My View From the Soapbox: Look hard at Islam’s leaders

Over the past three weeks, a debate over Islam has once again emerged on the editorial page of the Free Press. Much like the never-ending Israel-Palestine debate, the ‘Is Islam a peaceful religion?’ argument has taken on great significance since Sept. 11, and rightfully so. This is the question many in the Western world are asking, and the Muslim world has failed to answer.

Islam has been under deep scrutiny and criticism from many within the United States since Sept. 11. Some critics, notably Pat Robertson of the Christian Coalition, have gone as far as declaring Mohammed a terrorist, and Islam a religion of hate. This bitterness toward Muslims has been reflected nationwide, with anti-Islamic hate crimes skyrocketing since 2001.

Meanwhile President Bush has taken the cop-out route of political correctness by simply stating that Islam is inherently peaceful and the militants who want to kill us are only a small, small minority of the populace: ‘The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace.’

However, many Americans don’t seem to be buying Bush’s explanation, and why should they?

In the aftermath of 9-11, an outpouring of support came from all over the world. Except, of course, from the Middle East, where reaction to the atrocity was met with celebrations, anti-American riots, and ‘Osama is a Hero’ rallies.

Americans everywhere sat down in front of their TVs in the weeks after the attacks and watched Palestinians dancing in the streets, Pakistanis rioting every Friday, Bangladeshis carrying posters of Osama bin Laden and Imams from London demanding a holy war against the United States. How can we look at these disgusting displays and not question Islam’s philosophies?

Today, this image is still prevalent: A diplomat at the American Embassy in Pakistan has been gunned down, an American woman was shot in the face as she worked at her desk in a Lebanese health clinic, a massive bombing which targeted Westerners in Bali killed more than 180 people, two U.S. soldiers were shot by a Kuwaiti policeman and 200 people have died in Nigerian riots, sparked over a tacit comment about Mohammed and the Miss World Pageant.

How does anyone expect people read this every day in their newspapers and still think Islam is a religion of peace? Every newsworthy event that comes from the Muslim world seems to involve violence and death.

Critics of Islam often cite the violent quotations of the Koran as a reason for Islamic terrorism, and rightfully so these are the passages that inspired Osama bin Laden. But arguing over quotations is a waste of time, because it’s not what the book says that’s important, it’s how it’s interpreted.

There is plenty of inflammatory language in the Koran, but there are also many more teachings that encourage peace, nonviolence and charity. The problem is that the violent undertones of the Koran are the ones that seem to be the most popular nowadays, thanks to many of the Imams of Iran, Saudi Arabia and even the U.K.

And therein lies the heart of it all: Islam’s religious leadership has an extremely militant faction that is manipulating the Koran in order to incite violence against the West and non-Muslims.

The ranting of the Islam’s religious leaders can be seen every day on Middle East media sites such as ArabNews.com or MEMRI.org. And, to say the least, what is preached is shocking: anti-Semitism, calls for violence against America, praise of suicide bombers all of these are par for the course, and are heard by millions every Friday on the radio and at mosques all over the Muslim world.

This hawkish leadership within Islam is exemplified by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the grand mufti (highest ranking religious leader) of Egypt. While Egypt is often considered one of the least extreme Islamic states, Al-Tayyeb declared in an interview with Insight Magazine that he wholeheartedly supports, and even gives his blessing, to the suicide bombers of Palestine. Just so you readers have some background information, Al-Tayyeb is actually the replacement for a previous grand mufti, who was considered too extreme.

Let’s repeat that just in case it didn’t hit home: the highest-ranking Muslim cleric in Egypt wholeheartedly supports suicide bombings. This ‘man of God’ believes that Palestinians have no other methods of fighting back against Israel, and therefore marketplace and bus bombings are their only options. These are the same suicide attacks that Human Rights Watch has declared ‘crimes against humanity.’

Radical preachers are not ‘small minorities’ and they have not ‘hijacked’ Islam. They have always been there, and they have always been popular. While it’s obvious not every Islamic religious leader is a militant, it’s plain to see that there are plenty of violent ones who definitely hold power within their communities.

I am reminded of a case here in Massachusetts a few years ago involving John Salvi, a Christian pro-life advocate who killed two people in rifle attacks on Planned Parenthood clinics in Brookline. When his rampage came to an end, Salvi was not heralded by priests and ministers as a hero, a martyr, or even a crusader. Rather, they all decried him as a sick man, filled with delusional fantasies and paranoia. But if Salvi were a Muslim suicide bomber or hijacker, and was attacking Americans or Israelis, what would his Imam say to the congregation after such an attack?

It cannot be denied that Islam has an extremely violent side, and this is the side that will bring nothing but shame and disgust to Islam as a whole. The violent attacks have now become so frequent and so deadly that even the Pope fears an imminent ‘Clash of Civilizations’ involving a violent confrontation between Islam and the West in our lifetimes. So if Islam is a religion of peace, as so many profess it to be, then somebody had better let the Muslims know soon.