I would like to pose a series of questions as to the nature of Islam? While I have some thoughts on this subject, but I would rather hear what others have to say, as I believe these are questions, which for good and ill have been avoided.
Is Islam truly a religion, or is it a political ideology pretending to be a religion?
If it is a religion, are its tenets fundamentally in concert with or opposite to the canons of Western Culture? (Please note when I use the term canons of Western Culture I am referring to the philosophical underpinning of our society, which were articulated by Harold Bloom and Mortimer Adler and others of the University of Chicago http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_World.)
If it is a political ideology can the Islamic world exists constructively or destructively with the western world.
I pose these questions, as I have internally debated these questions in my present capacity. As we wage a war against Islamic extremists I believe thinking about, and attempting to answer these questions is important to our understanding of Islamic extremists. Ultimately I believe these questions and others will help us develop a Strategy for defeating the terrorists that threaten Western values.
re: the philosophy v. political ideology, modern day fundamentalist Islam reminds me of the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages — where church and state were fused. That’s evident enough in places like Iran and remote parts of Yemen, Saudi, etc.
I don’t think it’s controversial to say that some elements of Islam are overdue for evolution.
I think Islam is fundamentally Arabized 2cd temple Judaism.
If one reads the work of Josephus,”The Jewish Wars”,one easily can forget you’re reading of the Jews,their neighbors and then the Romans circa 2000 years back and one might imagine those Jews were today’s radical Muslims.
I’d read that book as a primer. Personally,I think so long as we are determined to “lead,coerce,manipulate or force” any Muslim state to do thus and so we will find ourselves at war with them.
Rome could only have avoided 70 AD by avoiding Israel.
It seems to me that Islam is a profoundly anti-intellectual religion. I don’t know that Catholicism ever so severely prevent it’s members from any independant thought. Even in the depths of the 13th century the Catholics allowed Thomas Aquinas freedom to seek his version of truth. He wasn’t dragged to the street and beheaded.
Islam seems to have no way to allow any sort of intellectual inquiry into the roots of their faith. The belief that the Koran is the actual word of Allah prevents them from ever developing that tradition.
The Bible has always, so far as I know, been regarded as the inspired Word of God as written down by prophets who were men. The inconsistancies in the Bible have provide a lively source of argument among churchmen. That argument has rarely fallen to the level of taking a sword to one’s opponents.
Islam’s willingness to allow any backwoods zealot to take violent action with no legal constraints is their downfall.
When you mean religion, do you mean a personal connection with God? a individualistic effort to attain peace?…
islam is a comprehensive ideology which has economic, political, militaristic, and self-developmental aspects to it?
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Can the Islamic world exists constructively or destructively with the western world?
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as for the science volumes, islamic world would not ‘against’ it.
however the greek, british, and american literature poses threats to the society islam wants to encourage..
the works of frued probably will not do well with them either..
only God knows
Islam is a religion in that it is made up of ritualized expressions of faith in Allah as a creator god (such as homicide, whether of Jews or fellow muslims, is on par with communion); and in rewards and consequences for failing to adhere to Pillars of Islam.
Muslims range politically from communist to capitalist because Islam adapts to any political philosophy so long as that philosophy is dominant within the immediate geographical area. Islam exists outside of western political philosophy and so is adaptable. Islam most closely compares with Mongol absolutism – the exercise of power as an expression worship.
Islam is possessed of the will to dominate… in any setting.
My two cents…
From where I sit, I think it is very difficult to distinguish between Islam as a political movement and Islam as a religion. It would be impossible to dismiss it simply as a political movement. It has all the hallmarks of a religion: it has a unified system of beliefs in deity, a unifying series of religious writings, and it deals with this life and what comes next.
However, what I think has happened is that the political and religious components of Islamic culture have become completely intertwined. There has, it seems, for a majority of Islam’s existence, there has been little distinction between secular and temporal authority. Even today, this is the case. In the Middle East, in particular, it seems that the choice is between an authoritarian state which has to suppress the more extreme elements of Islam (i.e. Egypt) or channel it against the West and Israel (i.e. Syria), or states dominated by theocrats (i.e. Iran).
Part of the reason that this happens is that Isalm never went through the equivalent of the Protestant Reformation. This essentially broke the secular authority of the Catholic Church. Even though the Catholic Church was still a player in politics, it never had quite the same secular power or authority which it had prior to Martin Luther.
The problem with it being a political ideology is that as it stands now, it does not seem to allow for coexistance. In a way, as it stands now, political fundamental Islam seems to be like Soviet Russia right after the revolution, seeking to remake the world in the image of its theory.
While not an expert on Islam as a religion, from what I have read, it seems like an entity which could coexist with other religions. At one point, Islam allowed for some thinking which would have been radical in the West. However, past a certain point, something happened, and Islam no longer became as accepting of progressive thought.
