sign in sign up
<<
Home , Daniel Pipes, Islam and violence, Religion of peace

and Violence James D. Chancellor

James D. Chancellor is W. O. Introduction dynamic and varied religious tradition. In Carver Professor of Christian Missions Before offering any observations regarding a real sense, Islam is what think, and World at The Southern the relationship between Islam and vio- say, and do—as Muslims. And since there Baptist Theological Seminary. He has a lence, it is necessary to reflect briefly on my are nearly a billion Muslims spread over rich background in the studies of world ability to make such observations. I have much of the globe, Islam is a varied and religions and religious pluralism and has studied Islam for the past twenty-five most complex phenomenon. Clearly what specialized in and New years. I have visited numerous Muslim is “true Islam” to one Muslim is not to Religious Movements. Dr. Chancellor has nations, living and studying in , another. taught in several countries and is the , Malaysia, and the Philippines. For As to the teaching of the Qur’an, a simi- author of Life in the Family: An Oral nearly a month, I lived with a group of lar observation is to be made. Regardless History of the Children of (Syra- Muslim fundamentalist men on the banks of what the words are, the Qur’an means cuse University Press, 2000). of the Nile. I have had encounters at vari- what Muslims believe it means. And again, ous levels with Muslim scholars and lay that varies widely from community to people from around the world. So, I am community, and individual to individual. hopeful of offering some cogent observa- And certainly a Western Christian is in no tions. However, I am not a Muslim; I am a more a position to say what it “really” Baptist. I no longer read the Qur’an in means than an Arab Muslim is in a posi- , nor do I fellowship with Muslims. tion to say what the “really” means. As a Western Christian, my view will of But regardless of these limitations, we necessity be one “from the outside.” I will are still faced with the fact of “Islamic vio- attempt to step outside those limitations, lence,” and we need to come to terms with but it is not easy. The task is made even it as best as possible. While it is certainly more difficult by the recent murder of sev- true that most Muslims are not terrorists, eral members of my own faith community it is also true that in our current climate, by a Muslim who was apparently moti- most terrorists are Muslim. President Bush vated by religious concerns. I will do my has told us on any number of occasions best to offer a fair and balanced under- that Islam is a of peace. He has also standing of this most difficult issue. informed us that we worship the “same Since the tragedy of September 11, 2001, God.” has told us that I have been asked any number of questions Islam is an “evil religion.” Neither of these regarding Islam and these terrible acts of men is particularly well-informed about murder. The two most common are “Does the Islamic world, but they do help frame bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network rep- the question. Is violence more “at home” resent ‘true Islam’?” and “Are such violent in the ? Or more precisely, attacks on innocent people consistent with is Islam intrinsically violent? the Qur’an?” Neither of these questions is particularly wise. The first assumes Islam The Nature of is some kind of objective reality, clear and Before exploring that question, it is good definable, by which the actions of all Mus- to define clearly what we mean by “reli- lims can be judged. Rather, Islam is a gious violence.” Virtually all human soci- 42 eties are religious to one degree or another. world. And all human societies are violent, to one degree or another. When we speak of The Modern Transition “religious violence,” we are not simply Beginning in the seventeenth century, a speaking of violence done by religious profound ideological shift began in the people. While one might make a case for Christian West. This shift is a significant the Assyrians of late antiquity and the component of what we have come to know Mongols of the thirteenth century, it is hard as modernity. Gradually, but steadily, reli- to imagine a more violent people than gious institutions and religion itself began twentieth century Western Christians. Mil- to be separated from the state and thus lions upon millions of people perished in from the exercise of political power. This the conflicts of the twentieth century, con- ideological shift was given considerable flicts primarily involving the “Christian” impetus by the formation of the first secu- nations of the West. But while it may be lar state, the United States of America. The true that most of the men who attacked U. S. Constitution is, to my knowledge, the Pearl Harbor were Buddhists, that most of first political document in human history the men who dropped the atomic bombs that makes no claim to divine sanction, and