In an article titled "9/11 Has Not Yet Happened!" in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Hashem Saleh, a Syrian intellectual residing in Morocco, argued that the Muslims have learned nothing from those events. Claiming that 9/11 had generated no change in Muslim thought that would give rise to a renaissance in it, he added that the emergence and activity of ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) are a direct continuation of the terrorism of 9/11. Both of these, he says, are the product of Muslim religious thought and of the school curricula in Muslim countries – which teach that anyone whose thought deviates from the accepted norm is an infidel. He bemoaned the fact that the terrorist takfiri ideology – i.e. the practice of accusing others of heresy – that gave birth to 9/11 is still alive and well in Arab and Muslim society, while enlightened thought is considered fringe.
The following are excerpts from Saleh's article:[1]
Hashem Saleh (image: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat)
The Events Of 9/11 Did Not Lead To A Renaissance In Muslim Thought
"Maybe you'll say: This man's strategy is disagree with others so they remember you. He is merely obsessed with arguments and disagreements. He only wants to attract attention. If not, what does the moronic statement [in his article's] title mean? Is it logical that the [attacks of] 9/11 have not yet taken place? What's the point of this sophistry?
"I will tell you that I am very serious in my choice of this title, and that I am not engaging in entertainment and jokes. I persist in stating that 9/11 has not yet taken place on the level of thought – that is, there has been nothing on the perceptual and philosophical level throughout the Arab and Muslim world that can compare [to the 9/11 attacks] – and this is something that I have said already expressed many times.
"There is no doubt that the earth-shattering events of 9/11 happened, and that they claimed 3,000 lives. We saw people throwing themselves out of the top floors into the air. What happened was an earthquake. Everyone knows this.
"However, '9/11' as an earth-shattering and enlightening perceptual event of the same magnitude and impact as [the actual] 9/11 is still but a fond wish. Undoubtedly, [9/11] surpassed imagination and everything else; it surpassed all things, both logical and illogical... But where is the innovation of thought? Where is the Islamic enlightenment of the same magnitude as [9/11] that makes us feel that [that event] was not in vain? This is the central question. Everything else is just details.
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"If anyone among the exalted sheikhs and the new Arab conservatives believes they will escape accountability after all that's happened, he are sorely mistaken. The entire world is demanding accountability from them!"
ISIS – A Direct Continuation Of 9/11
"The best proof that 9/11 is not yet over, or that its chapters are still unfolding, is what is blowing up in our face right now – the greatest of catastrophes. I am referring to ISIS and its ilk. Had we drawn conclusions and learned lessons from the catastrophe of 9/11, we would not now be back at square one, and would not have received the gift of this grim and ignominious caliphate. If [Muslims] had taken seriously not only 9/11 but also all the other crimes and explosions that took place in the name of and under the aegis of the religion, then ISIS would never have been possible. We would have gotten past this and put it behind us.
"Some say, '[ISIS] is just a handful of crazy people who do not represent Islam. They are a group of extremists who speak only for themselves. We have no problem. Everything is fine.' What 'handful' are you talking about? It's a cancer, it's a torrent rising from the abyss! It's embarrassing that such a grave matter is dismissed and that the facts are denied.
"Do you think that the West is that stupid? They have experts who know more about us than we know about ourselves. So who are you trying to deceive? I in no way disrespect the efforts of Arab intellectuals who have passed the stage of ideological prattle and have started calling things by their real name. [These intellectuals] are the hope for the future. They are the smiling faces of the Mashriq [the Arab countries in the eastern Mediterranean basin]; nevertheless, they are still a minority."
Those Who Oppose A Change Of Religious Thought And Curricula Are Still The Majority Among Us
"The arrogant people who mislead and who make everything into an ideology are still the numerical majority; they are a more reliable indicator of the street's inclination towards demagoguery and populism. They see no need for any change in the religious thought or in the religious [school] curricula that led directly 9/11 and following that to [the emergence of] ISIS. This [religious thought] still labels as an infidel anyone who thinks differently from their followers – let alone secularists, liberals, and disciples of the philosophy of enlightenment, of which I am a full-fledged member. This is the crux of the matter. What they teach young children is terrifying – not to mention that no one lifted a finger [to change this] before 9/11, or since 9/11, either. So what do you expect?
"Luckily, however, there are exceptions, chief among them a speech by [Jordanian] Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad Al-Hussein. He is the newly appointed [UN] High Commissioner on Human Rights, and the first Muslim Arab to occupy this lofty position. In a recent speech in Geneva, the Hashemite prince called ISIS a barbaric organization that seeks to create a bloody and savage world, and that sows terror and fear throughout the region. He later discussed the question of what kind of state accuses others of being infidels; the answer is a bloodthirsty, evil state with no place in it for those who are not takfiris, a merciless, compassionless heretical state, in which anyone whose views deviate from its own is doomed. [ISIS's] views are narrow and rash, and there is no debate or discussion on them."
Support For ISIS And Takfir Is Widespread – Because Of Our Backwards Education
"The ideology of takfir has gone global; it is not limited to the region of Syria and Iraq, recently afflicted by this disaster... You can find it with Boko Haram in Nigeria, with the Taliban and the remnants of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, not to mention in Yemen, Kenya, Somalia, Mali, Libya, and so on. It is the same ideology all over.
"With absolute savagery, they launch surprise [attacks] everywhere against the innocent; they murder all those who disagree with them, without distinguishing between and Muslims non-Muslims. The claim made by some Arab newspapers – i.e. that they let you choose between [converting] to Islam and being murdered – is false and a complete lie. Not one of the Yazidis would have objected to reciting the Shahada [declaration of Islamic faith] – nevertheless, they were taken by surprise and murdered in cold blood... They pass sentence on you: You are an infidel by your very nature, and therefore you must be slaughtered according to the shari'a.
"The problem is that a large number of Muslims believe in secret what these [takfiris] are stating openly. The results of public opinion polls on this issue are scary – some even show that 90% [support this ideology]! And all this is the result of what? Of the curricula; of the dusty yellow or black books. All this is the product of backwards education and of sanctified ignorance! Here, gentlemen, is the heart of the matter. We must acknowledge the truth, not bury our heads in the sand.
"That is why I say that as yet nothing has happened to balance 9/11. By that, I mean that thought that is enlightened and earth-shattering, of a force and an impact comparable to that of the 9/11 crime, remains on the fringe of the Arab and Muslim arenas – while the backwards, terrorist, ISIS thought that gave birth to the crime of 9/11 is still alive and kicking, as if nothing ever happened.
"This in itself is more dangerous than the blow of 9/11!"
[1] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 13, 2014.
