| WEST STRATEGY TO USE ‘MUSLIM’ NETWORK TO COUNTER ISLAM |
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| Sunday, 27 April 2008 | ||||||
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The west in the process of countering Islam has implemented various methodologies in the past. Current scenario in the world has made west to make some bold steps to curtail Islam by creating an Islamophobic atmosphere through various channels. The following is the suggestions prepared by RAND a non-profit organization in US to curtail what they call ‘Radical” Islam, and referring politically active Muslims as ‘Islamists’ and suggesting ways to counter them in the process of countering terrorism. We have witnessed in history the various methodologies adopted by the west to counter Islam and to destroy Muslims, which included wars, false propaganda, misinformation, colonialism etc., at this current age the new strategy they are planning to implement is to create a group of Muslim name holding ‘intellects’ to speak against Islamic principles, to question the fundamental doctrine of Islam, to doubt the divine nature of the Allah’s revelation because so far it was orientalists who questioned the authenticity of Islam but if Muslim name holders question their own faith it will have more impact and less hostility towards west. The following research study recommends forming such ‘moderate’ Muslims, ‘secular’ Muslims and to support them in every possible way and make their ideology prevalent amongst Muslim world to bolster the insurgence of Muslims and to diffuse their rage against the western imperialism. One thing is very evident from such strategy studies that west totally against the ‘’Saudi form’ of Islam,[the way how west refers to those who follow purely Qur’an and Authentic Sunnah] which they call it as ‘Wahabi’ form of Islam, which is a misnomer. They are working hard to formulate many ways to counter the true Da’wah of Islam for this they are intelligently using so called ‘moderate’ and ‘secular’ Muslims against true Muslims who adhere to Qur’an and Authentic Sunnah, understanding it according to the methodology of the pious predecessors in which Allaah has mentioned true victory and success of whole mankind lies. The research described in this report was sponsored by the Smith Richardson Foundation and was conducted under the auspices of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy. The RAND Corporation (Research ANd Development) is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces. The organization has since expanded to working with other governments, private foundations, international organizations, and commercial organizations. Reportedly, it is known for rigorous, often-quantitative, and non-partisan analysis and policy recommendations. On the strategic level, the United States understood at the beginning of the Cold War that network building was a vital part of its overall strategy. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to create an institutional structure within the U.S. government to guide, support, oversee, and continuously monitor the effort. Within the framework of this structure, the U.S. government must build up the necessary expertise and capacity to execute the strategy. We [referring to west] have identified for appropriate partners and that fall within these sectors: Young Moderate Clerics. One of the reasons for the ‘radicals’ success in propagating their ideas is that they use mosques as their vehicles for proselytizing and recruiting. Liberal academics, on the other hand, are not comfortable engaging people at the mosques. They find it difficult to translate the language of scholarship to which they are accustomed to the language of the average person on the street. Therefore, a liberal or moderate Muslim movement with a mass base will depend on enlisting the active participation of moderate clerics, particularly of young clerics, who will become the religious leadership of the future. Community Activists. The muscle of this initiative, community activists propagate the ideas developed by liberal and moderate intellectuals. They take real personal risks by confronting often-violent extremists in the battle of ideas, and are the victims of fatwas and violent attacks. These groups, therefore, are most in need of the protection and support that an international network can provide. For example, activists in Indonesia’s Liberal Muslim Network have taken a high profile stand against Islamist extremism and have been subjected to a campaign of harassment and intimidation. Women’s Groups. Women and religious minorities have the most to lose from the spread of fundamentalist Islam and rigid interpretations of shari’a. In some countries women are beginning to organize to protect their rights from the rising tide of fundamentalism and are becoming an increasingly important constituency of reformist movements in Muslim countries. Groups and organizations have emerged to advance women’s rights and opportunities in the areas of legal rights, health, education, and employment.25 This upsurge in women’s civil-society groups in turn provides opportunities for moderate network-building. Journalists, Writers, and Communicators. Through the use of the Internet and other new media outside of governments’ control, radical messages have penetrated deeply into Muslim communities around the world. U.S. funded broadcasting efforts, such as Radio Sawa and Al Hurra television, lacks the agility to address local concerns and issues and, in any event, are not working to foster the development of moderate local media outlets. To reverse radical trends in the Muslim media, therefore, it will be critical to support local moderate radio and television programming, as well as Web sites and other nontraditional media. U.S. officials should ensure that individuals from these groups are included in congressional visits, making them better known to policymakers and helping to maintain U.S. support and resources for the public diplomacy effort. Assistance programs should be organized around the sectors listed above, and would include 1. Democratic education, particularly programs that use Islamic texts and traditions for authoritative teachings that support democratic and pluralistic values. The narrowly sectarian instruction on religion and politics dispensed at radical and conservative madrasas needs to be countered by a curriculum that promotes democratic and pluralistic values.
