Terrorism, Jihad, and the Muslim Community - A Malaysian Perspective
Elina Norr
von Elina Norr
The face of terrorism has not yet been fashioned. However, these days, it seems that the mask of a Muslim zealot could very well be its mould, particularly in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Broadcasts of rejoicing Palestinians were juxtaposed with pictures of the physical and emotional devastation that accompanied the collapse of the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon, and clips of protesting Indonesians burning U.S. flags in the first phase of the U.S. attacks in Afghanistan fuelled Samuel Huntington's thesis of a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West.
The history of terrorism, long before September 11, reveals a cruel indiscrimination in its perpetration and choice of victims in seeking to fulfill diverse political aims. "Bloody Friday" 1972 in Belfast which killed 11 people and injured 130; the 1984 bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut; the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airline over Lockerbie; the Hebron massacre in the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan in 1994 by Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish settler; the 1995 Tokyo subway nerve gas poisoning; and the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing; and the recent suicide bombing in Netanya, Israel, killing 19 who were seated to a Passover dinner are only but a few examples. Yet the enormity of September 11, its alleged perpetration by Al-Qaeda, and frequent mention by extreme Islamist groups of the pilots' supposed martyrdom have spotlighted the uneasy and ill-conceived relationship between Islam and terrorism. Misconception or otherwise, the fact remains that in no other religion has the conflation of terrorism and Islam become so entrenched. Even more unfortunate is the fact that this bemoaned phenomenon finds part of its fault in the Muslim world, itself.
Certainly, there is justification in the Muslim world's outcry of Westerners viewing Islam as an essentially fanatical and violent religion. Prejudice, stemming from lack of knowledge about the religion, itself, and how it is practised in moderate Muslim countries, is exacerbated by sometimes biased and misleading media coverage. Even respected news media are guilty of stoking the flames of sensationalism - a February 7, 2002 report by Raymond Bonner in the New York Times under the headline, "How Qaeda Linked Up With Malaysian Groups" was reproduced in the International Herald Tribune under the headline, "In Malaysia, Word Spreads That the West is Islam's Foe".Propagation of, and insistence on, Islam as a religion of peace, tolerance and harmony by moderate Muslims is all well and good but words must be supported by deeds, as well. Indeed, it becomes even more crucial when the voice of the moderate is deafeningly drowned by the explosions of the extreme. The perception gap of Islam between the Muslim world and the West, undoubtedly, has to be reduced but if any real change in understanding is to be expected, it must begin from within the ummah - the Muslim community - itself. As Egyptian writer, Fahmi Howeidi, observed, "The best way to improve the image of Islam is for Muslims themselves to set a correct example of what Islam is about".[i] This theme will be returned to a little later on.
While on the surface, the unity of the Muslim Brotherhood seems unshakeable, at its core, the Muslim community is now more divided than ever. The politics of the division between the Shi'ite's and the Sunni's which historically began from a disagreement on the successor of Prophet Muhammad, p.b.u.h., as Caliph (leader of the ummah), is one early example. The inability of the Muslim community to help end the struggle of the largely Muslim Palestinian population in the Occupied Territories which has been ongoing for nearly 40 years also provides another example. The acronym of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has, in fact, been ridiculed to stand for, "Oh! I see", a body which holds and expresses views but does little else.[ii]
At two OIC meetings recently concluded in Kuala Lumpur - the three-day special session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers on Terrorism, 1-3 April 2002; and the Seventh Conference of the Ministers of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, 6-8 May 2002 - representatives held differences on the condemnation of suicide attacks as acts of terror, and declined to settle on a definition of terrorism although underlining the "urgency for an internationally agreed definition of terrorism, which differentiates such legitimate struggles from acts of terrorism"[iii]. Malaysian Prime Minister, in his inaugural statement at the first meeting, offered his definition of terrorism to include "armed attacks or other forms of attack against civilians...whether the attackers are acting on their own or on the orders of their Governments, whether they are regulars or irregulars, if the attack is against civilians, then they must be considered as terrorists". This would, he explained, cover "the attack on the World Trade Center, the human bomb attacks by Palestinians and the Tamil Tigers, the attacks against civilians by Israeli forces, the killings of Bosnian Muslims and others...". The Kuala Lumpur Declaration, however, rejected "any attempt to link terrorism to the struggle of the Palestinian people in the exercise of their inalienable right to establish their independent state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif (Jerusalem) as its capital"[iv].
Similarly, at the second meeting Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, called for a jihad to "uplift our peoples from the throes of poverty" and for it (jihad) not (to) be pursued with guns and bombs"[v]. Saudi Arabia's minister for Islam, Sheik Salleh Abdul Aziz Mohammed, differed at a news conference. Whilst agreeing with the jihad to overcome poverty, as espoused by Abdullah, he maintained that, "The suicide bombings are permitted...the victims are considered to have died a martyr's death." This dissension was quickly picked up on by an Associated Press report in the International Herald Tribune on 7 May, 2002[vi].
[i] Remark made at the Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers on Terrorism, April 1-3 2002, Kuala Lumpur, quoted from a report by the Associated Press appearing on The New York Times On The Web, April 1, 2002, "Muslim Leaders Open Conference".
[ii] Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, called attention to this in his Keynote Address at the OIC Conference of the Ministers of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, 7 May 2002, Kuala Lumpur.
[iii] Kuala Lumpur Declaration on International Terrorism Adopted At The Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers on Terrorism, para. 8.
[iv] Ibid., para.10.
[v] Speech of Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, in conjunction with the Opening Ceremony of the OIC Conference of the Ministers of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, 6 May 2002, Kuala Lumpur.
[vi] "Muslim Nations Can't Agree To Condemn Suicide Attacks," Associated Press reported in the International Herald Tribue, 7 May 2002.
Fortsetzung: Terrorism, Jihad, and the Muslim Community - A Malaysian Perspective
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