We need a thousand more (Muslim) points of light like this one....
Chris Williamson
mess....
The Fault Lies in Our Education - Not in American Society
Along with the usual letters to the editor denying any Arab or Muslim
role in the September 11 attacks - or, alternately, calling on the
U.S. to amend its foreign policy - the London Arabic-language daily
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat has published a few letters calling for a thorough
self-examination in the Islamic world. On December 21, 2001, the
paper published a letter by Dr. Sahr Muhammad Hatem of Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia; her letter was headlined, "Our Culture of Demagogy Has
Engendered bin Laden, Al-Zawahiri, and Their Ilk," and read as
follows:
"...The mentality of each one of us was programmed upon entering
school as a child, [to believe] that [Islam] is everything.
Instilled in our small heads was the [notion that the Muslim] has a
right - whatever the cause - and that he will triumph - even if he is
armed with a stick of wood against a tank - because he [represents]
the truth and the others represent falsehood. Instilled in our small
heads was the [notion] that we have a monopoly on good values..."
"They have taught us that anyone who is not a Muslim is our enemy,
and that the West means enfeeblement, licentiousness, lack of values,
and even Jahiliya [i.e., ignorance - a term used to describe the
pre-Islamic era] itself. Anyone who escapes this programming in
school encounters it at the mosque, or through the media or from the
preachers lurking in every corner… This is the culture that has made
each of us able to determine the fate of the universe."
"We have become a society completely subjugated to those who speak in
the name of religion. With a mentality like this, what could we do to
those who say that Islam is the solution, without [actually] offering
any solution?..."
"...Anyone who doesn't like it holds his tongue, or retires to a
corner in fear or embarrassment. If, however, anyone with any sense
remaining dares to use it, his fate is determined by one of two
[groups]:"
"[One,] by the group [of Muslim Brotherhood clerics]; if he is lucky,
they only separate him from his wife,(1a) and if he is unlucky, his
blood is permitted. [Second,] by another group [the Jihad
organization and others like it]... who kill him immediately, as in
the case of Dr. Farag Fouda,(1b) who was at the time the only one to
stand up while we looked on in fear or embarrassment."
"...We began to turn to those who claim to be clerics, to rule for us
on matters of medicine, engineering, space, and all the life
sciences. Life moves on, [yet] we are stuck."
"We have begun to live an imaginary life that exists only in our
heads, while the reality around us is entirely different. This is the
[personality] split which engendered people like bin Laden. Since
reality differs from [the picture] in his mind, he sets out as a
Mujaheed; whether he kills or is killed, he wins..."
"We all focus on bin Laden and his ilk… but we have yet to focus on
the more dangerous people, and I mean those who fill our heads with
this rhetoric in the schools, the mosques, and the media, who
disseminate words without hesitation and without considering the
consequences or even understanding that in this era, the entire world
hears what is said."
"What do they care? Every one of them thinks that he has a divine
mandate. The outcome is that they have distorted our lives - which
were distorted even before then - [and] our tolerant religion, and
set us at odds with the world. How long will this damage to the lives
of Muslims everywhere in the world continue? The solution is the
Islam that was taught us by the Prophet of this nation - an Islam of
tolerance - and not the Islam of those who control our media."(2)
Dr. Hatem's letter was warmly welcomed by the paper's liberal
columnist Khaled Al-Qashtini, who called it "the best letter of
2001." This letter, he wrote, "alleviated my distress of years -
years of despair, years of pessimism about the future of our
nation. But now, I see a spark of light. If we have among us a woman
from Riyadh with a head full of such enlightened ideas and a heart
with sufficient courage, and if we have a paper that will publish her
opinion - then we still have hope. As far as I am concerned, this is
the letter of the year for 2001, and this is the woman worthy of the
title 'Woman of the Year 2001.'"(3)
Dr. Hatem was also commended for her article by Abd Al-Salam bin
Al-Hussein of Morocco, who wrote in another letter to the editor:
"She has put her finger on one of the causes of the disease -
fanatical thought stemming from miscomprehension of [the Koranic
verse that says Muslims are] 'the best nation brought to mankind' - a
phrase that does not mean that all the other nations are evil. Islam
introduced tremendous human values; this, however, does not mean that
the non-Islamic nations are lacking in noble values and are all
Jahiliya… We must stop seeing ourselves as the center of the world
while we live on its margins. We must consider the rest of the
nations as human beings, with the same absolute value that Allah
instilled in man, regardless of creed or race…"(4)
Ahmad Othman of London expressed a view similar to that of Dr. Hatem,
in two letters that appeared in the paper. In the first, written just
after September 11, he wrote, "…As usual, we always blame others, and
refuse to acknowledge our mistakes. There can be no doubt whatsoever
that all those who participated in the World Trade Center operation
were our youth, and our sons. We are responsible for their
