My recent post on the lame and (almost) meaningless condemnation of the Islamists’ attack in Boston by groups such as the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) drew a good deal of criticism, not just from the anti-“Islamophobia” crowd whose tender feelings were hurt, but from other whose critical thinking skills I have absolutely no doubt about otherwise. So now, let’s look at some more details of what, exactly, groups such as CAIR are doing wrong, and what they could do to actually make a difference rather than just whine about backlash against Muslims.
The Toronto Sun columnist and Islamism critic Tarek Fatah, a Muslim originally from Pakistan, has the answer for us.
While ordinary Canadians and non-Muslims around the world are bewildered by these never-ending news reports of terrorism and alleged plots, the response by the leaders of the Islamic community is the tired old cliche — Islam is a religion of peace, and jihad is simply an “inner struggle.”
The fact is these terrorists are motivated by one powerful belief — the doctrine of armed jihad against the “kuffar” (non-Muslims). [“Infidels” is the translation frequently used-NCNC.]
It is worth noting that not a single Muslim cleric since 9/11 has mustered the courage to say the doctrine of armed jihad is defunct and inapplicable in the 21st century. They rightfully denounce terrorism, but dare not denounce jihad.
The armed jihad launched against the infidels, is clearly promoted by the 20th-century writings of such Islamists as Syed Qutb and Hassan al-Banna of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and the late Syed Maudoodi of Jamaat-e-Islami of Indo-Pakistan. [Alternatively spelled Maududi, picture above.]
“Jihad is part of this overall defence of Islam,” he writes.
In case the reader is left with any doubt about the meaning of the word “jihad,” Maudoodi clarifies:
“In the language of the Divine Law, this word (jihad) is used specifically for the war that is waged solely in the name of God against those who perpetrate oppression as enemies of Islam. This supreme sacrifice is the responsibility of all Muslims.”
Maudoodi goes on to label Muslims who refuse the call to armed jihad as apostates:
“Jihad is as much a primary duty as are daily prayers or fasting. One who avoids it is a sinner. His every claim to being a Muslim is doubtful. He is plainly a hypocrite who fails in the test of sincerity and all his acts of worship are a sham, a worthless, hollow show of deception.”
So who was Maududi? As Fatah mentions, he was founder of the Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami in South Asia. Here are some more gems from him:
The man who denies God is called Kafir (concealer) because he conceals by his disbelief what is inherent in his nature and embalmed in his own soul. His whole body functions in obedience to that instinct… Reality becomes estranged from him and he in the dark”.
It would be interesting to see the reaction of those attacking atheists for “Islamophobia” to such statements by Islamists with extremely broad following today. Back to Maududi:
Islam wishes to destroy all states and governments anywhere on the face of the earth which are opposed to the ideology and programme of Islam, regardless of the country or the nation which rules it. The purpose of Islam is to set up a state on the basis of its own ideology and programme, regardless of which nation assumes the role of the standard-bearer of Islam or the rule of which nation is undermined in the process of the establishment of an ideological Islamic State. Islam requires the earth—not just a portion, but the whole planet …. because the entire mankind should benefit from the ideology and welfare programme [of Islam] … Towards this end, Islam wishes to press into service all forces which can bring about a revolution and a composite term for the use of all these forces is ‘Jihad’. …. the objective of the Islamic ‘ jihād’ is to eliminate the rule of an un-Islamic system and establish in its stead an Islamic system of state rule.
Maududi wanted the entire planet to be an Islamic theocracy! That was what he wanted jihad for.
And Maududi is only one of the “important Islamic figures”. Fatah then speaks of al-Banna and Qutb, prominent members of Muslim Brotherhood:
If Maudoodi’s exhortations are not enough to motivate Muslims to conduct acts of terror, we have the words of the late Hassan al-Banna being distributed in our schools and universities. Al-Banna makes it quite clear that the word “jihad” means armed conflict. He mocks those who claim jihad is merely an internal struggle.
Al-Banna says this redefinition of the term “jihad” is a conspiracy so that “Muslims should become negligent.”
And here is what Syed Qutb, another Egyptian stalwart of the Islamist movement and the Muslim Brotherhood, writes in his seminal work on Islam and its relationship with the West, Milestones:
“A Muslim will remain prepared to fight against it (non-Muslim country), whether it be his birthplace or a place where his relatives reside or where his property or any other material interests are located.”
In case anyone forgot, these are men who founded the political movement president Morsi of Egypt is affiliated with.
Fatah then nails it.
Unless the leaders of Canadian and American mosques as well as the Islamic organizations denounce the doctrine of jihad as pronounced by the Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat-e-Islami, and distance themselves from the ideology of Qutb, al-Banna and Maudoodi, they stand complicit in the havoc that these jihadis are raining down on the rest of us.
For those who search for the root cause of Islamist terrorism, it’s the doctrine of jihad, stupid.
The day CAIR and other Islamic organizations in western nations denounce powerful Islamist groups like Jamaat-e-Islami and the Brotherhood, they will have credibility in their denunciation of terrorism. As long as they distribute their literature, they are, in the words of Maududi, hypocrites.
(Disclaimer: Please remember I don’t agree with Fatah on everything. After all, he is a Muslim and I am an atheist. However, to borrow a phrase from Thomas Jefferson, that neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. Actions of Islamic groups potentially do.)
