War on Islam
Encyclopedia
War against Islam, War on Islam or Attack on Islam, is a coined term to describe a perceived campaign to harm, weaken or even annihilate the societal system of Islam
, using military
, economic, social
and cultural means. The campaign is alleged to be waged by non-Muslims and false Muslims.
The phrase or similar phrases have been used by Muslims such as Ayatollah Khomeini, Sayyid Qutb
, Osama bin Laden
, the imam Anwar al-Awlaki
and the organization Islamophobia Watch
.
The alleged perpetrators of the war include Western
powers (especially the United States), pro-Western Muslim states, and non-Western, non-Muslim states such as Serbia
(Genocide in Bosnia
),
Russia
(for its actions in Chechnya
and the Caucasus
in general), and India
(for the conflict in Kashmir
).
, one that supposedly prophesises a war against Islam "is the so-called Tradition of Thawban":
An early modern example of belief in the alleged war is the book Qadat al-gharb yaquluman: dammiru al-Islam, ubidu ahlahu (Western Leaders Are Saying: Destroy Islam, Annihilate All of Its People) written by Jalal `Alam and published in 1977.
Evidence of the strength of the belief that a non-Muslim power (the United States) is at least attempting to weaken, if not annihilate, Islam can be found in opinion polls that showed as of late 2006/ early 2007, strong majorities — at least 70% — in the Muslim countries of Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, and Indonesia, answering "yes" to the pollsters' question: do you believe the United States seeks to “weaken and divide the Islamic world?”
Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon write in their book Age of Sacred Terror:
And in particular, a Western war against Islam is a belief "at the heart of the radical Muslim and especially the globalist radical Muslim;" a factor "binding globalist radical Muslims together."
The following Muslims have either written or spoken about the alleged war, or at least alleged malicious conspiracies:
, leader of the Iranian Revolution
and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran
, preached that Western imperialists or neoimperialists sought to make Muslims suffer, to "plunder" their resources and other wealth, and had to undermine Islam first because Islam stood in the way of this stealing and immiseration.
"Agents" refers to Westernizing Muslim rulers such as the Shah of Iran
, whom Khomeini passionately opposed.
Western plots were not recent but hundreds of years old:
, possibly the most influential Islamist author, often described as "the man whose ideas would shape Al Qaeda", also preached that the West was not just in conflict with Islam but plotting against it. In his book Milestones he wrote:
emphasizes the alleged war and urges Muslims to take arms against it in almost all of his written or recorded messages. In his 1998 fatwa where he declared the killing of "Americans and their allies—civilians and military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it," bin Laden listed three reasons for the fatwa: the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia, the increase in infant mortality in Iraq following US-supported sanctions there, and US aid to Israel.
Other examples of accusations of war by bin Laden:
Regarding the invasion of Afghanistan
to overthrow the Taliban regime and independence of East Timor
According to journalist Lawrence Wright, evidence that bin Laden's accusations have struck a chord among many Muslims was found in the popularity of bin laden T-shirts among Muslims including children in Kenya and Tanzania following the 1998 American embassy bombings
, despite the fact that all but a handful 224 people killed were Kenyians and Tanzanians, not Americans.
Bin Laden says,
, a prominent Salafi scholar mentioned the attack on the Muslims (particularly Salafis) and blamed the Muslim Brotherhood
and their allies for increasing its magnitude
The Shaikhs of Jordan on Recent World Events, in a publication mentioned:
and European colonization of their lands believing it to be an example of an attempt to destroy the Muslim way of life. In addition to believing the West had "a well-thought-out scheme the object of which is first to shake the foundations of Islamic beliefs", Sayyid Qutb for example maintained that the medieval Christian Crusades were not "a form of imperialism," but rather Western imperialism was a new form of the Crusades, "latter-day" imperialism in Muslim lands being "but a mask for the crusading spirit."