on Japan were “Christians,” and many of no reference whatsoever to God. This those who were responsible for the Holo- “secularization” of the political apparatus caust were baptized Lutherans, none of moved steadily, so that by the twentieth these acts can be described as “religious century the view that it is inappropriate for violence.” For our purposes, religious vio- religious actors and institutions to employ lence is characterized as violent acts done the power of the state to achieve their reli- by religious people as religious people, gious goals had become normative, for informed and legitimized by a religious believers and non-believers alike. And vision, and for the purpose of achieving since the state is the only agent within specifically religious goals. society authorized to employ violence to Human history offers us many achieve its goals (war and the sys- examples of religious violence. It is hard tem), a corollary of this process is the elimi- to imagine a more “peaceful” religion than nation of violence as a legitimate tool of , yet the martial arts spring the religious enterprise. By the dawn of the directly from Chan (Zen) Buddhism. For twenty-first century, the vast majority of centuries, Korea boasted orders of “war- those in the modern West now view reli- rior monks.” Unfortunately, our own faith gious violence not only as illegitimate, but tradition offers far too many examples of abhorrent and evil. religious violence: the Crusades, the Inqui- It should be noted here that while this sition, the murder of thousands of Ana- position represents the vast majority of baptists, the execution of heretics in Western Christians, it is not necessarily the Geneva, constant conflicts between Catho- “Christian” perspective. Philip Jenkins has lic and Orthodox believers in Eastern brought sharp focus to the fact that the Europe, and the murder of hundreds of majority of practicing Christians no longer thousands of “witches” throughout late reside in the modern West, but rather in medieval Europe. Clearly, religious vio- Africa, Latin America, and Asia.1 Many of lence has not been limited to the Islamic these Christian communities have not 43 experienced the ideological transformation worse for you: God knows, and you know of modernity and, on occasion, employ not” ( 2:216).4 religious violence. The Naga peoples of There is a strong spiritual tradition that northeast India, the Igbo of southern teaches the struggle with one’s own desires Nigeria, and the indigenous Fijians come and passions is the “greater ” and the to mind immediately. physical struggle with an enemy is the “lesser Jihad.” Nonetheless, the Islamic tra- The Case of Islam dition, in both classical and contemporary Given the persistence of religious vio- manifestations, not only sanctions warfare lence across time and across traditions, we and violence, but also clearly establishes are still faced with the present reality of religion and religious goals as a casus “Islamic ” and repeated savage belli—a justification of war. The Qur’an acts against innocent persons in the name makes abundantly clear that God will base of Islam. These acts require us to frame the his judgment of men on their willingness question: “Is Islam more prone to vio- to fight “in the path of God”: “Those lence?” Or more precisely: “Is religious vio- believers who sit at home, other than the lence more at home in Islam than in other disabled, are not on equal level with those religions.” The simple answer to that ques- who strive in the path of God. … God has tion is “yes.”2 promised good to each, but God distin- President George Bush was rightly guished those who strive above those who motivated when he declared Islam to be a sit with a great reward” (Surah 4:95). and that the September To my knowledge, Islam is the only 11 terrorists had “hijacked” Islam. He faith that declares fleeing the battlefield to hoped to prevent unjust retaliation against be a grave sin (Surah 8:16). Jihad is indeed innocent Muslim people living in the the “sixth pillar” of the Islamic faith, and United States and to attempt to dispel the modern attempts to minimize or evade this notion that the coming response to the reality are both exegetically and histori- September 11 tragedy would be an attack cally imaginative. against Islam. However, right motivation However, identifying Jihad as an essen- does not necessarily lead to right observa- tial component of Islam merely describes; tion. Islam is not a religion of peace. There it does not explain. There is a reason for are a number of internal dynamics that Jihad and, thus, religious violence. And create strong predilections toward the use that reason lies in the very nature of the of force and violence to make the Islamic Islamic vision. Islam is certainly a religion, vision a reality on the earth. The first and but it is not merely a religion, or at least most obvious is the clear teachings of the not merely a religion in the modern