week 8 differences within the world of believers

8/2/2019 Week 8 Differences Within the World of Believers

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Differences Within The

World of Islamic Believers


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Competing Ideas of Islam Today

The Liberal group: those who have been westernized,either in their way of thinking and living or in their way ofdressing, though most of them still perform the basic duties ofIslam, such as praying five times and fasting.

The Moderate group: those who maintain that in terms ofsocial life Islamic teaching needs to be reformed, and to doso certain passages of the Quran need to be reinterpretedaccording to the context of the day.

This group are secularists who believe in the segregationbetween the Religion and Politics or state.

To them Islamic Law or the Islamic State is an ideal thing, but

not a priority, yet they still uphold the Islamic social values.


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Competing Ideas of Islam Today

The Islamic Renewal group: those whose

aspiration is to implement Islam as their way oflife in its totality. This group of Muslims strive toestablish an Islamic state, without separationbetween religious and political leadership, and

with Islamic Law enforced fully. They believe:

Islam is locked in a struggle with the forces ofWestern modernism and secularism.

Terrorists are righteous warriors engaged in a holywar against the Great Satan.


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The Fundamentalist Credo

Islam must have power in this world. It is the truereligionthe religion of Godand its truth ismanifest in its power.

When Muslims followed this path, they werepowerful. Their power has been lost in modern

times because true Islam has been abandoned bymany Muslims, who have reverted to the conditionthat preceded Gods revelation to the ProphetMuhammad. But if Muslims now return to theoriginal Islam, they can preserve and even restore

their power. To be effective, the return to Islam must be

comprehensive; Islam provides the one and onlysolution to all questions in this world, from publicpolicy to private conduct.


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The Fundamentalist Credo

Islam is not merely a religion, in the Western senseof a system of belief in God. It possesses animmutable law, revealed by God, that deals withevery aspect of life, and it is an ideology, a

complete system of belief about the organization ofthe state and the world.

This law and ideology can only be implementedthrough the establishment of a truly Islamic state,under the sovereignty of God.

The empowerment of Islam, which is Gods planfor mankind, is a sacred end. It may be pursued byany means that can be rationalized in terms ofIslams own code.


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Radical IslamistBeliefs

Sense of crisis from Muslim statesbackwardness/weakness, challenges frommodernization

History of blaming problems on others, victimization World is a perpetual battlefield between faith and

unbelief; no coexistence or compromise Islam is a revolutionary liberation movement:

required to alter the unjust political, economic andsocial status quo

Current regimes are apostate, must be deposed

Struggle (jihad) is required until all lands are underMuslim control: reestablish the caliphate

Goal of Gods utopia: phased process to build idealsociety, governed only by the sharia


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Characteristics of Islamic MilitantLeaders

Eighty percent are University students orUniversity graduates.

Over half come from elite colleges or from theintellectually most demanding fields of technical

specialization, such as medicine and engineering. Over 70 percent are from lower middle-class

'modest, but not poor backgrounds,'' and are thefirst generation in their family to get higher

education. They spent their childhoods in small towns or rural

areas but became residents of large cities.


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Characteristics of the Followersof Islamic Militants

Urban middle class people make up the bulk of theactive membership in Islamic militant groups. Insome degree these come from what are oftentermed "traditional" middle-class groups: merchants,traders, small business proprietors, bazaaris.

To an even greater extent fundamentalists belong tothe more "modern" sectors of the middle class.Islamist activists include a disproportionately largenumber of the best-educated and most intelligent

young people in their respective populations,"including doctors, lawyers, engineers. Scientists,teachers, civil servants.


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Why The Popularity ofFundamentalism?

Internal conditions in the Arab/Muslim world:

- Corrupt, authoritarian, unrepresentative regimes

- Repression, economic failure and disenfranchisement

- Promotion of impure forms of Islamic belief and practice

- Continuing lack of opportunities and hope Threats from outside of the Islamic nation:

- New Crusade by Jews and Western neocolonialists

- Political and economic domination, maintaindependence at regions expense

- Invasion of alien ideas: secularism, nationalism,democracy and human rights

- Continued Western support to Israel and to unpopularMiddle Eastern governments


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The Society of Islamic Brothers

Formed in 1928 in Egypt, The Muslim

Brotherhood opposes secular tendenciesof Islamic nations, advocates return to the precepts ofthe Quran as taught in the time of the Prophet, andrejects Western influences.