This claim appears to have at least some factual historical basis. Savory says:
has been declared part of a "war against Islam
." Osama bin Laden has declared that "the West's rejection of the fairly elected Hamas government is a reaffirmation of the 'injustice, aggression, and rancor' against Palestinians." Enver Masud
, an Indian Muslim and author of the book The War on Islam complains that while there are no Muslims in high-level policy making and media jobs in the United States, "Jewish Americans occupy nearly every single position relating to US Arab-Israeli policy."
In modern day, events alleged to be attacks on Islam include media portrayal of the religion and the War on Terrorism. Statements portraying Islam as a destructive ideology have been made by Jerry Falwell
, Pat Robertson
, Benny Hinn
, V.S. Naipaul and Ann Coulter
following the 9/11 attack. Franklin Graham, the son of famed American Christian evangelist Billy Graham, declared in November 2001 that "the God of Islam is not the same God. He's not the son of God of the Christian or Judeo-Christian faith. It's a different God and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion."
On September 16, 2001, George W. Bush
referred to the war in Afghanistan
as a Crusade: "This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while. And the American people must be patient. I'm going to be patient."
According to Boston-based novelist and author James Carroll, the conflict between Muslims and Westerners "has its origins more in `the West` than in the House of Islam." And can be traced to "the poison flower of the Crusades, with their denigrations of distant cultures," and other Western injustices.
Proponents of this view often consider the War on Terrorism
with the accompanying 2001 military activity in Afghanistan
, 2003 invasion of Iraq
to be part of the war against Islam. The Western colonial domination of the Middle East
for a good part of the 20th Century is also regarded as such an attack by some.
Alleged conspiracies against Islam sometimes involve other Muslims who are accused of being apostates. The Ayatollah Khomeini believed that "agents of imperialism," the term he gave to secular pro-Western Muslims, were "busy in every corner of the Islamic world drawing our youth away from us with their evil propaganda." Muslims at TheMajlis.net find evidence of "the primary conspiracy against Islam...not [in] Mr. Bush
and Mr. Blair
," but in "the enemy which lurks within the Ummah
. The most poisonous and lethal enemy for Islam in this century consists of the munaafiqeen
(hypocrites)and murtaddeen
(apostates) who are concealing within the folds of the Ummah," but "products of kuffaar
universities" and have cast doubt on traditional interpretations of the Sharia
(Islamic law).
were cartoons depicting Muhammad
in a Danish newspaper that led to riots and the burning of the Norwegian and Danish Embassies in Syria
, and are seen by Osama bin Laden as part of the "Zionist-crusaders war on Islam".
In an audio message, bin Laden described the cartoons as taking place in the framework of a "new Crusade" against Islam, in which he said the pope has played a "large and lengthy role."
Among others, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed a "Zionist conspiracy" for the row over the cartoons. The Palestinian envoy to Washington alleged the Likud party concocted distribution of Muhammad caricatures worldwide in a bid to create a clash between the West and the Muslim world.
, a Dutch
politician, published a film called Fitna
, exploring Qur'an
ic motivation for terrorism, Islamic universalism, and Islam
in the Netherlands. Wilders has said the 15-minute film will show how verses from the Qur'an are being used today to incite modern Muslims to behave violently and anti-democratically based on those verses. He later described the film as “a call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization
,” and a push for a Leitkultur
, a culture
that “draws on Christian
, Jewish
, humanistic
traditions and that poses a challenge to the Islamic problem.”
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) protested the film saying "The film is solely intended to incite and provoke unrest and intolerance among people of different religious beliefs and to jeopardize world peace and stability," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the film as "offensively anti-Islamic" and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said it was "hateful". Iran called the film heinous, blasphemous and anti-Islamic, and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation and a former Dutch colony, said it was an "insult to Islam, hidden under the cover of freedom of expression". The Saudi Arabian embassy in The Hague said the film was provocative and full of errors and incorrect allegations that could lead to hate towards Muslims.
