Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying

Last Thursday the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci died after a long battle with breast cancer. After a long and successful career, her writings turned toward harsh criticism of Islam after the September 11, 2001 attacks. She has famously stated that Muslims "multiply like rats" and "the children of Allah spend their time with their bottoms in the air, praying five times a day.” Although she was critical of the Catholic Church for being weak in confronting the Muslim world, she had a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI after which she praised him for his stronger stance against Islam:

“I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true,” Fallaci told The Wall Street Journal in a recent interview.

That was before Pope Benedict XVI waded into the intersection of religion and politics last week with his speech at the University of Regensburg.

In his speech the Pope quoted the Byzantine emperor Manual II Paleologus’s critique of Islam and its prophet Mohammed:

The emperor must have known that surah 2, 256 reads: "There is no compulsion in religion". According to the experts, this is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under threat. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Qur’an, concerning holy war. Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the "Book" and the "infidels", he addresses his interlocutor with a startling brusqueness on the central question about the relationship between religion and violence in general, saying: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. [Emphasis added by me.]

The Pope went on to say:

The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God’s nature. The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality. Here Khoury quotes a work of the noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez, who points out that Ibn Hazn went so far as to state that God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it God’s will, we would even have to practise idolatry.

In response to the uproar that was caused by the Pope’s speech, the Vatican initially suggested that the Pope’s speech had been misunderstood and that the Holy Father was criticizing violent jihad and extremism and not Islam itself. Today the Pope released a statement saying that he was "deeply sorry" for the reaction to his speech. His statement fell short of the apology demanded by Muslim leaders and in classic macaca-esque style he apologized for how his speech was perceived rather than the content of his speech:

At this time, I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims.

These in fact were a quotation from a Medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought.

Yesterday, the Cardinal Secretary of State published a statement in this regard in which he explained the true meaning of my words. I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect.

However, I suspect most Muslims would be very reluctant to engage in dialogue after the Pope chose to say, though through indirection, that Islam’s prophet only brought things "evil and inhuman" into this world. The Pope’s choice of words and his use of the quotation was not a critique only of violent jihad, but a criticism of Islam itself.

The impact of the Pope’s words will be felt much more broadly in the Muslim world than the manufactured furor over the Danish cartoons. Certainly the extremists in the Muslim world will take this opportunity to practice violence (in that they need very little excuse), but more importantly these words will have impact on the moderate and majority Muslim population. After the papacy of Pope John Paul II, during which he made great strides in bridging the gaps between the world’s peoples, the Church under Pope Benedict XVI had already begun to pull back from such reconciliation. Pope John Paul II, who was the first Pope to set foot within a mosque, was revered and respected in the Muslim world as a man of God. Pope Benedict XVI was already viewed with suspicion in the Muslim world, even before Tuesday’s speech, after he removed Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald from his post that promoted dialogue with other religions:

One of the first signs of a toughening of the Vatican’s stance came with the removal from office of Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald.

The British-born cleric ran a Vatican department that promoted dialogue with other religions. A distinguished scholar on Arab affairs, he was an acknowledged expert on the Islamic world.

The decision by Benedict XVI to remove him from his post, and send him to Egypt as papal nuncio, was widely seen as a demotion.

Some wondered about the wisdom of the move.

The Pope’s speech last Tuesday only served to confirm for Muslims concerns about the direction of his papacy. 

If the Pope had left out the reference to Mohammed and Islam at the beginning of his speech, his later call for dialogue and his position against violent spread of religion would have been warmly welcomed by the majority of Muslims. However, he chose for his own reasons to include criticism of Islam and its prophet.

Over the last century Islam has already been under attack from within by Islamism. Islamism is a political ideology that seeks to transform Islam into a political system from a religion. In that Islam the religion is quite distinct from Islamism. The rise of extremism in the Islamic world in the 20th century is intertwined with the rise of Islamism and in many instances the two are indistinguishable. On September 11, 2001, extremism (and Islamism) broadened its attack on Islam and brought it to America’s shores. After 9/11, there was a natural ally waiting to join forces with the United States in combating extremism and Islamism - that ally was the majority of the Muslim world. However, as we all now painfully know, the last five years have brought division where there could have been alliance.

Into this cauldron of division the Pope has now thrown in his hat. Already the extremists in the Muslim world are using his words to justify further violence and further destabilization of the Muslim world. In the West and in the United States, the far right is already using the Pope’s speech as approval, if not religious sanction, of a violent approach to confronting Islam. Neo-conservatives have been using "Islamo-fascist" as a synonym for "Islam" for quite some time - now they will find new life and a wider audience.

