Colleagues: In Part I of this 2-part analysis of contemporary Islamic fundamentalism, attention was directed primarily at the transformation of Islam that occurred in the 9th century and that has led, in my view, to the domination of that religion since then by fundamentalist thinking that denies a role for reason, that posits a divine omnipotence liberated from the laws of causality, and treats concepts such as democracy, good and evil, and “human freedom” as affronts to Allah.
As such, that leads today to what Sam Huntington called the “Clash of Civilizations”, a conflict between the practices and goals of fundamentalist Islam and the open and accommodating beliefs held by Western democracies. This is not to say that there are no uncompromising, religiously driven movements in the West. There are, but they are on the fringes of society, exercising little influence over day by day events. This is also not to say, as I was reminded often this week, that there are not any “moderates” in the Muslim world. There are. The problem is that the fundamentalists have hijacked the religion and represent the mainstream thinking and guide the daily activities of Islam. The moderates, certainly the majority of believers, need to be encouraged, as President Obama tried to do in his Cairo speech, but they have failed to speak up, are much less influential than their numbers would suggest, and are cowed by the more militant Islamists. The moderates, as one veteran Intelligence analyst wrote me, “Have no convincing counter-narrative”.
Followers of Islam today believe that the socio-political religious code, “Sharia” (the Path), should regulate all aspects of Muslim life. There is no division between the secular and the spiritual, no veneration of Reason, no tolerance of other faiths or political systems. As the Center for Security Policy argues in a comprehensive report, Sharia leads believers to “seek to impose a totalitarian regime: a global system of total control cloaked as an Islamic state and called a caliphate”. The study, produced by the CSP’s TeamBII (after the counter-CIA intelligence assessment of the 1970’s), describes Sharia as an “immutable, compulsory system that Muslims are obliged to install and the world required to adopt.”
COL/Dr. Dick Hobbs reminds us that no Islamic sect has ever renounced the idea that Sharia must reign supreme over the entire world. As the former Supreme Leader in Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini, proclaimed, it was the duty of all Muslims to wage Holy War to conquer the world and establish the hegemony of Islamic law. This struggle is not only against Western societies, but is waged with equal vehemenence against those Muslims who are considered less than committed to Sharia and what is called, the “Third Jihad”. Indeed, religious violence perpetrated by Muslims against other Muslims is a routine feature of life in Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, etc.
There is no coexistence either with “non-believers” in the West or the “half-believers”, the countless Muslims the fundamentalists believe they can win over. “There is no coexistence”, Hobbs explains (see his World War IV and Beyond: Islamofascism, the Third Jihad, and Other Threats to the USA). This camp constitutes the mainstream, the most dynamic, uncompromising and most influential movement within Islam. The movement is hardly driven be a central figure or nation-state; it is diverse, insidious and emerges in numerous forms. Whether pursued through the violent form of Jihad (Holy War), or the stealthier practice known as “Dawa” (call to Islam), whether fomented by organized groups such as Al-Qaeda, supported monetarily by rich Saudis (and the state), or by participating in the political processes (the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and now inside Western systems), the ultimate goal remains the same—the establishment of a global Caliphate governed only by Sharia law and the subjugation of all non or half believers.
I wish it were otherwise. I wish I could point to the tolerance for other religions, if I could find a Christian Church in Saudi Arabia, a Temple in Pakistan, or freedom of religion in the Sudan. I wish I could see the rising influence of moderate Muslims—by far the vast majority—within the Islamic world, but I don’t. I wish that those calling for the Third Jihad would be a receding force, but I don’t—instead they have taken the mainstream and become the most powerful, influential and significant. This is, unfortunately, the enemy.
OK, pretty hard line and uncompromising from my end. This should get a debate going and I would welcome a comprehensive response I could publish (frenetic emails sent from a bar in Santa Monica are appreciated, but won’t have as much impact as a well thought out counter-point). I have received some thoughtful responses, one from Harvard law student Mat Trachock, who suggested reading these two articles (links provided) below as a start.
http://www.islamdaily.org/en/islam/8446.trying-to-understand-the-clash-within-islam.htm
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LH24Ak01.html
For those interested, I am also attaching the 85-page CSP study (just read the major conclusions) and a good article by Roger Cohen from the NYT on the “Captive Arab Mind”.
Well, this should get the juices flowing! Happy New Year!
– Ty
Tyrus W. Cobb
NSF Minister of Enlightenment
Shariah-TheThreattoAmerica(TeamBReport)dec10