By Dr. Ashraf Ezzat
Author’s Note:
Radicals
and fanatics don’t get radicalized by intelligence agency e.g. CIA,
MOSSAD… etc. Rather they get recruited by those secret agencies because
they are hilariously fanatics and stupidly radicalized (reverse logic; a
stereotype of herd mentality)
I also expect some zealots of the
so called moderate Muslims and many others of conspiracy theory addicts
to get slightly offended/shocked by my post.
Fervently they will
try and refute my thesis by cherry-picking some benign verses from the
Quran that call for benevolence and peace. But if they get to
cherry-pick, why deny the fundamentalists and fanatics the same right?
This
is the core of the problem, a divine book like the Quran (and that also
goes for the Old and New Testament) shouldn’t be like a magician’s
pocket; one time a dove is pulled out of it, and oftentimes a dagger.
Reforming the rationale of interpreting the holy book of the Quran and
also reforming the mainstream narrative of Islam is the only way this
magnificent religion is to survive the fundamentalist take over.
The
world has not seen such brutality and savagery in modern times.
Horrible Stories were told about the Celts, the Aztecs and the Mongols;
nevertheless they always remained stories of the remote past. But what
the militants of the so called “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria – ISIS”
are doing is something else, what they are perpetrating defy any
literary power to try and put it into words.
Driven by
what they see as divine command and wreaking havoc and devastation only
thought possible in Hollywood productions the Islamic militant group
ISIS has pushed the definition of terrorism to a new and scary limit.
Their
ongoing banquet of carnage has to be seen, not only to be believed but
to grasp how religion, that should have united humans in peace, could
turn into a license to lawless slaughter. (Watch this extremely graphic
video of ISIS brutal mass execution of Iraqi civilians and soldiers –
watch at your discretion)
Contrary
to what most commentators have said, it is not the graphic scenes of
mass execution and beheading of hundreds of innocent civilians by ISIS
that I find most repulsive, the American war on Iraq has left thousands
killed in cold blood and countless numbers born with anomalies caused by
US radioactive lethal weaponry (Hi-tech savagery that often go
unreported by MSM)
What I personally find really scary in the ISIS
militants is that they carry out their onslaught seemingly without any
shred of guilt or shame. The militants/Mujahideen go about their
business as usual; beheading their opponents’ minutes after they fall
into their captivity. And minutes later they all go and join each other
in a humble prayer to god.
Following the scripture literally
Now
what’s interesting, or rather shocking, is the fact that those hideous
acts of terrorism are executed by people who claim they are devout
Muslims.
I know that the whole world, including the Islamic world,
is viewing ISIS Mujahideen as the ultimate example of brutal terrorism
and modern time’s savagery.
But this world view doesn’t concern me
as much as how those Muslim terrorists really view themselves.
Moreover, why a supposedly devout Muslim would/should end up as a global
terrorist just for merely doing what his faith oblige him to undertake.
Ladies
and gents, regardless of who is funding ISIS and the fact that many of
their militants, including Abu Bakr El Baghdadi have been trained in
US military base
in Jordan and maybe some of their top leaders have been also recruited
by CIA, one fact remains so obvious and yet so bewildering.
Those
ruthless ISIS terrorists sincerely believe they are pious devotees of
Islam’s god “Allah” and that they act according to his holy scripture
“Quran” and they are the true followers of his prophet “Mohamed”
You
won’t believe this but in a strange way those ISIS terrorists are
telling the truth, or what they were made to believe is the truth.
The
ugly truth is that ISIS terrorists are acting literally according to
some of the many Quran’s verses that incite fighting and killing
non-Muslims in almost cold-blooded way.
