ALSHABAB MAY BE TERRORISTS BUT NOT MUSLIMS TERRORISTS? Mr. Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba,I have read your article on Al Shabaab and Museveni in the Uganda Correspondent and it has been as intriguing as most of your articles are. Specific points of insight - there may be more - are: the statement that unlike the Catholic Church which has a central authority in Rome that determines correct teaching and heresy, Islam has no such international head. That means that there is not necessarily one single interpretation of Islam. The activities of Al Shabaab (or Al Qaeda) are not sanctioned by Islam as such. Another insight is with regard to our double standards: how for instance we condemn the actions of terrorists and forget the terrorism of the strong nations - Hiroshima and Nagasaki being examples. Yet another insight is to do with the root causes of terrorism, which are usually social and economic. The point where I would defer with you, Mr Semuwemba, is on the suggestion that Al Shabaab may be terrorists, but they are not Muslims or Jihadists. We have been discussing this topic at the University of Leicester lately. We being members of the World Faiths Advisory Group of which I was secretary. Many of my Muslim friends deny that terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda or Al Shabaab are Muslims. Islam is a religion of peace, they say. Islam does not target innocent women and children. I concur with all this. But I think that the right approach would be to admit that groups like Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab subscribe to a certain brand of Islam. They believe that they are fighting Jihad and it is on this basic that they recruit their fighters and would be suicide bombers. They constantly use the language of infidels (meaning non-Muslims) and count as enemies (to be treated like the infidels) those who, in their opinion, have compromised the tenets of Islam. They use madarasas to indoctrine their converts. That does not mean that a madarasa qua madarasa is an instrument of indoctrination. We have many here in Leicester that are nothing of the sort. I am of the opinion is that if we define Al Shabaab or Al Qaeda as brands of Islam albeit misguided we are well placed to warn against indoctrination that is contrary to the noble teachings of Islam. For example, my friend Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra (Imam at the Masjid Umar in Leicester and member of the National Council of Islam in UK) explains Jihad not as fighting non-Muslims, but as self-discipline, struggling with self, and struggling against evil desires. I would like to hear your response to my opinion. Rev Amos Kasibante - Leicester, UK. [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rev Amos Kasibante, Thanks for yours above. You write:The point where I would defer with you, Mr Semuwemba, is on the suggestion that Al Shabaab may be terrorists, but they are not Muslims or Jihadists If we are to say what you want us to say that Al Shabaab may be terrorists, but they are Muslims or Jihadists then it will mean that Muslim terrorists have not corrupted Islam, but Islam has corrupted them. The effects of such a message would be that the reader will start looking at Islam as the main cause of terrorism and therefore the solution is to eradicate it altogether, which is unacceptable. Islamaphobia will also be on the increase which will also in effect increase the discrimination of Muslims openly. Terrorism is used-and has been used throughout history-by virtually every people that do not possess state power. Its the poor mans weapon, so to speak: 1.USA used it in 1775 when they were fighting for their independence against Britain; 2.Several groups including South African Mandela have used terrorism to fight for what they want; 3. President Museveni himself used to be called a terrorist or bandit by then president of Uganda,Mr.Obote, while he was in the bushes of Luwero, and it’s now strongly believed within UPC circles that most of the terror Ugandans experienced in the 1980s was orchestrated by the then NRA rebels; 4.Two or three Prime Ministers of Israel have well-documented records as terrorists. Menachem Begin was the head of the Irgun terrorist organization in the years before Israel became a state. Yitzhak Shamir, who was a leader in the so-called Stern gang, had a price on his head that the British authorities were willing to pay to anyone who could turn him over to them, because the Stern gang murdered British subjects and other people. And of course, even an Israeli commission found Ariel Sharon responsible for the terrible massacres at Sabra and Shatila during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Based on the above examples, I think it’s very important to call Alshab just ‘terrorists’ or anything else without necessarily bringing Islam into it, because its will be unfair to the Muslim community. Yes, Alshahab may be using Islam as a mobilization tool to get political power in Somalia, just like a parent would entice kids with sweets to do what he wants on a day, but this should be a basis for calling them Muslim terrorists. Would Alshahab deny a chance to use a non-Muslim who is willing to further their cause? The answer is no. Yes, I hear that the WAHABISM sect of Islam encourages violence but, like I mentioned in the article: the difference in interpretation of Islam should not make people generalize their feelings against Islam. Muslims worldwide condemned terrorism after 9/11 and since. Fighting terrorism should not be about Muslims - its should be about terrorists Byebyo munange Abbey Semuwemba.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 02:22:12 +0000