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| ISBN-13: | 9781450285216 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | iUniverse, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 04/20/2011 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 264 KB |
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Christians and Muslims
From History to HealingBy Kenneth B. Cragg
iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Kenneth B. CraggAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-8519-3
Chapter One
The Peril of Radical Terror
In New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton wrote this about faith: "True faith is never merely a source of spiritual doubt. It may indeed bring peace, but before it does so, it must involve us in struggle. A 'faith' that avoids this struggle is really a temptation against true faith."
The struggle of faith is especially pointed in Islam today as Muslims examine how they will respond creatively to what many perceive to be the godless secularism and modernity in the Western world. The radical terrorist activity that has emerged in the past fifty years is a tragically destructive aspect of this reformation process.
The Arabic word jihad means to endeavor or struggle. Muslims manifest jihad in two ways: as an inner effort to achieve spiritual purity or as a political means of safeguarding the umma or community. Faithful Muslims struggle to maintain spiritual consistency and purity across the globe in the twenty-first century. Radical Muslims take advantage of this tension by emphasizing political action solely. To the world's peril, the terrorist activity that has emerged in the past fifty years distorts the true meaning of jihad.
Faithfulness is not limited to an inner commitment. It is keyed to outward action. Part of the struggle of all faithful people is to build bridges of understanding. An Arabic proverb says, in essence, "Those who would build bridges must be willing to be walked on." Though our perceptions are diverse, even contradictory, and our understanding is uncertain, may God grant each of us the courage to be personally involved. When we are faithful, the truth may win some surprising battles. We might very well join unexpected friends to win this struggle against our common enemies of radical terrorism and anarchy.
Some Specifics of Recent Terror Activity
I give credit to my father for humorous wisdom, obvious here in his reflection on the great flood: "The only reason Noah could stand the stench inside the Ark was because he was fully aware of the storm outside."
First we look at the storm: the terror that appears to threaten the social stability of our planet. Then we will explore the ark of faith that offers peace, justice, and social stability. Understandably, the public focus on recent terror turns to the horror of September 11, 2001, but unfortunately, the issues of terrorism and its tragic consequences are far greater than that pivotal tragedy. Reflection on this partial list of devastating terror attacks may help clarify the critical importance of our struggle.
Beyond these notable terrorist actions are thousands of documented instances of terror exacted against individuals, political structures, and social groups in the last forty years worldwide. Most of this terrorist activity has been carried out against moderate Muslims living within nations that oppose radical Islam. For example, during 2007 and 2008, terrorist infiltration became the dominant concern for Pakistan. Taliban insurgents moved in from the mountain border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and radicals pushing east from Iraq set up camps. The governments of these countries have often been incapable of making an adequate response. For these and other reasons, it is impossible to make a clear separation between moderate and radical Islam, by nation or by group.
These continuing events keep the tension constant and tempt us to irrationally project our hostility onto our own loyal Muslim citizens, a fault that we must help each other avoid. Rather, we must direct our energy to fully understand the background and motivation behind the terror menace and work together as an interfaith people to make our communities stronger.
Exploring this broad picture thoughtfully, we find four patterns of organized terror. It is of value to thoughtfully note their subtle differences.
1. The first pattern is found in fairly stable, moderate Muslim countries. Radical cells implement unrest and try to force the terrorist agenda into the mainstream government and culture. We see this happening, for example, in Indonesia and Pakistan.
2. The second pattern appears in countries already roiled by injustices. In these places, radical forces can more easily stir up emotion and criminal action against the local authorities. This is expressed in random attacks, such as those seen in Israel, intended to focus attention on the displacement of the Palestinians. The radical action is politically motivated to influence local policy as well as world opinion.
3. We see a slightly different pattern of localized terror within European nations, where terror cells are made up of radicalized immigrant youths who perceive themselves to be excluded from equal participation in their adopted homeland. Some of these youths have received training in local madrassas, private Muslim academies, located in Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, England, and, recently, the United States. Often these academies are funded by Middle Eastern oil money and presided over by instructors sent by the funding institution.
4. Finally, there is the grand, overarching disdain for the West and for what is referred to in various ways as its corruption, immorality, and hubris. Terrorist networks capitalize on this attitude, which is particularly expressed and promoted by al Qaeda. In a video delivered to Al Jazeera television network offices in Kabul, Afghanistan in early October 2001, Osama bin Laden boldly declared:
I have only a few words for America and its people: I swear by God Almighty who raised the heavens without effort that neither America nor anyone who lives there will enjoy safety until safety becomes a reality for us living in Palestine and before all the infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad.