-The Liberal Muslim Network’s weekly radio program, “Religion and Tolerance,” reaches approximately 5 million listeners through 40 radio stations nationwide. -The Institute for Citizens’ Advocacy and Education produces a weekly radio talk show that reaches one million listeners through five radio stations in the province of South Sulawesi. -The national television station, TPI, features a weekly call-in show on gender equality and Islam that reaches 250,000 viewers in the greater Jakarta area. -A monthly television talk show on Islam and pluralism reaches 400,000 viewers in Yogyakarta.
Ibu Nuriyah, wife of former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, has published exegetical studies aimed at combating polygamy through the reinterpretation of Quranic concepts and injunctions. She concludes that the Quranic ideal is monogamy and that a woman’s right to freely choose a spouse should not be restricted. Some Nahdlatul Ulama– affiliated pesantren have established crisis centers for victims of domestic violence. Four members of the fatwa committee of the Majlis Ulama Indonesia [Council of Indonesian Ulama] are women, including the noted Quran reciter Maria Ulfa, who has published a treatise on women’s issues in fiqh. Women in Indonesia also serve as shari’a judges and have been accepted as members of the Central Board of the modernist mass organization Muhammadiyah. [“Report from a Delegation Visit to Indonesia by the Oslo Coalition of Freedom of Religion or Belief,” July 29–August 11, 2002.] 4. Policy advocacy. Islamists have political agendas, and moderates Current approach focuses on the Middle East, recognizing that radical ideas originate in the Middle East and from there are disseminated to the rest of the Muslim world, including the Muslim diaspora communities in Europe and North America. An alternative approach is to seek Radio Sawa and Al Hurra are perceived as proxies for the U.S. government and, despite their high cost, have not resulted in positively shaping attitudes toward the United States. Launching the Initiative If this event were successful, we would then work with the core group to hold an international conference in a venue of symbolic signif icance for Muslims, for instance, Córdoba in Spain, to launch a standing organization to combat Salafist extremism. Principal goals -Exceptions should only be made knowingly, selectively, and tactically -Reverse the flow of ideas (instead of Arab heartland > periphery, moderate periphery > Arab heartland) [They say that Muslims always receive information whether fatwas or other Islamic knowledge from middle east, to learn Islam people are turning to middle east so this is a big problem for the west so they wanted to reverse the process by bringing in the ideas from non-arab nations and translating them into Arabic and making them prevalent amongst the arab public as an alternative way to get information about Islam by which the idea of moderate Islam, Secular Islam can be imparted] -Focus on areas of maximum obtainable success -Elsewhere, concentrate on holding ground and waiting for opportunities Some key implementation tools -Tailor a set of pilot programs on the basis of these needs -Launch an international network of liberal and moderate Muslims, convening them in a location of symbolic salience -Reconfigure programs to concentrate on true moderates in locations that hold promise -Ensure visibility and platforms for them. For example, ensure that they are included in congressional visits and meetings with senior officials to make them better known to policymakers and to maintain support and resources for the effort.
