Reading Slate Magazine at work isn't exactly encouraged by my managers, but there are times when it beats such mundane matters as work, and when the articles on offer include two extremely interesting articles on fundamentalist Islam, it doesn't take a very hardworking devil to have me push my assignments aside. It's not that I don't enjoy designing architectural signs for the New Mexico DOT, but studying the biggest threat facing our world for the foreseeable future generally trumps talking to a sales representative in the backwoods of Pennsylvania about how to make plywood look like Roman stone.
One article by Akbar Ahmed described the critical differences between Washington's view of the Islamic world and the view of that same world from the inside. The gaping chasm in viewpoints is reminiscent of the six blind men and the elephant. And the author makes a strong case for us to try and recognize the complexity of the Islamic world and understand that they do have major fears, even if we do not agree with them. Given our attempts to shoehorn the world into just two categories, good or bad, moderate or extremist, friend or enemy, this appeal to see the world in all its glorious shades of gray comes not a moment too soon. Yet, given our obsession with quick and succinct sound bites it is unlikely to produce a change in attitude. We made the same mistake back in the Sixties with Communism; it took the deviousness of the Great Deceiver and his Machiavellian right hand man to recognize that all communists are not the same, nor animated by the same lofty aims.
But far more interesting was the article by Mansour al-Nogaidan, one of the rarest of people, a man who initially embraced the jihadist agenda before becoming disillusioned with the whole scene. His journey of discovery involved bombing a store to destroy the evil influence of the West and a stint in jail; unlike so many others he used his time in jail to think and emerged at peace with himself and the world. The crucial question is whether he is an exceptional man. Certainly the latter part of his journey sets him apart from the vast majority of minor terrorists who become even more extreme over their period of incarceration. Yet, I find myself feeling that he began his journey into the shadowy world of Islamic terror in a way common to thousands of other young men. Trapped in the moribund ways of millennia ago and confused when that world collided with the powerful opposing forces of the modern world, he attempted to bury the doubts that beset him by regressing into an even older, hopefully purer way of life.
In a very oblique way I can relate to his actions, since I attempted to bury my own doubts about my faith by attending mass daily, trying to convince myself that I did in fact believe in the tenets of Catholicism. Fortunately the Church of this era does not require me to kill people or quash other's rights as a rite of faith, nor give up all life's luxuries in favor of living in a mud hut, dressed in handspun robes. I could have tried for longer, I suppose but after essentially the worst, most boring three days of my life, I realized that I was never going to be a Christian and set of down the road to Epicureanism. But I understand the feelings of guilt that drive a young man who does not share the blind faith of his moderately religious family. Unfortunately, for young Muslims, the attempt to immerse oneself in the pure ways of their faith all too often leads them down a road to Salafism and extremism.
al-Nogaidan eventually found his way out of the morass and found a way to reconcile his faith with modern reality. Few who walk that path have as much fortitude. Or luck. Their journey usually ends at the business end of a missile or rotting away in some forgotten prison in places and conditions we would rather not know existed. Yet, the religious leaders who purport to understand Islam continue to push a ridiculous and anachronistic version of religion. And that got me wondering: do these extremists, especially the leaders, believe in their religion or are they actually terrified that they are trapped in an empty dream?
A line that I adopted as my own states: There is nothing so strong as gentleness and nothing so gentle as real strength. DeSales had it absolutely right - strong, confident people (or religions) do not need to demonstrate their strength. Islam emphasizes submission to the will of god (that is the literal translation of the Arabic word, in fact), yet today, that has changed from voluntary submission to violently enforcing obedience to the dictates of men, usually men with long beards, stuck a millennium in the past. These men claim that their god is all-powerful, ruler of the universe and a bunch of other testaments of power, yet this god is unable to punish blasphemers himself and must depend on human agents to salvage his honor. If in fact, this life is a short prelude to a far more important and eternal life, why do those fanatics need to kill people who oppose their vision of the divine? Why can't they let their God judge those people in his own time? They argue that women must be covered and hidden from sight so that no man may be tempted to sin? Besides the obvious (it is a sin only in their twisted world) why should women be the only ones subjected to these restrictions? Shouldn't the men follow the same rules and cover themselves and lock themselves away from all women, lest the inflame the passions of those women and tempt them? (Admittedly, it's hard to see their hirsute visages awakening passions, and maybe that is why they keep those untidy beards, but love is blind after all, and we should take no chances.) Furthermore, since they fear homosexuality even more than they fear the hetero version, shouldn't those men lock themselves in isolation from all other men? After all, they may be awakening passions within the breasts of other men!
But of course, they would much rather not face these questions, for even to allow their followers to think might forever loose the chains of blindness and ignorance in which they keep those poor fools bound. That is why they oppose any modern education and instead attempt to brainwash their youth in Islamic schools where learning the Koran by heart (often in a language alien to them) replaces the development of cognitive faculties. It is ironic that they are shunning the very sciences that flourished in Arabia when Europe was trapped in the Dark Ages of religious fundamentalism and it was Asia that preserved the knowledge of the world. Of course, that was an Islamic world that was not torn apart by self-doubt and defeat - it appears that as the political influence of the Islamic world waned in the face of rising European technology and power, the doubts arose regarding the very nature of their faith. Perhaps those doubts always existed, just as they existed in Christians or others. But when Islam was on the ascendant, it could afford those doubts, confident in its own power. It is noteworthy that the Ottoman Empire was not fanatical about converting every Christian who fell within their boundaries while they were expanding their empire, but after Europe reversed their conquering drive, they became a lot less tolerant and eventually increasingly fundamentalist. Trapped in a system that had no way to reform, the Islamic world has lost its way. Today they desperately need a Martin Luther; instead they have their Khomeinis and bin Ladens. And should a Luther appear, he would be stoned to death for apostasy. That is their tragedy, that is why they will continue to suffer; our tragedy is that we are too closely tied together to be unaffected.
