I received the following comment on my entry Bombings in Amman: The aftermath of the tragedy and I felt obliged to reply to it, in my constant quest for knowledge.
“Islamic fundamentalsim is a problem inherent in Islam. We can’t simply say that Islam is a violent blood thristy religion but what we can say is that there Islam is crisis. Fundamentalism is not the pretence of one or two people. It is a huge movement, a school of thought that is gaining momentum fast within the Arab and Islamic world.
Even in Jordan, prior to today 60% of Jordanians were happy about Al-Qaeda. and a further 10& did not feel that attacks attributed to Al-Qaeda were morally wrong (I read this article on the BBC a while ago but i dont havethe link you can look it up).
I mean our society has definitely shifted towards religiosity since the 60s and the 70s. As an avowed atheist I see this as a problem inherent on all religions. that is the danger of religion to motivate people towards unthinkable acts in the name of faith. Personally I find the fact people
still buy into the mass delusion that is religion today to mind boggling. But I’m not going to attack religious people here.What I want to say is that Islam needs a reformation similar to the Christian reformationWhat we need are better Islamic scholars. Where are the Ibn KHaldun’s, Al ghazali’s, and Averroes of the modern day?The sad truth is if you go down to the University of Jordan and look up admission records for the Islamic studies department you will find that the religion department (which churns out future Imams and islamic scholars) accepts the lowest of the low of the applicant pool. And this is true of Universities all across arab world (with exceptions such as Al-Azhar in Cairo but that has also let its standards slip).
Our Imams are the dumbest people in our society according to their high school leaving (tawjihi)tests. We are leaving our spiritual well being to a group of semi retarded idiots. I wouldn’t trust
someone who got a 55% on the tawjihi with deciphering my TV remote let alone my spiritual well ebing. Personally I didn’t do Tawjihi I did the International Baccalaureate instead so I don’t know what the Tawjihi is but if the best and brightest with 90% are going into Engineering that I’m assuming that a lare number of people do well and 55% is not a respectable grade.So I say reform Islam or obliterate Religion, purge it from our midst (I personally would prefer the latter but thats just me.On a personal note watching what’s happening on CNN from the comfort of my apartment in college is absolutely surreal.”
-Khaled Talhouni
Dear Sir,
I thank you for an informative, although controversial, piece. Anonymous to me as you are, you comment has reached me and has been read by a good number of members of my readership, notwithstanding the fact that you entertain a line of (dis)belief different from mine and that of others, and that I have never met or talked to you face-à-face.
Trust that I do not wish to preach you into Islam, indeed I do not have that goal set before me and I personally, and quite bluntly, could not care less if a person commenting on my entries worshipped his or her pinkie. This here is an open forum and variations in religion and thought are always welcome to help broaden my, and my readers, horizons.
You started your comment stating: Islamic fundamentalsim is a problem inherent in Islam. I could agree on that, only I have one problem blocking the way of that consent. I am ignorant to what you mean by Islamic Fundamentalism, and I confess my ignorance. Kindly post a comment clarifying what that term means, where and when it originated, by whom it was coined and after what incidents or in answer to what reasons. I cannot possibly accept less than a crystal clear, and documented, answer, since there seem to be in circulation a number of ambiguous terms.
To put a nasty hat on, I must also ask you to explain what you meant when you, so strongly and without doubt, mentioned that this same so-called Islamic Fundamentalism is inherent in Islam. Kindly provide examples of incidents where this phenomenon, if I may call it so, was rife and make them documented.
Moving on to you next point about the percentage of Jordanians who were for the killing of innocent people, I do not see how you found it passable to connect that to religiosity when you said: our society has definitely shifted towards religiosity since the 60s and the 70s.
If I am to assume that you meant to establish some tie between the religiosity that you say has increased since the 60s and 70s, and for that bit of intelligence I have no official record, indeed, who could measure peoples degrees of faith?, and the support of massacres worldwide, well sir I could easily prove you wrong. I am not assuming that, however, but I will be so open as to ask you to elaborate, and furnish a well-structured rationalization.
Sir, do not mistake this for a trial. I am eager to learn from you and I think this projected exchange of thought to be of great use. You have proceeded in your comment to inform me, and anyone who read the comment, that you are an avowed atheist and you see the danger of religion to motivate people towards unthinkable acts in the name of faith. You were not about to attack religious people, by your own admission, and I am not about to attack you or any other.