, Daniel Pipes
, and Glen Reinsford, believe that such a war is justified as self-defence, and/or that Islam itself is waging war against the non-Muslim world and not the other way around. They claim groups like Al-Qaeda
, HAMAS
and other extremist groups are an example of Islam's war against the non-Muslim world. The subsequent wars launched against Muslim regimes or insurgents
in Afghanistan or Iraq, they argue, are only defence against aggression.
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, using military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
, economic, social
Social
The term social refers to a characteristic of living organisms...
and cultural means. The campaign is alleged to be waged by non-Muslims and false Muslims.
The phrase or similar phrases have been used by Muslims such as Ayatollah Khomeini, Sayyid Qutb
Sayyid Qutb
Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian author, educator, Islamist theorist, poet, and the leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and '60s....
, Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
, the imam Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki was an American and Yemeni imam who was an engineer and educator by training. According to U.S. government officials, he was a senior talent recruiter and motivator who was involved with planning operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda...
and the organization Islamophobia Watch
Islamophobia Watch
Islamophobia Watch is a website initiated in January 2005 as a non-profit project to document material in the public domain which, according to Islamophobia Watch, advocates fear and hatred of Muslims around the world and Islam as a religion....
.
The alleged perpetrators of the war include Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
powers (especially the United States), pro-Western Muslim states, and non-Western, non-Muslim states such as Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
(Genocide in Bosnia
Bosnian Genocide
The term Bosnian Genocide refers to either the genocide committed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995 or the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place throughout areas controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War....
),
Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(for its actions in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
and the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
in general), and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(for the conflict in Kashmir
Kashmir conflict
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region, the northwesternmost region of South Asia....
).
Usage
According to scholar David Cook, what some believe is scriptural evidence for the existence of the alleged war is found in a popular hadithHadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
, one that supposedly prophesises a war against Islam "is the so-called Tradition of Thawban":
The Messenger of God said: The nations are about to flock against you [the Muslims] from every horizon, just as hungry people flock to a kettle. We said: O Messenger of God, will we be few on that day? He said: No, you will be many in number, but you will be scum, like the scum of a flash-flood, without any weight, since fear will be removed from the hearts of your enemies, and weakness (wahn) will be placed in your hearts. We said: O Messenger of God, what does the word wahn mean? He said: Love of this world, and fear of death.
An early modern example of belief in the alleged war is the book Qadat al-gharb yaquluman: dammiru al-Islam, ubidu ahlahu (Western Leaders Are Saying: Destroy Islam, Annihilate All of Its People) written by Jalal `Alam and published in 1977.
Evidence of the strength of the belief that a non-Muslim power (the United States) is at least attempting to weaken, if not annihilate, Islam can be found in opinion polls that showed as of late 2006/ early 2007, strong majorities — at least 70% — in the Muslim countries of Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, and Indonesia, answering "yes" to the pollsters' question: do you believe the United States seeks to “weaken and divide the Islamic world?”
Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon write in their book Age of Sacred Terror:
In the Middle East and PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, religious discourse dominates societies, the airwaves, and thinking about the world. Radical mosqueMosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s have proliferated throughout EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. Bookstores are dominated by works with religious themes … The demand for shariaShariaSharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
, the belief that their governments are unfaithful to Islam and that Islam is the answer to all problems, and the certainty that the West has declared war on Islam; these are the themes that dominate public discussion. Islamists may not control parliaments or government palaces, but they have occupied the popular imagination.
And in particular, a Western war against Islam is a belief "at the heart of the radical Muslim and especially the globalist radical Muslim;" a factor "binding globalist radical Muslims together."
The following Muslims have either written or spoken about the alleged war, or at least alleged malicious conspiracies:
Ayatollah Khomeini
Ayatollah Ruhollah KhomeiniRuhollah Khomeini
Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini was an Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran...
, leader of the Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, preached that Western imperialists or neoimperialists sought to make Muslims suffer, to "plunder" their resources and other wealth, and had to undermine Islam first because Islam stood in the way of this stealing and immiseration.