West- sacred literature and subsequent theologi- ern sense of the word. Islam is a self-con- cal constructs. Jihad, or “striving for tained and fully-articulated program for Islam,”3 is a clear and unambiguous com- the complete ordering of human society. ponent of the Islamic faith: “Prescribed for From the very beginning, Islam was you is fighting, though it be hateful to you. directed squarely at the social fabric and Yet it may happen that you will hate a quickly developed a comprehensive pro- thing which is better for you; and it may gram for all of human conduct. This pro- happen that you will love a thing which is gram includes what we in the West 44 normally consider religious life, but also by nature; in general they are not. It is not the full range of social relationships, busi- so because Muslim people are more ness ethics, and, most significantly for our “fanatical” or “fundamentalist.” Nor is it discussion, political life and political struc- so because Muslims are more irrational or tures. Very quickly, this comprehensive driven by passions. It is so because Islam, vision was codified into a legal system, by its very nature, involves the reordering known as the Shari‘a, and it is so detailed of human political structures and institu- that mastery is a life-long task. It is the tions. And at all times and places, such Shari‘a that provides the context for Islam reordering has and will require the use of as a political force.5 force. At a critical moment in his life, Jesus Some years ago I attended a lecture looked into the eyes of Pilate and stated, given by a leading North African Muslim “My kingdom is not of this world.” cleric to a group of university students in Muhammed never made such a statement. the United States. He naturally chose the Law as his topic. The address was given The Model of the Prophet through a translator. As he concluded, he There is a second and closely related opened the session to a few questions, and reason for the tendency towards the use the first came from a young co-ed who of force and violence within Islam: the asked him, “Don’t you know that you can’t model of the Prophet. It is difficult to legislate morality?” The question was exaggerate the influence of Muhammed’s translated, and the cleric looked perturbed life on Muslims. While Muslim theology and asked for the question to be repeated. has consistently held to the full humanity The process was repeated, at which time of Muhammed, he is nonetheless under- the cleric became angry, pounded his fist stood to be the very model of true human- to the lecture stand, and shouted in Ara- ity, the ideal person God chose as the bic, “I will not do this again without a vehicle for His final and complete revela- competent translator.” The concepts that a tion to all of humankind. Muhammed is society could have morality without law, human, not divine. But he is the perfect that the law could or should be based on human. Muslims all over the globe grow anything but divine revelation, and that up reading and memorizing the sayings the law could function without political and deeds of the Prophet. And they rely enforcement were so foreign, so inconceiv- on this “” to shape and direct their able, that he assumed a faulty translation. lives. It is difficult to enter into an extended The vision of Islam includes discussion with a pious Muslim on any the eventual personal conversion of indi- topic, from religion to car repair, and not viduals, but begins with the establishment hear the Prophet quoted repeatedly.6 of “God’s reign on the earth.” This can only As the founder of the faith, Muhammed be accomplished under a Muslim ruler has a three-fold title: Prophet, Warrior, and who accepts the advice and direction of Statesman. As Prophet, he received the Islamic religious and legal experts. In all message of God for the “new world order.” times and places, political structures are As warrior, he employed what force was established and maintained through force. necessary to make that message a reality. Violence is endemic to Islam, but not As statesman, he developed the political because Muslim people are more violent systems and structures necessary to main- 45 tain the message. Muhammed was twice powerful and successful empire in human wounded in battle and was at the forefront history. And for almost nine hundred years when the Muslim army made their final they dominated the world. Islamic civili- conquests of the Arabian people. In gen- zation was the most militarily powerful, eral, Muslims take this aspect of the economically successful, and culturally prophet very seriously. creative that the world had seen. Every- I was once involved in an interfaith dia- thing seemed to be going as planned, and logue with a number of Muslim leaders. God clearly seemed to be on their side. One seemed particularly obsessed with the Then, beginning around 1750, everything Crusades and went on and on about the began to fall apart. By 