The Vatican is trying mightily to lower the temperature of this crisis. The Muslim leaders should also try to do the same. In this atmosphere of uncertainty, demands from prominent Muslim leaders that the Pope apologize are counterproductive and add fuel to an already volatile situation. I hope these leaders will come to their senses and join the Vatican in calming the waters. The Pope has expressed himself in his speech and the message has been heard. The Vatican, since then, has stated that the official position of the Church regarding Islam has not changed in spite of the Pope’s speech. Muslim leaders need to take the Vatican at its word. The alternative is to let the Islamists and neo-conservatives fight to the death at our expense.

 [Cross posted at Taylor Marsh]

"I base a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true. One, I believe there’s an Almighty. And, secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody’s soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free." - George W. Bush, April 24, 2006

But wait, there is more:

Bush said he did not remember asking the question of his father, former president George H.W. Bush, who fought Iraq in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. But, he added that the two had discussed developments in Iraq.

"You know he is the wrong father to appeal to in terms of strength. There is a higher father that I appeal to," Bush said.

Then there are those who prefer a secular country:

"Whatever one’s religion in his private life may be, for the officeholder, nothing takes precedence over his oath to uphold the Constitution and all its parts – including the First Amendment and the strict separation of church and state." - John F. Kennedy, March 3, 1959

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state." - Thomas Jefferson, January 1, 1802

Then there is of course the Constitution of the United States:

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." - Article VI of the Constitution of the United States

And the Establishment Clause:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." - Amendment I of The Bill of Rights

So why not execute the foreign policy of the United States based on one’s own religious beliefs? What’s the worst that could happen? I mean, Really!

Today I feel shame. I feel shame that in the name of my religion innocent men, women, children, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters were slaughtered. I feel shame that the last words from these barbarians was "Allah is great" as they extinguished innocent human life.

The first word in the Koran is "Read". I say to everyone who reads this post and especially to any Muslim who reads this post: Read

I was taken aback by the overwhelming response to my post on Islam here and my cross post on Daily Kos. Most of the comments have been very constructive and have moved the discussion forward.

I hope I have been able to express my views on my religion and what I believe is the true message of Islam. However, the subject of Islam and how it fits into the modern world is an extremely complex question. I am stretching the limits of my knowledge in trying to respond to some of the questions. I think I would do the very worthy discussion disservice if I didn’t at this point suggest some further reading for those who are interested in learning more about the religion of Islam.

I recommend to everyone the excellent new book by Reza Aslan entitled "No god but God". It is a very accessible and readable book on Islam. I am providing a link on the right to the Amazon.com website here for any who want to purchase the book.

You can find other books I recommend in the Reading Room. The list is growing and is not yet complete.

[NOTE: I am a member of the Amazon Associates Program. That means that if you choose to follow this link and eventually purchase this book during the same session, I will receive a referral fee from Amazon.com. I point this out in the interest of full disclosure.]

Every Muslim in the world recognizes the title of this post. Those words begin every chapter (surah) but one of The Koran.  The Arabic words Rahman (most gracious) and Rahim (most merciful) are considered to be two of the ninety-nine attributes of Allah. Grace and Mercy are the foundation of the religion of Islam. The word Koran itself is generally translated to mean, "Read". This is the first word in The Koran - "Read". Ignorance is not consistent with being a Muslim.

We live in a world where much killing is committed in the name of religion. And, much killing today is being committed in the name of Islam, in the name of Allah. I recognize that the reader may now want to point out that much killing has been and is being committed in the name of other religions also. Why do I single Islam out today? The simple answer is that I am a Muslim. I am not ready to cast stones at others without taking down the glass in my own house.

The New York Times gives us today a glimpse into hell. The Times article gives us chilling commentary on evil manifested. I argued in an earlier post about the danger in Iraq from the Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigade; but the Times article brings into the mainstream the atrocities these groups are committing in Iraq. They are not committing your run of the mill killings; they are using creative tools of the torture trade like electric drills. What kind of animal do you have to be to drill a man’s head for brutal pleasure?

They are committing these atrocities, the systematic killing of Sunni Muslims, with ruthless efficiency and in the name of Islam. I say to them: Read. I say to them that I have seen your faces before. You have killed in other places and at other times in the name of some cause or other. I have watched you kill mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and I have seen you kill children. I have watched you from a child’s hiding place as you nearly beat a man to death in search of my own father. I have seen your coward’s eyes behind the hot muzzle of your weapon. I have seen the blood on your hands.

Madness has been unleashed in Iraq and we have all been its enablers. I grieve for the ordinary citizen of Iraq. I say to you that this too shall pass. Reason lies at the end of this meat grinder. But I fear a lot of killing is left to be done before reason returns.

A reader posted a link to RAWA in the comments and I thought it deserved more prominence. In Islam, Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) teaching says that "Heaven lies at the foot of your mother". Visit the RAWA website to see how far astray some men of Afghanistan have gone from their religion’s teachings.

