Fostering a democratic Islam

Karen Armstrong, Author, 'The Battle for God', The Washington Post

A year ago, we watched the symbols of American military and economic might crumble under the impact of Muslim rage. Islamic fundamentalism, which had hitherto been of only academic interest to most Americans, immediately became a burning issue. Now, on the anniversary, while we mourn the victims, we must also look to the future. How can the United States deal most effectively with the fundamentalist threat from the Muslim world?

Fundamentalism has erupted in every major world religion; a countercultural movement, it shows that a significant number of people want to be more religious. Most fundamentalists do not take part in acts of terror but simply want to see their faith reflected more clearly in public life.

Nevertheless, it is crucial that the U.S., as the sole superpower, work to create the conditions that will enable this religious resurgence to remain healthy, and recognize that an ill-considered political policy is likely to trigger a rogue religious response in the Islamic world.

The bedrock message of the Koran is that Muslims must build a just and decent society, in which poor and vulnerable people are treated with respect. Hence politics has always had near- sacramental importance in Islam. If Muslims see their community humiliated by a foreign power or corrupted by a tyrannical regime, they can feel as religiously distressed as a Christian who sees the Bible traduced.

In a despotic, corrupt and violent society, religion is more likely to become cruel, corrupt and violent, too. A Muslim regime that bears no resemblance to the Koranic ideal, but which is supported by the U.S., runs the risk of provoking a fundamentalist riposte that may also affect Americans, so it is crucial that the U.S. endorse only those regimes that are democratic, egalitarian and pluralistic. Bitter experience shows that it was a terrible mistake to support the shahs of Iran, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden to achieve short-term goals.

But we should also note that none of the Sept. 11 hijackers came from the "axis of evil" but from countries allied with the U.S. Fifteen of them came from Saudi Arabia, where human rights abuses and a narrow, exclusivist interpretation of Islam have created fertile soil for extremism. Should we not put more pressure on our allies to promote democratic rule, to revise textbooks that teach children to hate, and to restrain clerics who, against the clear and unequivocal teachings of the Koran, preach hatred of Jews and Christians?

Yet it is also essential that the U.S. dissociate itself from its own Christian fundamentalists, who in recent months have described Islam as "wicked" and "evil," creating a climate of hatred that we simply cannot afford. If, in the event of another attack, a backlash against Arab Americans were to occur, extremism would run rife in the Islamic world.

Further, American Muslims could provide a much-needed bridge between East and West, and many are eager to fulfill this role. They regard the freedom they enjoy in the U.S. as an ideal environment for true religion.

Americans should support Muslim initiatives to build a spiritually and intellectually vibrant American Islam, which could counter extremism at home and abroad. There is a precedent for this. American Catholics, once a feared and despised minority, not only have won acceptance, but also were able to convince the Vatican of the need for reform.

Every fundamentalist movement that I have studied in Judaism, Christianity and Islam is rooted in a deep fear of annihilation. Consequently, as history shows, violent attempts to suppress such movements are counterproductive, because they confirm fundamentalists in their conviction that they are about to be wiped out.

Muslim extremists are opposed not to American freedom but to the foreign policy of the U.S., which, rightly or wrongly, they have experienced as invasive and aggressive. They cite American support for despotic rulers, and Americans' apparent indifference to the plight of Muslims in Palestine or in Iraq, where thousands of children have died as a result of U.S.-led sanctions. A military attack on Iraq, with yet more civilian deaths, might unseat Saddam. But it would also exacerbate the fear and rage that fuel terrorism.

Somehow we have to stop the escalating cycle of violence, but the U.S. cannot achieve this alone. Sept. 11, 2001, showed that we cannot separate ourselves from the rest of the planet. If we ignore the rest of the world, it will come to us, in terrifying ways. Now is the time to consult other nations, especially our Muslim neighbors, to find a solution to a peril that threatens to engulf us all.