Amy Procter at Bottom Line Up Front offered this analysis yesterday on the lessens of the Al-Anbar Awakening:
As for "jihadists", I offer a correction.Iraqi-American Haider Ajina adds this:
Terrorism in the name of Islam is NOT Jihad, it is Hirabah.
Hirabah technically means rebellion and terrorism, which is considered heresy within Islam. Acts of hirabah are capital crimes in Islam. It contains the principle of Jihad but carries out acts of “persuasion” to meet its objective.
Knowing the difference between the two is not only appreciated by moderate Muslims, but it is also what won Anbar Province. You'll hear Democrats say U.S. troops had nothing to do with it and that Iraqis just got sick and tired of al-Qaeda. That's partially true, but last fall the 1st Armored Division waged counterinsurgency in Anbar Province before GEN Petraeus was the MNF-I commander.
Essentially, chaplains, who imams and sheiks see as equals because they are educated clergy, welcomed meetings with chaplains and their representative (the ch. assistant). They began forging relationships, clergy (chaplains) to clergy (sheiks and imams) and this relationship coupled with troops living among the people and leaving the super FOBs (Forward Operating Bases or huge military compounds where they retreated since 2004 allowing the enemy to plant IEDs and terrorize the population) is what helped win the salvation of Anbar Province.
The main distinction that contributed to the success of Anbar was religious understanding. Our understanding that in Islam there is no separation of church and state and that so-called Muslims who are suicide bombers and terrorists are not really Muslim at all, but apostates and heretics of the faith.
This understanding and our use of the terms (jihad and hirabah) helped alienate terrorists like al-Qaeda from the Muslim population and marginalize their efforts. In doing so, we showed consideration for the Muslim religion, no matter what our personal opinions may be on the religion itself, and persuade good Muslims to support the effort against apostates like Osama bin Laden.
Calling terrorism “jihad” may be more en vogue than referring to it as "hirabah", but we risk legitimizing the likes of Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah in the Islamic world if we refer to their terror as jihad. It’s murder, terrorism, apostasy, heresy and hirabah. This is how the war on terror can be won; Muslims want to stop the assault on their religion as much as the rest of us do.
Killing innocent civilians in the name of Allah is not Jihad and Muslims know it... they’re simply waiting for us to understand this as well.
My husband is active duty and an OIF vet. We have a friend serving with MNF-I in Iraq. He's MAJ Guidry, a Muslim. He e-mailed me not long ago and said this:I had the privilege of meeting and talking with an Iraqi SF (Security Force) LTC (Lieutenant Colonel) who operates in Anbar Province. I asked him specifically what his thoughts are about engaging religious leaders (Imams) here in theater. He was very receptive and excited about such an endeavor. Here are a few things that he shared with me:...The most eye-opening thing he said was that many Imams are intimidated constantly by ‘bad guys’. If they openly preach in support of CF they are killed. If they preach neutral sermons they are threatened and asked why they do not encourage support for the insurgency, and they are threatened with death if they do not show public support of insurgent groups. The bad guys do this because THEY ARE AFRAID of the influence and power of the Imams and faithful, devout congregations.
- Imams are VERY influential leaders in the community and MUST be engaged.
- Imams welcome the opportunity to talk with American “imams” (meaning chaplains) as brothers.
Since 2001, we've been complaining that moderate Muslims have been silent about terrorism. In the past year several years movements within Islam have surfaced such as No Terror and This is not Us as moderate Muslims strive to condemn terrorism and apostasy. The Pope has said as much as well.
It comes down to this: do we want to win the war by understanding and defeating our enemy and collaborating with Muslims who reject terrorism or do we want to have a "carpet bomb Muslims" attitude and paint the moderates into a corner of choosing between us and terrorists?
We really need to capitalize on this understanding.
Greetings Jim,
Hirabah is what the Koran refers to as those who create mischief or bring Rot and disorder to the land. This is not physical Rot it means social Rot or societal Rot. Koran 5:33 Surah Al-Maeda.
The comments (by Amy) confirms what I have read about the Anbar reawakening plan. It also reminds me of how religious leaders (Christians {eastern church and western} , Muslims {Shiite & Sunni} and Jews {Ashkenazi & Saferdi}) interacted with each other when I lived in Iraq.
And by the way the Koran in 5:33 puts those who fight God and his messengers (the ultimate sinners) equal to those who bring mischief to the land. Thus making the Hirabahs just as evil as those who fight God and his messengers.
++
ReplyDeletethanks Amy.. (thumbsup)
a few more here No More Jihadist. No More Mujahdeen. No More Caliphate..
perhaps Mr. Haider Ajina would be
kind enough to comment again?? :)
thank you..