[The Imperialist plan] is to keep us backward, to keep us in our present miserable state so they can exploit our riches, our underground wealth, our lands and our human resources. They want us to remain afflicted and wretched, and our poor to be trapped in their misery … they and their agents wish to go on living in huge palaces and enjoying lives of abominable luxury.
"Agents" refers to Westernizing Muslim rulers such as the Shah of Iran
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...
, whom Khomeini passionately opposed.
[European-Imperialists] have known the power of Islam themselves for it once ruled part of Europe, and they know that true Islam is opposed to their activities. They have also realized they cannot make the true religious scholars submit to their influence, nor can they affect their thinking. From the very outset, therefore, they have sought to remove this obstacle from their path by disparaging Islam and besmirching the religious leaders. They have resorted to malicious propaganda so that today, we imagine that Islam simply consists of a handful of legal topics. They have also tried to destroy the reputation of the fuqaha and the `ulama, who stand at the head of Islamic society, by slanderous accusations and other means.
The agents of imperialism are busy in every corner of the Islamic world drawing our youth away from us with their evil propaganda.
Come to the aid of Islam; save Islam! They are destroying Islam! Invoking the laws of Islam and the name of the Most Noble Messenger (upon whom be peace and blessing), they are destroying Islam! Agents – both foreigners sent by the imperialists and natives employed by them – have spread out into every village and region of Iran and are leading our children and young people astray
Western plots were not recent but hundreds of years old:
The British imperialists penetrated the countries of the East more than 300 years ago. Being knowledgeable about all aspects of these countries, they drew up elaborate plans for assuming control of them. Then came the new imperialist, the Americans and others. They allied themselves with the British and took part in the execution of their plans.
Sayyid Qutb
Sayyid QutbSayyid Qutb
Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian author, educator, Islamist theorist, poet, and the leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and '60s....
, possibly the most influential Islamist author, often described as "the man whose ideas would shape Al Qaeda", also preached that the West was not just in conflict with Islam but plotting against it. In his book Milestones he wrote:
The Western ways of thought … [have] an enmity toward all religionReligionReligion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, and in particular with greater hostility toward Islam. This enmity toward Islam is especially pronounced and many times is the result of a well-thought-out scheme the object of which is first to shake the foundations of Islamic beliefs and then gradually to demolish the structure of Muslim society.
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin LadenOsama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
emphasizes the alleged war and urges Muslims to take arms against it in almost all of his written or recorded messages. In his 1998 fatwa where he declared the killing of "Americans and their allies—civilians and military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it," bin Laden listed three reasons for the fatwa: the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia, the increase in infant mortality in Iraq following US-supported sanctions there, and US aid to Israel.
All these crimes and sins committed by the Americans are a clear declaration of war on Allah, his messenger, and Muslims.
Other examples of accusations of war by bin Laden:
What bears no doubt in this fierce Judeo-Christian campaign against the Muslim world, the likes of which has never been seen before, is that the Muslims must prepare all possible might to repel the enemy, militarily, economically, through missionary activity, and all other areas. It is crucial for us to be patient and to cooperate in righteousness and piety and to raise awareness of the fact that the highest priority, after faith, is to repel the aggressive enemy that corrupts the religion and the world. Nothing deserves a higher priority, after faith, as the religious scholars have declared. It is crucial to overlook many of the issues of bickering to unite our ranks so that we can repel the greater Kufr.
Every day, from east to west, our umma of 1200 million Muslims is being slaughtered, in PalestinePalestinePalestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, SomaliaSomaliaSomalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
, Western SudanDarfur conflictThe Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
, KashmirKashmirKashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
, the PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, BosniaBosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, ChechnyaChechnyaThe Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
, and AssamAssamAssam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
.
