In his March 1, 2016 column in the Bahraini daily Al-Wasat, titled "The Illusion of the Caliphate State," columnist Jamil Al-Mahari condemned those who dream of establishing an Islamic caliphate through terrorism and beheadings, calling them "the most extremist, reactionary and barbaric of people." He argued that ISIS is only one of many Islamist organizations that reject coexistence with the other, and that these organizations, as well as multitudes who support them on the social networks, are far removed from Islam and "have no humane or religious goal - nothing but a moral vacuum."
The following are excerpts from his article:
Jamil
Al-Mahari (image: alwasatnews.com)
"Tens of thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands of people have been killed so far, and hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions of innocent people have been uprooted from their homes, [all] in the name of the dream of establishing a caliphate state throughout the Arab and Muslim lands, [a state] ruled by the Muslim caliph under the protection of Allah.
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"The dream of establishing an Islamic caliphate state, or an Islamic empire, over the ruins of the modern Arab and Islamic governments was born after the fall of the Ottoman state in the 1920s. This was a new idea of Islamic figures and organizations who undertook to reinstate the Islamic shari'a in everyday life and to restore the Islamic rule. To this day, the majority of Islamic organizations preach some version of this idea, in some way. Some believe [in implementing it] gradually, while others believe in imposing it by force.
"Those who dream of the return of the Islamic caliphate, as we see [them] today, may be much more numerous than we think, and therefore ISIS is only [one] of many political [Islam] organizations that are cast in the same mold, [all of which] adopt this blood-soaked perception that does not accept the possibility of tolerating any opinion different [from their own].
"Historically, the caliphate state existed for a short period of time, during the reign of the four Righteous Caliphs. Later the political regime changed, reflecting the direction taken by the Umayyad state, the Abbasid state and finally the Ottoman state. None of those who now presume to establish a caliphate state can claim that any of the governance models that existed after the era of the Righteous Caliphs were worthy of emulation in terms of their enactment of the Islamic shari'a. Hence, [these people] have no clear model to which to aspire, only selective utopian theories about [their] heritage.
"Today, the most extremist, reactionary and barbaric of people have emerged, [striving] to establish an Islamic caliphate state by means of terror, beheadings and blowing up mosques using explosive belts, [and attempting] to establish the hoped-for future caliphate state over [their victims'] remains. [This, while] the Islamic caliphate state is supposed to enact the Islamic shari'a, which is replete with compassion and divine justice. These people want to spread Islam throughout the world by means of the sword and [by waging] jihad for the sake of Allah, by murdering people and blowing them up, [and all this] in order to dominate the world in the name of Islam, implement Allah's law and levy the jizya [poll tax] on anyone who refuses to embrace Islam. That is, the U.S., Russia, Germany and Britain are all supposed to pay jizya to this putative Islamic state, while in state of submission.
"The strangest thing of all is that among those who have taken over some isolated towns and villages in chaos-ridden countries like Syria, Iraq and Libya - those who have enslaved the people [of those towns and villages] and captured their women - there are some who believe to this day that if an Islamic state emerges in these regions, it will be able to do as it pleases with the locals everywhere, in the name of religion. And stranger still is [the fact] that some people openly and proudly support them - though they are very far removed from the path of Islam, as can be seen on the social networks... [These people's] agenda is clear. They have no humane or religious goal - nothing but a moral vacuum."