This al Qaeda commitment has been played out in a broad series of attacks, the most notable, of course, being the trauma of 9/11.
Subtle Emotional and Social Threats
In addition to the physical danger involved in the ongoing terror threat, we need to face other equally significant psychological and social challenges and discover appropriate responses. Two social issues became especially challenging in 2010. One was the backlash to the TV comedy show South Park that appeared to mock the Prophet Muhammad. Members of the South Park production team were threatened, and one show in late April 2010 was reportedly censored in response to the threat.
The other far more inflammatory issue was the proposed building of a Muslim community center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. This debate, initially a local New York City concern, blossomed into a national spectacle not yet resolved as this book goes to print. Politicians and stress mongers of all stripes have stirred hatred toward Muslims by capitalizing on the sensitivities of some who lost loved ones in the 9/11 catastrophe at the World Trade Center. In so doing, they have played into the hands of radical terrorists, who are all too eager for proof that the United States is fundamentally anti-Muslim. Thus our concern is not only what our enemies can do to us physically, but also what they can do to us emotionally and morally as we face our own pain and insecurity.
As one commentator pointed out, in our nation we do not confuse Boston Roman Catholics with the Irish Republican Army bomb squad. Yet we confuse people wanting a Muslim community center in lower Manhattan with the radical Muslim terrorists of the Middle East. We must learn to make these distinctions, or we are in danger of losing the support of the millions of peace-loving Muslims who still champion our cause around the globe. Osama bin Laden did us grave damage, but if we betray our own people in misguided fear, he will have won a major international victory. It will take maturity and courage to hold high the torch of freedom to all law-abiding citizens in our midst while candidly acknowledging the radical terrorists who seek our national destruction. Or will we surrender to fear and confusion as we did in 1942, when we hustled thousands of our loyal Japanese citizens off to relocation camps in the arid wastes of Utah and Nevada?
We can no longer rest confident in our ignorance and see Islam either as one great dangerous monolith or as simply a peaceful religion embarrassed by radicals. Islam is a vast, convoluted collection of divergent groups with observable loyalties and discernable patterns. With careful study, we can gain fuller awareness and learn to embrace our friends and isolate our enemies.
The Danger of Cultural Adaptation
Another threat is naively responding to a Muslim social complaint by changing the law. In some circles, this approach to resolving Muslim social concerns is known as stealth jihad, the process of slowly invading a culture and gaining social consensus to implement Shari'ah law. This is a subtle yet effective strategy to transform a culture without a violent overthrow, one that Muslims, or any immigrant other group, can slowly accomplish from within.
Such a danger may seem innocuous on the surface. Here's a recent example. In May of 2006, cab drivers of Somali Muslim descent began to refuse fares at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport on religious grounds. They objected to participating in the commercial transport of alcohol.
Airport protocol calls for drivers who refuse a fare to return to the end of the cab line. But claiming religious stigma was involved, the Somali drivers appealed to the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) for authorization to refuse service to a potential customer on religious grounds without being sent to the back of the airport waiting line.
MAC contacted the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society (MAS) for help in mediating the dispute. Together, they considered whether to install color-coded lights atop the Somali non-alcohol cabs to officially distinguish them from other cabs. Then taxi starters at the airport would know where to direct passengers carrying wine or liquor.
In the midst of this dispute, Katherine Kersten, staff writer at the Minneapolis StarTribune, quoted a nationally recognized expert on Somali society at Macalester College, Ahmed Samatar: "There is a general Islamic prohibition against drinking, but carrying alcohol for people in commercial enterprise has never been forbidden. There is no basis in Somali cultural practice or legal tradition for that."
Then why did the Somali drivers raise the issue in the first place? The answer, as reported in the StarTribune, is that the Muslim American Society had issued a fatwa (religious edict). "The fatwa proclaims that 'Islamic jurisprudence' prohibits taxi drivers from carrying passengers with alcohol, 'because it involves cooperating in sin according to Islam.'"
At the very least, this situation reveals a conflict of interest for the Muslim American Society, which, by issuing a fatwa, appeared to be causing dissension, not seeking solutions. Furthermore, the MAS has roots in the Middle East, not Africa (where Somalia is located), giving credence to the idea that it was using the Somali drivers to advance its own cause, not one based on Somali cultural practice.
Even if the MAS interpretation of Shari'ah law had been accurate, theirs is the type of action that, over time, could instill aspects of Muslim Shari'ah law in American governing and regulatory bodies, thereby changing the social and legal structure of a community.