Regarding the invasion of Afghanistan
Invasions of Afghanistan
Afghanistan has been invaded many times, its boundaries and governments almost always in dispute. Invaders include the Mughal rulers of South Asia, Russian Tsars, Soviet Union, British Empire, and currently a coalition force of NATO troops with UN-backing led by US armed forces.-Purpose of...
to overthrow the Taliban regime and independence of East Timor
We...see events not as isolated incidents, but as part of a long chain of conspiracies, a war of annihilation...In southern SudanSecond Sudanese Civil WarThe Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....
hundreds of thousand were killed.
According to journalist Lawrence Wright, evidence that bin Laden's accusations have struck a chord among many Muslims was found in the popularity of bin laden T-shirts among Muslims including children in Kenya and Tanzania following the 1998 American embassy bombings
1998 United States embassy bombings
The 1998 United States embassy bombings were a series of attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998, in which hundreds of people were killed in simultaneous truck bomb explosions at the United States embassies in the East African capitals of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. The date of the...
, despite the fact that all but a handful 224 people killed were Kenyians and Tanzanians, not Americans.
Bin Laden says,
The West is incapable of recognising the rights of others. It will not be able to respect others' beliefs or feelings. The West still believes in ethnic supremacy and looks down on other nations. They categorise human beings into white masters and coloured slaves.
Salafi scholars
Shaikh Rabee'Rabee Al-Madkhali
Rabee' Ibn Haadee 'Umayr al-Madkhalee is a university professor, a well-known Muslim scholar, and a proponent of Salafi.-Early life:...
, a prominent Salafi scholar mentioned the attack on the Muslims (particularly Salafis) and blamed the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
and their allies for increasing its magnitude
So now you incited Russia and so it came and took over the Chechnyan people - those who (have always) made Jihaad and made Jihaad, until they established a state. So they came and said "destroy this state", this house is not sound, destroy it, so they destroyed their house, and now they are masaakeen, like the strange animals that wander in the forests. If they (the IkhwaanMuslim BrotherhoodThe Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
, Jihadis) had only left them (the Chechnyan people) (after their independence), they would have bettered themselves in terms of their religion, and both spiritually and materially. But they never gave them a chance to do this, but they only hastened them, until they granted the Russians the chance (to attack them), and so they destroyed them. And now they transgress upon the Muslims in the entire world, from America to Japan to Australia, to every place and to every (Muslim) society, and to all forms of destruction, and evils. So the Muslims in the eastern and western parts of the earth are faced with humiliation and degradation at the hands of AtheisticAtheismAtheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
Kuffaar, and they made the Afghan society and its state to face destruction and ruin and to the falling of this state - and now they cry of over it with false tears of crocodiles - all at the hands of the Americans and Northern Alliance which was led by the Ikhwaan al-Muslimoon.
The Shaikhs of Jordan on Recent World Events, in a publication mentioned:
Hence it is obligatory upon all Muslims to beware of the plots and plans of the non-Muslims and their machinations and intrigues, and that they should adopt the matters which cause assistance from Allaah such as holding fast to the rope of Allaah, upon the word of TawheedTawhidTawhid is the concept of monotheism in Islam. It is the religion's most fundamental concept and holds God is one and unique ....
, and the Manhaj of the SunnahSunnahThe word literally means a clear, well trodden, busy and plain surfaced road. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar...
, and the absence of division into sects and parties, just as Allaah, the Most High said, "And be not of Al-Mushrikun (the disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah, polytheists, idolators, etc.). Of those who split up their religion (i.e. those who left the true Islamic MonotheismTawhidTawhid is the concept of monotheism in Islam. It is the religion's most fundamental concept and holds God is one and unique ....
), and became sects, [i.e. they invented new things in the religion (Bid'ahBid'ahBid‘ah is any type of innovation in Islam. It linguistically means "innovation, novelty, heretical doctrine, heresy". In contrast to the English term "innovation", in Arabic, the word bid'ah generally carries a negative connotation...