education. They carried out this operation thinking, mistakenly, that
they were sacrificing their souls for the Arab nation and the Islamic
faith. [No one] can deny that we - not America - taught them these
things with our media, our schools, and everything we do. We taught
the youth in our lands to hate America; we taught them the sanctity
of martyrdom [in dying] as we kill our enemies…"(5)
Some two months later, Othman had another letter published by the
paper; in it he wrote, "…By now it has already been proven beyond
doubt that all those who participated in the suicide attacks on the
WTC and the Pentagon… were Arabs and Muslims. They are our sons, born
and educated in our Arab societies. These terrorists attended our
schools and were educated by us. They got their information from our
press and our media. If they came to the conclusion that killing
themselves and destroying the culture of others was the only way they
could express their identity - doubtless something in our society -
not in the society of the American victims - is very wrong…
"Instead of acknowledging our blunders in giving our sons a proper
Islamic education, we sought out the wrongs of the Americans and of
globalization to justify our children's crimes… Instead of offering
political pretexts to justify the terror operations, wouldn't it have
been better for us to be honest and to participate, with the other
peoples of the world, in defending humanity from this peril, of which
we are the first victim?..."(6)
Endnotes:
(1a) A reference to the case of Egyptian anthropologist Nasser Abu
Zeid, in which an Egyptian court ruled that his marriage was null and
void after he was convicted of heresy in 1993.
(1b) A liberal Egyptian intellectual murdered in 1992.
(2) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), December 12, 2001
(3) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 2, 2002.
(4) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 6, 2002.
(5) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 18, 2002.
(6) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), November 13, 2001.
1MAN4ALL
Chris Williamson wrote:
> See http://www.memri.org. Some Muslims are right-thinking about this
> mess....
>
> The Fault Lies in Our Education - Not in American Society
While Muslims are rethinking some of their attitudes and looking at their
institutions, it is strange that most Americans, I suppose in thier
self-righteous attitude, never would accept any blame for what happened on
September 11. There are always two sides to an issue, and no fair minded
person would believe that Muslims are all evil and the US government has
never done anything wrong. Unfortunately, after the Veitnam War, Americans
have been brainwashed into thinking that no matter what their government
does overseas, the people should support the cause. That type of thinking
is neither good for the country nor for the people, because unless people
are allowed to say how they feel_ without fear of being made into
unpatriotic pariahs _ no positive change can come about. The United States
can win a propaganda war at the home front, but how will it win the hearts
and minds of millions of Muslims overseas who resent the US for its
shortsighted and misguided policies in the Middle East?
Super-User
Listen, Americans, many of you are being duped by evil schemers like
1MAN4ALL. Please consider the nonsense of what is being said here - Americans
are partly to blame for Sept. 11. Unfortunately, Americans are so soft and
stupid that they often bow down to this line of thought with alot of
self-reflection and concern about how they might be the cause of things they
had nothing to do with.
It is inevitable that the moon god worshippers (Muhammed's victims) will
eventually cause a war with the civilized people of the world. Everyone needs
to accept this. It will be expensive but there is no other option. The moon
god worshippers must be put down and defeated once and for all.
Val
1MAN4ALL
Super-User wrote:
> Listen, Americans, many of you are being duped by evil schemers like
> 1MAN4ALL.
I am an American. I am listening...
> Please consider the nonsense of what is being said here - Americans
> are partly to blame for Sept. 11. Unfortunately, Americans are so soft and
> stupid that they often bow down to this line of thought with alot of
> self-reflection and concern about how they might be the cause of things they
> had nothing to do with.
I said they never do reflect. And they haven't done so since the Vietnam era.
> It is inevitable that the moon god worshippers (Muhammed's victims) will
> eventually cause a war with the civilized people of the world.
We do not worship a "moon god." If you are ignorant not to know that Muslims
worship the God of Abraham and Moses, I feel sorry for you. And there are always
civilized and not so civilized people in each and every country.
> Everyone needs
> to accept this. It will be expensive but there is no other option. The moon
> god worshippers must be put down and defeated once and for all.
I think instead of "defeating" the Muslims you should look at the US policy which
is aimed at "winning" by 'including' the Muslims in this so called war on
terrorism.
Chris Williamson
1MAN4ALL wrote:
> Chris Williamson wrote:
>
> > See http://www.memri.org. Some Muslims are right-thinking about this
> > mess....
> >
> > The Fault Lies in Our Education - Not in American Society
>
> While Muslims are rethinking some of their attitudes and looking at their
> institutions,
Apparently you didn't read the letters to the editor. This is not a
rethinking, this is a condemnation, an indictment.