Following are the so called ‘Muslim’ intellects who completely support the western cause and principles over Sahree’ah. These people try to confuse masses using their post and power with regards to Islam. 1. Soheib Bencheikh, Saudi born, Al-Azhar graduated, Grand Mufti of Marseille, France is considered as leading anti-fundamentalist, he publicly supports not only the French headscarf ban, but more broadly, the principles of secularism and laicism (terms he uses interchangeably). Bencheikh defines secularism as “administrative neutrality,” by which he means that the state should perform the tasks of governance in separation from religion. 2. Shaker al-Nabulsi, a Jordanian professor now living in the United States, is the author of the “Manifesto of New Arab Liberals,” which among other things proposes that “the prevailing sacred values, traditions,legislations, and moral values (should be subjected to) in-depth scrutiny.” [Meneham Milson, “Reform vs. Islamism in the Arab World Today,” Middle East Media Research Institute Special Report No. 34, September 15, 2004.]
4. Tarek Heggy is a former Egyptian business executive and vice president of regional Shell Oil. Since leaving Shell he has become a prolific writer and lecturer on political, social, and cultural reform. In one of the Doha Debates, he was pitted against former Malaysian Prime 5. Canadian-Iranian Homa Arjomand is a founder of the campaign against shari’a courts in Canada and a frequent speaker in Europe and in the media. Another of her campaigns seeks to ban Islamic religious schools in the West, arguing that “political Islam, as a reactionary, antihuman . . . movement” plays a divisive and radicalizing role. 6. Somali born Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a former Member of Parliament in the Netherlands and a well known public representative of the values of secularism and of the universality of civic freedom, rule of law, and women’s and human rights beyond multiculturalist relativism. She received the 7. Al-Hadi al-Sabah is the imam of the Passau Mosque in Germany. She was later exposed by Netherlands private media preparing a documentary by the name Zembla in which she was exposed of lying about her name and status for getting dutch citizenship. A good way to identify moderates is through their identification with the concept of “Euro-Islam.” Liberal Muslims champion the development of Euro-Islam as an independent new manifestation of Islam within Western modernity. An example is the Euro Islam Project, a student initiative sponsored by the pro–European Union European Students’ Forum AEGEE. The group sponsors workshops, student exchanges, lecture events, and publications aimed at defining and promoting a specifically European, modern Islam that retains an Islamic character yet is open to the surrounding society. Some secularist dissidents operate under pseudonyms and avoid public appearances. One of the most prominent examples is the author, writing under the pseudonym Ibn Warraq, of Why I Am Not a Muslim and, more recently, Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out.5 Ibn Warraq is also associated with a number of secularist initiatives, including the Institute for the Secularization of Islamic Society, of which he is a founder.
Among these is FEERI [Spanish federation of Islamic Religious Entities], which is led by Spanish converts with a moderate orientation. Together with the Union of Islamic Community of Spain [UCIDE], an organization whose leadership has links to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, FEERI is part of the officially recognized Islamic Commission of Spain, which represents Spain’s Muslim community to the Spanish government. The Fédération Nationale des Musulmans de France [National Federation of Muslims of France] (FNMF), headed by the Moroccan Mohamed Bechari, is analogous to Spain’s FEERI. The federation is part of the officially recognized Conseil Française du Culte Musulman [French Council of the Muslim Religion] (CFCM). The Confederation of Moroccan Associations in Italy is headed by Souad Sbai, a Italian-Moroccan feminist who has been active in the fight against spouse abuse in Italy’s Moroccan community. The al-Azhar–educated Sufi sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi, another leading moderate, directs the Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community, which promotes the development of Islamic education in Italy, combats fundamentalism and fanaticism, and is involved in interreligious dialogue, especially with Jews and Christians. Of the various Muslim organizations in the United Kingdom, the one with the most liberal coloration is Progressive British Muslims. Another moderate organization, the British Muslim Forum, is an umbrella group launched in March 2005 with more than 250 affiliated mosques and other organizations. The Sufi Council of Britain is currently being formed to challenge the Muslim Council of Britain. As of this writing (July 2005) the Sufi Council was about to be launched with a publication and Web site. Also of note