“Fighting
is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye
dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is
bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.” Quran (2:216)
Now,
and before we elaborate any further, let’s get this one thing about
Quran straight. Like Judaism, Islam is a religion of laws. Actually
Judaism and Islam are so much alike the Quran, not the Christian Bible,
should be labeled “The New Testament” … after all, both Quran and the
Tanakh are the product of the same Arabic nomadic culture (A topic
expanded upon in upcoming series of articles)
While the Gospels of Christianity have been influenced/softened by the
Greco-Roman philosophy
and separated from the state by the power of Jesus’ famous line
“”Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the
things that are God’s” The Tanakh and Quran kept their strong tribal
culture and binding laws unmitigated over the centuries.
As a
Christian, as long as you believe in Jesus Christ, you only need the
scripture as a spiritual guideline but in Judaism and Islam you’re bound
by the canon of your faith to embrace their rules as the instruction
book of your day to day life.
The Hebrew/Muslim laws tell their
followers what to eat and what not to eat and drink, how to get married,
how to get divorced, how to get into the bathroom … and yes how and
when to kill the non-believers.
The key point here
is how should the Holy Scripture especially those of Islam be
interpreted? The verses of any holy scripture should be interpreted in
accordance with their historical context, but that is not what the
Muslims, at least nowadays, do. (This is the focal source of all
extremism and terrorism)
Islam’s dilemma
The
dilemma of Islam, it has been for a while actually, is that its
theologians, Imams and clerics refuse/fail to view the scripture,
especially the verses that promote fighting and jihad, within the frame
of its historical context.
They’d rather keep them open-ended as
part of an eternal and always relevant words of Allah. Most conservative
Muslim clerics are under the impression that binding many of the verses
to its historicity might restrain the authority of a big chunk of the
scripture, and consequently the influence of the Islamic clergy.
This
dilemma has been ignored for centuries, thus paving more ways and
opening more doors for ultra-conservative literalism, also known as
fundamentalism (closest backdoor to violence and terrorism)
That said, the more any Muslim conservative reads verses from Quran and memorize
Hadith (sayings)
by prophet Mohamed, the more he is likely to take it absolutely
literally and automatically apply it to his current life and affairs.
(Not to mention that piles of Hadith are of doubtful source and purpose)
“Soon
shall we cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, for that they
joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority”.
Quran (3:151)
If we to interpret the above verse
in its historical context we will learn that some Pagan tribes of the
Arab Peninsula were terrified and finally defeated by the raids of
Mohamed and his followers back in the early seventh century.
But
if we to interpret it literally and maybe relevant to the present point
in time, then we are talking about ISIS mujahideen casting terror, by
mass execution and beheading like the early Muslim fighters used to do,
into the hearts of the followers of the infidels Bashar Al-Assad of
Syria and Al- Maliki of Iraq, for they ruled not according to Islamic
Sharia.
Do you see how terrifyingly simple this is, and how terrifyingly complicated this has become?
At
this point in my article I expect many to be offended by my candid
exposition and they might try and refute my thesis by irritably
commenting “Early Muslims and Mujahideen never killed fellow Muslims”
and my reply would be “yes they did; Sunnis killed Shia in
Karbala (680
A.D) and a bloody perpetual conflict between the two sects has ensued
ever since till this very day. (Not to mention the massacres perpetrated
by
Umayyad and
Abbasid caliphates)
Bad Dogma
While
everybody is agitatedly following the news and videos of ISIS, nobody
is asking the logical question “How did such a group of dangerous
fanatics create in the first place?
ISIS has created not only due
to militarization by US army nor recruitment by CIA but primarily
because of misinterpreted scripture and bad dogma.
Another
ugly truth is the fact that early Muslims of the Arab Peninsula, during
and following the death of Mohamed, were so brutal in their fighting
and raids.
The early Muslims “
Sahabah” were economically desperate; as a newly formed community they needed money and craved for influence so they began by
raiding trade caravans in the Peninsula (the ancient spices and incense road) and ended up raiding Persian, Roman and Egyptian territories.
Beheading the enemies, as a means to evoke fear, was a common practice in the ancient Arabian tribal wars. Khalid Bin Walid, the military commander of the early days of the Islamic state never hesitated to behead the fighters of his enemies.