But what I find most amusing is that atheism seems to clutch to certain concepts in its self-defense. Have no doubt that I possess, probably, a more skeptic stand and a critical mind when it comes to the existence of a certain deity. I do not wish to tell you of my path of mind and spirit so far, although I do hope that you feel that you, and other atheists, are not alone in posing certain questions.
The line of reasoning that you follow is questionable when you deduce that religion drives people to do evil. People are capable of evil with or without religion, sir. Should we have the capacity to carry out , well, lets call it a social experiment, and we erected a small village of people with no religion and put them in the midst of natural circumstances occurring in possibility in any other society, in my estimation their capability of doing wrong would equal that of other people, if it does not exceed it.
From where I stand, Islam needs to be understood. I wonder what reformation you were referring to when you sustained that Islam needs a reformation similar to the Christian reformation.
I share your wondering when it comes to brilliant historical personages, but I am not as pessimistic as I have received you to be. There is a good number of sensible and highly respected Islamic scholars in our day. From where I see it, they do not get enough exposure. That is a problem that should be dealt with because moderation needs to be stressed and divulged.
I would not necessarily link the high school averages of those who apply to major in Islamic studies and what not, with their level of intelligence. I would certainly not infer that such individuals, or Imams as you like to say, are the dumbest people in our society and are semi retarded idiots. Such descriptions come too extreme and I would advise against using them. I do not approve of a big chunk of what many so-called religious representatives say, and I do not know how they have been taught to say what they say, but I would not use such adjectives if indeed I were to verbalize this disapproval.
If one does not trust the intelligence of Imams, one can always learn for ones self. Islam encourages learning and urges people to entertain critical minds and to question what they stand for. Despite what some people market, Islam is a highly personal faith. It is you and your lord, settling out your record is your own business and not the business of any other. That is not to say that the collectivity of Muslims play no role in society, which is an issue present in most, if not all, societies.
I respect you opinions and I hope you continue to share them with my readership and me. It is a rare occasion when one finds pleasure in learning of intriguing remarks. I also extend an invitation to all willing to take part in this conversation, all viewpoints matter.
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Good response.
It would take a seven year old to say what happened in Amman is not consistent with Islam .How long it would take us adults to turn and see, and admit what is called fundamentalist Islam is real and is wining thought the abuse of Fatwa of edicts or presidents that took place hundreds of years ago like Iben Taymia, and there and then it was under doubt,
To days claimed Ijhadi Islamic groups, are not only wining in causing havoc ,but mange with great success to manipulate the minds of many suicide bombers to accept a Fatwa that can guarantee them Paradise !!!! the sad fact ,what we are seeing in Iraq ,and what happened in Amman , young human beings willing with unchallenged determination to kill civilians and kill them selves ,for what ? And they are not one or two, they are by the hundreds with an endless source. This phenomena should be the focus of our attention and wonder and study why, such miss guided young Muslims accept to do that? Wither we like it or not those suicidal Jehadis are Muslims good or bad yes they are bad but what makes them take this short cut for Pradise as they are made to belive .
Are we missing something? Yes we are and being ignorant, to fight this terrorism with logistics like a warfare,instead of admitting that Islam is being hijacked by these fundamentalists through Fatwas by many self styled people of faith ,feel qualified to issue fatwas.and we are seeing it as a trend . even Muslims are becoming confused ,to believe or disbelieve in such unwanted Fatwas .specially those imported from a different environment ,or brought in back from the past of hundreds of years ago ,simply brought in for todays practice and application ,calling for Jihad and what relates to this subject even against innocent Muslims .
Note Islam like other respected religions, is becoming a commercialized commodity used by people like you and I but with a worldly motives that many innocents fall for. The overwhelming majority of fatwas are on mundane matters, those Jihad Fatwas declaring war or pronouncing death sentences are not at all representative of the Fatwa spirit of the Islamic system, despite the fact how wrong they are, they have caught the attention of the western media and become widely renowned. While we are individually busy defending our Islam and spend lengthy time in in useless discussions , we are forgetting that other Muslims are hurting Islam .
Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, jointly with al-Zawahiri, proclaimed a fatwa in 1998 in the name of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, declaring, “The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies civilians and military is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy mosque Mecca from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance with the words of Almighty God, and fights the pagans all together as they fight you all together, and fight them until there is no more violence or oppression and there prevail justice and faith in God.’”
