In an article on the liberal website Elaph.com, Iraqi columnist 'Aziz Al-Hajj decried the takeover of Islam by extremist tendencies and the elimination of its moderate and open characteristics. According to Al-Hajj, since the 1970s, the moderate Islam of past eras has been gradually replaced with a benighted kind of Islam characterized by intolerance, violence and reprehensible religious rulings issued by dubious sheikhs. He argues that this is the source of Islamophobic sentiments that have arisen in the West in recent decades, and calls on the Muslims to dry up the springs of fundamentalist extremism, which leads only to backwardness.
The following are excerpts from the article:[1]
"Something has been happening since the 1970s that began in Egypt: Radio and TV are gradually becoming religious; fatwas forbidding or permitting [various phenomena] are multiplying; and sheikhs who [issue] rulings not based on profound study have become a recurring [phenomenon]. This has necessarily had a negative effect on people's minds, [not only] on simple and illiterate folk [but] even on others, and has created fertile ground for the rise of Islamic extremism.
"When Muslims complain nowadays about so-called Islamophobia in the West – which is a new complaint [that has arisen] in recent years – they surely know that, alongside [the phenomenon of] Western racist groups, which are combatted by the secular and democratic Western regimes and by Western society, fears have arisen in recent years [in the West] regarding the Islamic diasporas and even regarding Islam itself. These [fears] do not stem from some [psychological] complex against Islam and Muslims, but rather from the horrible crimes that are committed by Muslims in the name of the religion, [the Prophet] Muhammad and the Holy Koran.
"When heads are severed in the name of Islam, and terrorist [organizations] take names like 'Ansar Al-Din' [Supporters of the Faith] and refer to themselves as jihad [fighters] – meaning [fighters] for the sake of Islam; when they blow up churches or even mosques with people inside them; when some cleric or other issues fatwas accusing non-Muslims of heresy, or forbidding to greet them on Christmas; when the Pakistani Taliban shoots a girl, Malala [Yousafzai], on a [school] bus only because she called to allow girls to study[2]; when a Pakistani mother in Britain murders her seven-year-old son because he had difficulty memorizing some Koranic suras[3]; when Islamic schools, even in the West, preach [Koranic punishments such as] severing hands and stoning, [and teach pupils] to hate Christians, Jews and other non-Muslims; when we hear someone as distinguished as [Egyptian President Muhammad] Mursi describe the Jews as apes and pigs[4] and call to educate children to hate them; when [a cleric] issues a ruling on YouTube permitting the murder of anyone who leaves [the mosque] during prayer, [and calling] to roast and eat him... When [all] this and more has been happening on a daily basis since the rise of the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and the rise of Khomeinism and Salafi activity... is it any wonder that negative thoughts and feelings [regarding Muslims and Islam] arise in Western countries – [countries] that grant Muslims full freedoms, care for them, and assist them?
"We have dealt with this matter [before]... but it remains [relevant] in light of the attacks and terrorism in the name of Islam that we witness throughout the world – the most recent of which occurred in Mali and Algeria – and in light of dark and worthless religious rulings that we read about, which are issued by those who call themselves jurisprudents.
"Religion is a matter between Allah and the individual. It is meant to spread love among people, combat hatred, and bring people together. However, this arena has become open to [all] those who preach hatred, [call] to degrade women and non-Muslims, and incite extremism and violence in the name of jihad for the sake of Allah.
"All this is completely at odds [with the situation that existed] in the generations prior to the 1970s, which minimized such trends. Were the Muslims of those ages not [proper] Muslims? Was their Islam questionable? The common Muslim who witnesses this amount of disgusting, misleading and inciting religious rulings on a daily basis, and hears news about 'jihad [fighters]', some of whom are engineers, doctors and academics; when radio, TV, YouTube and the like are filled with this rotten merchandise, and when there is a war against music and romantic films – is it any wonder that many of today's Muslims lean towards extremism, which leads to terrorism and to permitting the blood of others?...
"[We] now have an obligation to dry up the springs of fundamentalist extremism, starting with schools, the media and the family... as [Tunisian liberal] Mr. Lafif Lakhdar said.[5] A culture based on this weak and dark foundation will only lead [us back] to the caves."
Endnotes:
[1] Elaph.com, January 18, 2013.
[2] Yousafzai, a 14-year-old Pakistani activist for women's rights and education, was shot in the head in October 2012 by Taliban gunmen while returning home on a school bus.
[3] In January 2013, 33-year-old Sara Ege from Cardiff was sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in prison for murdering her son Yaseen and burning his body to destroy the evidence.