is the fact that moderate Muslim leader Fiyaz Mughal is serving as the vice president of Britain’s Liberal Democrat Party. In the Balkans, moderate currents of Islam—particularly Sufism—prevail, although Saudi foundations and missionaries have been active in Bosnia and other parts of the region, and there has been some Wahhabi infiltration of mosques and Islamic institutions. There are a number of important moderate Muslim institutions in the -The Islamic Community of Bosnia-Hercegovina, headed by Reisul- Ulema Mustafa ef. Ceric and headquartered in Sarajevo, has responsibility for Muslims in Croatia, Slovenia, and the Sanjak (which is now split between Serbia and Montenegro). -The Faculty of Islamic Studies and Gazi Husrevbeg Medresa located in Sarajevo is the main Islamic educational institution in Southeastern Europe; it educates most Slavic and Albanian clerics. Bosnia also has the largest Islamic publishing milieu in Europe, especially for European Sufis content. -The Islamic Community of Kosovo, headed by Reis-ul-Ulema Naim Ternava and headquartered in Prishtina, controls the small but excellent Faculty of Islamic Studies at the University of -The Community of Aliite Islamic Dervishes [of former Yugoslavia], headquartered in Prizren, Kosovo, includes all non-Bektashi Sufis. -The Alevian Islamic Community of Albania, headquartered in Tirana, Albania, and headed by Sheh Ali Pazar includes all non- Bektashi Sufis and has created a network of 400 Sufi lodges (or teqes). -The World Bektashi Community, headed by World Dede [Chief Sheikh] Reshat Bardha and headquartered in Tirana, Albania. represents some two million Bektashi adherents of various levels of affiliation, mainly in southern Albania and western Macedonia. Bektashi is a highly heterodox form of Sufism with strong roots in Albanian culture. The Harabati Bektashi Teqe in Tetova, Macedonia, is a also major Sufi institution in the Balkans, but it is now under siege by Wahhabis. THE MIDDLE EAST COMPONENT Moderate Islam is the norm in many of the smaller Gulf states such as Kuwait, Bahrain, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but there are no organized moderate networks. Among the most notable Kuwaiti liberals are Dr. Ahmed Bishara, Secretary- General of the Kuwait National Democratic Movement; Dr. Shamlan Al-Essa, Director, Center for Strategic and Future Studies, Kuwait University; and Mohammed Al-Jassem, editor-in-chief of Kuwait’slargest-circulation newspaper, Al-Watan. Among prominent moderate Emirati intellectuals are Mohamed Al Roken, Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Sharia Law at the UAE University at Al Ain; Abdul Ghaffar Hussain, Chairman of the UAE Human Rights Association; Muhammad al- Mansouri and Abdulla Al Shamsi, members of the board of directors of the UAE Human Rights Association; and businessman and human Democracy-Building Projects Center for study of Islam and Democracy [CSID] has partnered with Street Law—a Washington-based NGO that develops curriculum materials and conduct training programs in law, democracy, and human rights—to work with community leaders in Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, and Egypt to develop materials and strategies that show the connection between Islamic and democratic principles. To implement this program, the project has hired local authors to rewrite Street Law’s books to place them in a Muslim context. Moderate (or at least non-Wahhabi) groups have networked through the Tripoli based al-Da’wa al-Islamiyya Society, a Libyan-funded NGO that competes with the Saudi foundations to provide support to Islamic educational, social, and health programs throughout the Muslim world. The society also promotes interfaith dialogue with the Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches. SECULAR MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS Institutions Solely Devoted to the Promotion of a Secular Islam The Free Muslims’ Coalition describes itself as having twelve chapters in the United States, one in Canada, and two in Egypt. It was founded by Kamal Nawash, a Palestinian immigrant and lawyer who has been the legal director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and who was a Republican candidate for the Virginia State Senate in 2003. The Progressive Muslim Union has a youthful governing board with strong elements of pop culture and an affiliation with the modernist Web site MuslimWakeUp. Its “Statements of Principle” clearly endorse secularism. The Institute of Islamic Studies was founded in India in 1980 by Asghar Ali Engineer and has its offices in Mumbai. In its self description, it explains that it intends to serve “reformist ends and was set up by those who felt the need for rethinking issues in Islam.” The Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism, also in Mumbai, is a later offshoot of the Institute of Islamic Studies. Founded by a group of Indian intellectuals in 1993, it goes a step beyond the Rationalist/Humanist Organizations That Support Muslim The Center for Inquiry West (online at http://www.cfiwest.org/) and