The Islamic
records reveal that Bin Walid after the
battle of Ullais
633 A.D, aka the battle of blood river, spent a whole day and night
beheading 7000 soldiers and dumping them in the river(flowing it with
their blood) in rejoice and gratitude for Allah’s brought-victory over
the Persians.
Submit to Islam and be safe. Or
agree to the payment of the Jizya, and you and your people will be under
our protection, else you will have only yourself to blame for the
consequences, for I bring the men who desire death as ardently as you
desire life. (Khalid Bin Walid’s letter to the Sassanid Persians before he raided their empire – very similar to ISIS raid threats)
Now,
could you see the example ISIS mujahidin are following. What ISIS did
to the Christians of Mosul is no different than what Bin Walid had
earlier done, with the blessings of Islam’s Caliphate at the time, to
the Christians of the Sassanid Empire.
Contrary to what
the clergy or Islamic media claim, ISIS and Al Qaeda is not the
exception, the millions of so called moderate Muslims around the world
are.
Those fundamentalist Islamists who are casting
terror into the heart of the civilized world are but a copycat of the
mujahidin of early Islam. Whether we like it or not this is the ugly
truth.
The reason why the majority of Muslims does not act like
ISIS nor condone its crimes is because those millions of the so called
moderate Muslims have not been prone to fundamentalist Islamic teaching
through indoctrination (intellectual hypnosis)
Once they are, even
if they were brought up in western communities, a considerable faction
of them especially those with assimilation and economic problems will
turn into dogmatic Jihadists ready to be recruited by ISIS.
As a
matter of fact one of the most alarming ISIS-related phenomena is
western Jihadists. The influx of European, American, Canadian and even
Australian fundamentalist Muslims into ISIS held territories has by far
been worrying (both Westerners and moderate Muslims)
This massive
signing up to ISIS radical ideology, if anything, means that Muslims
with their current unchecked fundamentalist religious narrative are not
and actually will not be able to assimilate into western community and
culture. This is a grave sign of failing multiculturalism that needs
more time and space than this post allows.
Another
important factor that many tend to overlook is that the majority of
world’s Muslims act according to preconceptions that their own
indigenous culture and traditions have mainly contributed to and not
only Islam. Hence the term “moderate Muslims” denotes an
attitude/mindset brought about by a blend between different cultures, be
it Egyptian, Syrian or Persian and Islam.
That’s
why hordes of moderate Muslims disgustedly point the finger at radical
groups like ISIS and cry out “That’s not our Islam” …well of course it’s
not.
And indeed that intercultural blend is the reason why the
fundamentalist and harsh Bedouin side of Islam has been ameliorated
enough to allow millions of Muslims to coexist with their fellow men of
other creeds and theology over the long centuries.
Reforming Islam
ISIS
could be a peril to Islam’s reputation and future around the world, but
there is a good flip-side to this situation. Never before in recent
times have the Muslim clergy had the opportunity and the imperative to
embark on reforming Islam.
Jihadist groups and the
rise of political Islam won’t be eradicated or even curbed by air power
and drone attacks. ISIS, Al Qaeda, al-Nusra front and Muslim
Brotherhood won’t be dismantled except by reforming and changing the
mainstream narrative of Islam. For Muslims, nothing short of that will
be like burying their heads in the sand.
ISIS is
a reason enough for high profile Muslim scholars to start purifying the
Hadith from tons of controversial sayings and teachings, doing more
harm than good, claimed to have been told by Mohamed.
ISIS is a
reason enough to start a new approach in interpreting the Quran’s verses
especially those narrating the chronicles of Mohamed and followers’
battles against pagans.
Launching a new school of
credible and enlightened Muslim scholars that will respect the
historical context of the scripture verses is the first step toward
reforming Islam.