The CNN website is now featuring the Afghan persecution story as its lead story. Let’s hope that it stays there until tomorrow morning so that a wider audience can see it. You can read my posts on the topic here and here.

In an earlier post, I discussed the plight of the man in Afghanistan facing death for converting to Christianity. Today, we have heard the official U.S. Government response to this absurdity. Our response came at a press conference held by Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns and Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. The liberators of Afghanistan from the Taliben, the promulgator of Freedom and Liberty, the up rooter of tyranny everywhere, had this to say, as reported by the BBC:

Speaking alongside Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah at a press conference in Washington, US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns urged Afghanistan to respect Mr Rahman’s religious rights.

However, he did not ask for his immediate release and said he respected Afghan sovereignty.

"Our government is a great supporter of freedom of religion," Mr Burns said.

"As the Afghan constitution affords freedom of religion to all Afghan citizens, we hope very much that those rights, the right of freedom of religion, will be upheld in an Afghan court."

I am astonished that we are letting a little thing like "sovereignty" get in the way of expressing our outrage. If this is the kind of freedom we propose to bring to the world, I think we really need to get out of the invasion business. Freedom means freedom for the people of Afghanistan, not freedom for the Afghan government to persecute its citizens. Surely, we have more leverage than this with the Afghan government. I thought this kind of thinking in Afghanistan was what led them to provide safe harbor to Al Qaeda.

Then, there is the little matter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the declaration that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 to guarantee basic rights to all human beings. This declaration was adopted in clear response to the horrors of the Holocaust. Article 18 of the Declaration states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. [Emphasis added by me]

The United States, at a bare minimum, should insist upon the adherence to the UDHR in Afghanistan. Anything less should be unacceptable to us and we should say so.

As a Muslim American, I feel particular shame that this kind of ignorant justice is being pursued in Afghanistan in the name of Islam. All Muslims around the world should be at the forefront in rejecting this nonsense. Muslim Americans in particular, and all Americans in general, should lobby the U.S. Government to ensure this atrocity is not allowed to happen.

AMERICAblog has a post on the Afghan man facing death for converting to Christianity. The original story appears on the ABC News website here.

Apparently, the only hope the man has of escaping the death penalty is if he is found to be insane. Apparently in Afghanistan, it is better to be insane than to be a Christian. Chalk this up to another manifestation of our failed worldwide democracy drive. I think our money would be far better spent on eradicating illiteracy than on blowing up Iraqis. We have declared victory and walked away from Afghanistan. We have handed over the keys to NATO and turned a blind eye to the resurgence of the narcotics trade in Afghanistan. Bringing a war-torn, impoverished and illiterate society into the community of nations is not as simple as ordering up the next batch of smart bombs. Once the military finishes its job, the truly difficult job of reconstruction begins. This Administration is clearly not up to that task.

My message to the Administration today is a very simple one. If you want to defeat terrorism, you must fight ignorance as hard as you employ the military option. Without it, this war cannot be won.

Before the all too easy Islam bashing gets going in earnest once this story starts flashing over the airwaves, let me do my part to combat the ignorance about Islam by separating "Ignorance" from "Islam". Only an ignorant law would suggest that a man ought to be killed for being a Christian. Here are some interesting tid bits about Islam that might dispel some common misconceptions:

• In Islam, it is fundamental that there is no compulsion in religion.
  • Verse 2.256 from the Koran: "There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever disbelieves in the Shaitan and believes in Allah he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle, which shall not break off, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing. "
  • Verses 4.79 and 4.80: "Whatever benefit comes to you (O man!), it is from Allah, and whatever misfortune befalls you, it is from yourself, and We have sent you (O Prophet!), to mankind as an apostle; and Allah is sufficient as a witness. Whoever obeys the Apostle, he indeed obeys Allah, and whoever turns back, so We have not sent you as a keeper over them."
  • Verses 17.54 and 17.55: And tell my servants that they should speak in a most kindly manner (unto those who do not share their beliefs). Verily, Satan is always ready to stir up discord between men; for verily; Satan is mans foe. Hence, We have not sent you (Unto men O Prophet) with power to determine their Faith."
• Christian, Jews and other monotheistic religions are referred to as the "People of the Book" in the Koran. They are not "infidels" as is commonly mentioned.
  • Verse 2.62 from the Koran: "Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. "

If countries like Afghanistan truly intend to live within the modern world, they must acknowledge that this is the 21st century and not the 7th century. For that to happen, there has to be literacy and poverty alleviation (two sides of the same coin). Until they do that, no amount of democracy at the point of a gun will change a thing. And very soon, they will slide back into banning the flying of kites and resume beheading people in soccer stadiums.