Additional confusion arises in the discussion of Shari'ah law when no distinction is made between its applications in general social policy, such as was initially intended in the cab driver dispute, versus its limited use in the regulation of Muslim religious obligations, such as the daily prayer ritual and giving to the poor. The faith-based application of Shari'ah is a protected religious right in American society, while the former could be seen as a potential invasion of American culture.
After much deliberation, The Metropolitan Airport Commissions in Minneapolis refused the drivers' petition and did not agree to install special lights on Muslim cabs. If the MAC had conducted a less-than-careful investigation, they could have been tricked into being the first public agency in the United States to impose a regulation based on Shari'ah law and enforced on US property. In compassionately responding to our Muslim countrymen, unless caution is observed, we could unintentionally give aid and support to the underlying goals of our enemy. It is of note that another American Muslim organization, Islamic Pluralism, appears to have served as a whistleblower in wisely guiding the decision in Minneapolis. It is important for us to know who our friends are.
The overall question remains: How do we achieve a balance of compassionate support for legitimate Muslim religious practice and social concerns while consistently maintaining our constitutional safeguards of freedom and justice?
In a Wall Street Journal article entitled "Making Muslim Integration Work," former British Prime Minister Tony Blair offered his perspective:
Most people instinctively understand the right approach to integration. We just have to articulate and enforce it. This approach is to distinguish clearly and carefully between the common space, shared by all citizens, and the space where we can be different. We have different faiths. We practice them differently. We have different histories, different cultures and different views.... But there has to be a shared acceptance that some things we believe in and we do together: obedience to certain values like democracy, rule of law, equality between men and women; respect for national institutions; and speaking the national language. This common space cannot be left to chance or individual decision. It has to be accepted as mandatory. Doing so establishes a clear barrier between those citizens of the host community who are concerned for understandable reasons and those who are bigoted.
How Do We Respond?
Muslim people, the second largest religious group in the world, are loyal to the original goals of the Prophet Muhammad, who promoted social stability, moral purity, spiritual devotion to God, and peace. They are people who seek to build their lives, love their families, and express their devotion to God without fear and in peace, just as most of us do.
Many people have no clue how to distinguish a highly respectable Muslim citizen from a dangerous individual supporting radical terrorist beliefs. The content of this book is directed at finding a solution to this problem. We must not continue to live in the state of ignorant naïveté that was this author's state before 9/11. The threat we face is very real, and only concerned, knowledgeable citizens are in a position to cooperatively safeguard our principles and our lives.
As we make this study, we need to be aware of the varied faces of Islam. We need a keen awareness of the critical danger that radical terrorism holds for our world while keeping in mind that vast numbers of God-fearing Muslims are themselves often the first targets of the radicals.
Despite all that has been documented on the continuing activity of the terrorist movement, some of us in the United States are living in denial. Since we have not felt the danger directly in recent years, we choose to ignore it. In contrast, others acknowledge the issue with emotional and verbal intensity. Many in this latter group sincerely believe that militant counter-terror is the only proper response. It is important that we recognize that neither of these extremes is valid or wise. This will become clear as we explore the broader issues and then consider a series of proactive approaches to counter radical terrorist activity with the spirit and power of our faith.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Christians and Muslims by Kenneth B. Cragg Copyright © 2011 by Kenneth B. Cragg. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword....................ixPreface....................xi
Acknowledgments....................xix
Introduction....................xxi
Section I—Two Faces of Islam....................1
Chapter 1 The Peril of Radical Terror....................3
Chapter 2 A Summary of the Islamic Faith....................12
Section II—Prophet Muhammad and His Vision....................31
Chapter 3 Anticipating the Prophet in an Age of Ignorance....................33
Chapter 4 From Childhood Grief to an Urgent Quest for Meaning....................42
Chapter 5 The Vision of Monotheism and Muhammad's Response....................49
Section III—The History of Islam....................65
Chapter 6 From the Cave to the Center of Power....................67
Chapter 7 The Military Challenge....................74
Chapter 8 The Return to Mecca and a New Unity....................88
Chapter 9 Islamic History after Muhammad....................103
Chapter 10 The Motivations Stirring the Terrorists....................127
Section IV—A Faith Response to the Challenge of Terrorism....................151
Chapter 11 Personal Spiritual Preparation....................154
Chapter 12 Radical Love in Community....................162
Afterword....................174
Timeline....................177
Notes....................188
Glossary....................195
Bibliography....................200
Additional Resources....................204
About the Author....................205
Index....................207