==
++
ReplyDeletere: bg @ 9:51 AM
my apologies in case Haider Ajina isn't a Mr.. :D
==
"Terrorism Has No Religion" Oh really, let's see about that.
ReplyDeleteHow can Islam condemn terrorism? Mohammed was Islam's first terrorist, and Muslims strive to be like Mohammed. They are simply following Mohammeds example. Mohammed proclaimed on his death bed. "I have been made victorious with terror"(Bukhari, Vol 4,52 #220)
=
Kill the disbelievers, take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them. Qur'an 4:89
=
Need I come up with more examples??
kc, I can quote some equally disturbing quotes from the Torah about stoning children rebellious against their parents.... there's a wider context than literal interpretation. In fact the Christian tree would not exist except for the Jewish roots, and thumb through the Torah to find Israel killing entire populations down to the women, children and livestock. As you know, diversity is a reality in the world ancient customs cannot be evaluated against today's values and practices. This doesn't mean I'm defending Islam itself. I'm not. It has been argued that Christians advocated slavery based on a sentence from St. Paul's epistles describing how slaves should live their lives as Christians. But of course, Christians have fought slavery and have championed human rights. Again, it goes back to context.
ReplyDeleteThis discussion isn't about theological agreement, it's about winning a war against terrorism. The realities of the Muslim faith are that there are cults like Wahabism, a Sunni extremist/cult sect which includes Osama bin Laden, and there are faithful and reasonable Muslims who know that bin Laden et al are not acting in accordance with the tenet of the religion. Middle Eastern culture aside from Islam has always been ripe with vengeance, bribery and other questionable activities and I’m sure it didn’t begin with Islam. It is well documented that it pre-dated Islam.
We have a rare opportunity in the here and now to join with Muslims who reject violence, and there are many, many out there, and delegitimize apostates within Islam who are waging the war against civilization. They call it Jihad but it’s heresy and sin, not jihad. They’re hijacking a term to gain popular support among the Muslim population and frankly with events like those of the past weekend in San Francisco, we make it easier for Muslims sitting on the fence to side with radicals over us.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in a speech to the U.S. Congress on July 27, 2006 when he was visiting the states:
**************
I know that some of you here question whether Iraq is part of the war on terror. Let me be very clear: This is a battle between true Islam, for which a person's liberty and rights constitute essential cornerstones, and terrorism, which wraps itself in a fake Islamic cloak; in reality, waging a war on Islam and Muslims and values.
The truth is that terrorism has no religion. Our faith says that who kills an innocent, as if they have killed all mankind.
Thousands of lives were tragically lost on September 11th when these impostors of Islam reared their ugly head.
Thousands more continue to die in Iraq today at the hands of the same terrorists who show complete disregard for human life.
**************
Nouri al-Maliki s a Muslim. I have a good friend in Iraq who is an Iraqi Chaldean Catholic priest and he tells me Maliki is a good man. I have no reason to believe he isn’t trustworthy when he assesses terrorists using the name of Islam are fakes. It fully buttresses everything I have learned since the start of the war in 2003 about this issue.
I also found some footage I posted on my blog of a captured Iraqi Sunni terrorist in 2005 who received training at Osama bin Laden/al-Qaeda training camps in Fallujah under Saddam’s regime being interrogated by Iraqi Police who were Shia, and the topic of true jihad emerged in the course of the interrogation. This is a fascinating look into into the indignant reaction Muslims have to “so-called” Jihad, like rape and murder: (Abed is the terrorist)
**************
Investigator: Did you kidnap women?
Abed: Yes.
Investigator: There were operations of kidnapping and rape, carried out by the squad you belong to?
Abed: Yes.
Investigator: Tell me how many rape and kidnapping operations were carried out. My information says that the kidnapped women were university students or daughters of famous people. You raped them and got money for it, and if they were not slaughtered afterwards.... Did this really happen?
Abed: Yes, it did.
……..
Investigator: Is this Jihad - raping women? Is this Jihad?
Abed: It is because they collaborated with the Americans.
Investigator: That's why they were raped?
Abed: Yes.
Investigator: A student, who is simply going to her university, is kidnapped, raped, and then slaughtered?! This was an American collaborator?!
Abed: Mullah Al-Raikan would give the names to the squad commander.
Investigator: My information says that they were kidnapped and brought to Mullah Al-Raikan's headquarters. True or false?
Abed: He would interrogate them.
Investigator: Were they raped after the interrogation?
Abed: Yes. He would give them to the squad, and they would kill them. Some would rape them.
Investigator: You bastards. This is Jihad? You call this Jihad?
