The U.S., Islam,and Terrorism

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The U.S., Islam, and Terrorism

• M. Zuhdi Jasser, MD
• Chairman, Board of Directors
• American Islamic Forum for Democracy
• WCSS
• March 21, 2005

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Homecoming

• Home definition is in the eyes of the beholder

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Leave you with

• We will touch on
• Faith of Islam
• History
• Education
• Living history
• Context
• Frame of reference
• New paradigm

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Stakes

• Approach conflict informed
• CONTEXT- historical, cultural, religious,
  political
• Is this WWIV?
• War on Terror
• Act vs. ideology
• Security vs. our own liberties

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U.S., Islam, and TerrorismConflicts

• Identity
• Political
• Cultural
• Security
• Reform
• Formulating a new identity paradigm

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Arab, Muslim-American Prototype - Homo sapien
Americanus Muslimanis

• Immigrants
• Seeking freedom
• Practice faith
• More purely than in so-called Islamic nations
• Identity
• Home
• Nationalism
• Who am I?

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American first.Muslim second

• Is this a fair paradigm?
• A personal evolution
• Pre-9/11
• Post-9/11

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Al Qaeda and militant IslamismPsychopathy or
ideology?

• Terror networks feed on misrepresenting America
• Seek us vs. them
• Disenfranchise Muslims
• What is America to Muslims?
• Domestic and foreign

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What is Islamism?

• Literalism of Quran to all of society
• Islamic world decline due to loss of religious
  observance and caliphate
• Moral and religious law enforcement
• Islamic state
• Western culture breeds materialism, atheism,
  selfishness, and decadence
• Separate from the west
• State of Israel is illegitimate and should be
  removed
• All Muslims should enroll in jihad to achieve
  these goals.
• Glorify martyrdom

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Muslims who embrace American ideals over Islamism

• Aberrations or a dominant Muslim ideology?
• American legal system
• Pre-eminence over sharia (Islamic law)
• Personal or societal?
• Can these Muslims still be devout?
• Reform.Muslims embrace a society not based on
  religion

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Secularism and piety

• Pro-religious secular democracies
• America
• Anti-religious secular democracies
• France
• Turkey

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Tolerance vs. Pluralism

• Literalism vs. Liberalism
• Fundamentalism vs. modernism
• Extremism vs. moderation
• Context in Islamic history
• Ijtihad (critical interpretation of scripture)

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Let us not forget our own history Away from
the Church of England

• Crusades
• Dark Ages
• Church and state were one
• 100 years war
• 30 years war
• Martin Luther
• American revolution away from the Church of
  England

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George Mason and James Madison Lessons and
similarities for Muslims

• The Commonwealth of Virginia House of Delegates
  was to include a Declaration of Rights which
  would include a clause on religious liberty.
  George Mason proposed, "All men should enjoy the
  fullest toleration in exercise of religion,
  according to the dictates of conscience," but
  James Madison objected. Such an appeal for
  religious toleration is defective, he reasoned,
  for behind the idea of toleration is the
  assumption that one's religious beliefs are held
  at the pleasure of the state, not according to a
  natural right. In an effort to secure real
  religious freedom, Madison proposed an
  alternative "That religion or the duty we owe
  our Creator, and the manner of discharging it,
  being under the direction of reason and
  conviction only, not of violence and compulsion.
  All men are equally entitled to the full and free
  exercise of it according to the dictates of
  conscience."
• Religious freedom prevailed over toleration,
  eventually becoming a crucial component of
  American politics due, in part, to Madison's
  efforts.

