Disclaimer:

Strategy:

Islam by the numbers:

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          The pre-eminent doctrine of Islam is Tawahid, meaning Unity. This flows from the Oneness of Allah, which requires monotheism.

          Islam does not recognize artificial divisions in practice or thought, such as any separation between politics and religion or between religion and economics or between public and private.

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          The second pillar of Islam is "Salat" or prayer. Muslims pray five times a day, at dawn, mid-day, late afternoon, sunset, and nightfall.

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          The division between Sunni and Shia, came at the Battle of Karbala in 680. The political division introduced by the dispute over legitimate leadership of the Muslim community has led to different styles of political organization.

          Shia prefer those hadith (collected sayings or conversations) narrated by Ali and Fatima over those hadith related by other companions of the Prophet. They differ in the form of some practices, ritual of prayer, etc.

          The most well-known is Ashura, or commemoration of mourning for Hussein, who was slain at Karbala.

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          Some Muslims find any emphasis on the division between Dar al Islam and Dar al Harb a western distortion because of the historical context of the political and religious decisions involved and its origin in the Fiqh Hanafi, ("Madhaheb" or school of law interpretation) not in the Qur’an or Sunnah.

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          The third pillar of Islam is "Zakat" or charitable contributions, but the word means both purification and growth.

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         The fourth pillar of Islam is "Sawm" or fasting, defined as abstaining from eating, drinking or sexual relations with one’s spouse during the Holy month of Ramadan. Muslims observe it from puberty or earlier, with exceptions for illness, pregnancy or travel that can be made up at a later time when able.

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         There are four main "Madhaheb" or school of law interpretation within Sunni Islam.

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          The fifth pillar of Islam is "Hajj" or pilgrimage to Mecca in the twelfth (Lunar) Islamic month.

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"Cultural Islam" means primarily just the observance of life cycle rituals--circumcision, marriage and funerals--and avoidance of pork. In the former Soviet Union, many Muslims violate the prohibition against alcohol, and perhaps only observe the first three days of Ramadan. They "talk the talk" but don’t pray five times a day until they retire from their jobs. Commonly the most religious segments of the population are men 15-30 and 60 and older.

"Traditional Islam" means the acceptance of indigenous traditions blended with Islamic practices. Many traditional Muslims are eager to learn more about Islam and to follow it, but their daily practice of life may involve using fire as a symbol during the marriage ceremony, visiting the graves of saints to ask Allah for help, visiting springs, caves or large, old trees for periods of spiritual retreat and prayer--all strictly forbidden in Islam.

"Sufi Islam" means the practice of rituals under the guidance of a charismatic teacher/ Sufi Master (Sheikh, Pir), or in order to ascend in personal knowledge and mystical, emotional experience of God. Through absolute obedience and dependence, the Murid (student) learns the dhikr (rituals of prayer and physical movement, which may include dance) of the Tariqiyya (order, secret brotherhood).
"The student is in the hands of his teacher like a corpse in the hands of the corpse washer."

          Sufism represents a reaction against the legalism of orthodox Islam and relies on the allegorical understanding of texts. Sufi movements have been instrumental in the spread of Islam after the 12th Century. Sufi movements have often incorporated traditional indigenous practices, which brings them condemnation from the orthodox purists.

"Modernist Islam" (1840-1940) represents a reaction against the western infidel domination as manifested in colonization and globalization. Western domination represents a contradiction of Allah’s blessing on the faithful. The contradiction has been addressed two ways:

A) The Jadid movement pushed for the reformation or establishment of schools that would teach western languages, science and engineering to compete with the West. Jadidism (New methods) demanded political liberalization and established newspapers all over the Islamic world.

          The revivalist movement argued that Muslims had lost Allah’s blessing because they had departed from the original example of life set by Mohammed and the first three generations of his followers. The "Salafi" movement argued for reform in terms of a "strict constructivist" or literal interpretations of the Qur’an, Sunna and Hadith.

B)           The Salafi movement is commonly called Wahhabism after Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792), who dedicated his teaching to destroying Sufi practices that he called corruptions (praying at the tombs of prophets, etc.) introduced by Bida (innovation, reformation) and Shirk (idolatry).

Muslim critics of Salafism complain that Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792):

• Rejected ijma` (scholarly consensus) and qiyas (analogy);
• Rejected the methodological foundations of ijtihad (deriving qualified judgment) and
  taqlid (following qualified judgment).
• Practiced takfir, which is declaring Muslims unbelievers.

          An alliance between Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and Muhammad bin Saud enabled Wahhabism to spread in areas that Ibn Saud conquered. B) Wahhabi Islam is the official religion of Saudi Arabia, which has used its oil wealth to finance mosques, seminaries, publications and university chairs for the promotion of Islam. Salafi Muslims do not necessarily believe in forcing conversion of killing all infidels. Most are doctrinally rigid, but peaceful.