Now in the same context, but under different political needs, another Fatwa was passed in contradiction of the first to serve different circumstances.
Spanish Muslims proclaimed a fatwa against Bin Laden in March of 2005 . They said that he had abandoned his religion and they urged other Muslims to make similar proclamations. They were followed in July of 2005 by the Fiqh Council of North America, a ruling council that issued a fatwa against providing support to terrorist groups.
Fatwa in Islam was supposed to have been and still is the optimum base for edict to rule and and explain the viable Kuranic realms, but to day we see Fatwas are being hijacked to serve one propose, ANARCHY .Yet for me to see any of the many sons or daughters of any Jehadi Muftis , to take up jihad and die.
But newo Islam is by passing Gods judgments, over issues mentioned in the Koran , and twist them to serve their purpose .I feel it hard to understand, such pure sublimation of understanding of the Koran, as a book showing Muslims how to lead a life of Peace ,and someones put this magnificent book of peace for killing and destroying.
The fight against terror is not, by taking a stand or a condemnation, the fight is our fight against terror starts by diagnosing the terror, to days terror is a malignant doctrine El_Takfeer tacking and twisting the Islamic teachings by a scheming mullahs or self styled scholars, they abuse the power of Fatwa edict, to miss guide and control the minds of the youth, to celebrate and accept suicide as a Jehadee act rewarded by paradise.
I diagnose to days terror, as per this equation, A) doctrine: through reactionary (Schools of Islamic thought) old trends of thought .
B) manipulators: users self style mullahs, scholars, usually underground .
C) the misguided youth, disillusioned, underprivileged.
The needed logistics to combat and discredit such terror, is by a mass counteraction on the same level THROUGH THE MIND, and by in lighting all those who are under the spill of the degraded newo Islamic teachings.
By recruiting all recourses of academia, reliable religious centers and mass media. And communicate to those who are misguided or about to be a target.
But to set and argue for days at length it is not Islam why we should be so vulnerable, it is not the how we perform abolition as much on how we are a model Muslim in daily acts.
There is much to say regarding this last post. I would not like to re-iterate Tololy’s points since she has done such an elegant and impressive job of responding to Mr. Talhouni’s remarks.
What I would like to do, is point out a few of my observations.
Firstly, I would like to state that I too have no intentions of condemnation of anyone’s beliefs or lack thereof. As Tololy said, I am of the belief that it is not my job to determine what faith or religion one should subscribe to in order to be in the right. I do not make any claims to the idea that my own beliefs or faith are more right than anyone else’s. They are just more right for me.
I find it interesting that Mr. Talhouni, as a self-proclaimed atheist, would ask for one of two extremes,
- Reform Islam
- Obliterate religion and purge it from our midst
without properly identifying an alternative.
What would the reformed Islam you see in your mind look like? How would it change from what it is today?
Are you asking for a reformation of Islam’s fundamental belief system to more closely resemble another belief system that you prefer, or are you asking for the way Islam is interpreted by each different member of that faith to change?
If it is the latter, this is an impossible request. People will always have their own personalized interpretations of any faith (or even non-faith), regardless.
Islam in its own right is not responsible for people’s behavior. People are responsible for their actions, period. Religion does not motivate people towards unthinkable acts in the name of faith, but one’s interpretation of religion, and the influence of others’ interpretation of religion might.
It seems to me that by calling for an obliteration of religion, you take an extreme stance similar to that of any extremist who claims they are right and others are wrong. Do we have proof that the obliteration of religion will cause less violence amongst humans? Throughout history, haven’t we witnessed that all people need is a thought, a principle, sometimes even less, to initiate violence towards their fellow humans?
In the end, I would also like to voice my disturbance at your claims that anyone is a “semi-retarded idiot”, and that you wouldn’t “trust someone who got a 55% on the tawjihi with deciphering my TV remote let alone my spiritual well being”
I was quite surprised that you devoted an entire post to my comment. I apologise for having not gone over spelling mistakes and typos, I didnt think it was going to warrant such attention. I have to admit that I wrote what I wrote as an emotional outburst. that’s never a good idea.
However, I will respond to your comments as if I were wrting an academic paper so that reasoning and arguments are cohesive and flowing. I have a small request which you are of course be able to decline. When I give in my response could you possibly post it in the main body of your blog as you did with my previous post?