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Muslims entitled to same evolution

• Islamic history provides hope
• Dynamic law
• Metaphysical (Sufism)
• Minimizing the role of government
• Struggle for the soul of Islam
• Personal vs. governmental
• Militancy
• Corruption
• Free Market of ideas most effective

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Struggle for the soul of Islam

• Islamic authority
• Scholars
• No clergy
• Faith not a religion

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Hijacking started long before 9-11

• Arab nations were hijacked
• Monarchs and dictators
• The religion was hijacked
• Political causes exploit religion
• Beasts of radicalism fed by despots

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Politico-religious parties Political realities

• Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt, Syria)
• Al Qaeda (Saudi Arabia)
• Islamic Jihad (West Bank and Gaza)
• Hezbullah (Lebanon, Iran)
• Media glorification
• Al Jazeera, Al-Manar, Egyptian media

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Cultural realities

• Conspiracy theories
• Identity problem
• Lack of personal responsibility or accountability
  
• Corruption rampant
• Fed by dictatorships
• Distrust of all forms government
• Equate with American government
• Systematic lying
• Endemic fear

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Educational limitations

• UN Development Report of 2002
• Critical thinking needs rebirth
• FEAR
• Long entrenched
• Religion protected individuals
• But lost dynamic law and pluralism

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Historical Limitations

• Islamic world slowed way down in 15th century
• America and the west dispensed with religious
  construct
• Muslims did not
• Faith and force eclipsed Islamic philosophy
• External shockscrusades, Mongols
• Internal shocks-Ottomans
• Colonialism left a vacuum after WWII
• Tools in WWIII (Cold war)
• Americas gas tank

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Separation of religion and state

• Separation is possible among Muslims
• Same analyses as western evolution
• Terrorism is directed against this core belief
• Instill fear in moderates and the west
• Countering this ideology is central
• Stay out of our theocracy
• Anti-global trade and communication
• Isolationism is no longer an option

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Frontline of conflict

• Return of Islamic caliphate ultimate desire
• Al Qaeda
• Saudia Arabia, Sudan, Afghanistan, global
• Hizb-ut-Tahrir
• London, Europe, U.S.
• Muslim Brotherhood
• Offshoots
• Anti-Israeli hatred
• Wahhabism (Saudi Arabia)
• Infiltration into American Muslim community

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In the social studies classroom

• American principles
• Pluralism
• Separation of religion and state
• Educational model
• Let each faith speak for itself
• Speak against polemics
• Let history speak for itself
• Compare and contrast historical evolution of
  societies, governments, and societies

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Security

• Profiling
• Best served by winning the war of ideas
• Terrorism and Islam
• 1.3 billion Muslims
• Bosnian example
• Taking back Islam from the hijackers
• If we give up our freedoms we lose

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Universal principles common elements, keys to
reform

• Golden Rule
• Suicide forbidden
• Sanctity of life
• Integrity
• Honesty
• Fighting corruption
• Rule of law

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Reform

• Nationalism
• Law, religion, and government
• Sharia vs. separation
• Political parties and religious influence
• Power
• Liberal Education
• Religious scholars as advisers not leaders
• Equality and liberation of all
• Womens rights

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Islam is what Muslims make of it

• Not so-called Islamic experts
• Franklin Graham, Robert Spencer, Craig Wynn,
  Jerry Falwell
• Not so-called Muslims
• Bin Laden, Zarkawi, Sheikh Nasrallah, Sheikh
  Qardawi, Sheikh Tantawi
• Relegate to private not public

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Bin Ladens Islamism

• The situation of all Arab countries suffers from
  great deterioration in all walks of life, in
  religious and worldly matters. We have reached
  this miserable situation because many of us lack
  the correct and comprehensive understanding of
  the religion of Islam. Many of us understand
  Islam to mean performing some acts of worship,
  such as prayer and fasting. Despite the great
  importance of these rituals, the religion of
  Islam encompasses all the affairs of life,
  including the religious and the worldly such as
  economic, military, and political affairsAl
  Jazeera, Jan. 2004

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Reform

• Less isolation
• Domestic and foreign
• Resolve conflict of soul, heart, mind
• Resolve conflict of nationalism
• Resolve conflict of laws
• Resolve separation of religion and state

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Teach your students..

• Living history
• Context of history
• Second enlightenment is possible
• Reform is necessary and possible
• Pluralism vs. tolerance

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• This appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer in
  2002

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Abdolkarim Soroush one example of leading
reformist

• Muslims are in a new phase of history
• Adapt to a great civilization not based on
  religion
• Rationality can come from reason and not from
  religion

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