The organization's motto is: Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our

leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way.Dying in the way of Allah is our highesthope


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The Muslim Brotherhood The Brotherhood is one of the most influential

movements in the Islamic World. It exists in more than80 countries.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928,and Egypt is still considered the center of themovement; it is generally weaker in the Maghreb, or

North Africa, than in the Arab Levant. The Brotherhood has posted electoral victories in

Turkey, Jordan, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and formsthe main opposition to the governments in severalcountries in the Muslim world, such as Syria. They are

politically active to some extent in nearly every Muslimcountry.

There are also diaspora branches in several WesternNations, composed by immigrants previously active inthe Brotherhood in their home countries.


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Sayyid Qutb Provides the PhilosophicalBase for the Brotherhood

Sayyid Qutb was the Brotherhoods leadingtheorist of 1950-60s. On a 1949 student tripto U.S., he developed negative impressionsof American culture.

Egyptian Pres. Nasser hanged Qutb in 1966for plotting his assassination.

Qutb laid the philosophical foundation forthe Brotherhood. In Shade of the Quranand Milestones of the Roads, Qutbinterpreted the Quran as demandingextension of Sharia(religious law) to allaspects of life. He also called for: Muslims to return to pure Islam as practiced

in the Prophets time, Rejection of secular and western values, Armed struggle (jihad) as the means to

eliminate un-Islamic governments andestablish a global system of Islamic Staterule.


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Sayyid Qutb on Relations with the West

If we look at the sources and foundations ofmodern ways of living, it becomes clear that the

whole world is steeped in Jahiliyya (paganignorance of divine guidance), [which] takes theform of claiming that the right to create values, to

legislate rules of collective behavior, and tochoose any way of life rests with men, withoutregard to what God has prescribed. The result ofthis rebellion against the authority of God is theoppression of His creatures

Western civilization is unable to present anyhealthy values for the guidance of mankindIslamis the only system which possesses these valuesand this way of life.

Milestones, 1964


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Building The Brotherhoods

Islamic State Muslim Brotherhood founded as a vehicle to counter threats

from Western colonialism, Arab nationalism and secularism;movement endures today throughout the Muslim world

Primary means to restore Islamic character to society isvigorous preaching and teaching (dawa) campaign;

Gradualist approach to build a strong Muslim state governed

by sharia: re-Islamization through four stages starting withindividuals, then families, then communities, which will bandtogether to form a true Islamic state (unique bottom-upapproach to reform)

Influenced radicals by redefiningjihad: greater jihad is armedphysical struggle against injustice and unbelief, not theinternal spiritual struggle. It is a God-ordained defensiverequirement for all Muslims, as long as unbelievers rule anyIslamic lands. This concept of jihad combined the Quranicdefinition of fighting with a struggle not only against infidelsbut also People of the Book.


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Global Jihad: A New Twist

Osama bin Laden:

- August 1996 Declaration of War (

Ladinese Epistle

):Muslims must expel infidels from land of the two holyplaces- February 1998 Fatwa: Americans stormed theArabian Peninsula and are using it to launch attacksagainst Muslims; are hurting Iraq; and are supportingIsraeli occupation of Jerusalem and aggression so allmust be killed anywhere- Defensive struggle that is morally required for all trueMuslims- May 1998 ABC Interview: Bring the battle to Americansoil; focus on political, economic and military targets

Fed by Jihad Factories: madrassashave providedsteady source of mujahedinfor struggles in Afghanistan,Bosnia, Chechnya, Kashmir and elsewhere (highesthonor is to wagejihadagainst enemies of Islam)


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UNCLAS


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UNCLAS

UNCLAS

Rear Admiral Bill Sullivan

Vice Director for Strategic Plans & PolicyThe Joint Staff

Fighting the Long War--

Military Strategy for the War on Terrorism

UNCLASSIFIED


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UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED

Al Qaidas Plan: A Present Day Manifestation

We are seeking to incite the Islamic Nation to rise up to liberate its land

and to conduct Jihad for the sake of God. - Usama bin Laden

Objective 1: Expel American influence from Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula

Objective 2: Remove secular governments within the region

Objective 3: Eliminate Israel and purge Jewish and Christian influence

Objective 4: Expand the Muslim empire to historical significance

UNCLAS


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UNCLAS

UNCLAS

UNCLAS


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UNCLAS

UNCLAS

US Strategy

The three key elements in win this war are:Protect and defend the Homeland

Attack terrorists and their capacity to operate effectively at home and abroad

Support mainstream Muslim efforts to reject violent extremism

In addition to the strategic elements, there are three critical cross-

cutting enablers:

Expanding foreign partnerships and partnership capacity

Strengthening our capacity to prevent terrorist acquisition and use of WMD

Institutionalizing domestically and internationally the strategy against violentextremists

This war goes far beyond the borders of Iraq,

Afghanistan and the Greater Middle East


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The Clandestine War


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The Clandestine War

The United States has developed a cadre of terrorist-hunters in Iraq,

Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Horn of Africa known as Task Force

373.

TF 373 works according to classified lists of enemies, "JointPrioritized Effects Lists" (JPEL) in military jargon. The JPEL list

assigns an individual serial number to each of those targeted for kill or

capture.

The U.S. also has worked with European allies to dismantle terrorist

groups in North Africa, efforts that include a recent French strike inAlgeria.


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TF 373

According to the CIA, about half of the combatants on our

most wanted list have been neutralized thus far. Many

others have been captured and transferred to a special

prisons, such as the Bagram Theatre Internment Facility inAfghanistan.

Some TF 373 operations involve the use of unmanned

drones to deliver missiles or 500 lb. smart bombs with

pinpoint accuracy against radical shelters, vehicles, or evenenemy units in the open.


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The newest version of the drone, The Reaper, is awesome: they can

loiter for up to 42 hours at a time, their sensors can read the numbers

on a license plate from 2 miles away, and they carry a lethal dose of

smart weapons: laser and satellite guided bombs as well as Hellfire

missiles that can hit a target the size of a square yard from 25,000 feet.

War Without Risk Inconvenience or Valor


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War Without Risk, Inconvenience, or Valor

A drone team consists of two sets of pilots. One set works abroad, handling takeoffs

and landings. Once the drones are aloft, they are electronically slewed over to a set

of reachback operators, at Creech AFB or CIA HQ in Langley.

Using joysticks that resemble video-game controls, the reachback operators sit next

to intelligence officers and watch, on large flat-screen monitors, a live video feedfrom the drones sensors. This team carries out the actual strike mission.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/MQ-1_Predator_controls_2007-08-07.jpg


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Drone Strikes in Pakistan


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Some Notable Successes:

Anwar al-Awlaki

Anwar al-Awlaki was a

U.S.-born, Internet-savvy

cleric who some officials

saw as leader of al-Qaedain the Arabian Peninsula.

Awlaki was allegedly

involved in the Christmas

2009 bombing attempt and

had communicated with

Fort Hood shooter Maj.

Nidal Hasan.


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Jihadist Web sites announced in early June 2010 that a U.S. drone attack killed Al-

Qaedas No. 3 man, Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid, and most of his family. Most

recently he was the Commander of al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan.

According to a recent Pakistani report, radical leaders are very apprehensive about

what they call the silent death. They scamper around only at night and accuse

followers of being spies who help target them. Many tribal leaders who formerly

welcomed Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in their territory now plead with them toleave because they fear attracting drone strikes.


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Pakistani security officials announced that Baitullah Mehsud

(Commander of the Taliban in Pakistan), his wife and bodyguards

were killed on 5 August 2009 in a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency

drone attack. Kafayat Ullah, a Taliban source, also announced the

death of the militant in the strike.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/Baitullah_Mehsud-AFP.jpg


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Drones have eliminated more than half of the C.I.A.s twenty most

wanted high value extremist targets including Saad bin Laden,

Osamas eldest son, and the man shown on the left here.

He is Hakimullah Mehsud, who took over as head of the PakistaniTaliban in December 2009 and appeared in radical videos bragging

that he personally sent the man on the right, a Jordanian doctor, to

carry out the suicide bombing in Afghanistan that killed seven CIA

employees in eastern Afghanistan in early January 2010. Hakimullah

did not survive the month after making the claim.


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Key Taliban Ally Captured New ground operations yield capture of

key radical leaders, including the

military commander of all Taliban

forces in Afghanistan, Mullah Abdul

Ghani Baradar.