**************
Even more fascinating is how this Iraqi Sunni terrorist responded after being treated humanely by his Shia interrogators, Iraqi Police.
**************
Abed: I want to say one thing. Lieutenant Muhammad respected me and gave me food. I never thought it would be like this. He gave me food, and we had lunch together, and the honorable lieutenant-colonel gave me some Pepsi. I never believed Shiites could show such respect and care. We were taught by people like Mullah Al-Raikan that Shi'a is not Islam.
Investigator: You mean we show you respect and you slaughter us?
Abed: Yes. Mullah Al-Raikan thinks so, and he said so more than once.
Investigator: That's what they think.
Abed: Yes, that Shiites are not Muslims, that they worship the Imam Ali and do not accept Muhammad.
**************
(I highly recommend viewing the entire 9 minute video) Now that’s good counterinsurgency. Some make fun of the concept of winning hearts and minds, but that is precisely what contributed to the salvation of Anbar Province and many other areas in Iraq.
I know this is a difficult concept because we have our preconceived ideas of Muslims and Islam, but if we are truly interested in winning this war and procuring for our children’s safety a safer world we must capitalize on this idea.
Thanks for giving this a forum, Gateway Pundit.
"Gradually--painfully gradually--people are beginning to see that islam is the enemy. Period."
ReplyDeleteThe above quote is one of the milder examples of how many Westerners view Islam these days. This quote is a part of the comment to the article titled "Why We Cannot Rely on Moderate Muslims." posted on the Gates of Vienna blog. The article talks about radical Muslims in the West claiming to be moderates. It also brings up very interesting points. "[T]he government and media are avid to find moderate Muslims -- and as their desperation has increased, their standards have lowered.", "The situation is complicated by many factors, including, taqiyya and kitman", and "How can we ever trust assurances from self-proclaimed moderate Muslims when deception of non-Muslims is so widespread, and lying to infidels is an accepted and established way of hiding Islamic goals? The answer, with all its difficult implications, is: We can't."
But that's where the Gates of Vienna is wrong. The main problem is that the term 'Moderate Muslim' is poorly defined. There is a clear distinction between a 'Moderate Muslim' and an 'Islamist' and the distinction is in the ultimate goal. An Islamist believes in Islamic Supremacy. Islamist terrorists and their supporters want to achieve it by waging Jihad. Non-violent Islamists want to achieve it by peaceful and democratic means. The means are different, but the goals are the same: Islamic World Domination. Moderate Muslims do not believe in Islamic Supremacy. For someone not very familiar with the subject, the distinction may be subtle. But in reality, it is the most important, because everything that Democracies hold dear is based on this distinction. This is the Koran vs. the Constitution, Islamic State vs. Secular State, and ultimately, Dhimmitude (Subjugation to Islam) vs. Freedom. I cannot stress enough how important this distinction is!
Now, comes an uneasy task of weeding out false moderates. Hopefully, with a clear definition of a 'Moderate Muslim' that task could be a lot easier. Coming back to the title of this post. Muslim community as a whole is not the enemy. Part of it is. A large part. But not all of it. The next time you ask yourself a question "How can we ever trust assurances from self-proclaimed moderate Muslims?" don't trust their assurances; look at their record. No matter how well false-moderate Muslims such as CAIR or MPAC polished their facades, they have a record. Whether it is their support of terrorism or advocating Islamic supremacy, any Islamist group or figure who's been around long enough, at one time or another has shown its/his/her true face. Just because some government official or some talking head declares someone to be a moderate Muslim, it doesn't make it so. There are several counter-terrorism and Islam experts who keep track of Islamists. Most of these experts happen to be non-Muslim, but there is also a list of moderate Muslims who could be used as trusted sources for these inquiries. The list of those prominent Muslims is posted at the upper right corner of our blog. So now, my non-Muslim friends, when you have the tools to identify REAL moderate Muslims, you can no longer use your ignorance as an excuse to declare that Islam is the enemy.
L.A.
L. A.
ReplyDeleteYes, you’re right there are those who have wrapped themselves in the ‘moderate’ title who clearly do not represent what we non-Muslims would deem moderate. The way I see it you are not going to be able to change that view by trying to define their description of that term vs your description. Most of us already know the record of CAIR and MAS and that is why the paradox exists. They are not going to change their self-proclaimed moderate Muslim status. I’d suggest you and others that are trying to build a coalition of Muslims to stand up against such manipulation opt to use the term MODERN instead of moderate because this is a term that the non-Muslim understands. Modern Muslim represents to us someone who is stepping into the present out of the past. I think trying to reclaim the term moderate is a waste of your effort. That battle has already been lost.