1915, virtually the savagery and brutality of the “Christian” whole Islamic world had been overrun by armies. I finally had heard enough and Western Christian imperialists, and the responded that while the Crusades were Islamic world was in stunned disarray. terrible, it was not as if Muslims had not The response of the vast majority of rul- swung a sword or two as well. In all seri- ing elites was to become as much like the ousness, he looked across the table from West as possible, to emulate the colonial me and said, “That is true, but Jesus told masters in order to be free of them. They you not to.” He was right; Jesus did tell remained Muslim, but adapted to the me not to. And Muhammed, by his teach- modern, that is Western, world. By the mid ings and his deeds, not only employed vio- twentieth century, Western colonial rule lence, but also fully validated it as a means began to come to an end. Independent to achieve the religious vision that is Islam. nation states were formed, with the prom- ise of a brighter future. But the promise The Context for Violence soon faded, and the lives of most Muslim Bin Laden, as well as the Saudi, people did not improve. Egyptian, Indonesian, and other Muslim Beginning about 1950, first in Egypt participants in the attacks on New York, and then spreading quickly, a Washington, and Bali represent the most new response to Muslim failure and violent and extreme aspects of a broad and humiliation came to the fore. It was not popular movement in the Islamic world. that the Christian West was superior, but For better or worse, this movement has rather the West was evil. And Muslims had come to be termed “Islamic Fundamental- fallen prey to the evil ones because they ism.” While it is true that only a small per- had abandoned their faith and religious centage of Muslims have or will condone practice. In words that might be familiar the attacks of September 11 or October 12, to some, they had turned their back on a substantial percentage of Muslims would God, and God had lifted his protective veil. support the goals—they would fully To once again take their rightful place in understand the reasoning behind such the world, Muslims must rid themselves extreme action. Understanding why this of the social, economic, political, cultural, would be so requires some historical con- and religious oppression of the Christian text. West and establish an Islamic system for Beginning in the late seventh century, all of society. Such a goal can only be Muslims began to spread across much of achieved through a combination of reli- the globe and soon established the most gious revival and drastic political change. 46 And drastic political change rarely comes as “Islamic.” Suicide attacks9 like those without violence. occurring in , Russia, Kenya, Indone- In the early stages of the Fundamental- sia, and the United States are something ist movement, almost all the violence was new, in a religious tradition that generally directed at “corrupt” regimes within the abhors innovation. Islamic world.7 Several events, spaced over The explanation for this innovation lies a number of years, have redirected the vio- in the profound sense of humiliation, lence toward what is now perceived as the despair, and powerlessness that dominates true source of Muslim distress: the 1967 the world of Muslim extremists. Because war in which Israel took control of the holy of this profound sense of loss, and the over- city of Jerusalem and began the military whelming economic, military, and strate- occupation of the Palestinian people, the gic superiority of the enemy, some within Israeli invasion of and the entry the radical Islamic movement have opened of the United States military into that civil themselves to new interpretations of the war, and the first Gulf War and subsequent sacred literature. Because of the awesome stationing of “infidel” troops in the Mus- power of the enemy, any and all methods lim holy land of the Arabian Peninsula.8 of fighting are justified. From their per- These events, coupled with unwavering spective, the Christian West and their support of Israel, have placed the United proxy Israel have declared total war on States as target number one in the “battle Islam and Muslim people.10 And in total for Islam.” war, there are no “innocent” civilians. For many extremist Muslims, “martyrdom Martyrdom Operations operations” are the one method of over- While the religious affirmation of coming despair by striking a meaningful violence and the political and economic blow for Islam. They are of low cost to the depression of Muslims may help explain Muslim community and inflict great harm attacks against Western targets, something on the enemy. And the self-sacrifice more needs to be said regarding the nature implicit in such actions inspires others and of these attacks. Suicide attacks aimed at builds a spirit of optimism at a time when non-combatants are a new development there is very little reason to be