He ranks second in influence only to

Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Talibans

founder and a close associate of Osama

bin Laden.

Baradar was captured in mid January

2010 in Karachi, a chaotic city of 13

million people, which includes a large

population of Pashtuns, the main ethnic

group that makes up the Taliban,

convincing them that it was a relatively

safe place to hide.


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The TalibanStudents of Allah


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Who Are the Taliban?

The Taliban, backed by Pakistan and fundedby Saudi Arabia, arose in 1994 during theSoviet occupation of Afghanistan andoverran most of Afghanistan by 1996.

They are driven by an extremely harshMedieval interpretation of Sunni Islam.

The Taliban imposed an extremelyrepressive, sectarian Islamic regime on the

Afghan people, barring women from workand education and even killing ShiiteMuslims.


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Who Are the Taliban?

The Taliban said their aim was to set up theworld's most pure Islamic state, banningfrivolities like television, music, and cinema.

Their attempts to eradicate crime were

reinforced by the introduction of Islamic lawincluding public executions andamputations.

A flurry of regulations forbidding girls fromgoing to school and women from workingquickly brought them into conflict with theinternational community.


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The Bin Laden Connection

Bin Laden had been a hero of the 'jihad'

against the Soviet occupiers, and the Talibanwelcomed him back to Afghanistan in 1996after his expulsion from the Sudan. Bin Ladencemented his ties to the Taliban leadership

through his daughter's marriage to its leader,Mullah Omar.

Bin Ladens "Arab Afghan" fighters played aleading role in the Taliban's military campaignagainst its opponents. The Taliban's elitebrigade were trained in Bin Laden's camps, andare believed to be loyal to the Saudi terrorist's"Al Qaida" movement.


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The Pakistan Connection

Only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and theUnited Arab Emirates recognized theTaliban as Afghanistan's governmentprior to 9/11.

Pakistan has been more than a friend tothe Taliban in many ways it has beenmentor and tutor, too, and even,

according to opposition groups, anactive participant in its rise to power.

i C i


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The Pakistan Connection

Military officers and diplomats say Pakistan'stribal belt is the engine room of the Talibaninsurgency today.

Two shuras, or tribal councils, coordinate the

attacks - one in the western city of Quetta,the other in South Waziristan, a lawless tribalarea that is also a crucible of al-Qaidaterrorism.

In September 2006 Pakistan agreed towithdraw army units from the tribal regionand turn over checkpoints to local tribes that

are effectively Taliban.

Th S


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The Sanctuary

Th C li i F


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The Complicating Factor

Afghanistan shares an

immense border withPakistan, stretching some1510 miles along thesouthern and easternedges of the country.

The border runs rightthrough Pashtun lands: 14million Pashtuns live onthe Afghan side of theborder but 27 million

Pashtuns live in adjacentterritory on the Pakistaniside. Pashtuns (Taliban)easily slip from one side ofthe border to the other


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The Palestine Liberation

Organization


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Palestine Liberation Organization

Created in 1964 during a meeting known as

the Palestinian Congress. Comprised of several factions:

- The Popular Front for the Liberation of

Palestine,- Popular Democratic Front for theLiberation of Palestine,

- Popular Democratic Front for the

Liberation of Palestine - General Command,and

- al-Fatah.

PLO E l ti


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PLO Evolution

By 1967 the PLO decided that their primarygoal was the destruction of the state ofIsrael. For the next ten years, this goal wasthe primary focus of the massive terroristcampaign by which their reputation was

formed. In 1974 the PLO received observer status at

the UN and a government in exile wasrecognized by the other Arab nations as a

basis for a future Palestinian state, to beformed from land regained from Israel alongthe west bank of the Jordan River.

In 1976 the PLO was granted full

membership in the Arab League.

PLO E l i


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PLO Evolution

In 1979 the PLO was forced out of Jordanand fled to Lebanon.

In 1982, the Israeli army swept intoBeirut, Lebanon and forced the PLO to flee

to Tunisia. In a decision that radical Palestiniansresented, Arafat agreed to come to thebargaining table to discuss peace with

Israeli leaders. Little came of these talks. In 1988, Arafat took the diplomatic roadone step further when he not onlyannounced the right of the state of Israel

to exist but renounced PLO terrorism.

