A Critical Review: Katharine C. Gorka & Patrick Sookhdeo (eds.). Fighting the Ideological War: Winning Strategies from Communism to Islamism McLean: Isaac Publishing 2012, 240 pp; ISBN: 978-0985310905; $15. Reviewed by Zubair Qamar 1 Contents Introduction and Outline of the Review .............................................................................. 7 Part-1: Biographies of Authors and Institutions of Affiliation .......................................... 10 Patrick Sookhdeo ........................................................................................................... 10 Katharine C. Gorka – and The Westminster Institute ................................................... 11 Isaac Publishing ............................................................................................................. 12 Stephen Ulph ................................................................................................................. 13 John H. Moore ............................................................................................................... 13 Robert Reilly ................................................................................................................. 13 Thomas Joscelyn ........................................................................................................... 13 John Lenczowski ........................................................................................................... 14 Sebastian Gorka ............................................................................................................. 14 Knowledge of the Authors’ Background ....................................................................... 15 Part-2: Book Structure, Organization, and Related Issues ................................................ 15 Initial Observations ....................................................................................................... 15 Lessons from the Cold War to Defeat Islamism? .......................................................... 15 Grammar, Spelling, and Terminology ........................................................................... 16 Grammar and Phrases .................................................................................................... 16 Irrelevant Chapters ........................................................................................................ 17 Part-3: Identification of the “Enemy” ................................................................................ 18 Two General Kinds of “Islamists” ................................................................................ 18 The Majority of Classical Sunni Muslims as Accomplices to “Islamists” .................... 18 The “Progressive Reformers” ........................................................................................ 20 Is This a War on Islam? ................................................................................................. 20 Part-4: The Cold War Approach of the Authors, and the Utility of Applying Any Purported Lessons to the Battle Against Islamists. ........................................................... 20 The Cold War as a Battle of “Ideologies” ..................................................................... 20 The Cold War: Exaggerating Ideology? ........................................................................ 21 Part-5: The Authors’/Editors’ Views and Arguments ....................................................... 22 General View of Authors/Editors .................................................................................. 22 Detailed Views of Authors/Editors ............................................................................... 23 2 Introduction: Katharine C. Gorka and Patrick Sookhdeo .......................................... 23 Chapter-1: Patrick Sookhdeo ..................................................................................... 24 Chapter-2: Stephen Ulph ........................................................................................... 24 Chapter-3: John H. Moore ......................................................................................... 25 Chapter-4: John Lenczowski ..................................................................................... 25 Chapter-5: Robert Reilly ........................................................................................... 26 Chapter-6: Thomas Joscelyn ..................................................................................... 27 Chapter-7: Sebastian Gorka ....................................................................................... 27 Part-6-11: Responding to the Authors’ Arguments ........................................................... 29 Part-6: Islamism - Exaggerating the Role of “Ideology”? ................................................. 29 Islamism Beyond Ideology ............................................................................................ 29 Al-Qa’eda Beyond Ideology .......................................................................................... 31 Part-7: Comparison of the Understanding of Politics and Ideology in Classical Sunni Islam with the Political Ideology of Islamist Movements Today ...................................... 32 Is Classical Sunni Islam a Political Ideology? .............................................................. 32 Classical Sunni Islam and Caliph-Scholar Dynamics: Separation of ‘Religion and State’ .............................................................................................................................. 34 How Modern Islamism Differs from Classical Islam’s Tradition in the Political Realm ....................................................................................................................................... 35 The Altering of the Religious Scholar-and-Caliph Arrangement that had Existed for Over 1,000 Years in Classical Sunni Tradition ............................................................. 36 Religion as a “Vehicle” ................................................................................................. 37 Does Today’s “Islamic State” Mimic the Early Muslims? ........................................... 38 Shari’ah’s Penal Code ................................................................................................... 40 Summary of Differences Between Classical Islam and Modern Islamism ................... 41 Part-8: Jihad in Classical Sunni Islam Compared with “Jihad” as Understood by Militants Today ................................................................................................................................. 41 Jihad in Classical Sunni Islam – an Overview .............................................................. 42 War as Part of the Norm ................................................................................................ 43 Non-Muslims Under Muslim Rule ................................................................................ 43 The Petering Out of Offensive Jihad ............................................................................. 44 Non-Muslims Helped Muslims in Jihad ........................................................................ 44 3 Caliphs Were Tolerated More Than Supported ............................................................. 44 The Pseudo-“jihads” of Today: Contradicting Classical Sunni Tradition ..................... 45 Advocacy of Peace Over War Today as the Norm ........................................................ 45 Muslims Today and “Abrogation” of Peaceful Qur’anic Verses .................................. 46 Jihad versus Terrorism .................................................................................................. 48 Division of the World into Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Kufr ............................................. 50 Summary Overview of This Section ............................................................................. 52 Part-9: Religion and Terrorism .......................................................................................... 53 Hirabah, Muharib, and Muharibun/Hirabiyyun – Terrorism, Terrorist, and Terrorists55 Irhab, Irhabi, and Irahabiyyun – Terrorism, Terrorist, and Terrorists ........................... 56 Irjaf, Irjafi, and Irajafiyyn/Murjifun – A Better Translation of Terrorism, Terrorist, and Terrorists ........................................................................................................................ 56 The Khawarij as Murjifun/Irjafiyyun and Today’s al-Qa’eda ...................................... 57 Classical Sunni Scholars Who Accused the Khawarij of Disbelief .............................. 57 Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali Of the famous Sunni scholar and Sufi, al-Ghazali, Ibn Hajar said: .................................................................................................................. 58 Does Islam Teach and Condone Terrorism? Sookhdeo says, ...................................... 58 Al-Qa’eda Recruits Know Little About Islam ............................................................... 59 The “Verse of the Sword” ............................................................................................. 60 Foreign Policy and Terrorism ........................................................................................ 61 The Problem of “Root-Cause Theory” ...................................................................... 61 Exaggerating