optimistic. within Islam. Suicide has no support in the Clearly the most problematic aspect of scared literature, nor has it historical pre- “martyrdom operations” is that they kill, cedent. There is no tradition of honorable and even target, civilians. That fact alone suicide in Islam, and Islamic history offers should invalidate these operations. In fact, no positive models of suicide. The martyr many religious authorities in the Muslim is highly valued and promised great world have issued rulings against these reward in heaven, but up to very recently, types of operations.11 However, in the eyes the martyr was one who fell in battle of most Muslim radicals, the official reli- against an armed enemy. Likewise, the gious bodies no longer carry the moral Qur’an clearly precludes any attack on authority of Islam. They are generally innocent women and children. Muslim viewed as corrupted and under the control armies have been no more no less humane of evil political rulers. This attitude has gen- than other armies, but assault on innocent erally freed up the extremists to come to non-combatants has never been validated their own interpretations and judgments.12 47 The Future 5See , In the Path of God: Islam There seems little doubt that Islamic and Political Power (New York: Basic violence against the West will continue into Books, 1983) 10-13. the new century. Israel has been and will 6As a Christian, I have often been continue to be the primary source of Mus- troubled by the comparison between our lim angst and humiliation. The American traditions in this regard. We hold a much and allied occupation of Afghanistan and higher view of Jesus as the Son of God. Iraq will provoke even greater hatred for Yet, though one is unlikely to hear a ser- the West, enhance the already strong sense mon that does not reference Jesus, it is of victimization among radical Muslims, quite easy to go weeks, even months and, more than likely, increase their num- without hearing Jesus quoted. bers. The official Islamic establishment, 7It is perhaps important to note here that which is considerably more moderate in almost all cases, Islamicist movements throughout the entire world, appears to be were first the subjects of state violence in no position to influence the extremists— and took up violence themselves in let alone control them. However, that is response. where hope for the future lies. At some 8It is difficult to overstate how this act has point, the legitimate angered and humiliated those on the must lead ordinary Muslims to see that extreme edge of the Islamicist move- these radical interpretations of the Jihad ment. It is roughly akin to some Muslim tradition are not only non-Islamic, but also nation stationing troops in Vatican City. ultimately destructive to the moral fiber of To add to the insult, there are female the Muslim community. But I fear many troops driving tanks, in a country that more will die before that day dawns. does not allow women to drive automo- biles. ENDNOTES 9Muslims know these attacks as “Martyr- 1Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: the dom Operations.” Coming of Global (New York: 10It should be noted that this understand- , 2002). ing is not drawn from thin air. While we 2For an alternate answer to that question, in the West are made constantly aware see Bruce B. Lawrence, Shattering the of Israeli casualties from these types of Myth: Islam Beyond Violence (Princeton: attacks, the body count is at least three Princeton University Press, 1998). In this to one, with three times as many Pales- work, Lawrence makes a case for Islam tinian civilians dying at the hands of as a complex international religious sys- Israeli occupation forces. tem that cannot be reduced to simple ste- 11The Sheik of Al Azhar University in reotypes or generalizations. , the closest thing to an Islamic 3“Striving for Islam” and “striving in the Pope, categorically rejected suicide path of God” are common euphemisms operations some years ago. Others have for engaging in armed combat to achieve been slower to respond. However, when Islamic goals. the operations strike home, action is 4All Quranic quotations taken from A. J. taken. After the attacks on Saudi soil, the Arberry, The Koran Interpreted (New York: Saudi acted to “re-educate” MacMillian, 1955). all the clergy, demanding they teach 48 against suicide operations as un- Islamic and dismissing any who failed to do so. In 2002 was struck by attacks that have had a very serious negative impact on the economy. The Indonesian Coun- cil of Ulemas issued a binding decree in December of 2003, citing any form of terrorism as unaccept- able under any definition of Jihad and falling outside the teaching of the Qur’an. 12In general, the contemporary radi- cal Islamic movement is a lay-led affair. Most of the leading thinkers are not theologically trained. Though bin Laden lays claim to the title of “Sheik,” he is in fact a very successful hardware salesman.

49