Why do we become terrorists?

This is in response to some comments/questions made regarding Islam and the terrorist movement, the quotes are from a friend directing some comments and questions at me. Her comments in red.

Quote: I think there seems to be an incorrect belief that all Muslim societies are Muslim states - that is that the law and government of the society is based in Islam.

This is a correct statement. Not all nations who have a predominantly Muslim citizen base are governed by a Muslim government, or by shariah law. Egypt for example is a prime example of this. The vast majority of Egyptian citizens are Muslim but the government is extremely secular. To say that the government is not influenced by Islam would be unrealistic (just as all governments including America’s are influenced by the main religion of the population as well as the politicians). A small example of this “gray area” is that an Egyptian man or woman can not rent a hotel room with someone of the opposite sex unless they present a marriage license to the hotel (this is not only something relevant to Egyptian Muslims, the Coptic Christians in Egypt are against pre-marital sex also, based on the Bible), however in accommodating the large tourist industry in Egypt this rule is not enforced on foreigners. Another example of how Islam and a secular government are connected (in Egypt ) can be seen immediately when you enter the Cairo airport. As you are going through the border patrol area there is a huge sign which says that if you are bringing drugs in the country you could face the death penalty. Now, don’t get me wrong…I’m sure there are many Egyptians smoking hashish and doing God knows what else and if they are caught with a little hash on them they are not going to be put to death, however the Egyptian government wants it to be known that they STRONGLY enforce anti-drug laws. I credit this strong stance to being one of the reasons why drug addiction/trafficking is virtually non-existent in Egypt (compared to other countries). In Egypt you can buy any narcotic (any drug in general) from a pharmacy with out a prescription because no one even thinks to abuse drugs. Although Egypt has it’s major governmental problems (mostly due to a President who is more a Monarch than a President) I feel it is still one of the most socially successful Islamic/Secular nations. Turkey for example is the largest failure in my eyes. I asked my husband why Turkey has become what it has and he said that since the dawn of time Turkey has been invaded and occupied by various different ethnic/religious groups and has really had a very hard time establishing it’s own identity. For example in the Middle East, Turkey is always the country that just doesn’t “fit in” Their language is completely different, their customs are completely different, and the way they practice Islam is also different from the mainstream Arab/Gulf/North African people. I believe that it is because of this lack of a solidified, unified identity that a Muslim country could have a government which would in essence ban Islam from the lives of its citizens. What is happening in Turkey now is reminiscent of what happened to Egypt during the Nasser regime. To outsiders this time of mini-skirts, bobbed hair, and endless love story movies might have seen like the modern Egyptian dynasty but for Egyptians it remains a painful spot in their memories. Men on their way to morning prayers would be snatched by police never to be seen again, women who dressed Islamically would be threatened or taken to jail, holy mosques were used as sets in movies to make fun of Islam…Nasser tried to remove the soul from the Egyptian people and replace it with a Westernized one only causing a damage and confusion which is still palpable in Egypt today.

Quote: But I think it's crucial to distinguish between Islam the religion and political Islam as a governing principle in a state if we have any hope of understanding Muslim societies.

This is a very good point, although I’m not sure what the proper response should be. Often times people feel the need to try and “Americanize” or “Christianize” Islam in an attempt to defend it. I love being American and I respect Christianity very much, so what I am trying to say is not a dig on America nor Christianity, but what I am saying rather, is that it is kind of like the American/European/Christian ideals are viewed as the accepted standard and thus in an attempt to make Islam part of the tolerated mainstream often times people try to create similarities that are not actually there. There ARE myriad similarities between the true democratic principle and the Islamic views on government, but America’s beloved (and purely theoretical) separation of Church and State doesn’t happen to be one of them. I would be untruthful if I said that the Quran and the Sunnah (life of the Prophet) do not speak about Islamic governments, governments where the ideals and principles entrenched in the population are also entrenched in the actual government. I would also be remiss if I said that any “Islamic” government today is coming within a bazillion miles of actually executing the PROPER form of government as prescribed by the Quran and the Sunnah. And so, it is because of this reality that I think it is fair to say that “personal Islam” (the religion of a people) should indeed be distinguished from “political Islam” (as we know it in the world today) because very often the politics of “political Islam” could not be farther from the true Islamic model set forth for us in the Quran and through the life of the Prophet Mohamed (peace be upon him).

Quote: And I think we also have to be aware that Muslim countries are as diverse as non-Muslim countries. Indonesia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Morocco, Bangladesh - these are all countries so different from one another as to give their citizens culture shock if they go from one to another.