          Rashid Rida, was a naive, earnest, and religiously strict journalist with a strong desire to reform Islam. His desire for reform manifested itself when he joined the moderate Naqshbandi Sufi order and when he decided to study with the pan- Islamist agitator Jamalu'd-Din Asadabadi "al-Afghani" (1839-1897). After the death of al-Afghani, young Rida became the disciple of the worldly, broadminded Mohammad Abduh (the Chief Mufti of Egypt). He is a transitional figure, inspiring Hasan al-Banna, the founder of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. He provided another, stronger philosophical basis for Salafi thought. He fought against the belief that the interpretation of the Qur’an through reasoning (Ijtihad) was closed--an idea derived from the Abbasid dynasty.

Does Salafi Islam represent Islamism?

"Allah is the only one that must be worshipped on Earth, and the only way to guarantee this is to control all the land masses, air and sea and give Islam the proper channel to be heard by the people."

• 1) Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood
• 2) The Deobandi Movement that inspired the Afghan Taliban
• 3) Saudi government support for Wahhabism

1) The Muslim Brotherhood

          Hasan al-Banna (1906-1949) became a member of the Hasafiyya Brothers' Sufi order at a young age. His early participation in dhikr circles and avid reading of Sufi literature help explain why he always saw the moral reform of the individual as a precondition to the Islamization of society. In March 1928, with his brother and five others, he established the Jama'at al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (Muslim Brotherhood) to create an organizational structure that would become a state within a state.

         He sought to embody eight major goals or principles in the Muslim Brotherhood:

         Hasan al-Banna moved to Cairo, which in the 1920s was boiling with political and intellectual movements. Arab nationalism and socialism were gaining in power, polarizing the Islamic Modernists. Al-Banna argued against them all and in favor of establishing a pure (Salafi) Islamic state. While studying in Cairo, he immersed himself in the writings of the founders of Islamic reformism (the Salafiyya movement), including the Egyptian Muhammad 'Abduh (1849-1905), under whom his father had studied while at Al-Azhar. But it was 'Abduh’s disciple, the Syrian Rashid Rida (1865-1935), who most influenced Al-Banna. Through the organizational skills he would soon demonstrate, Al-Banna did more than any other thinker during that time to contribute to the eclipse of Islamic reformism and modernism by Islamic fundamentalism.

         In anchoring this organization into Egyptian society, Al-Banna skillfully relied on pre-existing social networks, in particular those built around mosques, Islamic welfare associations, and neighborhood groups. This weaving of traditional ties into a distinctively modern structure was at the root of his success. By 1934, the Ikhwan had established more than fifty branches in Egypt. They set up numerous schools, mosques and factories. At the end of World War Two, the Ikhwan had over half a million active workers and around twice as many supporters (some sources say around 3 million).

A "secret apparatus" (al-jihaz al-sirri) was formed that engineered a series of assassinations of enemies of the brotherhood. In response to a Brotherhood organized assassination of a government official, the government organized his assassination February 12, 1949 at the age of 43.

         The Brotherhood continued to grow and expand to all other Muslim countries, even though it was marked by splits and divisions. After involvement in the Free Officer’s Revolution that overthrew King Farouk in 1952, government repression drove the movement to shift its headquarters to Saudi Arabia. (Mahmoud Mamdani)

2) The Deobandi Movement

         Under the influence of Sayed Ahmed Khan a puritanical reform and modernization movement arose in the town of Deoband, in reaction to British colonial abuses. Although not especially violent or proselytizing, this movement totally rejected any contact or influence from non-Muslims. Hasan al-Banna had profoundly influenced an effective writer and teacher within the Deobandi movement named Sayyid Abul Ala Mawdudi (1903-1979). Mawdudi advocated the creation of an Islamic state governed by Sharia law, as interpreted by Shura (councils).

          Maududi founded the Jama'at-e-Islami and governed it from 1941 -1972. Mawdudi was totally intolerant of rule by non-Muslims. He tried to explain the decline of Muslim power, and concluded that diversity was the culprit. Interfaith mixing had weakened and watered down the practice of Islam, and therefore, Islam must be purged of all foreign elements. All non-Muslims are by definition a threat to Muslims.

          The Meccan opponents of Mohammed who rejected his message out to ignorance, arrogance and stubbornness and loyalty to pagan beliefs. People in pre-Islamic ignorance are described as "jahiliya." Maududi formulated a new definition of jahiliyya to describe Muslims who by their departure from "pure" Islam (as he defined it) have committed apostasy (renouncing the faith). The Qur’anic verses on jihad impose a duty to fight unbelievers--jahiliya.

2) Mawdudi+ Qutb=Ideas Spread Internationally
Deobandi ideas mix with the Muslim Brotherhood

          Maududi in turn heavily influenced a teacher and writer named Sayyed Qutb, one of the members of the Muslim Brotherhood imprisoned and tortured by the Egyptian government. Qutb combined traditional religious training in Egypt with modern secular education, including his MA in education from the University of Northern Colorado in 1948.