), and followed their vain desires], each sect rejoicing in which is with it"(Rum 30:31-32)
And amongst the causes of weakness and the enemies overpowering us, is differing and dissenting, and being far from the legislation of Allaah and referring to it and implementing it, and from ordering the good and forbidding the evil, and the absence of striving against the enemies of Allah, the occupiers of the lands of the Muslims and their sanctities - as well as being attached to the world, and hating death - all of which makes to inherit weakness and leads to becoming scum. As has been said by our Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam), "The nations are about to invite each other upon you, just as a group of people invite each other for food". It was said, "O messenger of Allaah! Will we be few in number on that day?" He said, "No, however you will be like the scum on the river. Weakness will be placed into your hearts and the fear of you in the hearts of your enemies will be removed, due to your loving this world and hating of death".
And Allaah, the free from all imperfections, says, "Say: It (the calamity) is from your ownselves".
And it is also known that the evil does not bring about except evil and forced control does not bring about except which is more bitter and more calamitous, hence whatever the United States of America exercises of continues, unrestricted propping up of the Brethren of Apes and Pigs, the occupiers of our land of Palestine and the precious Aqsaa, the place of the ascent of our Trustworthy Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam), and what follows on from that of the total disregard of the affairs of the Muslims, and a great prejudice against their rights, then all of this makes the US reap the fruits of its own actions, and whoever sows bitter seed, will reap bitter fruit.
Claims of proof
Historical basis
According to historian R.M. Savory,"The existence of Islam has always made the West profoundly uneasy. Islam was the only major world religion to be revealed after the rise of Christianity, and consequently it was, from the moment of the revelation of Islam in the seventh century A.D., viewed by ChristendomChristendomChristendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
as a direct threat and challenge to itself.
On the theological and religious level, the reaction of the West was strong, sustained and, almost without exception, hostile. Hostility was based on fear, and fear had its roots in ignorance. Christendom feared Islam, and therefore misrepresented it. Christians were ignorant of Islam, at least in part, because Christendom, prompted by odium theologicum had no desire to understand or tolerate Islam.
Islam on the other hand, was ignorant of the West because it was indifferent to it.
This fascinating experiment in co-existence was not permitted to endure. Christendom had not reconciled itself to a permanent Muslim presence in Europe, especially as this presence could not be ignored, for Islam, far from whithering [sic?] away, had produced great philosophers and scientists."
Crusades
Muslims who use this term often point to the CrusadesCrusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
and European colonization of their lands believing it to be an example of an attempt to destroy the Muslim way of life. In addition to believing the West had "a well-thought-out scheme the object of which is first to shake the foundations of Islamic beliefs", Sayyid Qutb for example maintained that the medieval Christian Crusades were not "a form of imperialism," but rather Western imperialism was a new form of the Crusades, "latter-day" imperialism in Muslim lands being "but a mask for the crusading spirit."
This claim appears to have at least some factual historical basis. Savory says:
It is not surprising, therefore, to find a great similarity between the medieval view that it was safe to speak ill of Muhammad because his malignity exceeded whatever ill could be spoken of him, and the tone of nineteenth-century missionary tracts which exhorted the Muslims in IndiaIslam in IndiaIslam is the second-most practiced religion in the Republic of India after Hinduism, with more than 13.4% of the country's population ....
to abandon the false religion which they had been taught. There were even echos of the old crusading spirit. When the French occupied Algeria in 1830, they declared that they had in mind 'the greatest benefit to Christendom'. Similarly, Canning's solution to the 'problem' of the Ottoman empire was to bring it into modern Europe under Christian tutelage. When the French invaded Tunis in 1881, they considered their action a sacred duty 'which a superior civilisation owes to the populations which are less advanced.
Modern day
More recently, Western support for the continued existence of the State of IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
has been declared part of a "war against Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
." Osama bin Laden has declared that "the West's rejection of the fairly elected Hamas government is a reaffirmation of the 'injustice, aggression, and rancor' against Palestinians." Enver Masud
Enver Masud
Enver Masud is founder and CEO of The Wisdom Fund, and the recipient of the 2002 Gold Award from the Human Rights Foundation for his book The War on Islam. He is also a co-author of Islam: Opposing Viewpoints, and 9/11 and American Empire....