Just a suggestion.
Amy, great article! You gave me a ‘light bulb moment’!
And it surely does dovetail well with the reports coming out of Iraq about the Anbar Awakening by the embedded bloggers and explains why the provinces seem to have flipped so quickly.
I’d suggest you and others that are trying to build a coalition of Muslims to stand up against such manipulation opt to use the term MODERN instead of moderate because this is a term that the non-Muslim understands. Modern Muslim represents to us someone who is stepping into the present out of the past.
ReplyDeleteThe term "modern" came to mind right before you suggested it yourself.
I agree that there is confusion in the use of the term "moderate", and what defines it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete++
ReplyDeleteDr. Jasser talks a lot about "moderates" at his web site.. hence, i highly recommend perusing this informative site as often as possible..
AIFD
AIFD Headlines & Commentaries
ie: The Ends Islamist Terrorists Seek
The Perfect Day Part 1:
excerpt:
[All this week on Headline News we are focusing on one part of The Perfect Day theory: the threat of massive, coordinated attacks against our schools and school buses. Last night on television, Lt. Col. Joe Ruffini, a counterterrorism expert, told us about some of the evidence and suspicious incidents that have occurred recently - both overseas and right here in America. Former FBI Special Agent Don Clark lent his credibility and experience to the threat and helped explain the fine line that government officials must walk between panic and preparation.]
The Perfect Day Part 1: (video)
The Perfect Day Part 2:
excerpt:
[To understand how credible the threat is, we need only to look at the achievements of so many terror groups. In the first six months of 2006, 204 schools were attacked in Afghanistan. Three of them were attacked in two days in the first week of July 2007. Between 1984 and 1994 more than 300 schools were attacked in Turkey.
The number of school attacks are rising in places like Pakistan, Iraq, Indonesia and Thailand as well. A new girls' school in Iraq was found to have dozens of bombs hidden in the floor and walls and, just two weeks ago, a school was targeted in Great Britain. I also bet you never heard that the backup plan for the Madrid train bombers was a school attack.]
The Perfect Day Part 2: (video)
The Perfect Day Part 3:
[If American Muslims declare open war against Al Qaeda, Americans will rush to defend our mosques rather than allow them to be burned. Otherwise, with rage and vengeance, the freedoms so protected by our Constitution will quickly dissipate into a nation gripped by fear and hate of the "other." And that is the ultimate goal of such horrific acts: to create a reaction which ultimately destroys the very fabric of our nation-the trust of one another, under God, under our Constitution. The children they would kill in schools on this "Perfect Day" would be a utilitarian mechanism (ends justifying the means) to achieve the destruction of the "American" way of life.]
The Perfect Day 3: (video)
The Perfect Day Part 4:
excerpt:
[Fear is reduced by education, communication, and preparation-not by sticking our heads in the sand.
Before we can talk about specific steps to prepare kids, families, and educators, we first have to prepare ourselves mentally by acknowledging (in a non-alarmist, pragmatic manner) that a terror attack on an American school is not an unrealistic possibility.
We cannot change the climate if we do not change the conversation. Most public officials inside the D.C. Beltway have publicly taken a "downplay, deny, and deflect" position about this threat for fear of creating panic, but how can we prepare for something if no one will talk about it?]
The Perfect Day Part 4: (video)
[lots more @ YT]
American Children – Next Terrorist Target?
excerpt:
[Al-Qaeda has publicly asserted the "right" to kill 2,000,000 American children, Rassa explained, and has warned that "operations are in stages of preparation" now. He played vivid videotapes confiscated in Afghanistan, showing al-Qaeda terrorists practicing the takeover of a school. The trainees issue commands in English, rehearse separating youngsters into manageable groups and meeting any resistance with violence. Some "hostages" are taken to the rooftop, dangled over the edge, then "shot."]
FBI Puts Local Officials on Notice About Extremists Trying to Sign Up to Be School Bus Drivers
excerpt:
[The Associated Press reports that members of the unnamed extremist groups have succeeded in gaining the drivers licenses, but a Department of Homeland Security official told FOX News that "at this time there is no evidence that any of these individuals have got these jobs, or got hold of school buses"]
School Bus Thefts Concern Houston Authorities
excerpt:
[Published reports in 2004 said that the U.S. Military found information in Iraq pertaining to U.S. schools.]
Two Saudi Men Board School Bus
sorry for going so far OT.. but we Americans seem to have extremely short attention spans.. :(
==
++
ReplyDeletedang, don't know what happened
to #4.. but i found it here..
The Perfect Day Part 4: (video)
all 4 from CNN are listed here
==