam had ready-made answers to Algeria's political and economic woes
but
because the ruling group permitted no secular platform to exist outside
its own
regimented ranks.
In the early 1980s, the Algerian government launched an austerity
programme to
grapple with rising unemployment. But the crisis aggravated and in
October 1988
widespread anti-government riots occurred. The government then
belatedly revised
the constitution to permit a multi-party system. Restrictions on the
press were
relaxed. Among the various political parties that emerged, the most
articulate
was the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), headed by Abbas Madani. It
benefited
greatly from Madani's previous record of opposing the FLN and gained
further
popularity through impressive relief operations organised in the wake
of the
1989 earthquake.
Not surprisingly, therefore, the Islamic Salvation Front won 67 per
cent of the
provinces and 55 per cent of the municipalities in the regional and
local
elections held in June 1990. And in the postponed parliamentary
elections,
eventually held in December 1991, when the FIS won 188 of the 231 seats
in the
first round of elections, president al-Shazli Ben-Jedid stepped down to
make way
for Muhammad Bou-Diaf. The new president cancelled the elections. In
March 1992,
the FIS was outlawed. Bou-Diaf was assassinated on June 29th, 1992.
Algeria's
cautious advance towards democracy came to a grinding halt.
In the Sudan General Ga'afar Muhammad al-Numeiri seized power in a
bloodless
coup d'état in 1969, and followed in the footsteps of Egypt's
Nasser, adopting a
set of socialist policies and mobilising mass support under the banner
of the
Sudanese Socialist Union, within the framework of a single-party
system.
In the southern Sudan, assertively Christian and African in contrast to
the more
populous Arab-Islamic north, Numeiri followed a policy of accommodation
by
conceding autonomy and allocating resources for development. Numeiri's
16-year-long stint in power, however, left the economy tottering under
the
weight of rampant corruption at home and the influx of refugees from
Ethiopia,
Uganda and Chad; the south suspicious and resentful of Khartoum's
manipulations;
and the disgruntled conservative groups in the north breathing down the
regime's
neck.
A few years before his fall in April 1985 Numeiri enlisted the support
of the
Ikhwan and Dr Hassan al-Turabi's National Islamic Front by promising to
turn
Sudan into a full-blooded Islamic state. This desperate act alienated
the
Christian south to the point of insurrection. Numeiri's exit has not
made much
difference to Sudan's political and economic woes.
It is noteworthy that a few months before his ouster, Numeiri's crusade
for
Islamisation of Sudan had resulted in the hanging of Muhammad Mahmoud
Taha, the
76-year-old protagonist of a secular approach to politics.
Taha's "crime" was that he and his associates belonging to the
Republican
Brothers had distributed a leaflet saying that the Islamic laws
promulgated by
Numeiri ran counter to Sudan's constitution and were indeed detrimental
to
integration of the Muslim north and the Christian south into one nation
on the
basis of equal rights for all citizens.
Taha thus became the first martyr to the cause of secularism in the
Arab world.
The intrepid secularist refused to defend himself in the court
declaring that
his persecution was unconstitutional and the judges were unqualified
and
technically incompetent.
Secularism has been further discredited by the semi-fascist Ba'athist
regime of
Saddam Hussein. The Gulf War accelerated the trend in favour of
fundamentalist
Islamic movements and sharpened divisions among them.
Dose of democracy
Let me conclude by emphasising a few important points about the Islamic
protest
movements in the Arab world. Arguably, what we are witnessing is the
intersecting of two phenomena:
The struggle of the South for political and economic liberation from
the power
of the West is being continued by powerful movements for cultural
liberation,
challenging the West's monopoly of having discovered universally valid
truths
about how the world and society best should be understood and
organised.
This attempt at cultural liberation is focused on the right to seek a
basis in
one's own culture and history. Nevertheless, in striving to liberate
themselves
from Western models, Islamists cannot avoid calling into question what
is
arguably the core of cultural hegemony which the expanding, modernising
Europe
spread over the world: the ideas of the Enlightenment. And this
questioning
comes at a time when these ideas, as represented by the miscellaneous
heirs to
the Enlightenment, are in deep crisis in their homelands.
As already noted, the challenge posed by Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran has
dampened
the enthusiasm of Saudi and other Gulf rulers for politicisation of
Islam. In
Iran itself, time and internal pressure for political openness and
economic
progress do not favour the clergy and their grandiose notions of
Islamic
resurgence.
As for the predicament of Algeria, Egypt and the Sudan, a major cause
of the
people turning to Islam and the Islamists for resolving their economic
and
political problems is the denial of opportunities to bring about
political
change through the democratic process. Arguably, a victory of the
Islamic
Salvation Front in the Algerian elections of 1991-92, which at any rate
appeared
certain, might well have defused rather than aggravated the political
crisis in
Algeria. In Egypt and the Sudan, too, a liberal dose of democracy could
bring a
semblance of purpose and poise to the institutions of governance.
The answer to the crisis of Arab polities lies in genuine power-sharing
and
accountability in government. The Declaration of Principles signed in
Oslo in
September 1993 between the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and
Israel on
the framework of a political settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict, if
carried to its logical conclusion, can blunt the edge of Islamic
militancy in
the Middle East in a significant way. For, after all, the hurt and
humiliation
caused to the Arab psyche by the loss of Palestine, has been a vital
contributing factor to Islamic extremism.
Modernism is not the monopoly of the corrupt ruling elite of the
American club
of friends in the Arab world. If social peace and harmony is to
accompany the
path of modernisation and progress in the Middle East, the Islamists
should not
be driven into a corner. The Western mind and policy makers have to
accept the
right of other peoples to cultural autonomy, especially those who have
behind
them a long history and a great civilisation. Diversity and variety in
our
world, within a framework of mutual recognition and co-operation, is in
a sense
a guarantee for the future. After all, man's heritage of rationality
evolved on
all sides of the Mediterranean, not only on the northern side.
Abdel-Qader Yassine
Chief
news:1130350320.6...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:
You ever read about the 'Children's Crusade?'
The Baptist and the abortion bombers
The Baptists and the KKK in the south
The Catholics and the inquisition
The Protestants and the Salem witch lunacy
Selling wealth prayers
Selling bobble headed Jesus dolls
Living in mansions and begging for money
Untold wealth in art in the Vatican
Child abusing priests
The list is long and never ends.
Intolerance is a religious trait.
Fear is a religious tool.
Ignorance is a religious requirement
What a laugh. a discussion about which religion is worse when both are
bad and both have increased human suffering.
There is nothing conservative about the teaching of Jesus and nothing
christian about the current brands of western christianity.
But I doubt you see the problem with your arguement when it starts 'Yes,
but they are worse'.
Jesus, what a laugh.