Terrorism is a general issue, not just about Islam
Khaled Abou El Fadl of the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), who is known as a strong critic of puritan Wahhabi Islam, visited Yogyakarta earlier this week to deliver a keynote speech during the four-day International Conference on Islam, Women and New World Order. The Jakarta Post's Sri Wahyuni talked to him about Islam-related issues. The following are excerpts from the interview.
Question: What do you have to say about the issue of terrorism in the world and the fact that it is often related to Islam?
Answer: It is important to remember that much of it does not get very much publicity compared to when it is committed by Muslims. Terrorism by Muslims gets particular publicity because, among others, causes high casualties. The targets that Muslim terrorists choose, too, are usually from countries like the U.S. that, of course, draw much attention. We do not hear much about terrorist attacks in Columbia, Peru or Mongolia because not much attention is paid to these countries. So, it's more a general issue. It's not an Islamic phenomena.
What do you think about the recent bombings, such as in Egypt?
They may be incited by the (U.S.) invasion of Iraq but we have to remember that this type of terrorism is really a modernistic phenomena. These particular groups of terrorists are very much influenced by a very puritanical interpretation of Islam. Ironically, they are also influenced by Western thinkers like Samuel Huntington, who talk about a fundamental clash between Western and Muslim civilization that has been going on for centuries.
Historically, this thesis is very doubtful and contains a lot of holes. It fits in with the puritanical view of the world that it can be divided into black and white, that Muslim countries will destabilize the Western economic and liberal system. It's childish to imagine that two or three strikes like the Sept. 11 bombings can destroy a country like the U.S.
They, American and British politicians, are actually feeding their egos. The reality is that the terrorist attackers are criminals. They shed a lot of blood needlessly. It's a criminal act both under international law and Islamic law.
How does Islam see terrorism?
In Islamic law there is what is called hiraba, a crime when individuals, whether they have a cause or not, attack others without notice and in a situation where others are not in a position to defend themselves. In Islamic law, this is considered a very serious crime and the punishment for this is execution or some sort of exile -- permanent exile.
The logic they rely on is sleazy words like, "This is different because we don't have the means to fight the West, so this is a darurah (emergency). If we had an army, then we could fight the West with that army. But, we don't so we fight this way."
It's just like they used to magically say during the first and second crusades that, "Yes, Jesus loves peace but before we can have peace we first have to rid the Muslims of their evil. We have to liberate them and cleanse them of their evil by killing them." Using this logic, the first and second crusades led to the killing of hundreds of thousands of Muslim civilians.
Any religion can be twisted to achieve something. And it's not just religion. Any ideology can be twisted to achieve the same thing. So, there is twisted communism, Hitler's twisted Catholicism, twisted socialism and nationalism. There is no end to what human beings can invent to commit evil.
Do you mean that claiming that terrorist acts are a form of holy war is also a form of twisting Islamic teachings?
There is no idea of holy war in Islam. War is never holy. War is a necessary evil. The idea of holy war comes from Christianity and not from Islam. But, can we say this as jihad? The logic here is a very suspicious as jihad entails that not only do we have to have a cause, but it also has to be based on certain laws.
The laws that the Prophet taught are that you may not cause unnecessary destruction. You may not kill anyone needlessly. You may not kill a non-combatant. You may not kill a child or an elderly person. These rules are very well known. And, on top of that, it cannot be committed through treachery. I cannot trick you. It must be declared that I am at war against you and that you have an opportunity to defend yourself.
What concept of jihad should be fostered?
Part of it is that we have to educate Muslims on the teachings of Prophet Muhammad about jihad and its notion of very high ethical tolerance. The problem is, particularly starting in the 70s, a very puritanical version of Islam that is fundamentally degrading and does not respect others as human beings has been promoted. The glorification of death comes again from certain theological beliefs that are right now being spearheaded by Wahabi Islam.
That is the heart of the problem because it takes a certain social situation to produce a terrorist. Terrorists are not just born overnight. There are social circumstances that make these people take the easy way out. Instead of living for Islam, they want to die for Islam. The teachings of Mohammad bin Abdul Wahab, therefore, have to be confronted as a serious problem. Otherwise, they problem of Muslims acting in an inhuman way will continue.