, an Indian Muslim and author of the book The War on Islam complains that while there are no Muslims in high-level policy making and media jobs in the United States, "Jewish Americans occupy nearly every single position relating to US Arab-Israeli policy."
In modern day, events alleged to be attacks on Islam include media portrayal of the religion and the War on Terrorism. Statements portraying Islam as a destructive ideology have been made by Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
, Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
, Benny Hinn
Benny Hinn
Toufik Benedictus "Benny" Hinn הין; born December 3, 1952) is a televangelist, best known for his regular "Miracle Crusades" – revival meeting/faith healing summits that are usually held in large stadiums in major cities, which are later broadcast worldwide on his television program, This Is Your...
, V.S. Naipaul and Ann Coulter
Ann Coulter
Ann Hart Coulter is an American lawyer, conservative social and political commentator, author, and syndicated columnist. She frequently appears on television, radio, and as a speaker at public events and private events...
following the 9/11 attack. Franklin Graham, the son of famed American Christian evangelist Billy Graham, declared in November 2001 that "the God of Islam is not the same God. He's not the son of God of the Christian or Judeo-Christian faith. It's a different God and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion."
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
referred to the war in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
as a Crusade: "This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while. And the American people must be patient. I'm going to be patient."
According to Boston-based novelist and author James Carroll, the conflict between Muslims and Westerners "has its origins more in `the West` than in the House of Islam." And can be traced to "the poison flower of the Crusades, with their denigrations of distant cultures," and other Western injustices.
Proponents of this view often consider the War on Terrorism
War on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
with the accompanying 2001 military activity in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
, 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
to be part of the war against Islam. The Western colonial domination of the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
for a good part of the 20th Century is also regarded as such an attack by some.
Alleged conspiracies against Islam sometimes involve other Muslims who are accused of being apostates. The Ayatollah Khomeini believed that "agents of imperialism," the term he gave to secular pro-Western Muslims, were "busy in every corner of the Islamic world drawing our youth away from us with their evil propaganda." Muslims at TheMajlis.net find evidence of "the primary conspiracy against Islam...not [in] Mr. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and Mr. Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
," but in "the enemy which lurks within the Ummah
Ummah
Ummah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...
. The most poisonous and lethal enemy for Islam in this century consists of the munaafiqeen
Munafiq
Munāfiq is an Islamic Arabic term used to describe a religious hypocrite, who outwardly practices Islam, while inwardly concealing his disbelief , perhaps even unknowingly....
(hypocrites)and murtaddeen
Apostasy in Islam
Apostasy in Islam is commonly defined in Islam as the rejection in word or deed of one's former religion by a person who was previously a follower of Islam...
(apostates) who are concealing within the folds of the Ummah," but "products of kuffaar
Kafir
Kafir is an Arabic term used in a Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as "unbeliever" or "disbeliever"...
universities" and have cast doubt on traditional interpretations of the Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
(Islamic law).
Danish cartoon controversy
The 2005 Danish cartoon controversyJyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
were cartoons depicting Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
in a Danish newspaper that led to riots and the burning of the Norwegian and Danish Embassies in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, and are seen by Osama bin Laden as part of the "Zionist-crusaders war on Islam".
In an audio message, bin Laden described the cartoons as taking place in the framework of a "new Crusade" against Islam, in which he said the pope has played a "large and lengthy role."
"You went overboard in your unbelief and freed yourselves of the etiquettes of dispute and fighting and went to the extent of publishing these insulting drawings," he said, "This is the greater and more serious tragedy (than bombing Muslim villagers), and reckoning for it will be more severe."
Among others, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed a "Zionist conspiracy" for the row over the cartoons. The Palestinian envoy to Washington alleged the Likud party concocted distribution of Muhammad caricatures worldwide in a bid to create a clash between the West and the Muslim world.
