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Leaving Islamism (pt. 2)
August 6, 2008 | Posted by Londonstani - 7:37am | 19 Comments
Londonstani has just realised that there is a cross over of reference points between the narrative Maajid Nawaz is describing and what is understood in the wider world.
When he talks about western-backed puppet regimes; many Muslims believe that it's likely ALL leaders in the Islamic world are actually Western backed. This includes countries like Syria, Iran, Ghaddafi etc. where the present policy of the United States seems hostile to those governments.
It's this tacit understanding that serves as a backlight to the conspiracy theories that pop up so often. And like all sweeping simplistic generalisations it emanates from a gap between people's outlooks and the events they see around them. For example, Muslims in Britain in the 1990s, found it hard to understand why America would want to go to war with Saddam who was an ally just a couple of years before. Therefore, there must be something dodgy afoot. Or, a more contemporary situation; Afghans find it hard to believe the US can put a man on the moon and built a floating battle island but not bring a bunch of warlords to heel, supply electricity, fix an economy or squash a ragtag army. Therefore, the Americans must secretly be supporting the Taliban. Al Qaeda's propaganda is very effective at tapping into these unvoiced suspicions. It's not like you hear Syrian President Bashar al-Asad saying, "Hey guys! You know what? I'm not a Western lackey."
However, to keep a sense of perspective, it has to be remembered that some silly percentage of Americans thought Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attacks. And, many, many British people will tell you that Osama Bin Laden in the president of Pakistan.
In anycase, what follows below is the rest of Nawaz's introduction, where he describes his move away from the radical Islamist outlook he had adopted.
"In prison, I had time to contemplate my ideology and discuss it with other prisoners.
"Some of the people inside had been imprisoned from a young age for involvement in attacks carried out inside Egypt in the 1980s and 1990s by Islamic Jihad. Some of these people had changed their ideas and others had only become more stringent in outlook.
"One of the things that shocked me was how exclusionary Islamist ideology became the further you followed its route. I knew one man in prison who would condemn everyone he came across as a "kafir", unless they could prove their Islamist credentials to him. He basically lived in a world where he was the only true Muslim.
((Londonstani would like to add - at the risk of putting words into Nawaz's mouth - that he was probably also shocked by the realisation that those acting with the purest Islamist intentions can cause suffering, that the most committed Islamists can have violent disagreements, that many of the answers he sought involved simple solutions such as good governance, accountability and justice. And that many of his fellow prisoners could easily go from being the oppressed to becoming the oppressors because although they had beards and wore robes, their understanding of how to wield power was not very different from their jailers.))
"For a year after my return I continued with Hizb ut Tahrir. But I was suffering inner turmoil. Questioning the ideology of Islamism is like questioning your faith.
"But this is what I realised: Islam is a religion. This religion can cater for more than one political ideology. God did not reveal one political or economic system, he only laid out guidelines. So much of it is open to interpretation.
"I studied in prison. As an Islamist, I believed that sovereignty is for God alone. But then I realised that sovereignty is a modern concept. And that anyone who says sovereignty is for God is saying he is God because he is saying that he has sole right to say what God thinks.
"Isn't it about time we realised that political ideas are not from scripture but drawn up according to our preferences.
"In terms of identity, I realised that the companions of the prophet called themselves by their ethnic titles. For example Salman al Farsi - Salman the Persian. So you can be Muslim and Pakistani, Muslim and Syrian or Muslim and British.
"We have to promote debate so Muslims can develop a social contract which allows us to replace dictators.
"Islamism has to take responsibility for the way it has contributed to radicalism. I believe that Islamism is a modern phenomenon that has been attached to Islam and is detrimental to Islam.
"Islamism is an ideology that believes sovereignty belongs to God and there is such a thing as an Islamic state. I don't think there is an Islamic state anymore than there is an Islamic car."
When he talks about western-backed puppet regimes; many Muslims believe that it's likely ALL leaders in the Islamic world are actually Western backed. This includes countries like Syria, Iran, Ghaddafi etc. where the present policy of the United States seems hostile to those governments.
It's this tacit understanding that serves as a backlight to the conspiracy theories that pop up so often. And like all sweeping simplistic generalisations it emanates from a gap between people's outlooks and the events they see around them. For example, Muslims in Britain in the 1990s, found it hard to understand why America would want to go to war with Saddam who was an ally just a couple of years before. Therefore, there must be something dodgy afoot. Or, a more contemporary situation; Afghans find it hard to believe the US can put a man on the moon and built a floating battle island but not bring a bunch of warlords to heel, supply electricity, fix an economy or squash a ragtag army. Therefore, the Americans must secretly be supporting the Taliban. Al Qaeda's propaganda is very effective at tapping into these unvoiced suspicions. It's not like you hear Syrian President Bashar al-Asad saying, "Hey guys! You know what? I'm not a Western lackey."
However, to keep a sense of perspective, it has to be remembered that some silly percentage of Americans thought Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attacks. And, many, many British people will tell you that Osama Bin Laden in the president of Pakistan.
In anycase, what follows below is the rest of Nawaz's introduction, where he describes his move away from the radical Islamist outlook he had adopted.
"In prison, I had time to contemplate my ideology and discuss it with other prisoners.
"Some of the people inside had been imprisoned from a young age for involvement in attacks carried out inside Egypt in the 1980s and 1990s by Islamic Jihad. Some of these people had changed their ideas and others had only become more stringent in outlook.
"One of the things that shocked me was how exclusionary Islamist ideology became the further you followed its route. I knew one man in prison who would condemn everyone he came across as a "kafir", unless they could prove their Islamist credentials to him. He basically lived in a world where he was the only true Muslim.
((Londonstani would like to add - at the risk of putting words into Nawaz's mouth - that he was probably also shocked by the realisation that those acting with the purest Islamist intentions can cause suffering, that the most committed Islamists can have violent disagreements, that many of the answers he sought involved simple solutions such as good governance, accountability and justice. And that many of his fellow prisoners could easily go from being the oppressed to becoming the oppressors because although they had beards and wore robes, their understanding of how to wield power was not very different from their jailers.))
"For a year after my return I continued with Hizb ut Tahrir. But I was suffering inner turmoil. Questioning the ideology of Islamism is like questioning your faith.
"But this is what I realised: Islam is a religion. This religion can cater for more than one political ideology. God did not reveal one political or economic system, he only laid out guidelines. So much of it is open to interpretation.
"I studied in prison. As an Islamist, I believed that sovereignty is for God alone. But then I realised that sovereignty is a modern concept. And that anyone who says sovereignty is for God is saying he is God because he is saying that he has sole right to say what God thinks.
"Isn't it about time we realised that political ideas are not from scripture but drawn up according to our preferences.
"In terms of identity, I realised that the companions of the prophet called themselves by their ethnic titles. For example Salman al Farsi - Salman the Persian. So you can be Muslim and Pakistani, Muslim and Syrian or Muslim and British.
"We have to promote debate so Muslims can develop a social contract which allows us to replace dictators.
"Islamism has to take responsibility for the way it has contributed to radicalism. I believe that Islamism is a modern phenomenon that has been attached to Islam and is detrimental to Islam.
"Islamism is an ideology that believes sovereignty belongs to God and there is such a thing as an Islamic state. I don't think there is an Islamic state anymore than there is an Islamic car."
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