How Terrorists Hijacked Islam
by Jessica Stern
USA Today, October 1, 2001
For the past 4 years, I have been interviewing violent extremists all over the world. They
subscribe to every religion and are found in nearly every country. But only Muslim extremists
have managed to generate a large following.
Charismatic leaders, misreading religious texts, find arguments to justify holy war
against anyone or any country believed to be promoting a purported anti-Islam agenda, in
Osama bin Ladens words. And socioeconomic conditions have made a large pool of young men
susceptible to the argument that they can best serve Allah by donating their lives to the cause.
Although wealthy young men also are drawn to holy wars, it is predominately the poor and
deprived who serve as cannon fodder.
Fighting such extremism requires understanding that this is a war not between Islam and
the West, but between certitude and open-mindedness, dogma
and thought, prejudice and tolerance. These are points President Bush has made repeatedly.
Military might alone cannot win this war because we are fighting a movement, not a state, not
even just a network.
How can we fight this scourge, spread around the world in tiny pockets of fury and pain?
We first need to remember that extremists thrive on festering conflicts such as those in
the Middle East, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and Kashmir. They also flourish when economies
collapse and when states fail to provide basic services. In Afghanistan, for example, the literacy
rate is around 25%, the child mortality rate is among the worlds highest, and only a few have
access to safe water, sanitation, health care and public education. Bin Laden has helped to fill
this void, becoming a major benefactor to the people of Afghanistan, now a kind of Jihad U.
Use more than force to win
Of course, if we can find a way to use military force to deter terrorist attacks, we should
do so. But if we are serious about winning this war, we need a multi pronged approach. We will
have to emphasize international intelligence cooperation, the extradition and prosecution of
terrorist suspects in our courts, and the interception of extremist groups funding.
Education and economic assistance must be a part of our arsenal. Pakistans inadequate
public-education system, for example, encourages poor families to send their children to
extremists religious schools, where they are taught to view fighting in Afghanistan as a religious
duty. And by financing and training the Afghan mujahedin during its war with the Soviet Union,
the United States ended up leaving the region awash with guns, drugs, and mujahedin, who are
still seeking new jihads to fight. It is our interest to help give these young men real alternatives
in this world - not just the next.
A grotesque distortion
Most importantly, we need to think about how to undermine the appeal of these terrorist
groups. Most Islamic scholars interpret jihad as the striving for justice (and principally an inner
striving to purify the self). But extremists equate jihad with total war. Islam strictly prohibits
targeting innocent civilians, yet these extremists developed convoluted arguments to justify
murdering women and children. Religious scholars need to get out the message loud and clear
that bin Ladens version of Islam is a grotesque distortion of their faith. Those scholars should
be speaking out, not just in the U.S., but all over the world, too.
Religion has two sides. One is spiritual: It unifies people, transcending national and
religious boundaries. The other side is all about boundaries: To be Catholic is not to be Protestant;
to be Christian is to be non-Muslim; to be Muslim is to be not Jewish. Extremists focus on the
divisive aspect of religion and ignore its spiritual, universal aspects.
Lets not fall into the same trap.