Fanatics… Unite!

24Jul06

I consider myself a tolerant person, especially on the subject of religion. I think this may come from being one of three Catholics among my peers growing up, they being mostly Protestants. Children can be pretty hateful, and I remember some extreme little “Churchies” (Thanks to Spicy for that one) who literally avoided me like I had the black plague because I was evil… apparently. OK, so I might be just a little evil sometimes, but it’s definitely not because I’m Catholic.

I’m also an analyst: I contrast and compare aspects of religion. I especially like to see what they have in common. I’m pretty sure I embarrassed my mom debating with the young padawan priest who helped teach my Confirmation class, but I just wanted him to admit that at their hearts, religions are based on what seem to be myths (The link is a definition to be sure we’re clear on what myth means, despite pop culture’s misuse). That is not to say that the Bible and/or the Qur’an and/or the Tanakh, etc. aren’t the word of God. A word is a sign which conveys a meaning. And myths do indeed carry meaning. My Catholic Bible is extremely clear that the Bible is made up of works written in various literary forms which should be interpreted by the believer. Which is a problem in its own, of course. The Nazis used Deuteronomy 20 to legitimize their final solution. The KKK used their “translation” of the Bible (They believed the King James version to be mistranslated). And there’s the translation issue. But all this is not the point of this post, but it does help illustrate the harm which intolerance and religious fanaticism, coupled with Anthropomorphism (Voltaire: “God created man in his image, and man has more than reciprocated.”) can lead to.

My point is this: I have little knowledge of the Islamic faith, but that’s not reason enough to be intolerant. As a human being, this predisposes me to an array of fears (The “Unknown”). However, I’ve had my share of history classes and done enough research to know that Islam has many things in common with many religions, including a certain malleability when it comes to literal interpretations, fanaticism, and fundamentalism. I’ve also noticed that the resources I’ve come across who say Islam is a religion of violence or “more than a religion” (What the West Needs to Know) tend not to cite or quote; Those resources which try to explain why Islam is a religion of peace usually supply quotations and evidence along with at least a small amount of context. That doesn’t mean their aren’t fanatics who scan their respective religious text for quotes to support their claims… but giving citations and quotes and whatnot… letting me know where I can go and actually get the quote in context is important to me.

I don’t get upset about a lot of things. I’m pretty laid back and have to try hard to avoid becoming complacent. But I find it difficult taking ignorant people seriously. People who don’t take the time to figure things out for themselves and simply believe what other people tell them to believe piss me off. People who throw blanket generalizations about a religion, or any group of people, based on what the people in power do piss me off. There’s a reason ignore is part of the word ignorant. I can understand a person being ignorant because they are ignored. But there is no reason for Americans to be ignorant about religion. The information is freely and widely available. There are several versions and translations of the Qur’an and the Bible on Project Gutenberg alone. Don’t ignore it.

While I’m talking about generalisations, it’s worth noting there are a number of different Islamic sects (a few here, here, here, you get the idea, eh?) as there are a number of Christian sects and Jewish sects and… whatever other religion you want to talk about: There are probably sects within them as well. So, be careful of that when you use limiting language. I have friends that do this all the time, and I’ve been guilty of it myself: “The Islamic people are violent” “Mexicans like burritos.” Unless you’ve met every Mexican… you don’t know if they like burritos or not.

So, tolerance; being informed; contextual information… my rant today. The umbrella point: Think for yourself. Don’t take my word for it. Take the time and get informed about something. Don’t have time? Remember that next time you’re bored, or forwarding the latest myspace bulletin, or sitting in a traffic jam, or watching reality TV, or sitting in the pool… whatever.

Now, that’s a good conclusion, but I totally got off on a rant and I did want to share what little I’ve been able to learn about Islam today. Since I’ve been fascinated with the Dune series of books by Frank Herbert, I did a little digging on the word “jihad.” Think about what you think this means.

Holy War, right? That’s what I always thought. Let’s take a look at the Islamic dictionary on www.yourdictionary.com:

The word jihad actually means “struggle, strive.” The Arabic root of the word is jahada “to strive for.” (The Arabic word for war is “harb.”) Of the two types of jihad, the lesser type is the struggle against religious or political oppression, the second and greater is the soul’s struggle with evil. Moderates think that while “jihad” might refer to an active war against an oppressive regime, such a war may be waged only against that regime, not innocent people. Radical Islamic fundamentalists assume that a jihad is a war without constraints.

Hmmmm… War is a type of struggle for sure. But the greater struggle is the soul’s struggle, a war within. OK, so, I’m sure you can read, I won’t summarize more. However, I will note that one of my sources which actually cites information reinforces this view. You can check that out here. It’s The Institute of Islamic Information and Education’s explanation of jihad.

OK, hang with me here. Now I’m going to summarize what has been presented to me in philosophy class. I don’t have any quotations or evidence to back this up, but my professor wrote a book on the subject, so… I guess he has a little credibility.

First, a little etymology:

• jihada – verb – to struggle, battle, fight
• jihad – noun – struggle against evil
• mujihad – noun – one battling evil (mujihadin – plural)

Four types of Qur’anic Jihad:

• jihad of the heart – The inner struggle against sin and temptation. This is considered the most important of all jihad.

The next three are considered the “lesser” jihad:

• jihad of the tongue – Two types
  • Speaking out against injustice: Tyranny, hate, etc.
  • Teaching principles of Islam: Opening the way, Inviting others to Islam. The Qur’an actually does explicitly forbid coercion. This I actually do have a direct quote from [2.256] in the Qur’an, “There is no compulsion in religion;truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error;…” I’ve taken it out of context, of course, and I encourage you to read the whole section here, or any other copy of the Qur’an.
• jihad of the arm/hand – “non-violent effort to correct injustice.” Charity, etc. I actually forget the exact placement, I think I read it in the IIIE article on jihad, but in Islam you are supposed to use these types of jihad first to “win” over your “enemies.” I believe it also says that physical war is only permitted in defense or when non-believers are in your “Holy” land. That’s a whole other topic I’m not even going to try to touch right now. You know, there’s that big area in the Middle East that’s “Holy” to like… everybody.
• jihad of the sword – The least of all jihad and the last resort. All other forms must be exhausted (Note subjectivity) before the sword can be used, and then there are many rules of engagement… so to speak. “Rules are made to be broken” and all that jazz. Here’s one view of justification for use of the “sword.”

Here are three justifications for violent jihad my professor (A Presbyterian minister btw) provided:

• Protect one’s self.
• Protect those who can’t protect themselves.
• Protect right to worship your God

I think I’ll stop with that (finally!). Thanks if you actually read it. Double thanks if you feel like commenting or informing me of errors or other resources which might be beneficial.

Religions do not cause violence. People’s misuse and ignorance causes religious based violence. If there was no religion, we’d probably still be violent. But that’s just my opinion. Use your brain. Think for yourself.

Oh yeah, I’m still Catholic.

:: Related Extras ::

• The Koran (Qur’an) – Searchable online version of the Islamic holy text.
• Islamic Justification of killing non-combatants – when interpretation of holy texts becomes dangerous
• Jihad – from the IIIE – Provides sources
• What the West Needs to Know – A movie which says Islam is violent. Website supplies no evidence besides “The Qur’an says this.” type of thing with no actual citation. The movie is not available on the site or in theaters.

Filed under: Random Musings   |  Leave a Comment