I will repsond by, at the latest, tomorrow night Amman time, Tomorrow morning Eastern US time.
Khaled
ps I agree with a lot of what the other anonymous person is saying whose post is above this one.
It is me again the first Anonymous with the seven year old to say what happened in Amman is not consistent with Islam.
I am back to wonder with dismay, we the learned adults with digital abilities to prove how advanced we are, yet with total ignorance to facts in understanding a serious problem that causing us Muslims loss of credibility and threatening our way of life and claims in the name of Islam a right to kill and murder innocence , what would take us to believe that to day we have a serious problem with Islamic fundamentalism, not with Islam as it is intended to be.
We are the good guys and they are bad guys, as simple as that .where do we stand and how are we going to address this problem?
These fundamentalists are, not only claiming they are the right Islam, by using and manipulating same sources of Islam.
How are we true Muslims going to resolve and make a stop to it, the world is changing legal configurations to face it, and we are taking a great part of the wrath, the world is not as smart as we are to differentiate between fundamental Islam and us the true Muslims? This is the dilemma; can you help in giving any positive suggestions? There are hundreds of young people who are committing suicide under pretence of Jihad!!!!!What makes a young Muslim from a decent family kill him self and others, under the name of Islam.
Please look at this problem rationally and chip in with your objective views
rather an interesting post, I’m lookin forward to hear more, as there is lots to be said regarding this topic!
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I’m sorry im running a litte late with my reply, its taking longer than I thought and I also have a paper to write but you will have your response soon
Khaled
p.s. I thought of the Auden poem after the bombins as well.
Absolutely fascinating post. Very enjoyable read, thank you for sharing Tololy.
My system of belief is very close to Khaled’s although not as extreme, so I mostly agree with what he said.
Yet, kudos to you Tololy for handling his question so tolerantly and openmindedly.
I would like to thank all commentators, Lulu, Noor, Sara, Abu Sinan, Khaled Talhouni, and the anonymous person who made the first comment on this entry. I am glad people are talking about this particular topic.
Khaled Talhouni, I will grant your wish of posting your upcoming comment in a seperate entry on Tololy’s Box. I will not, however, turn the Box into a live debate about Islam.
As much as I would love to do that, this is not the purpose for which I have the Box set up. Anyone wishing to elaborate further will have to do so through comments on this, and the future entry, or via emails to tutunai@gmail.com
That is not say there is no possibility of my discussing religion here in Tololy’s Box, in the future. Only I do not want to give the feel that the Box is established for this sole reason and no other.
Have no worries that your awaited comment will take longer in time. I did not expect to receive it tonight, since the matter requires a good deal of research. Good luck with your paper as well.
Sara, benvenuta in Tololy’s Box! Ti rigrazio per quel commento gentile che mi hai fatto. Spero che i miei idee e le idee espresse qui ti danno un nuovo scopo delle cose, e spero sinceramente che ritorni nel Box.
Noor, stay tuned for more,hopefully.
Abu Sinan, I thank you for your support.
Black Cats, I thank you for the nice experience you shared with us. I had hoped it was posted in English, for in that manner it would reach a larger number of people. Nevertheless, many thanks.
Anonymous, I enjoyed reading your comment. Yet I must disagree with some of what you say. I also failed to understand what you meant by saying: “Note Islam like other respected religions, is becoming a commercialized commodity used by people like you and I but with a worldly motives that many innocents fall for.”
I do beg your pardon for my incomplete knowledge, but how do you see me using Islam with worldly motives that many innocents fall for? I do not understand the content of your message.
I should post a reply to your comment, being nice and long as it was, it would take me some time to understand it fully and reflect upon what codes it contains. I hope I will be able to do that soon. Oh, and welcome to Tololy’s Box.
Lulu, I found your comment very pleasant and unemotional. Emotions often get in the way of common sense and they hinder people’s abilities to deliver a good argument. I salute you.
Roba, you are welcome :) I am flattered that you have enjoyed the read. Do drop by again soon, perhaps something else will appeal to your taste.
It is me again the first Anonymous with the seven year old to say what happened in Amman is not consistent with Islam.
My regret to miss lead you with my remark :
“Note Islam like other respected religions, is becoming a commercialized commodity used by people like you and I but with a worldly motives that many innocents fall for.”