          Bruce B. Lawrence describes Sayyid Qutb as "the intellectual hero of every one of the groups that eventually went into Al Qaeda, their Karl Marx (to put it that way), their guide."

Back to The Muslim Brotherhood

In his most popular book, "Signposts on the Road" (1964) Qutb wrote,

          Qutb himself never explicitly advocated violence against individuals, but through his prison writings provided the intellectual rational for attacks on nominally Muslim governments, by declaring them infidels. This argument now sustains militants across the Arab world. Qutb is not a fundamentalist, but a revolutionary, creating a new form of Islam modeled after the revolutionary puritanism of the French Revolution.

Qutb (like Lenin) urged the creation of a vanguard of believers who would lead a war against jahiliya. "This far-reaching struggle that continuously exhausts all forces and this employment of all possible means are called jihad"

3) The Muslim Brotherhood + the Wahhabi Movement

          The Muslim Brotherhood gradually took control of Saudi intellectual life. This mixture of Wahhabi fundamentalism and Brotherhood activism led to a critical shift in strategy and tactics. Attacks on the Saudi family and on the Great Mosque in Mecca in November 20, 1979 brought Islamists (Egyptian Islamic Jihad) into conflict with their hosts.

Development of Islamism

          The Islamic Revolution in Iran played a role in legitimizing attacks on the Saudi royal family as too secular.

The Global Islamist Movement:

          Many Islamists moved to Pakistan and Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. Ronald Reagan used the Saudis, and the Pakistani ISI to funnel support to Wahhabis fighting the Soviets. This brought the activists from the Muslim Brotherhood, the Saudi Wahhabis and the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban--inspired by Deobandi teaching--into one movement dedicated to a political liberation theology.

          Meanwhile, (reportedly*) in 1963, a rich, 16 year old Saudi, beer-drinking engineering student in Beirut who likes the casinos, the blondes and his Christian girlfriend Rita is called back home because he has neglected his studies. *According to Adam Robinson, Bin Laden: Behind the Mask of a Terrorist

          Osama studies civil engineering at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah. At age 20 he begins to take Islam seriously, joining the Muslim Brotherhood. He graduates at age 22 and leaves to join the Afghan resistance. In 1988, he establishes "The Base" as a central coordinating "NGO" to provide training, logistical aid, financing and propaganda for a coalition of Islamic groups, especially for the Afghan resistance movement. One year later, the Soviets pull out of Afghanistan and Osama returns to Saudi Arabia as a hero.

          After Iraq invades Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia invite infidels only Holy Soil, the ruling family confines Osama to virtual house arrest because of his opposition. Osama flees to Sudan where large numbers of ex-mujhideen have come.

          In 1992, Osama sets up a number of legitimate businesses in Sudan-- a tannery, a road construction company, and two large farms, thus winning favor with the government. He is able to bring in hundreds of mujahidin as his employees. US intelligence accuses him of his first attack on US interests when a bomb in Yemen narrowly misses some US soldiers.

          In 1993, men trained and armed by Osama kill 18 US troops in Mogadishu, Somalia. Various other small-scale attacks follow every few months. Osama builds 4 more training camps in several countries. In April 1994, Saudi Arabia revokes his citizenship.

          In May 1996, under international pressure, Sudan expels him, and Osama moves back to Afghanistan.

          August 23, 1996, Osama issues his declaration of war against America: 1) to liberate holy sites, drive American troops out of Holy Arabia, overthrow the Ahl Saud family and support other Islamist movements.

          Ayman al-Zawahiri argued for a scientific, confrontational and rational use of inspirational slogans to mobilize the masses for a global jihad. The target shifted from jahiliya Muslim rulers to the "far-away" enemy.

          Al Zawahiri and bin Laden believed that by striking civilians in the West they could provoke an attack on Muslim lands. They believed that Muslims would react with a massive popular uprising to overthrow corrupt and oppressive, autocratic, Muslim rulers. Their goal was always the purification of Muslim countries by Muslims. They believed that the only way to rouse this popular revolt was through the images created by Western attacks on Muslim countries.

          Therefore, the suffering of Muslims--their grievances-- are not enough for a revolution. Al Zawahiri and bin Laden are political entrepreneurs, rationally employing vast resources as instrumental tools, and engaging in the strategic management of images to establish a new world view.

          We need both rational-instrumental and framing perspectives to explain the global Islamic Jihad movement.

          Mamdani argues that early experiences of many Islamist leaders in the Trotskyist or Maoist left formed their world-view toward a deep faith in politically and ideologically motivated violence. The core of the religion has been redefined and subordinated to the political project of liberation from western domination.

Required the redefinition of key terms in Islamic discourse: