NOT ABOUT ISLAM?

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."  (Blaise Pascal, mathematician, 1670)

No sooner had he broken the news that British citizens were amongst the victims of the Kenyan Shopping Mall massacre than David Cameron started spouting the obligatory mantra that this act has nothing to do with Islam. This he said just as news was breaking of an attack on a church in Pakistan by the Pakistani Taliban, killing at least 78 people.[1]

Nothing to do with Islam, really; Cameron says this of a group fighting to enforce sharia law, resurrect the Caliphate, and in a manner not seen since the holocaust, singled out non Muslims of any age or sex for slaughter.  Politicians feel they need to come out with this kind of nonsense lest we imagine that the Muslim shopkeeper at the end of the street is liable to start murdering his customers at the drop of a real or imagined insult.

Statements like Cameron’s are not only deeply patronising they are also dangerous since they cloud the real threat we face. Let us be clear there is a sickness in Islam, groups as varied as al- Shabab, Boko Haram. and the Pakistani Taliban all have their rationale deeply rooted in Islamic doctrine. They indeed have much to draw upon; these groups always get their inspiration primarily from the Quranic dictums supported by Hadiths. To quote 2 at random:-

Quran-9:29, Fight those who believe neither in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth (Islam), even if they are of the People of the Book (Christians and Jews), until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. 
Quran-3:85, "If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter He will be in the ranks of those who have lost (All spiritual good)."  

Of course it can be argued, - it usually is, - that similar intolerant and violent passages can be found in the Old Testament, and this is true. Only in Christianity and Judaism the literalists have been banished to the margins, no mainstream church or synagogue in this country contains preachers fulminating against infidels and demanding that homosexuals and adulaters be stoned.
Whilst in Islam whole states such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to name but two, are rooted in literalist interpretations of the Qoran. There is a struggle taking place within Islam between these moronic medieval theocrats and those who want to practice their faith within a secular framework. Those in the Islamic faith who stand up and openly oppose Islamacist fanaticism literally take their life in their hands. They deserve our solidarity.
So really, what ever other factors are at play, and of course there are always elements in Jihadist movements, it is very much about Islam. 


[1] The Jundullah wing of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. A spokesman said: "They are the enemies of Islam, therefore we target them. We will continue our attacks on non-Muslims on Pakistani land."The violent fundamentalists ravaging the country reject Pakistan's government and constitution as un-Islamic. Guardian 23/09/13. 

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