I thought this was also an important point made in the blog Healing Iraq back in 2004:
“”When Islamic clerics today say “This isn’t the real Islam.” or “Islam is a religion of compassion and peace.” one should ask them which actual Islam are they referring to? The Islam of Sunni subsects of Hanafiya, Malikiya, Shafi’iya, and Hanbaliya? The Islam of Shia subsects of Imamiya, Zaidiya, Ismaeliya, Allawiya, Nasseriya, and Darziya? The Islam of Sufiya? The Islam of Wahhabiya? Of Salafiya? Of Kharijiya? Which and whose interpretation of Islam? That of Bin Laden? That of Qardhawi? Of Sha’rawi? Of Sayyed Qutb? Of Khomeini? Of Sadr? Of Sistani? There is no consensus whatosever on any verse of the Quran despite 14 centuries of exegesis and debate, because ‘only Allah knows the hidden explanation.’
Any sect of the above can give you a different interpretation and can justify whatever actions they carry out. Each sect claims it is the ‘chosen one’ and that only its version of Islam is the right one, some go as far as labelling followers of other sects ‘infidels’ and justifies slaughtering them. A follower of any of the above believes that they are where they are today after much critical thought and evaluation of evidence when in fact it can only be explained by blind faith and heredity. If I was born a Hindu then I would definitely think that I am right and that others are wrong, infidels if you wish. If I was born in Mecca before Muhammed I would definitely be praising Hubel for the rest of my life. If I was born a heathen in the jungles of Congo I would definitely scorn missionaries that would try to convert me. It looks like it is going to take centuries for Muslims to realise that NO religion is superior to another, and that NO one adheres to a specific religion because it is the ‘right’ one. So if we would just stop killing and taking revenge on each other in the name of religion and move on we would not be where we are today.”
My theory is Islam is the perfect religion of the despot. I truly have to wonder how religious is bin Laden or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. My theory is they are religious only because bein so benefits their secular activities, mainly regional/global denomination.
Hitler had to create his own religion to pursue his aims, but Muslim crazies use Islam. It allows them to get away, literally, with murder and all in God’s name.
I would bet a large sum of money that neither of these two even believes in God, but they are willing to use him to achieve their goals.
islam….
It is The Natural and peaceful religion in the world.
follow it…
Yes, that would explain why so many Muslims randomly explode around the world, and odd how they do it in crowded markets with lots of kids and women around.
. . we have underestimated the importance of 800 years of Islamic society and culture in Spain between the 8th and 15th centuries. The contribution of Muslim Spain to the preservation of classical learning during the Dark Ages, and to the first flowerings of the Renaissance, has long been recognized. But Islamic Spain was much more than a mere larder where Hellenistic knowledge was kept for later consumption by the emerging modern Western world. Not only did Muslim Spain gather and preserve the intellectual content of ancient Greek and Roman civilization, it also interpreted and expanded upon that civilization, and made a vital contribution of its own in so many fields of human endeavor – in science, astronomy, mathematics, algebra (itself an Arabic word), law, history, medicine, pharmacology, optics, agriculture, architecture, theology, music. Averroes and Avenzoor, like their counterparts Avicenna and Rhazes in the East, contributed to the study and practice of medicine in ways from which Europe benefited for centuries afterwards.
Islam nurtured and preserved the quest for learning. In the words of the tradition, ‘the ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr’. Cordoba in the 10th century was by far the most civilised city of Europe. We know of lending libraries in Spain at the time King Alfred was making terrible blunders with the culinary arts in this country. It is said that the 400,000 volumes in its ruler’s library amounted to more books than all the libraries of the rest of Europe put together. That was made possible because the Muslim world acquired from China the skill of making paper more than 400 years before the rest of non-Muslim Europe. Many of the traits on which modern Europe prides itself came to it from Muslim Spain. Diplomacy, free trade, open borders, the techniques of academic research, of anthropology, etiquette, fashion, various types of medicine, hospitals, all came from this great city of cities.
Medieval Islam was a religion of remarkable tolerance for its time, allowing Jews and Christians the right to practice their inherited beliefs, and setting an example which was not, unfortunately, copied for many centuries in the West. The surprise, ladies and gentlemen, is the extent to which Islam has been a part of Europe for so long, first in Spain, then in the Balkans, and the extent to which it has contributed so much towards the civilization which we all too often think of, wrongly, as entirely Western. Islam is part of our past and our present, in all fields of human endevour. It has helped to create modern Europe. It is part of our own inheritance, not a thing apart. The only thing going against progress as it stands is the colonization of all ‘muslim territories’ by Western interests due to vast resources and strategic defense (offense if you want to get realistic) capabilities.. and rest assured it is a beacon of light as opposed to all of the spoon fed dogma that has been jammed down the throats of Western peoples. It is a religion…I guess, but if you were to ask a muslim, he would say it is a way of life to be lived as prescribed by the Creator of the heavens and the earth as revealed in the holy scripture (the Quran) by the seal of all prophets, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him…just as the other human envoys were sent to warn their peoples of a coming judgement of our actions whilst on this short temporal journey…..and meet the face of this magnificent Entity.