What I meant by this, you and I, are with good motivated intentions towards Islam, and others who take a stand to tarnish Islam by appearing like us(you and I in the collective semantics) and pretending to take same stand but with different motives .Hope to have explained my self ?
(I am reposting my explanation as it did not appear the first time )
===================================It is me again the first Anonymous with the seven year old to say what happened in Amman is not consistent with Islam.
Toly ,my regret to miss lead you with my remark :
“Note Islam like other respected religions, is becoming a commercialized commodity used by people like you and I but with a worldly motives that many innocents fall for.”
What I meant by this, you and I, are with good motivated intentions towards Islam, and others who take a stand to tarnish Islam by appearing like us(you and I in the collective semintics) and pretending to take same stand but with different motives .Hope to have explained my self ?
Before I delve into the body of my arguments I would like to say a few things. I apologize for what I wrote in the comments section previously. It was insensitive, irresponsible and completely and utterly morally reprehensible. I wrote that post in an emotional outburst over the bombings in Amman. Writing in that frame of mind completely undermined my own arguments. So once again I apologize for any offence and I hope that the paper, essay, post or whatever you want to call it that I have written below will help clear things up. Furthermore the reason Ive been able to collect so many sources on the matter at hand so quickly is because I have written a number of papers on similar issues and have come across a wealth of information. I have of course included only peer-reviewed papers and books. (For citation of books I added the university at which the writers are working and for papers I simply put the date and author). Also I started writing this thing thinking I could finish it but I didnt I just dont have time and even if I did it would be way too long so I say we discuss this further in the comments section. I also stick by saying that one of the main problems with Islamic thought is the fact that the standards at Islamic departments are so low. Not all Imams are semi-retarded idiots Ive come across a number of intelligent Imams (interestingly enough theyre generally western Imams who grew up in the west.). However with standards for admission so low a very large percentage of our Imams are dim. I mean it shouldnt be that hard to accept.
On the issue of wanting to reform or eliminate religion from society I think a clarification is in order. Realistically speaking, doing away with religion is a completely unrealistic idealism at least for the time being. Weaning the masses off the opiate (Marx), deconstructing the mass delusion (Freud) and eliminating weakness (Nietzsche).is something that Jordanian society is not ready for.
*referring to the 3 great German thinkers and their musings on religion
PAX ISLAMICUS: An objective examination of the emergence and perpetuation of transnational fundamentalist Islamic movements.
Introduction
The origins of fundamentalism as a quasi-religious ideology are almost impossible to trace. One can however, begin to examine the origins of the term religious fundamentalism in an effort to actualize the concept itself. The phrase in question can be traced back to an early 20th Century protestant movement in the United States (University of Virginia faculty of Religion). The rise of this form of Protestantism was attributed as the culmination of a reaction lasting two centuries, a reaction against the definite secularism of the European enlightenment. The fundamentalist movement found its theological inspiration from the intellectual spirit of Tertullians writing. It is interesting to note that this movement did not in fact find its spiritual orientation within the actual writings but rather within the notion of eliminating impure Christian dogma and a return to the scripture.
In this introductory space I would also like to add that before attempting to identify the nature of fundamentalism we must first establish an agreed upon historical framework. This paper represents a rejection of the Orientalist (Edward Said) and Eurocentricism (Blaut, 1996, The Colonizers Model of the World) historical perspective. The point Im trying to make is that I approached the subject from the standpoint of global interconnection in terms of historical modeling instead of the more widely adopted Eurocentric Historical model that is also adopted in the Middle East which stipulates that civilizations and cultures have evolved (in the pre20th century globalized world) with little or no cultural interaction. That is to say that the development of civilizations is an insular process involving a single cultural grouping. Blaut, Wolf, and Abu Lughod are experts on the subject but their analysis is primarily attuned to Economic development and to some extent cultural development. With this discussion I would like to take it a step further and argue that the development of belief systems such as fundamentalist thought is not simply an Islamic concept and neither did it diffuse from the West to the Middle East. But rather that it is a product of a global Historical process involving cross cultural interaction.
