An Islamic scholar vs. the jihadists

[unixronin]

ForeignPolicy.com published an interesting article a few days ago talking about the Taliban and Pakistani cleric Tahir ul-Qadri.  It seems that about a month ago, ul-Qadri, who is recognized as one of the foremost Islamic scholars in Pakistan and an authority on the Quran and Islamic law, wrote a 600-page fatwa denouncing terrorism as contrary to the teachings of the Prophet.

Now, other Islamic scholars have denounced terrorism and suicide bombing as haram, forbidden acts.  What made such a stir about ul-Qadri's fatwa is that he went further, citing a "vast array of classical Islamic sources" to state that terrorism is not merely haram, it is kufr, an act of disbelief.  In short, he has declared unequivocally that the jihadis are apostates — and Islam declares that the penalty for apostasy is death.

"There was a need," says Qadri, "to address this issue authentically, with full authority, with all relevant Quranic authority -- so that [the terrorists] realize that whatever they've been taught is absolutely wrong and that they're going to hellfire.  They're not going to have paradise, and they're not going to have 72 virgins in heaven.  They're totally on the wrong side."

Unsurprisingly, the Taliban isn't happy about this, and — as noted in the article — has been internally circulating messages calling for ul-Qadri's death.

Now, the way it looks to me, any time you start calling for the assassination of leaders of your own religion for saying that you have fallen from the faith, ... well, aren't you sort of proving his point?  This doesn't seem like a good move for the Taliban.  And what will happen if they do assassinate him?  He'll become a martyr, and there's nothing more powerful than a martyr.

But there's another thing to consider here.  Supposedly, according to many Islamic prophecies, the Twelfth Imam (aka the Hidden Imam) is supposed to return — many say some time around now — to bring justice and peace to the world.  Now, just suppose that the Taliban or some other jihadi group were to assassinate ul-Qadri, and ul-Qadri were to not only be recognized as a martyr, but — in light of this fatwa and his other teachings — posthumously hailed as the return of the Twelfth Imam.  Imagine what it would do to the jihadist cause if the Hidden Imam returned according to prophecy, only to be murdered by jihadis.  Imagine the fury of mainstream Moslems.

There would be no place on this Earth any jihadi could hide.

Comments

[hugh_mannity]

Now there's a brave man.

[rain-manpnw.livejournal.com]

We could dump all the jihadists into the Saudi desert. Then they'd be caught between Iraq and a hajj place ...

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Aaaauuuugh! :)

[lebo-superman.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised. The jihadists have built their entire lives around hate, brutality, and retaliation. What response do you think they would have to being told that their actions are apostate to their own religion? They hate the message, react with brutality, and retaliate against the messenger. It is the only thing they know how to do.

But, I think your analysis is insightful. It would seem that they are setting themselves up for major ostracism from their own people, which will make them fair-game for all their other opponents. Life may be about to get very hard.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

The jihadists have built their entire lives around hate, brutality, and retaliation. What response do you think they would have to being told that their actions are apostate to their own religion? They hate the message, react with brutality, and retaliate against the messenger. It is the only thing they know how to do.

This doesn't just apply to jihadis, either.

I have a theory about terrorists. I believe they fall into two groups.

The first group is the true believers. Of course, there's a wide spectrum here, from the ones who see themselves as freedom fighters and will not do wrong in the name of right, up to the fanatics who will do anything for the cause — though even these usually will not knowingly act against their own cause. But these, the true believers, are a minority among those who've been "in the game" for a while, because many of the idealistic true believers either die early or become disillusioned with what they're being asked to do for their beliefs. The fanatics among them tend to drift into the second group anyway.

The second group really don't care about the causes they espouse. Any cause is just a flag of convenience for them, a convenient excuse to rationalize doing what they have learned, even if they don't admit it to themselves, that they like doing — and that is killing people, preferably defenseless people who never get a chance to fight back, and preferably in ways that do not place themselves in any immediate risk. They don't believe, deep down, in causes. They just like killing people with as few consequences as possible. They like the power, and they like being feared. If they can order people to go out and die in the attempt to kill people, so much the better. These are the kind who will do anything, plan anything, especially if they can dupe someone else into actually carrying it out. These are the kind who will destroy their own cause in the name of the cause, because they give only lip service to the cause. They can always find another to hide behind, after all.

[danjite.livejournal.com]

What makes anyone think the political groups or the cultural groups or the criminal gangs calling themselves "Islamists" give a shit about the religion of the same name?

I ask this as an Anti-Zionist, atheist Jew.

[cipherpunk.livejournal.com]

The problem with ul-Qadri is he's a Sufi. The Sunni and Shi'a already view him as apostate, so what likelihood is there anyone in the Sunni or Shi'a communities will get upset over Al-Qaeda calling for him to be killed?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Certainly you have a point there. In a sense, Islam is almost more three religions — or three faiths, perhaps — than one.

Personally, I consider the Sufis the sanest of the three. It seems they alone have maintained the legacy of Islamic scholarly enlightenment, while the Shi'a and (to a somewhat lesser extent) the Sunni have backslid into the Middle Ages.

Nevertheless, they do at least all profess to worship the same God and follow the teachings of the same Prophet. (For what that's worth...)

[hannahsarah.livejournal.com]

Sufi? No wonder he's making sense!

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I have great respect for the Sufis. I think of them rather as the Jesuits of Islam.

[hannahsarah.livejournal.com]

I like that! I always thought that Rumi was Chassidic at heart. :-)