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Islam: The Fanatics (Second of three parts)
Islam series Part
1 | Part
2 | Part
3
Rev. Brian J. Kiely, Unitarian Church of Edmonton,
November 12, 2006
“Reading” Introduction
The ‘reading’ is a brief clip from the film ‘Syriana’.
The movies pursues several story lines that come together in a fictionalized
version of Saudi Arabia. One story line follows a young Pakistani
oil worker. He lives in poor conditions and as a foreign worker,
has very limited freedoms. He is befriended by a wealthy and charismatic
young man, an Islamist. As the movie unfolds we see the worker inculcated
into a corrupted view of Islam that leads him into a world of terrosim.
This scene shows the end of prayer meeting at the mosque and then
a study session with an Imam over lunch.
Sermon
As a resident of Canada, as a member of a liberal religious faith
that prides itself on openness, toleration and often outright acceptance
of differing beliefs, and a commitment to peaceful negotiation and
respectful interaction, I can only stand back and ask uncomprehendingly,
“What were they thinking?”
I read the stories of religion-inspired hate and violence, of the
making of martyrs willing and unwilling, of the condemnation of
any who would dare challenge belief or the human-made laws based
on that belief and I am stunned by how badly religion went off the
rails.
As one observer wrote:
“Religion has become a perpetual foundation of war and contention:
all those flames that have made such havoc and desolation…,
and have not been quenched but with blood of so many…, have
first been kindled at the altar.”
Now, of course, that observer was John Locke, and he was commenting
in 1660. He was writing primarily about the persecution of one variety
of Christians by other varieties during the wars of religion that
followed the Reformation. But his remarks are just as pertinent
today.
And I think they are a good place to start, for they serve as a
reminder that extremism exists in many, if not all, religions. Just
the other day ultra-orthodox Jews rioted against the prospect of
a Gay Pride parade in Israel. There is yet another inquiry going
on in Canada looking at the Air India bombing perpetrated by a violent
sect of Sikhs. And on Tuesday in several U.S. states both Gay marriage
and Gay civil unions were convincingly voted down in several referenda,
the march led by Christian fundamentalists. And by the way, ‘fundamentalism’
is a word that rightly belongs only to Christianity, referring to
a group of American preachers, Riley, Dixon, Machem and others who
called on Christians to follow the ‘five fundamentals’
some decades ago.
Extremism guised in the robes of religion exists in many parts
of the world. It has always existed from the times before Jesus
was crucified. As we look at Islamist fundamentalism today, we would
do well to bear in mind that wider panorama. As another quick definition,
‘Islamist’ is the phrase of some currency today. Middle
East scholar Daniel Pipes defines it as, “an ideology that
demands man's complete adherence to the sacred law of Islam and
rejects as much as possible outside influence, with some exceptions
(such as access to military and medical technology). It is imbued
with a deep antagonism towards non-Muslims and has a particular
hostility towards the West. It amounts to an effort to turn Islam,
a religion and civilization, into an ideology.”
It is wise to distinguish between the majority of Islam around
the world, and the much smaller movement of Islamists within that
faith.
What unites all forms of extremist belief is a conviction that
life has gone off the rails, that the people have lost their way
and that a return to strict religious observance is the only way
out.
According to Karen Armstrong, respected author of “A History
of God” “The Battle for God”, such groups share
similar patterns of behaviour no matter what the religion. “First,
they withdraw from mainstream society to form sacred enclaves of
pure faith. Obvious examples are Bob Jones University, the ultra-orthodox
communities of New York; and Osama Bin Laden’s training camps.
These ultra-conservative churches, colleges, yeshivas, communes,
settlements, study groups are fortresses where the ‘faithful’
can live what they regard as a true religious life. They create
a counter-culture, in conscious reaction against the modern society,
which fills them with such dread. But from these bastions, fundamentalists
can sometimes plan a political, military or social offensive.”
But let’s be clear, religious militancy is not the necessarily
violent or engaged in terrorism. These offensives can be as simple
as political activism, non-violent civil disobedience or public
preaching. In many parts of the Islamic world (and the Christian
one as well) conservatives have confined themselves to welfare campaigns
and radical acts of charity. Mother Teresa would serve as a good
example of this kind of loving militancy. But other kinds also exist.
Whether it is the bombing of abortion clinics in the U.S., destroying
logging equipment in old growth forests, or suicide bombings in
Baghdad cafes, some acts of violence are perpetrated by a minutely
small proportion of fanatics, the extremist fragment of the militants.
How do they come to be? By and large the extremists can find some
grounding within their religious traditions. St. Ignatius trained
Catholics to be Soldiers of Christ. The Salvation Army sings, “Onward
Christian soldiers marching as to war.” It becomes very easy
for the deranged mind to change that ‘as to’ into ‘on
to war’.