This couldn’t have been more
urgent a time, for world Muslims have been leaning dangerously towards
fundamentalism and extremism throughout the last 80 years (ever since
the establishment of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and following the rise
of
Wahhabi tide in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan)
If
this rare opportunity for reforming Islam passed unnoticed and
unexploited, then we will suffer from endless and more powerful tides of
fundamentalist Jihadist groups.
And we have to beware of the fact
that the groups that will follow ISIS will be more cruel and tougher
and they will definitely attract huge numbers of mujahideen, so huge no
military coalition will be able to break them down.
Most probably
the current coalition led by US will be able to dismantle ISIS
militarily but not ideologically. The task of dismantling ISIS bad ideas
and dangerous dogma is the vital battle that Muslims themselves led by
their scholars and clergy should undertake.
I will wind up with one of ISIS favorite verses that one always hears it narrated in the background, along with their official
ode/anthem in most of the execution and beheading videos. And according to ISIS “fitna” here means nonbelievers in Islam.
“And fight with them until there is no more fitna (unbelief) and religion should be only for Allah” Quran (8:39)
Postscript:
“This
post is not by any means intended to offend Muslims or degrade the
religion of Islam, rather it is a humble attempt by the author to
contribute to reforming the current fundamentalist Islamic narrative
that if not checked will unfortunately breed more violence, intolerance
and terrorism” Dr. Ashraf Ezzat
https://ashraf62.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/isis-and-islam-the-ugly-truth/
Donald P. Wilson, (and "Dogberry" too) “shapeshifted” (rumor is Jesus THE “mystical Taoist”, too!), GREAT
AMERICAN ARTEEST and the killers of this great gift to the USA? Ah,
yes, those that have been the most criminally insane of our species
since the beginning of the beginning to separate from our own
“humanity”, SEE: Dr. Ashraf Ezzat ~~ “My book is merely exposing the
forgery linked to the Septuagint Greek translation of the Hebrew tales
(never should have been called Bible by the way) …” ~ http://www.theartof12.blogspot.com/2015/06/super-pirates-today-and-see-egypt-knew.html
Brancusi and his dog were both practicing vegitarians
[SIDEBAR:
Rothko knew, too
[SIDEBAR#1: ? ~woman?! ~~ has either gone stark raving coo coo, or she is definitely what the reports have reported: Agenda~21 ~MONARCH SLAVE ..
The
vast majority of my patients (approaching 100%) had begun their tragic
descent into psychological hell when they were victimized by acute
and/or chronic psychological, emotional, physical, sexual and/or
spiritual violence and neglect (battered child syndrome, battered woman
syndrome, childhood or spousal domestic abuse, child neglect, clergy
sexual abuse, combat-induced PTSD, etc, etc), all traumas that led them
into America’s psychopharmaceutical system, a system that has been
dominated – starting in the 1950s with the first block-buster (and soon
discredited) psych drugs like Thorazine and Valium. Those two drugs were
among the first in a long line of brain-altering medications many of
which were later found to be far more dangerous that first advertised
and that are still being greedily manufactured by a long and growing
list of highly profitable megacorporations, all undergirded by very
conflicted, very pseudo-scientific “research” studies, misleading
advertising, and cunning 24/7 promotion that is designed to brainwash
both prescribers and “consumers”.
LEADER, COMMUNIST PARTY
The
Yellow Emperor or Huangdi is one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns
and culture heroes included among the Three Sovereigns and Five
Emperors. Tradition holds that Huangdi reigned from 2697 to 2597 or 2696
to 2598 BC. Wikipedia
IT CAN’T GET ANY SICKER than the Bruce Jenner transgender moment. But with the Jew-owned media pushing perversity it gets even sicker. The latest Jewish scheme to destroy Christian morality is their pageantry promoting “Caitlyn Jenner.”
Russia Today (Moscow), VT
Editor’s Note:
Obama moves from the rope-a-dope tactics of taking all that Bibi can
whip on him and not responding aggressively, by taking the initiative
here.
Author’s Note: 
