In remembrance of the Fifth anniversary of 9-11, www.counterideology.com has produced an
anti-terror TV commercial for the Free Muslims Coalition (FMC). This commercial is
based on the belief that the war on terror is an ideological battle and good Muslims are
essential to winning this battle.
In addition to fighting terrorism from an Islamic perspective, FMC has produced numerous
studies on the causes of extremism by Muslims. On this painful anniversary we feel it
appropriate to restate the root cause of extremism and terrorism.
Extremism among Muslims is the result of a recent man-made political ideology that has
been successfully marketed as a fundamental tenet of Islam. This man-made political
ideology is called “Political Islam”. Political Islam is an ideology that totally
rejects the separation of religion and state and instead seeks to create theocratic
“Islamic States” or one large “Islamic state” based on the delusion that Muslims are not
sufficiently religious and that if they were to return to a strict interpretation of
God’s “laws”, the Muslim world would achieve a period of glory and prosperity as they
enjoyed in the early days of Islamic history.
Unfortunately, governments that choose to enforce “God’s laws” by integrating religion
and state do not work. Every modern example of an “Islamic State” has been a total
failure. Iran, Sudan and Afghanistan (under the Taliban) have arguably failed to
deliver the prosperity they envisioned or promised their followers. Ironically, the
failure of Iran, Afghanistan and Sudan has not quelled the desire to create “Islamic
states.” Instead, those who call for theocratic “Islamic states” continue to argue that
theocracies are the best governments but that Iran, Afghanistan and Sudan “did not
implement ‘true Islam’ correctly.”
It is important to keep in mind that Islamic theocracies are not the only theocracies
that fail. Christian theocracies failed just as miserably. In fact, history continues
to refer to the time of Christian theocracies as the Dark Ages. It was only after
Europe finally rejected the theocratic model, that Europe experienced a Renaissance and
prospered.
More importantly than being inherently flawed, Political Islam will often lead to
extremism and terrorism. Because Political Islam is based on the desire to enforce
God’s laws, it leads to religious absolutism. Religious absolutism results from a
belief that a particular faith represents the absolute truth and therefore must be
accepted by everyone else without question. Such an absolutist ideology inadvertently
encourages bigotry and promotes hatred of others who do not share or follow similar beliefs.
Moreover, political ideologies based on religion, more often than not, have to reject
intellectual enlightenment to guarantee their survival. This is because intellectual
enlightenment respects diversity, freedom of choice and expression which are
inconsistent with the long term survival of religiously based political ideologies.
Consequently, Political Islam will naturally result in anti-intellectual and repressive
political and social systems that give birth to extremist attitudes and behavior that
include terrorism. That is why those who call for the creation of “Islamic States” tend
to be fundamentalists. They preach literalist philosophies and demonstrate an intrinsic
repulsion for modernity, liberalism and open societies.
To prove that Political Islam leads to terrorism, consider that the phenomenon of
“Islamic terrorism” is approximately 25 years old. This period coincides with the
Islamic revolution in Iran which ignited Political Islam throughout the Muslim world.
There is a direct relationship between the rise of Political Islam and the rise of
“Islamic terrorism.”
In dealing with the problem of Political Islam, it is imperative to understand that most
Muslims who seek “Islamic States” are generally benevolent and pious people. They
sincerely and passionately want to create just and fair societies. Unfortunately, the
system they are using is more likely to produce repression rather than justice, cruelty
rather than fairness and backwardness rather than modernity.
This is why the Free Muslims Coalition constantly argues that the war on terrorism has
to be more than a military battle. It must also be an ideological battle where Muslims
are essential to defeat the unintended consequences of Political Islam. This will occur
when enlightened Muslim scholars expose Political Islam as a political ideology designed
to gain power rather than being a religious requirement.
Finally, it should be noted that the Free Muslims Coalition is made up of devout and
conservative Muslims. It is because we love our religion that we take these positions.
Having said this, we again urge the American Muslim leadership and Muslim leaders
throughout the world to come to terms with the fact that Political Islam does not work.
We also encourage Muslim organizations to advocate for the separation of religion and
state in the Muslim world. This is the only way we can defeat extremism, terrorism,
improve relations with the rest of the world and help Muslims achieve the prosperity
they deserve.
To view our anti-terror TV commercial, visit our site: www.freemuslims.org
To comment on this article or the commercial, please post your views in our free Speech
zone at: http://freemuslims.org/blog/?id=2086
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