Does Islam tend to violence? Bad bank Islamism ideology
Written by Ahijah Zorn, for Tichys Einblick.
If people are brutally massacred and Muslims proudly shout “Allah is the greatest,” then that has nothing to do with Islam? Pastor Zorn calls on Muslims and their Western defenders to face the truth that there is a propensity for violence in their faith.
No no no! Because it can't be what shouldn't be! It can't be the case that we let hundreds of thousands of Muslims into the country every year, which we are all supposed to look forward to as per state regulations - and then these new fellow citizens should have a religion that tends to violence? No, no, no, Islam has no inclination towards violence. At this point, even the politicians who have absolutely nothing to do with religion and who understand as much about religion as a fish knows about a hot air balloon become proven Islamic scholars.
If people are brutally massacred like in Israel and Muslims proudly shout “Allah is the greatest,” then that has nothing to do with Islam?
Terrorists emphasize in Article 1 of their Hamas charter: “The Islamic Resistance Movement: The Movement's programme is Islam. From it, it draws its ideas, ways of thinking and understanding of the universe, life and man. It resorts to it for judgement in all its conduct, and it is inspired by it for guidance of its steps.” But of course that has nothing to do with Islam.
When Muslims all over the world celebrate the most heinous terrorist attacks against Jews in the name of Allah and call for a global jihad by Muslims against Jews, then of course it has nothing to do with Islam.
If Mohammed, the founder of Islam, as the highest politician, theologian, judge and military leader, all in one person, ruthlessly expelled or even massacred all Jews in Medina and the surrounding area, then of course that has nothing to do with Islam.
In the Koran, the holy book of Muslims, which is highly respected as the infallible word of God, there are the infamous “Sword Surahs”. In them the Muslims are called upon to wage war against the Jews, the Christians and the unbelievers (2:191; 2:216; 3:195; 4:89; 4:91; 5:33; 9:29; 9: 73; 33:61). But of course that has nothing to do with Islam.
The Hadith, that is, the non-Quranic tradition of the words and deeds attributed to Muhammad, also call for a devastating fight against the Jews. Hamas relies on such a prophetic word in Article 7 of its founding charter: “The Prophet – God bless him and grant him peace – said: The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him”
According to this prophetic word, even the entire creation, the stones and the trees, tends to violence against Jews. But of course that has absolutely nothing to do with Islam.
It is so wonderful. Everything bad in Islam has nothing to do with Islam. Everything bad in Islam is “Islamism”. What a practical distinction. Islamism is the official “bad bank” into which Islam can get rid of all its bad loans and its rotten beliefs. Islam can pat itself on its own pure back without self-criticism and without doubt. “Good bank Islam” has a clean slate. In our society it is at best a victim. “Anti-Semitism threatens us all; Above all, he threatens Muslims” (Sawsan Chebli, SPD).
Even Islamism isn't really bad under this ideological lens; Islamism is merely the self-defense product of Christian-Western imperialism. But as soon as this evil imperialism ends, Islamism as a post-colonial poverty movement will stop on its own. That's why it's the job of all woke world saviors to support Islamism in a colonial-guilty way with lots of aid money. The billions of dollars from Berlin and Brussels in the Gaza Strip are necessary to atone for their own injustices and to put the world back in order. Anyone who sees it differently is of course a Nazi and an eternal imperialist.
Everything is right in this Islam-Islamism ideology. You are bulletproof against objections. Nothing stands in the way of the wonderful multicultural pony farm with a glorious future. This ideology is simply too good to be true.
Because perhaps the reality simply looks like this: Every claim of truth in this world, regardless of whether it is religious, political or ideological, carries with it the temptation to impose one's own truth on others by force when the opportunity to do so presents itself. Even the good-hearted Greens who believe in vaccinations and heat pumps and therefore want to force them on an entire people because they are in power can fall victim to this temptation.
But if every subjective claim to truth has the tendency to impose itself on others, then it is of no use to repress this dark side. The cancer of violence cannot be eliminated by denying it or outsourcing it to a “bad bank Islamism ideology.” In short: glossing over the violence in Islam is just as counterproductive as glossing over the atrocities in the name of Christianity. Whitewashing does not reduce the tendency to violence, but rather promotes it. You can only get violence under control by looking analytically, razor-sharp in the eye.
Muslims and their Western defenders, like Christians, must face the truth that there is a propensity for violence in their faith. And then it comes to the core work of developing a convincing and effective theology and life practice that tames the dynamite in your own basement.
Otherwise, every religion of peace becomes a religion of victory-peace, which rises politically, culturally and structurally above those who think differently; Of course, only for their benefit: “Under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned. In the absence of Islam, strife will be rife, oppression spreads, evil prevails and schisms and wars will break out... If faith is lost, there is no security and there is no life for him who does not adhere to religion.” (Hamas Charter, Article 6).
I'm happy to forego such a religion of victory-peace.
Source: Tichys Einblick
Photo: Steve Allen / Getty Images.
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