The emergence of Islamic Fundamentalism
We can define fundamentalism according to a number of selected sources. The most agreed upon definition of religious fundamentalism is that fundamentalism is the acceptance and adoption of a literal understanding of scripture (Ruthven 2005 Fundamentalism; the search for meaning Oxford University). A study of various fundamentalist movements crossing the faith divide (Islamic, Christian and Judaic) has found that fundamentalists of various different religions share a distinct historicism of dividing history into seemingly clearly defined historical epochs. These historical time periods can be seen as being a) a time of perfection or ultimate moral and spiritual well being in the past (in Islamic terms think of it as the early Islamic state in the 8 and 9th centuries AD 2)followed by the fall in the present. The fall is characterized by decadence and moral bankruptcy (note the manner in which the perpetrators of the bombings referred to the hotels as centres of prostitution and vice as well as being the centres for western powers to attack the Islamic nation. This historical period is also defined by fundamentalists as being a time of weakness. 3) Salvation, the state of redemption to which the glories and moral fortitude of the original (first) historical period will be realized again. This is state of being to which fundamentalists of different faiths are working towards the re-establishing. (Bercek 2002)
It is interesting to note that that the tripartite model of utopia-fall-redemption/salvation occurs within all three major monotheistic religions. This perhaps is to be expected. There is however, an even more interesting revelation that this model predates even the oldest of these faiths (Judaism). The Aristotelian notion of forms and idealism is perhaps the earliest example of this model in which the individual exists in a sort of elated plain of ideas and then the individual is born and suffers the trauma of birth and as such forgets his or her higher existence in the form of plains and finally, that it is the role of philosopher to find the way back to idealism. Thus we have utopia-fall-salvation. There also examples of this in polytheistic religions. This tripartite model reproduces itself throughout different civilizations and historical time periods as if it were simply re-manifesting itself within different belief and cultural systems (Morton, Duke University 2005). In his book Aristotle and the Arabs: The Aristotelian tradition within Islam F.E. peters examines the impact of Aristotelian thought on Islamic dogma. The book is primarily concerned with the commentaries of the early Islamic thinkers such as Ibn Khaldoun, Avicenna and Averroes to mention few. What is also interesting about the book is attempting to outline how Mohammed himself mightve been influenced by Aristotle. Of course I realize this might offend some people but I am approaching this from a secular perspective. As such if we believe that Islamic scripture was actually written by Mohammed the similarities between the Quran and Aristotelian philosophy is astounding. Secularist perspectives of Islam have traditionally likened Islam to a mixture of Judaism and Christianity. I do not wish to challenge this notion in its entirety but rather to augment it whereby the visible influence of Aristotle is to be acknowledged. Without going into this too much I would cite one example. A parallel exists between Aristotelian thought and Islam when it comes to Abortion and the time at which the spirit enters the fetus. Both schools of thought agree that the spirit enters the fetus after a month or so of conception (depending on which school of Islamioc sect or Aristotellian school of thought one adheres to). There exist also, a lot of parallels in terms of the notion of conception and how the fetus is formed min nutfatin 3alaqa and so on.
*Peters also notes the struggle between the Islamic philosophers and the fundamentalists of that age. A FICTIONALIZED account of this struggle can be seen Yusuf Shaheens Le Destin. This is not necessarily a contradiction to my earlier statements in the sense that fundamentalism could have arisen earlier than the 20th century but it had not been fully conceptualized till then.
We can establish the linkages between the monotheistic religions from a secular perspective by adopting that the similarities arise not from the fact that they are all Abrahams religion but rather that they are simply a newly manifested version of older beliefs one of which being Aristotelian thought. We can also say that Islam is in itself is the end result of global historical interaction between Christianity, Judaism, Aristotelian thought, Persian Zoroastrianism as well as a various other pagan African beliefs. I wont go into proving this because it would take an obscene amount of time. I will however submit this as an argument.
A Wave of Religiosity Envelopes the Middle East
I had previously made the claim that religiosity had increased dramatically in the Middle East since the middle of the previous century. Of course, there is no index of religiosity that I can point to prove this claim. I can however supersede that and establish the claim by looking at Historical sociological and political trends. We need look no further than the prevailing popular political trends of the modern day and the past. It is without contention that beginning with anti-colonialist sentiments in the early part of the 20th Century there had been an extremely popular leftist/ socialist movement in the Middle East. The ascendance of nationalist and socialist movements such as the Baath party and the various other socialistically inclined movements across the Middle East shows the manner in which radical change could be afforded through the adoption of radical political belief systems
Here I wills tart with a Marxist perspective. The underlying motivation for populations to adopt radical political movements is class struggle. Whether it be Socialism or political/radical Islam in the face of a stratified society class system that is the hallmark of the capitalist mode of production. Society will move to adopt radical solutions if capitalism is in crisis. The most notable example of this would be post World War 1 Germany and the demise of the Weimar republic. Nothing is clearer than that at this time German civil society (civil society in the Hagelian sense) tuned towards Nazism on one hand and Communism on the other. The ensuing struggle between the forces of the extreme right (Nazism) and extreme left Marxism would result in the victory of Nazism and the rest is history.
