Islamic terrorism is a maliciously motivated misnomer used by those opposed to Islam for religious or political reasons. But the fact that many Muslims do have a tendency to think of the Muslims as a unified ‘Ummah’ that crosses cultural and national boundaries has helped to solidify this idea of an international Muslim terrorist conglomerateTerrorism is a difficult thing to define. Recent history, especially that of anti-colonial struggles, is full of organisations labelled as ‘terrorist’ that when successful in ‘liberating’ their homelands went on to become respectable.
Jewish groups like the Irgun and Lehi (The Stern Gang) fighting British occupation of Palestine during the late 1940s were responsible for many terrorist acts including the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem that killed scores of people including many ‘non-combatants’ and the assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte, a UN mediator. But the leaders of the Irgun and the Lehi (Begin and Shamir) went on to become prime ministers of the independent state of Israel. Yasser Arafat, head of arguably the most notorious anti-Israeli ‘terrorist’ organisations during the 1970s became the internationally respected president of the Palestinian National Authority after the ‘Oslo Accords’.
The same is true of most other national liberation movements. What is common among almost all of them is that they fight for a particular purpose, confine their actions almost entirely to the areas they wanted to liberate, do not target civilians primarily and cease their terrorist activities once they have achieved their stated political goals.
But all this changed after 9/11. Then onwards the idea that terrorists were usually freedom fighters was no longer valid. The US invasion of Afghanistan and then Iraq confused things interminably. Fighters for national liberation aside, there have always been individuals and fringe organisation that commit acts of terrorism and yet are not part of any movement with credible political or social aims and objectives. This will keep going on but will never make any lasting impact.
I have no intention to discuss al Qaeda or the entire concept of an Islamic movement fighting against the US and its interests internationally. Also, whether the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan is more like a classical national liberation movement is an issue that needs a separate discussion. However, there are two particular areas that do concern me as a Muslim and as an individual that has family in the US as well as in Pakistan.
First of course is the Taliban activity in Pakistan. The recent spate of terrorist attacks in Pakistan, especially in and around the city of Peshawar, is extremely distressing. It is impossible to fathom what political advantage could possibly accrue to the terrorists as a result of the ongoing suicide bombings. If the Pakistani Taliban have any political goals, they have clearly undermined them by indulging in these vicious attacks.
They have without doubt antagonised the very people whose support they need to establish the sort of politico-religious system they support in Pakistan. They have successfully mobilised public opinion in support of the Pakistan army’s action against them. Only time will tell whether these recent terrorist acts being committed by the Pakistani Taliban are a result of desperation or a part of some strategy that is not clear at this time.
Whatever the purpose of Taliban’s terrorism in Pakistan might be, every Pakistani must oppose the Taliban at this time. Anybody that still insists that all this has anything to do with Islam is clearly misguided.
The second thing that concerns me is the recent incident at Fort Hood, Texas. An American Muslim, born and brought up in the US, a psychiatrist and a serving member of the US armed forces went on a rampage within the premises of an army base and killed eleven people.
The response to this incident has been quite predictable. Many American conservatives and the ‘usual suspects’ among the anti-Muslim groups have labelled this incident an example of ‘Islamic terrorism’. The fact that the perpetrator was a Muslim and was opposed to the US campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan is enough evidence for them to come to this conclusion.
Islamic terrorism is a maliciously motivated misnomer used by those opposed to Islam for religious or political reasons. But the fact that many Muslims do have a tendency to think of the Muslims as a unified ‘Ummah’ that crosses cultural and national boundaries has helped to solidify this idea of an international Muslim terrorist conglomerate.
That said, the condition of Muslims in the US is unique. Of all countries in the West, it is the US that accepts Muslims unconditionally and does not discriminate against them in any official capacity. Therefore, Muslim Americans must also accept the US as their country and as such abide not only by its laws but also support the policies developed by its democratically elected governments with the caveat: “My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right” (Carl Schurz).
This brings me to the role of the mosque in the US. Most Muslim majority countries over the last many decades were ruled by pro-American dictators who denied their people any meaningful participation in the way the country was governed. As such the mosque often became the centre of anti-government activity and by extension of anti-American sentiment. This anti-authoritarian and anti-American sentiment that served an important purpose in Muslim majority countries has now also migrated to the mosques within the US.
Many ‘imams’ that lead these mosques and Islamic centres within the US repeat and perpetuate the virulent anti-Americanism that is so prevalent in mosques all over the Muslim world, especially in the Middle East and in countries like Pakistan. Clearly young Muslims growing up within the US are also constantly exposed to such ideas. The emotionally unstable among them might then just take it upon themselves to ‘set right’ what they see as American injustices through violence (jihad?) rather than through democratic means.
Whether we like it or not, just as the Muslims in Pakistan are responsible for creating the suicide bombers blowing things up these days, we the American Muslims are also equally responsible for creating the likes of Major Nidal Malik Hasan.
Syed Mansoor Hussain has practised and taught medicine in the US. He can be reached at smhmbbs70@yahoo.com and mhmbbs@aol.com
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