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ISIS & Islam

Interesting article from a Muslim perspective:

Time to Face the ISIS Inside of Us

Elham Manea
Humanist, writer and academic

“We are ISIS.”

A startling statement? Yet this was the title of an article written by former Kuwaiti Minister of Information, Saad bin Tafla al Ajami, published in 7 August 2014 by the Qatari newspaper al Sharq. He was not celebrating the Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), nor the atrocities it is committing against civilians and minorities in Iraq and Syria.

He was reminding us that ISIS, while condemned by the majority of Muslims, is a product of an Islamic religious discourse that dominated our public sphere in the last decades — a mainstream discourse!

ISIS “did not come from another planet,” he said. “It is not a product of the infidel West or a bygone orient,” he insisted.

No, “the truth that we can not deny is: ISIS learned from our schools, prayed in our mosques, listened to our media... and our religious platforms, read from our books and references, and followed Fatwas (religious edicts) we produced.”

He is right.

It would be easy to insist that ISIS does not represent the correct teachings of Islam. It would be very easy to do that. And yes, I do believe that Islam is what we, humans, make of it. Any religion could be a message of love or a sword for hatred by the people believing in it.

But the fact remains that the actions of ISIS have been ideologically mainstreamed a long time ago: in mosques that curse ‘Christians-the Crusaders’, ‘Jews’ and ‘unbelievers’ in every Friday sermons. By religious figures, who greet us every day through TV programs, preaching a message of hatred and intolerance against the ‘other’, regardless of whom this ‘other’ is. In schools that teach us that the penalty for converting from Islam is death; that Christians and Jews are ‘protected people’, who should pay a tax to be left alone or they could face war. The fate of members of ‘other religions’ is left untold, but we can read it between the lines. In these classes we were never taught that a citizen has the right to choose his or her religion, or that a citizen is equal before the law regardless of religion or beliefs.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elham-manea/time-to-face-the-isis-ins_b_5688631.html

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Interesting read
I think this article provides a clearer perspective on the whole issue.
:colonhash:
Reply 4
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wdkmwd
3
" No, “the truth that we can not deny is: ISIS learned from our schools, prayed in our mosques, listened to our media... and our religious platforms, read from our books and references, and followed Fatwas (religious edicts) we produced. "



I think this sums up everything I say.
The left will say this guy doesn't know what he's talking about/shill for Zionist media/doesn't "represent" Muslims. Just like they do with Maajid Nawaz and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. It's completely evil, colonialist and wrong for Western people to disregard the experiences of people from other cultures, or to dictate how they should feel about those experiences.

Except of course when it suits their agenda.
Yet again someone writes the truth, and yet again Muslims are going to deny it.
Reply 7
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wdkmwd
3
Still waiting for Muslims to comment.

Uber BUMP
Original post by wdkmwd
Still waiting for Muslims to comment.

Uber BUMP


A muslim did comment:

Original post by fatima1998
:colonhash:


What a stupid cock he is for actually trying to address the root cause of terrorism.
Original post by KingBradly
A muslim did comment:



What a stupid cock he is for actually trying to address the root cause of terrorism.


tbh...i haven't read the OP so i dunno what it says:colondollar:
Reply 10
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wdkmwd
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Original post by KingBradly
A muslim did comment:



What a stupid cock he is for actually trying to address the root cause of terrorism.


:colonhash:

Is not a constructive comment you tosser.
wth...
The issue is that non-Muslims are not familiar with Khawarijism so essentially it is sufficient to use the simple explanation that the actions of ISIS are not wholely Islamic, even if they attempt to use Quran and Hadith to support their statements and belief, as this is still in effect true. The quote presented in the OP itself does not actually bring any substance to the topic of ISIS since Khawarijism is something that was already acknowledged and fought against by the Muslim community 1400 years ago; the quote in the OP will only pander to an underinformed audience who will undoubtedly respond that the issue is with Islam itself rather than Khawarijism since it is likely that they are unfamiliar with the concept and it feeds their predisposition against Islam.
Original post by Zamestaneh
The quote presented in the OP itself does not actually bring any substance to the topic of ISIS since Khawarijism is something that was already acknowledged and fought against by the Muslim community 1400 years ago


Salafists such as the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia — who shares IS' religious principles, but not political views — call IS members Kharijites. Notably, these Salafists refused to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who surprised the other Salafist movements by declaring himself the caliph of all Muslims. Salafist movements never expressed a serious disagreement with IS until Baghdadi's announcement of the caliphate last June.

The word Kharijite means “those who defected from the group,” referring to the Islamic groups that rebelled against the third and fourth caliphs, Uthman and Ali, and the rulers of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, beginning in 644.

The similarities between IS and the Kharijites have prompted some to compare the two. Such similarities include: condemning other Muslims, killing children and women, and clashing with other Salafist jihadist groups to secure an exclusive grip on power. IS has dedicated significant attention to fighting Jabhat al-Nusra and the Free Syrian Army, even though they all oppose the Syrian regime.

However, in some ways, IS is completely different from the Kharijites. The latter never expressed hostility toward non-Muslims and they never oppressed minorities, as IS has done consistently.

The Kharijites did not have Salafist tendencies. On the contrary, they refused to accept the arbitration of the first Muslims and the sahaba — the companions of Prophet Muhammad. The Kharijites did not consider the first Muslims to be holy, and they never prioritized their views in understanding and applying religion. They called for equality and expressed a desire to not distinguish between the first Muslims and later converts.

Yet, the similarities between IS and the various branches of Salafism — including the Saudi version — are far greater than the similarities between IS and the ancient Kharijites.

This description of Kharijite is considered to be a politically-motivated, negative labeling of the group aimed at achieving several objectives: first, distancing Salafism from IS, and second, pushing back against the broad acclaim received by the group for promoting global jihad. Salafist jihadist movements were surprised by IS' great growth in such a short time. Hundreds of militants came to Syria and Iraq from across the globe, leaving other Salafist organizations behind to join IS. IS took over vast lands and came to control significant financial resources. It posed a direct threat to Saudi Arabia, as the country is considered the top sponsor for the international Salafist movement.

The truth is, IS is nothing but the complete realization of Salafist jihad, which was born and raised under the auspices of Saudi Arabia decades ago, notably during Afghanistan’s wars against the Soviet Union from 1979 to 1989. IS also embodies the Islamic world's two major extremist movements: the Salafist Saudi movement and the International Brotherhood movement. Salafist Wahhabi extremism merged with the Brotherhood’s political Islam and created the phenomenon of al-Qaeda, IS and other similar groups.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/01/islamic-state-kjarijites-continuation.html#ixzz44FHZD3AA


The irony of you using a Salafist slur against IS to distance yourself from the IS, when in fact "the similarities between IS and the various branches of Salafism — including the Saudi version — are far greater than the similarities between IS and the ancient Kharijites."


Hopefully now users on here will no longer be "under-informed", and will know that the IS are a Salafi group. :smile:
Original post by Christ Redeems
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/01/islamic-state-kjarijites-continuation.html#ixzz44FHZD3AA


The irony of you using a Salafist slur against IS to distance yourself from the IS, when in fact "the similarities between IS and the various branches of Salafism — including the Saudi version — are far greater than the similarities between IS and the ancient Kharijites."


Hopefully now users on here will no longer be "under-informed", and will know that the IS are a Salafi group. :smile:


One of my several contentions with your post is that you have quoted an opinionated article written by an Iraqi Shia who subsequently already has distorted views of Islam, Salafism and Wahabism, and this is reinforced and evidenced by his unsubstantiated opinion that ISIS is a combination of Salafism and the Brotherhood movement, neither of which is strictly true - Salafism is to understand Islam as the first generations of Muslims understood it; just because they do not reject the early Muslims like the first Khawarij, it does not mean that they do not embody the same fundemental principles that the early Khawarij espoused, since the former is a superficial difference whereas the later is a fundemental similarity. Contrarily in spite of their acceptance of the Salafus Salih, they ironically do not follow the precedent set by the Salaf, such as the way in which they implemented Islam within society, engaged in Jihad or their general character. Secondly, the fundemental principles of Ikhwaanis (the Brotherhood) is to instigate slow and steady political change through a gradual process of introducing Islamic principles into society and the political scene, with the only similarity with ISIS being the desire to change society; the obvious difference being that ISIS intend to make changes rapidly through bloodshed, takfir and armed subjugation.

The group still remain underinformed since your article too gave little weight to the discussion, rather only than a sensationalistic and biased monologue by a person who demonstrated that he doesn't know what he's talking about.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Zamestaneh
Salafism is to understand Islam as the first generations of Muslims understood it;


Is that the kind of BS they feed you at your local Saudi funded Dawah Centre?

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Original post by chemting
Is that the kind of BS they feed you at your local Saudi funded Dawah Centre?

Posted from TSR Mobile


Thank you for your appraisal of Salafism - I'll stick it on the fridge so I don't forget how life changing this question was.
Original post by Zamestaneh
Thank you for your appraisal of Salafism - I'll stick it on the fridge so I don't forget how life changing this question was.


Be careful, modern science can be bidah according to some Salafis. So ill leave it up to you to decide what type of "fridge" you use.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Did you know ISIS are the reason petrol is so cheap right now? They flooded the market with stolen fuel in December 2014 and since then, the price hasn't come back up :tongue:
Reply 19
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Pulse.
18
Original post by JavaScriptMaster
Did you know ISIS are the reason petrol is so cheap right now? They flooded the market with stolen fuel in December 2014 and since then, the price hasn't come back up :tongue:


Lol no

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