Islam is a religion and more, it is not pretending to be anything other than what it has always been.. If the Koran is interpreted literally (as it is by many of the extremist sunni sects that we face in this war on terror), it is a sociocultural-political-religious system that provides guidance on almost every aspect of a society and personal behavior (modeled after the life and behavior of the prophet). Most importantly, Islam is tightly linked to the sharia law system. Thus, it is distinct from most modern Christian sects which deal little in governance and mostly with personal spiritual matters. Also, Christianity seems to be rather multicultural, while Islam is very Arab culture-centric.
The Koran and the Hadiths (which are stories about the life of muhammad used to interpret the Koran) form the basis for sharia law. In a fundamentalist sunni islamic system that interprets the koran and hadiths literally, sharia must reign supreme over any other law of the land. Unfortunately, Sharia law is pretty much incompatible with western ideals of liberty, freedom of conscience, and equality towards women.
Note that in most Arab nations which practice some form of Sharia law, there are almost no practitioners of other religions. This is because the Koran itself calls these non-muslims “dhimmi” which are essentially second class citizens and demands that all non-muslims must submit to second class citizenship (these people are often discriminated against, deprived of places of worship, and treated pretty much like the wandering jews of the medieval world)
The reason that literal sunni interpretations of Islam are incompatible with western society lies primarily in the Koran’s treatment of dhimmis. The verse of the sword in the koran states, “But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.” Translation: Basically, all non-believers are to be slain until they submit themselves to dhimmitude.
Thus, a literal interpretation of the Koran provides an authoritatively legal and religious backing for jihad against nonbelievers, and also provides a legal system which is antithetical to the ideals of western society. Thus, the Koran severely limits the ability of “moderate” muslims to claim religious authenticity. Also according to this interpretation, only a temporary peace may be made with infidels for the purposes of rearmament.
Despite the depressing nature of what I have just stated, I have also discovered in my investigation of this matter, that this literal interpretation of the Koran seems to be peculiar to Sunni muslims which have no “pope” so to speak, are led by a disorderly mass of extremist clerics funded by the Saudis. In contrast, some Shias, who are led by a continuous line of “popes” or imams since the prophet believe in the existence of the “hidden” meaning of the Koran, and thus do not interpret the koran literally. I have encountered two Shia sects, the Ismaili sect and another sect which I cannot remember at this time who seem to practice a very apoliticized form of Islam, ignoring the literal interpretation of the verse of the sword. These imams seem to encourage these sects to assimilate into western society.
As to the question of whether the Islamic world can exist constructively or destructively with the western world: there can only be destruction if the muslim world is dominated by Sunni “literalists”. Indeed, the western world has been in almost continuous confrontation with the islamic world since the coming of the prophet. I believe that for peace to occur, some type of Ataturk like modernizing figure or some modern moderate Shia imam must become ascendant (aka not the current imams of Iran). If this does not happen and the saudi funded literal interpretationist clerics remain ascendant, then we will face another thousand years of war in a clash of the modern and the medieval.
-K. Lee.
(med student, military history buff)
main source of information on the Koran:
Islam: what the west needs to know
K. Lee made some interesting points. I do doubt any grand figure will emerge to lead the extremists away from their belief system. I also do not think that a military victory over the terrorists and their financial backers will gain long-term peace.
The wisest course of action is to eliminate the Saudis and Iranians as the financiers. This can only be done by greatly reducing the world’s need for oil. Once the oil is no longer needed those regimes will go away. The crash in oil prices over the past six months have caused all kinds of trouble for the Iranians. Without Western cash neither of those governments would be long for this world.
So, for all the money we are pouring into the military, of which I approve, an equally large amount has to be spent to create new fuel sources.
This is actually a very simple thing, that we insist on complicating way beyond reason.
Islam, in Arabic, means “submission”.
I think the problem we have with Islam is pretty straightforward. We either “submit” or we face their consequences.
Bottom line. Islam is a religion.
The economic ideology most generally parallels some form of fascism.
The political ideology is generally some form of Oligarchy based on a combination of royalty, wealth, family, military powers and religious hegemony.
As to the question of whether the Islamic world can exist constructively or destructively with the western world:
-K. Lee ยท January 31, 2009 12:01 AM
The simple answer is that Islam can only exist destructively in that the very purpose of Islamic worldly philosophy is to destroy everthing not Islam.
Given that “Islam” literally means “Submission” it matters not what faction of Islam one practices, all factions of Islam seek to eliminate everything not Islam, including other factions of Islam.