the Center for Inquiry Transnational are based in Hollywood, California, and were founded by Paul Kurtz (as was the Council for Secular Humanism in New York). The centers’ journal Free Inquiry devotes extensive space to critiques of Islam and Islamism and to the notion of Islamic secularism. The organizations’ leaders believe that Iran, where clerical rule has created a significant backlash against political Islam, is a promising location for the expansion of secularist values. Their subsidiary Farsi-language Web site, New Horizons, has the declared aim of spreading the values of secularism to Iran and Iranians. That project is headed by Armen Saginian, who also advances this agenda through a radio and a television station broadcasting to Iran. The National Secular Society is a British organization originally founded in 1866 by MP Charles Bradlaugh. It was instrumental in the narrow defeat of the “Incitement to Religious Hatred” amendment to the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 in the British Parliament— an amendment secularists feared would limit freedom of expression and the right to criticize religions. Rationalist International is a multinational group of intellectuals and activists representing a range of cultures and religions. Younus Shaikh is at the forefront of the Muslim presence in this organization. Online Platforms http://www.free-minds.org/ is a Saudi-based site with a somewhat bizarre angle. Introducing itself as a pious mainstream Islamic grouping dedicated to da’wa, it then proceeds to list as the correct orthodox Islamic positions on social rights, women’s status, interfaith relations, and shari’a criminal punishments stances which in fact represent a cutting-edge, progressive posture bordering on what actual orthodox Muslims would probably consider heresy. For example, the Web site challenges the five pillars of the faith and claims that the first of them, the shahada (or declaration of faith), is based on an unreliable hadith and should not be followed.17 The Web site includes a map of the world which, when the visitor clicks on a respective region, lists the members resident there. http://www.qantara.de/ is a Web site funded by the German government as part of its MEPI-like Middle Eastern outreach effort. This Web site does not take overt positions; it is a discussion forum where conservative views are also represented (for instance in debates over the hijab). It is, however, liberal in its intent to foster a culture of spirited debate, and liberal and secularist voices are given significant room. For example, the argument in favor of the separation of religion and state made by the Grand Mufti of Marseille in an interview with the Indonesian Liberal Islam Network is reprinted on this Web site. http://www.nosharia.com/ is a Canada-based Web site online in Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish, English, French, and German. It was started in response to one particular issue: the push to allow Muslims in Canada to establish shari’a courts for certain kinds of legal matters. The Web site became a rallying ground for opponents of the measure, who argued that it undermined crucial principles of Western democracy and placed immigrant women in an untenable position.18 Ultimately 87 organizations from 14 countries banded together to oppose the Canadian initiative. The Web site has since expanded to become a broader platform for civil rights and secularism. The above resource shows how strategically the west attacking Islam and Muslims using so called Muslims. As a Muslim, we should be true to our claims that we submit to Almighty Allaah completely, willingly and it can be only achieved by following Qur’an and authentic Sunnah as followed by the companions, and those who followed them and those who followed them. We should re-connect ourselves strong with our Creator, our success lies in our obedience to our Creator. They (the disbelievers, the Jews and the Christians) want to extinguish Allâh's light (with which Muhammad has been sent - Islâmic Monotheism) with their mouths, but Allâh will not allow except that his light should be perfected even though the Kâfirûn (disbelievers) hate (it). It is He who has sent his Messenger (Muhammad) with guidance and the Religion of Truth (Islâm), to make it superior over All religions even though the Mushrikûn (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, disbelievers In the Oneness of Allâh) hate (it). The Noble Qur’an 9:32-33 If Allâh helps you, none can overcome you; and if He forsakes you, who is there after Him that can help you? and In Allâh (Alone) let believers put their trust. The Noble Qur’an 3:160 And (remember) when the disbelievers plotted against You (O Muhammad ) to imprison you, or to kill you, or to get You out (from Your home, i.e. Makkah); they were plotting and Allâh too was planning, and Allâh is the best of the planners. The Noble Qur’an 8:30 -Imtiaz Basheer Ahmed This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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