This is extremely true. A great example of this is always when my husband and I go to Mecca. Mecca is in essence the center of the Islamic universe (the “Mecca” of Islam, if you will…LOL!!!) and yet when you are in Mecca the only similarity between any of the people there is that they all came to worship God. On one side of you there might be red haired, blue eyed Chechen guys (or ladies), on the other side there might be very tall, thin, onyx skinned men from Sub-Saharan Africa, in front of you might be a group of Chinese pilgrims, beside them a few Americans…some Australians over there…an Afghani over there…a Moroccan, etc…It is said in our holy texts that Islam was the first religion that did not come to a specific group of people, but that came to mankind and no where is this more evident than in Mecca. However, if we just take the Muslims in Mecca who come from Muslim countries they are as different as night and day. My husband can easily communicate with Americans, Dutch, Spanish. .even Germans…but he can hardly understand a word spoken by a Turkish or Moroccan person. Indonesian culture/language is completely foreign to him, as is Bengali, Ethiopian, or Sudanese. Even the way people practice Islam and their basic Islamic beliefs vary tremendously from country to country, which is why I try to only speak about things that I’ve actually seen for myself in Egypt or Saudi Arabia instead of speaking broadly about all “Islamic” countries because they can not be seen as all being the same. Failure to understand this is really very dangerous for the world’s Muslim population. Unless people start to realize that what might happen in Afghanistan has absolutely no link to what is going on in Egypt, or that what is happening in Sudan has absolutely nothing to do with what is going on in Saudi Arabia…and thus abandon this widely assigned group guilt, true understanding of Islam and Muslims is going to be impossible.

Quote: I was rather shocked to find out that Muslims have a great love and respect for knowledge.

During the great Islamic Empires dating back 1,400 years, up through the “Muslim Dynasty” in Spain, and continuing on until today Muslims have made prodigious contributions and innovations in the fields of literature, poetry, science, mathematics, and mysticism. Seeking knowledge and (respectable) forms of self expression have always been paramount aspects of Islam and our holy texts. Unfortunately another great misconception about Islam is that people think Muslims are uneducated and wearing blinders, they think that Muslims are forbidden from seeking knowledge and from learning new things, however this really could not be farther from the truth. The Quran says that ones religion should not be compulsory, and the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) has said that religion is not be compulsory but that seeking knowledge is, thus we can tell that the Islamic stance is that one must seek knowledge before making decisions related to religion.

Some quotes about seeking broad ranging knowledge:

“Seeking knowledge is compulsory on every Muslim male and Female” – Prophet Mohamed (PBUH)

“One who obtains knowledge and guides toward something good is like the one who does it” – Prophet Mohamed (PBUH)

“The rank of the learned believer is 700 times more than that of the mere believers, and the difference between the two ranks is the distance of the path of 500 years” – Ibn Abbas (companion of the Prophet)

“We set forth parables for mankind and none understands them except the learned” (Quran 24:42)

Quote: My question is why do you think it is that political and extremist interpretations of Islam, as we see, for example, in Afghanistan, have arisen, and how do you see their relationship with your Islam, if I may put it that way?

This question really is a challenging one for me because although I believe that I have an accurate answer, I have a terrible fear that the accuracy can be completely lost if I do not present my answer in the proper way. I don’t want to fall into the “we are victims it’s not our fault” mantra that can so easily arise when one tries to make a point on this subject, nor do I want to ignore certain realities in an attempt to avoid said mantra. I’ll do my best and hope I’m forgiven if I do a poor job in responding.

I think the proper answer to this question has three, four, maybe even five or more prongs. One of the problems people face when addressing this issue is that so often times they (we) only address one prong, focus on it, and neglect to address the other prongs needed in order to give others the full picture.

1.) The breeding ground for terrorism and extremism is where there is a massive of people who feel that their government has abandoned them. This can take many forms such as when a government turns a blind eye to problems of extreme poverty, mal-nutrition, lack of education, disease, etc…and can also exist in places where people feel “politically abandoned”. Let’s take the United States (since most of us can relate) for example. Many people are unhappy about the war in Iraq, a war that we’ve been told is to help fight the war on terror and remove Saddam from power. We’ve also been told that Osama Bin Laden is the most evil man on earth. Now…now, let’s fast forward a few years. Let’s imagine that the war in Iraq has finally ended and that Osama has never been caught. Let’s then imagine that our government releases Saddam, puts him back in place as leader of Iraq and spends a huge amount of money importing goods, vehicles, medicine, clothing, weapons, etc…from Iraq and even wants us to start adopting Iraqi culture. At the same time, Osama bin Laden is a guest of the White House and is seen shaking hands and sitting down to a warm meal with the American president. This “backwards reality” is what many people in the Middle East feel has happened to their government(s). Who was once the enemy is now accepted as a friend due to lack of power to stand up against them. The convictions, desires, and necessities of an entire people are ignored for fear of upsetting the enemy/friend. A sea of hypocrisy is formed and people don’t know truth from falsehood anymore. They feel stripped of their rights and they feel that the only way to be truly patriotic at a time when the government has abandoned the best interest for the country and its people is to become a vigilante. The intention which ignites the “vigilante movement” is often times a noble one…yet unfortunately once the fire as been started it is very easy for a vigilante movement to turn into an “extremist movement” and then a “terrorist movement”…