Byt the way, have you done any 'rethinking?'
> it is strange that most Americans, I suppose in thier
> self-righteous attitude, never would accept any blame for what happened on
> September 11.
I'm not sure what you're talking about. Are you saying that the U.S. is partly
responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? If so,
how?
> There are always two sides to an issue, and no fair minded
> person would believe that Muslims are all evil and the US government has
> never done anything wrong.
Currently Muslims are represented by extremists, for good or ill. Certain
versions of Islam may be peaceful, but given the letters' point that ignorance
and hatred are apparently the norm in Islam.
What's more one-sided than to teach your children that "anyone who is not a
Muslim is our enemy,
and that the West means enfeeblement, licentiousness, lack of values,
and even Jahiliya itself"?
> Unfortunately, after the Veitnam War, Americans
> have been brainwashed into thinking that no matter what their government
> does overseas, the people should support the cause.
The Vietnam war had one great effect on foreign policy, called the Vietnam War
Syndrome. It states that whenever the U.S. gets involved in a foreign
conflict, it cannot extricate itself from the conflict and gets mired in a
quagmire, not winning the war and losing U.S. soldiers. Your principle of
supporting whatever happens 'to our boys overseas' is older, and it's been
questioned and debated ever since Vietnam.
> That type of thinking
> is neither good for the country nor for the people, because unless people
> are allowed to say how they feel_ without fear of being made into
> unpatriotic pariahs _ no positive change can come about.
The Constitution allows you say (almost) anything you want without reprisals
from the Federal (and sometimes state) Government. It does not protect you
from criticism after saying something stupid or irresponsible.
> The United States
> can win a propaganda war at the home front, but how will it win the hearts
> and minds of millions of Muslims overseas who resent the US for its
> shortsighted and misguided policies in the Middle East?
Can you list any of these shortsighted and misguided policies? I'd be very
interested in engaging you in discussion about whatever they are in your mind.
The modern Middle East has always been a messy place for U.S. foreign policy.
The choices are rarely optimal.
One foreign policy principle that I think would solve a myriad of problems in
the Arab-Muslim world is to accept Israel's right to exist, don't you agree?
1MAN4ALL
Chris Williamson wrote:
> Byt the way, have you done any 'rethinking?'
I do it everyday. One should always be seeking guidance from God.
> > it is strange that most Americans, I suppose in thier
> > self-righteous attitude, never would accept any blame for what happened on
> > September 11.
>
> I'm not sure what you're talking about. Are you saying that the U.S. is partly
> responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? If so,
> how?
The point that I was trying to make was that people in this country need to know
the reason why so many people are trying to harm the United States. Any person
with an IQ of 50 or above would eventually realize that 'madrassa' education in
Pakistan or the claim that 'they hate our freedom' cannot possibly be the reasons
for such attacks. In fact, none of the perpetrators were Pakistanis or the Taliban
who may have received madrassa education. All of the terrorists were Arabs who had
studied in secular Arab schools or in the United States. As far as jealousy for
freedom and prosperity is concerned, that also doesn't make any sense. All these
terrorists were not only from well to do families but they were enjoying the
fruits of Western freedom to the fullest extent and had even broken a few Islamic
taboos along the way. What these people are fighting for has nothing to do with
religion, and it has everything to do with their national pride and what they see
as their helplessness in running their own countries. Now the language that they
are using may have religious overtones to rile up support, but the motives and the
objectives are completely secular. They see the United States as a colonial power
who is asserting its hegemony and its control over the region by stationing its
troops in just about every Gulf country. They see the United States bombing Iraq
with impunity, killing scores of people every month, and nobody is there to stop
it. They see Palestinian kids being killed on the streets, their houses
demolished, and all this is hushed up by the Western media. When Palestinians
protest peacefully, that is not news. When they resort to violence, that does
become 6 O'clock news so that people may sympathize with Israel. The question that
I keep asking in this newsgroup is how can the Palestinians gain their land back?
How do the Chechens gain their freedom from Russia? How do the Kashmiris get their
right of self determination which was promised to them by the UN more than 50
years ago? How do the Arabs ask the US to withdraw its troops from their countries
without getting blackmailed that if forced to leave, the US would start accusing
them of human rights violations and would use other Arabs to put their regimes in
jeopardy? How can all this be done peacefully? If your answer is through
negotiations then, the question is whether Israel, US, Russia, and India are
willing to grant these freedoms to Muslims. How long have the Palestinians been
negotiating in vain? How long have the Kashmiris been asking for their rights? How
long ago was the Gulf War? Will the US pull out of the Gulf even if Saddam Hussain
leaves office? These are important questions that you need to think about.
I have snipped the rest of your comments because I feel that I have already
answered them above.