The inability of the capitalist mode of production to unfold without crisis in the Arab world has in effect led to the intensification of class consciousness. Without economic success in the capitalist mode of production Arab populations turned to radical political movements similar to the way German civil society turned to extremist politics.
In the Arab world, we see that Nationalist Socialism (Nasserism as it is often called) would take form as a philosophic/political reaction to colonialism and Zionism. It is clear however that Nationalist socialism in the Middle East has failed to deliver in terms of economic prosperity and achieving Arab Unity. This leads us to the fundamentalist movement.
As much of a Marxist as I am I find analyzing fundamentalism from a class struggle perspective issue As such I would like to incorporate Bassam Tibis (University of Gottingen) argument that radical Islam is also a product of Islams traumatic interaction with western modernity. Unlike Tibi however, I will not disassociate class struggle from the equation. I see that identity issues is as much a force that brought on fundamentalism as class struggle one simply re-enforces the other.
There is no clear agreement on when Socialism in the Arab world and fundamentalism took over. Some scholars seem to point to the Iranian revolution as the beginning others cite the widespread practice by despotic Arab rulers of countering socialist/communist tendencies by propping rightist movements such as the Moslem brotherhood and other similar movements. These movements in turn formed the basis of reactionary conservative fundamentalist Islamic ideology.
I will now address my central premise, why is fundamentalism inherent within Islam? The reason should be fairly obvious given our definition of fundamentalism. The reasoning is that one of the basic tenets of Islam requires that every Moslem accept the Quran as being inerrant and can not be changed. This has stifled Islamic theological discussion and debate across the centuries.
Who are the fanatics?
Robert Fisk once commented on fanatics by saying A Fanatic is someone who redoubles his efforts every time his goals become less clear. The ultimate goal of the fanatics/fundamentalists is the re-creation of an Islamic state of being; a political entity one might even call it a government. The reason that this is not an achievable goal is the fact that political Islam is simply unattainable and it is my belief that the Islamists themselves on one level or another know that as well. In their quest to achieving pax islamicus they would inevitably cause much terror and dismay without being able to achieve any goals (Tibi 2000 The Challenge of Fundamentalist and the rise of the new world disorder).
Personal Reflections.
I see that this newly formed fundamentalist movement is less of an individual groups of dissidents and more of an ideology. As I had mentioned earlier up until November 9th, 60 percent of Jordanians gave tacit approval to the actions of Zarqawi and Bin Laden. Years of oppression and capitalist exploitation coupled with a lacking economy that hasnt until very recently been able to deliver (note that us of late the King has been able to institute a number of free market reforms that have greatly benefited the economy) has caused civil society to either accept fundamentalist or for moderates apologize for it. It is absolutely imperative that Moslems begin addressing central aspects of their faith without leaving anything sacrosanct. Moslems cannot simply believe that the Quran is inerrant. Some of the Quran might very well be wrong, some of it might not, the point is debate over every single issue, nothing should be left untouched. This is what I meant when I referred to the Christian or protestant reformation. The reformation was a reform movement beginning in the late 14th and early 15th century that aimed at reforming the Catholic Church and ended up with the Christian schism between the Catholic and protestant church. The importance of the reformation is that it provided a proto forum of theological debate. As you can see
Christians retained their faith but reformed it (in the form of the protestant church). This is a gross oversimplification of the process but to go into it in detail Id have to write another 50 pages but Im sure all of you can look it up.
The main danger of religion is that it DOESNT cause people to commit to evil but rather provides the moral justification for it. This is true in the monotheistic religions more so than in the polytheistic religions
Anyway I think this is long enough, I cant exactly keep going so lets continue the discussion in the comments section,
I am going to revise this and concentrate on specific subject and then publish it on http://www.globalcomment.com, so if anyone iss still interested look up that website in a few weeks
Khaled Talhouni