PLO E l ti


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PLO Evolution

On 9 September 1993, in letters toIsraeli Prime Minister Rabin andNorwegian Foreign Minister Holst,PLO Chairman Arafat committed

the PLO to cease all violence andterrorism.

On 13 September 1993, the

Declaration of Principles betweenthe Israelis and Palestinians wassigned in Washington, DC.

PLO E l ti


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PLO Evolution In 1994, Arafat appointed an interim 19-member

Palestinian National Authority, under his direction, toadminister Palestinian affairs in the areas of self-rule. Under a 1995 accord, self-rule was extended over a two-

year period to all major Arab cities and villages in theWest Bank, except East Jerusalem. Some 60 percent ofthe West Bank remains under full Israeli control.

Arafat was elected president of the Palestinian-controlledterritory in 1996. In the same year the PLO formallyrevoked all clauses in its founding charter that called forthe dissolution of Israel, and Arafat pledged to fightterrorism.

In the summer of 2000, peace negotiations sponsored bythe US failed to reach agreement.

Negotiations between PLO and Israel have been stalledever since.

In 2006 PLO lost an election to HAMAS and in 2007 allPLO authority was driven out of Gaza.

Differences Between PLO and HAMAS


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"There is a big difference. President Abu Mazen, who holds the mostsenior position in the West Bank, has stated very clearly that hesupports peaceful resistance, and is against comprehensiveresistance against the Israeli occupation.

"The situation here is different. Here we talk about resistance as astrategic option, about the right of all the resistance factions to obtainall the means needed to conduct resistance, about the legitimacy ofthe weapons of the resistance, and about a national consensus on

managing the resistance in a way that does not harm the principle."

Hamas Prime Minister Isma'il Haniya

Hamas


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a as

(The Islamic Resistance Movement)

Hamas is religious-political-military organization thatevolved from Palestinianmembers of the MuslimBrotherhood. It opposes the

Oslo peace because it involvesrecognizing Israel's existence.

The organization's ultimate goalis to create an Islamic state inall of pre-1948 Palestine, which

includes all of Israel. But itsshort-term objective is to drivethe Israelis out of all territoriesthey conquered in June 1967.

Sheik Yassin,

Hamas Founder

H 2


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Hamas, 2

One of the keys to Hamas's popularity is its

large-scale welfare arm. Hamas provideseducational, medical and other desperatelyneeded welfare services in impoverishedWest Bank and Gaza towns and refugee

campsThe welfare arm also cares for the families

of suicide bombers and others who havedied fighting the Israelis.

The social services performed by Hamasalso create a pretext for the massivefunding the organization receives fromMuslim charities throughout the Persian Gulf

and beyond.

H 3


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Hamas, 3

Hamas is now believed to directly represent the

political views of one in three Palestinians, and itsactions carry the support of an overwhelmingmajority.

Most of the rank-and-file of Fatah and security

services regard Hamas as comrades-in-arms againstthe Israelis.

Hamas has been the primary beneficiary of thealienation of many Palestinians from the corruptionof the PA, the failure of the peace process.


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Hizbullah


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Hizbullah

Hizbullah won a particular reputation for striking at

western interests, pioneering the use of suicideattacks against targets such as the American andFrench embassies, and an American marinebarracks in Beirut.

Hizbullah has also been linked to atrocities abroadsince the civil war ended in 1991, in particular thebombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires.Hizbullah operatives may also have sponsored anattack on American servicemen in Saudi Arabia in1997.

Hizbullah is credited with making Israel's occupation

of southern Lebanon so costly that it was forced towithdraw its forces in May 2000.

Hizbullahs standing in Lebanon and the Muslimworld in general was enhanced by its showing in thesummer 2006 Israeli incursion into Lebanon.

The Case Against the West


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The Case Against the West

Arrogance, insensitivity toward other cultures

Unbalanced foreign policies, favoritism toward Israel

Resentment over economic success, political and militarypower, commercial exploitation

Disgust over lax morals: alcohol consumption,suggestive dress of women, commercialization of sex

Economic sanctions against Muslim countries

Continued stationing of US troops in Saudi Arabia

Support of repressive, corrupt regimes due to Westerngreed (oil)

Wide reach of international news media spreadsresentment that can be manipulated

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Differences Within The

World of Islamic Believers

week 8 differences within the world of believers

Documents