Both Western and Muslim communities tend to understate, if not hide, the strong link that exists between Islamism and terrorism. This is demonstrated by the lukewarm reactions to the killings of Christians in Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan and the indifference and silence with regard to the massacres between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq.
Instead, it is essential to understand the intrinsic bond which exists between Islamism and terrorism. Islamism, this literalist interpretation of the Koran and the Sunna, arrogates the right to penetrate into the details of the believer’s life and to determine every aspect of his behaviour. In this way, it easily transforms the believer into a docile instrument in the hands of those who hold religious authority.
The experience of an ex-terrorist
Here’s the example of one of these terrorists, an Egyptian doctor who in the end abandoned the way of terror and is starting a new life in the West. He uses the pseudonym Tawfik Hamid and writes:
“As a former member of Jemaah Islamiya, a group led by al Qaeda’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, I know firsthand that the inhumane teaching in Islamist ideology can transform a young, benevolent mind into that of a terrorist. Without confronting the ideological roots of radical Islam it will be impossible to combat it. While there are many ideological “rootlets” of Islamism, the main tap root has a name–Salafism, or Salafi Islam, a violent, ultra-conservative version of the religion.”
Tawfik Hamid correctly and very clearly affirms that the root of terrorism is Salafism. Because the Salafites want to apply Shariah literally, and Shariah includes violence, they accept violence.
“The grave predicament we face in the Islamic world, Tawfik Hamid also says, “is the virtual lack of approved, theologically rigorous interpretations of Islam that clearly challenge the abusive aspects of Shariah.”
As for liberal movements, including Sufism, they do not offer the theological basis for completely eliminating violence in Shariah.
The ambiguous and weak reactions of many Westerners
On the other hand, Western intellectuals who fight for human rights do not dare to criticize Shariah and all that is inhumane in it. They instead try to find socio-political excuses to justify it. Often these intellectuals limit themselves to being self-critical and are afraid to criticize the Islamists. This submissive behaviour reinforces the Islamist position. For example, with the Mohammad caricatures affair, violent demonstration began various months after the caricatures had been published in Denmark, when the newspaper had already apologized to Muslim: only then did the entire Muslim world feel itself justified to engage in violent protests. Apologies (even those of the Church) are perceived by Islamists as a mark of weakness.
Another example is fitting here. At the end of the 1980s, the then Archbishop of Palermo, Cardinal Salvatore Pappalardo (deceased December 6, 2006) decided to offer Muslims (mainly Tunisians) the 16th-century church dedicated to San Paolino dei Giardinieri, which was in disuse at the time. Catholic media unanimously praised this gesture as a sign of brotherhood. And it no doubt was. But the following day, Tunisian and Egyptian newspapers came out with big headlines saying, “Crescent victorious over Cross. A cardinal must give up a church to Muslims.” Then the municipal government did restoration works on the building before handing it over to the Tunisian government which is managing it on the basis of a 1990 agreement. The Muslims have hidden (or eliminated?) two trinitarian sculptures with pieces of white marble on the ancient church’s entrance. (See: The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author only, not of Spero News.
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