Karen Armstrong describes how when Islam was born the Arabian peninsula
was in crisis in the seventh century. The tribal system was breaking
down and massively violent vendettas were common. Muhammed had to
go to war even as he was engaged in the 23 year long revelation
and transcription of the Qu’ran, but as he began to turn the
tide, he adopted a strategy of building peaceful coalitions where
he could, and initiated a brave and unheard of policy of non-violence.
It worked. The Arabian peninsula united, peacefully, under Islam.
Armstrong writes, “Because the Qu’ran was revealed
in the context of all out war, several passages deal with the conduct
of armed conflict. Warfare was a desperate business in Arabia. An
Arab chief was not expected to take prisoners; it was a given that
he would simply kill everybody he could get his hands on. Muhammed
knew that if the Muslims were defeated they would be slaughtered
to the last man or woman.
“Sometimes the Qu’ran seems to have imbibed this spirit.
Muslims are ordered by God to ‘slay (the enemy) wherever you
find them’ (4:89). Muslim extremists like Bin Laden like to
quote these verses, but they do so selectively, never quoting the
exhortations to peace and forbearance that in almost every case
mitigate these ferocious injunctions in the verses immediately following.
Thus (the very next verse) ‘If they leave you alone and offer
to make peace with you, God does not allow you to harm them’
(4:90)”
Armstrong also makes the point in her essay that what would normally
be a peaceful kind of fundamentalism usually only tips over into
violence in a society already at war or in conflict. Why? The only
war condoned in the Qu’ran is in self defence. Muslims may
never initiate hostilities, and aggression is forbidden by God.
It becomes necessary for the Islamists to see the threat from whatever
enemy as real, persistent and war-like. To this end, President Bush
made a serious error in judgment when he declared a ‘war on
terrorism’. He made Bin Laden’s crusade just that much
easier.
Before that, the fanatics had to persuade one another that war
was being pushed upon them. Generally the argument ran much like
what you saw in the video, that western culture and music, fashion
magazines and liberal ideas about human rights and especially human
sexuality were insidious agents of a quiet war. The west, led by
the United States, was waging an economic and cultural war intent
on destroying Islam.
And if I happened to be “Syriana’s” thinly disguised
Pakistani worker toiling in a Saudi oilfield, paid next to nothing,
living in shanty conditions and yet aware of the ridiculous wealth
of the western financed rulers, it would be a pretty convincing
argument. In the film, the worker is mostly confined to a foreign
workers camp. It is easy for Islamist teachers to appear in the
guise of teaching the faith and to turn that camp into the kind
of ultra-conservative study group which Armstrong defined as being
a key to the success of fundamentalist groups. The young man in
the story had just been beaten by the police when trying to protect
his father while standing in a long immigration line-up. Those supposedly
charged with his welfare had abandoned him. His mind became a fertile
ground for hate and fanaticism. He is ripe for recruitment for a
terrorist act.
How can such things happen? It’s really not so hard. Everyone
of us grows up with a kind of ideology inherited from family and
society. Sometimes, often as youth and young adults, we embrace
a different ideology or a variant of the one we knew. It may be
rebellion or the result of some incident in our lives. Our ideology
seems natural and right. In Canada most live with an ideology that
human rights are for all, that democracy should rule, and that the
rule of law is more important that the laws of religion. We believe
in capitalism and cable TV and the right to drive cars. We believe
that shopping malls are a God given right and that no one has the
power to tell us how to live our lives.
Right now, that way of life is not in imminent danger (though environmentalists
might disagree). The fact is that we have the power. What would
happen to us if the Islamist view gained ascendancy in Canada? How
long would it be before some of us started forming underground enclaves
of liberal democratic ‘don’t tread on me’ fanatics?
And how long would it be before some small fraction of those enclaves
began preaching and using violent means?
Islamists believe they are in a war of survival. Some feel that
this warfare means they have a right to defend their beleaguered
beliefs and so wage a violent war. And that in broad strokes is
why people are blowing themselves up. Yes there are other elements,
promises of Islamic heaven and gardens full of virgins, promises
of sacred memory here on earth. But mostly these Islamist ‘martyrs’
exist because extremist leaders take young people in a conflicted
culture and teach them a corrupted version of Islam, one that offers
a glorious way to live – and die their faith.
In the last instalment of this series, I will try to look at the
future and outline some of the paths to peace. But for the rest
of this morning I want to turn it over to you. This series was suggested
by members of the congregation, some of whom feel fear, some who
are just confused by it all. I invite you to sit for a moment or
two in silence and then I will invite you to share thoughts, concerns,
fears, hopes, or ask questions.
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