Islam, Islamism, Conflict & Terrorism (a collection)

[Schmedlap]

they pretty much destroy the correlation between religious fundamentalism and extremist violence that is so chic in the west. Basically, in the Islamic world, violent extremists aren't particularly demonstrably religious.

In my opinion, that perceived correlation is a view crafted for consumption by the lowest common denominator. It seems to be the counterpoint to an equally invalid view that extremists hate us because America's foreign policy is dominated by neo-conservatives, even though the fervent disdain for America began at least as early as the 1970s, which was hardly the heydey of neo-con foreign policy. Jihadists have been chanting, and attempting to cause, death to America through the administrations of Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and Bush - four administrations whose foreign policies differed significantly.

My understanding, and what I percieve to be a fair consensus opinion, is that jihadists are motivated more by politics than by religion and more by broad anti-western fervor than with any opposition toward a particular brand of US foreign policy. "Political Islam" is a pretty good description, since the fervent opposition to the US is political and wrapped in a veil of pseudo-Islam for the purpose of perceived legitimacy. If the entire US converted to Islam, they would still hate us. But, if our government seized all of our multi-national corporations, liquidated their assets, taxed all of its citizens into oblivion, and then distributed the proceeds from that wealth confiscation to the rest of the world, and we apologized for being successful, then we might make some progress. (I'm not suggesting we do that.) We are, and will be, hated because of the degree of influence that we have upon the world, regardless of how we exert that influence. It has nothing to do with freedom and little to do with religion. But being hated often comes with the territory when in a leadership position. How many leaders have gone into combat with the attitude of, "I don't care if you hate me - I just care that we accomplish the mission and you go home alive"? I think the most important question is not, "how do we become less hated?" It is "how do we make the world less hospitable to terrorist networks?"

they question effectively the presumption that Muslim women want western-styled women's liberation (they use the terms "libertine" versus "liberation" to make their point.)

Check out the latest GPS podcast with Fareed Zakaria. He interviews the queen of Jordan and talks about this. Aside from being very easy on the eyes, it is also an interesting discussion on this topic.

[Rebecca White]

Schmedlap said: Check out the latest GPS podcast with Fareed Zakaria. He interviews the queen of Jordan and talks about this. Aside from being very easy on the eyes, it is also an interesting discussion on this topic.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bes...ef=videosearch

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bes...ania.part2.cnn

Very interesting videos, Schmedlap. Thanks.

I look forward to the possibillity of a book review of Who Speaks for Islam.

[SWJED]

... I look forward to the possibillity of a book review of Who Speaks for Islam.

... now posted at SWJ Blog. Nice review by LTC Drew Schumann.

[Tom Odom]

Great review!

Write more!

Tom

[davidbfpo]

Yes, a good review, which I will circulate to a few Muslims here in the UK for comment - including several women. Alongside the review is an advert for singlemuslim.com and a photo of a lady with a scarf. As the review comments on the views of Muslim women the advert is cannily well-placed.

davidbfpo

[Rebecca White]

Thanks for the well written, comprehensive review, LTC Schumann. This is a book I will read and share.

[Juan Rico]

bought this book after seeing it mentioned here a couple of days back, it was very readable. if you have the luxury of hanging out w/ plenty of american muslims, non-arab muslims, middle east muslims and gulf muslims most of what's revealed in this book shouldn't be too much of a surprise.

i thought the reading goes very well w/ another work from um al-qorah university in mecca (as a bit of a counter balance), a sort of master's thesis by a student of mohammed qutb, the brother of sayyid qutb (it's a bit dated but captures the essence of salafi thought, the greatest export of the kingdom to the rest of the muslim world):

http://izzatulillah.wordpress.com/20...wala-wal-bara/ (in 3 pdf parts)

The book deals with the concept of Loving for the sake of Allah and Hating for the sake of Allah. It was originally submitted for a Masters Degree at the Department of Aqeedah Umm al-Qorah University in Makkah. The subject matter of this work is of paramount importance and utmost interest for two major reasons:

Firstly, it is concerned with one of Islam's main foundations, namely the qualities of al-wala' wa al-bara' ( الولاء و البراء ), which are two major prerequisites of true faith: al-wala' is a manifestation of sincere love for Allah, His prophets and the believers; al-bara', on the other hand, is an expression of enmity and hatred towards falsehood and its adherents. Both are evidence of iman.

Secondly, it has been written at a very crucial time: everything has become so mixed up that some Muslims are no longer aware of those qualities which distinguish the believers from the non-believers; their faith has become so weak that they have adopted patterns of behaviour that are absolutely repugnant to a sincere believer; they have taken the disbelievers as their friends, while displaying enmity towards many of the believers by disparaging their character and degrading them.

Aqidah (sometimes spelled Aqeedah, Aqidah or Aqida) (Arabic: عقيدة) is an Islamic term meaning creed. Any religious belief system, or creed, can be considered an example of aqidah. However this term has taken a significant technical usage in Muslim history and theology, denoting those matters over which Muslims hold conviction.

The six Sunni and Shia articles of belief are:

Belief in God (Allah), the one and only one worthy of all worship (tawhid).
Belief in all the Prophets (nabi) and Messengers (rusul) sent by God
Belief in the Angels (mala'ika).
Belief in the Books (kutub) sent by God (including the Qur'an).
Belief in the Day of Judgment (qiyama) and in the Resurrection (life after death).
Belief in Destiny (Fate) (qadar).

[Ken White]

...even though the fervent disdain for America began at least as early as the 1970s, which was hardly the heydey of neo-con foreign policy.

said disdain was prevalent pretty much world wide in the 1950s and was more virulent than today in the late 1960s. It did hit the ME in the 70s but it is absolutely NOT a new phenomenon.

...Jihadists have been chanting, and attempting to cause, death to America through the administrations of Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and Bush - four administrations whose foreign policies differed significantly.

That got started with the 'success' of the Munich Olympics hostage operation and several subsequent airline hijackings as the ME developed a worldwide focus. However, there is no doubt that the flawed policies and tepid response to provocations from the ME of all the Presidents you named put us where we are today.

...
I think the most important question is not, "how do we become less hated?" It is "how do we make the world less hospitable to terrorist networks?"

Yep...

[davidbfpo]

The links above did not work and found this one did: http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video...ef=videosearch

davidbfpo