Fitna film controversy
In 2008, Geert WildersGeert Wilders
Geert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
, a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
politician, published a film called Fitna
Fitna (film)
Fitna is a 2008 short political, propaganda film by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders with his view on the religion of the Islam. Approximately 17 minutes in length, the movie shows selected excerpts from Suras of the Qur'an, interspersed with media clips and newspaper cuttings showing or...
, exploring Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
ic motivation for terrorism, Islamic universalism, and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in the Netherlands. Wilders has said the 15-minute film will show how verses from the Qur'an are being used today to incite modern Muslims to behave violently and anti-democratically based on those verses. He later described the film as “a call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization
Islamization
Islamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...
,” and a push for a Leitkultur
Leitkultur
The German language term Leitkultur is a politically controversial concept, first introduced in 1998 by the German-Arab sociologist Bassam Tibi. It can be translated as 'guiding culture' or 'leading culture', less literally as 'common culture', 'core culture' or 'basic culture'...
, a culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
that “draws on Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, humanistic
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
traditions and that poses a challenge to the Islamic problem.”
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) protested the film saying "The film is solely intended to incite and provoke unrest and intolerance among people of different religious beliefs and to jeopardize world peace and stability," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the film as "offensively anti-Islamic" and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said it was "hateful". Iran called the film heinous, blasphemous and anti-Islamic, and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation and a former Dutch colony, said it was an "insult to Islam, hidden under the cover of freedom of expression". The Saudi Arabian embassy in The Hague said the film was provocative and full of errors and incorrect allegations that could lead to hate towards Muslims.
Justification for a war
Some critics of Islam, such as David HorowitzDavid Horowitz
David Joel Horowitz is an American conservative writer and policy advocate. Horowitz was raised by parents who were both members of the American Communist Party. Between 1956 and 1975, Horowitz was an outspoken adherent of the New Left before rejecting Marxism completely...
, Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
, and Glen Reinsford, believe that such a war is justified as self-defence, and/or that Islam itself is waging war against the non-Muslim world and not the other way around. They claim groups like Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
, HAMAS
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
and other extremist groups are an example of Islam's war against the non-Muslim world. The subsequent wars launched against Muslim regimes or insurgents
Muslim world
The term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...
in Afghanistan or Iraq, they argue, are only defence against aggression.
See also
- CrusadesCrusadesThe Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
- IslamofascismIslamofascismThe term Islamofascism is a neologism which draws an analogy between the ideological characteristics of specific Islamist movements from the turn of the 21st century on, and a broad range of European fascist movements of the early 20th century, neofascist movements, or totalitarianism.-Origins of...
- IslamophobiaIslamophobiaIslamophobia describes prejudice against, hatred or irrational fear of Islam or MuslimsThe term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States....
- Muslim worldMuslim worldThe term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...
- War on TerrorismWar on TerrorismThe War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
- Persecution of MuslimsPersecution of MuslimsPersecution of Muslims is the religious persecution of Muslims as a consequence of professing their faith, both historically and in the current era.-Anatolia:...
- Tenth CrusadeTenth CrusadeThe Tenth Crusade is a rhetorical device that builds an analogy between the US-led War on Terrorism and the historical Crusades. Critics of this term claim the analogy is misleading.-Crusade:The word "crusade" was used by US President George W...
Further reading
- A War on Islam? by Abid Ullah JanAbid Ullah JanAbid Ullah Jan is a prolific writer and community development specialist. He has conceptualized and implemented a model of crime prevention through social development in South East Ottawa, called No Community Left Behind . The program won several Awards, including Community Builder of the Year...
- The War on Islam by Enver MasudEnver MasudEnver Masud is founder and CEO of The Wisdom Fund, and the recipient of the 2002 Gold Award from the Human Rights Foundation for his book The War on Islam. He is also a co-author of Islam: Opposing Viewpoints, and 9/11 and American Empire....