But far more interesting was the article by Mansour al-Nogaidan, one of the rarest of people, a man who initially embraced the jihadist agenda before becoming disillusioned with the whole scene. His journey of discovery involved bombing a store to destroy the evil influence of the West and a stint in jail; unlike so many others he used his time in jail to think and emerged at peace with himself and the world. The crucial question is whether he is an exceptional man. Certainly the latter part of his journey sets him apart from the vast majority of minor terrorists who become even more extreme over their period of incarceration. Yet, I find myself feeling that he began his journey into the shadowy world of Islamic terror in a way common to thousands of other young men. Trapped in the moribund ways of millennia ago and confused when that world collided with the powerful opposing forces of the modern world, he attempted to bury the doubts that beset him by regressing into an even older, hopefully purer way of life.
In a very oblique way I can relate to his actions, since I attempted to bury my own doubts about my faith by attending mass daily, trying to convince myself that I did in fact believe in the tenets of Catholicism. Fortunately the Church of this era does not require me to kill people or quash other's rights as a rite of faith, nor give up all life's luxuries in favor of living in a mud hut, dressed in handspun robes. I could have tried for longer, I suppose but after essentially the worst, most boring three days of my life, I realized that I was never going to be a Christian and set of down the road to Epicureanism. But I understand the feelings of guilt that drive a young man who does not share the blind faith of his moderately religious family. Unfortunately, for young Muslims, the attempt to immerse oneself in the pure ways of their faith all too often leads them down a road to Salafism and extremism.
al-Nogaidan eventually found his way out of the morass and found a way to reconcile his faith with modern reality. Few who walk that path have as much fortitude. Or luck. Their journey usually ends at the business end of a missile or rotting away in some forgotten prison in places and conditions we would rather not know existed. Yet, the religious leaders who purport to understand Islam continue to push a ridiculous and anachronistic version of religion. And that got me wondering: do these extremists, especially the leaders, believe in their religion or are they actually terrified that they are trapped in an empty dream?
A line that I adopted as my own states: There is nothing so strong as gentleness and nothing so gentle as real strength. DeSales had it absolutely right - strong, confident people (or religions) do not need to demonstrate their strength. Islam emphasizes submission to the will of god (that is the literal translation of the Arabic word, in fact), yet today, that has changed from voluntary submission to violently enforcing obedience to the dictates of men, usually men with long beards, stuck a millennium in the past. These men claim that their god is all-powerful, ruler of the universe and a bunch of other testaments of power, yet this god is unable to punish blasphemers himself and must depend on human agents to salvage his honor. If in fact, this life is a short prelude to a far more important and eternal life, why do those fanatics need to kill people who oppose their vision of the divine? Why can't they let their God judge those people in his own time? They argue that women must be covered and hidden from sight so that no man may be tempted to sin? Besides the obvious (it is a sin only in their twisted world) why should women be the only ones subjected to these restrictions? Shouldn't the men follow the same rules and cover themselves and lock themselves away from all women, lest the inflame the passions of those women and tempt them? (Admittedly, it's hard to see their hirsute visages awakening passions, and maybe that is why they keep those untidy beards, but love is blind after all, and we should take no chances.) Furthermore, since they fear homosexuality even more than they fear the hetero version, shouldn't those men lock themselves in isolation from all other men? After all, they may be awakening passions within the breasts of other men!
But of course, they would much rather not face these questions, for even to allow their followers to think might forever loose the chains of blindness and ignorance in which they keep those poor fools bound. That is why they oppose any modern education and instead attempt to brainwash their youth in Islamic schools where learning the Koran by heart (often in a language alien to them) replaces the development of cognitive faculties. It is ironic that they are shunning the very sciences that flourished in Arabia when Europe was trapped in the Dark Ages of religious fundamentalism and it was Asia that preserved the knowledge of the world. Of course, that was an Islamic world that was not torn apart by self-doubt and defeat - it appears that as the political influence of the Islamic world waned in the face of rising European technology and power, the doubts arose regarding the very nature of their faith. Perhaps those doubts always existed, just as they existed in Christians or others. But when Islam was on the ascendant, it could afford those doubts, confident in its own power. It is noteworthy that the Ottoman Empire was not fanatical about converting every Christian who fell within their boundaries while they were expanding their empire, but after Europe reversed their conquering drive, they became a lot less tolerant and eventually increasingly fundamentalist. Trapped in a system that had no way to reform, the Islamic world has lost its way. Today they desperately need a Martin Luther; instead they have their Khomeinis and bin Ladens. And should a Luther appear, he would be stoned to death for apostasy. That is their tragedy, that is why they will continue to suffer; our tragedy is that we are too closely tied together to be unaffected.
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