Elianna has raised a question which is not only on our minds, but in the
minds of my students, indeed in the minds of all Americans and those
possessing any kind of humanity the world over--what kind of people would
do
this kind of thing? As you are all aware the primary suspect currently is
Osama Bin Laden, and even if he is not directly responsible for this
horrendous act, it seems apparent that it was committed by those closely
related to him and his theology. I think I should take sometime therefore,
and explain precisely what that theology is and where it comes from.
Among the Sunnis, the more militant forms of Islam are mostly inspired by
the writings of two men, Mawdudi and Sayyid Qutb who are responsible for
turning the religion of Islam into the political ideology which I would
call
Islamism.
Mawdudi was originally an Indian journalist before partition who had
adopted
a fairly rigid form of Islam. He had initially opposed the formation of
the
state of Pakistan since he knew its founders intended to make it an
entirely
secular state, despite the fact it was to be founded on the basis of an
Islamic identity. However, when partition occurred he did immigrate to
Pakistan and then devoted his energies to turning it into a truly Islamic
republic according to his definition.
I first read a book by Mawdudi years ago entitled *The Finality of
Prophethood.* It was designed to be a refutation of Ahmadi and Bahá'í
claims
to having prophets after Muhammad. But beyond that this book was basically
a
Muslim version of *The Late Great Planet Earth.* The most chilling part of
it was his description of what would happen when the 'true' Mahdi appeared
along with Jesus Christ. They would lead Muslims in an apocalyptic battle
against Jews and Christians at, you guessed it, the Plain of Armageddon.
The second important thinker, and the one who probably had an even greater
impact on Osama Bin Laden would be the Sayyid Qutb. Sayyid Qutb was an
Egyptian who early in his career might have been described as a Muslim
modernists, one who believed that Islam and Western secular ideals could
be
reconciled. He discarded that idea after coming to study in this country
between 1948-50. He was treated in America like any other black man and
that
treatment completely soured him on the West. He came back to Egypt and
embraced a much more rigid and militaristic form of Islam.
The form of Islam promoted by men like Mawdudi and Sayyid Qutb, and
embraced
by the Taliban and the current government in the Sudan differs from other
forms of Sunni Islam in the following ways:
1) They believe the gate of ijtihad (interpretation) remains open unlike
most Sunnis who believe it was closed in the 9th century.
2) The believe in something called *takfir wa hijr.* This means they hold
it
impermissible for a Muslim to live in a country not governed by Islamic
law
without seeking to overthrow and make it Islamic. Otherwise they should
immigrate to a place which is truly Muslim.
3) They hold that any nominally Muslim government which does not abide by
the shariah (Islamic law) is therefore really apostate. Such a government
should be overthrown and its leaders killed. For this reason, hitherto,
most
of the violence of Islamist groups was aimed at other Muslims.
This position, I might add, is basically the same one held by the
Kharijites
in early Islam. The Kharijites were the faction responsible for
assassinating the Imam Ali and have been considered dangerous heretics by
both Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims alike.
4) They insist in regarding Christians and Jews as infidels rather than
people of the book, and therefore are willing to withdraw their protection
and even persecute them. This is the reason why there has been so much
violence against Christians in both the Sudan and in Egypt.
I hope this information will help you in that worthy goal, Bill mentioned
of
defending the true tenets of Islam and combating the prejudice against
Muslims in our country and elsewhere.