2.) People who feel abandoned/dejected/hopeless/filled with rage will often times seek out a group/activity to “throw themselves” into. Islam is often times seen as an “all or nothing” religion. Although we all have choices about how to practice and view our religion, based on the fact that there is no division between ones way of life and one’s Islamic beliefs it can be very easy to “poison the well” If you pollute one’s Islamic beliefs then you have also polluted their life. If you convince them that Islam is violent and hateful their entire lives will become violent and hateful…if you convince them that Islam is peaceful and just they will lead a life dedicated to peace and justice. This concept is not unlike practices used by militaries all over the world, including America. Soldiers are often young, starry eyed guys who typically are not leaving their mansions to go to boot camp. In order to make good soldiers out of them the Army has to convince these guys that they have a mission in life as soldiers, that there is an important job that only they can do, that the world will be destroyed if they do not take action, and that above all…they are fighting/killing/and being killed for a noble cause. When an American soldier dies…even if he died while bombing a school filled with kids in it, we still label him a “hero” because he was doing something for the greater good, he had a “cause”. I don’t really see too much difference between this and the extremism/terrorism that we are talking about. Insert “martyr” instead of hero, remove a government funding a war and insert a non-governmental group funding a war, and it seems very similar if you ask me. We in the West (myself included) are so entirely socially conditioned by the fact that we come from countries which essentially “dominate the world” that we have so completely detached ourselves from the notion that others have the right to stand up for themselves, that others have the right to wage war…We think that only our “causes” are the noble, just causes and that anything else must be evil or unjust…if we really allow ourselves to think about this point I think we’ll be shocked to realize that it is completely true. We take for granted what it means to be from one of the “Big 8” countries which essentially run the world…we forget that people outside of this elite group have the same human feelings, desires, and passions as we do…and that they also are entitled to rage against injustice. We also have detached ourselves from the reality that we have no idea how we ourselves would react if we were suddenly taken through a magic portal to the West Bank or Kandihar or even Riyadh or Dubai. We also don’t know how we’d react if after hundreds of years China came and decided that they owned Canada and tried to kick all the Canadians out. If the USA became home to many displaced Canadian refugees and if our neighboring country which we share so much culture, history, and religion with was now being occupied by people of a different country, culture, and religion…well who knows how that would affect our psyche over the years, let alone those of the refugee Canadians. We might feel that the USA should defend Canada and get China out of there...we might then realize that Russia is actually the one who put the Chinese in Canada and continues to fund them. At that point, we might want our government to go to war with Russia. If our government said no, we don’t want to anger Russia and continued to turn a blind eye while we and our friends and neighbors are suffering intolerably…hell, who knows what kind of behavior might emerge.
We have been so lucky. We should thank whatever higher power/force of nature we believe in because we have been so very fortunate to not know what it is like to truly have to fight for survival, to feel that all you have left are your convictions. This concept of being willing to die for our beliefs is completely foreign to most Westerns today, not because we are more “civilized” or less violent than anyone else…but because we have been lucky enough (even the poorest of us) to live a life of absolute privilege compared to much of the rest of the world. We have been given so many rights and unfortunately it has caused us to remove ourselves from the reality that others who don’t have rights are going to fight for them, and even more tragically…we have ignored the fact that through attaining our rights, we have unfortunately taken away the rights of many others.

We find it barbaric and animalistic that people would be willing die and kill in pursuit for their human rights or their religious rights…yet America was founded by people who were willing to kill and be killed in pursuit for their human/religious rights. We believe in “God given rights”…so do they.

3.) Terrorism takes on many forms. While thinking about how to answer this question I asked my husband about his feelings on this subject. I told him to give me his best answers while I played devils advocate. He said basically what I said above…and I responded by saying “Ok but lots of people are oppressed…look at south America, Africa, parts of Asia…why aren’t they becoming terrorists?”…My answer? Who says they aren’t? Terrorism is not merely a suicide bomber or a remote operated explosive device. Who is to say that the inner city shootings which happen every morning, noon, and night in every American city are not forms of terrorism? Who is to say that the drug epidemic plaguing our communities is not terrorism? Who is to say that the Bloods and Crips and every other gang in America is not a terrorist organization? Who is to say that the gangs, gorillas, and militias found all over South America, Asia, and Africa are not terrorist groups? The definition of terrorism is using violence and threats to cause fear and submission in others…if we stick to that true definition and not the definition that tells us that only Muslims can be terrorists…we’d see that all dejected and downtrodden people in all societies…all people who feel their rights have been stripped from them…all people who feel their government has abandoned them…as well as all GOVERNMENTS have resorted to terrorism.

I fear that this response has gotten way too long already and I don’t want to start repeating myself or getting too concentrated on one area with my answers so it’s best that I end it here for now.