Published 08 Mar 07

A Muslim Resistance against Jihad?

by Walid Phares, Ph.D.
World Defense Review columnist

A peculiar conference, taking place on the West coast of Florida drew the attention of many observers of the War of ideas: The first Secular Islam Summit.

Organized by the Center for Inquiry Transnational and activists, the meeting included two dozens of speakers and about two hundred participants from various backgrounds and nationalities. It took place at the Hilton of St. Petersburg, just before and in conjunction with the Intelligence Summit taking place in the same location. But this meeting, unlike many other Muslim intellectual conferences in the West or even worldwide was aimed against Jihadism and for a secular and liberal expression within Islam. It wasn't the first time Muslim authors and critics of the dominant religious and cultural order within their own community, spoke out, wrote about or debated the issues.

The History of dissidence within the Muslim world, particularly in modern time is rich and diverse. It is also full of drama and violence, particularly against the dissidents themselves.

Since the mid 1920s, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the last Caliphate and with the rise of Salafism, joined in the 1970s by Khomeinism, dozens of intellectuals experienced harsh conditions and met tragic destinies as they rose to oppose fundamentalism and press for reforms. That history has yet to be written thoroughly and taught in the mainstream educational systems. High profile authors and intellectuals have spoken against authoritarianism and Islamism from the sub Indian continent to the sub Saharian desert. Dozens of journalists and academics have called for a global debate on the developments of politics and ideologies within Muslim countries. And with the post 9/11 era, more questions have fused worldwide from Western and non-Western quarters: What went wrong (in the Muslim world) wrote Bernard Lewis? "Why do they hate us" titled the press after the 2001 attacks. And since, many among the public asked without convincing answers: but where are the moderates (within the Muslim world)? The St. Petersburg meeting is not the first meeting where Muslim intellectuals (and non-Muslims) met and attempted to answer these difficult questions.

Back in 1994, a Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights met in New Jersey to address similar concerns. Dissidents have been meeting in many countries and cities in the last decades. High profile cases of theological and literary rebellion have illustrated the cultural conflict within Islam.

In the 1980s, Salman Rushdie of India got his fatwa for the publication of The Satanic Verses. Since then, the dissident author lives in the underground. In the early 1990s, author Mustafa Jeha was assassinated in Beirut for publishing The Crisis of Mind in Islam (Mihnat al Aql fil Islam). Across the Mediterranean and on two continents, other Muslim "revolutionaries" (described as apostates) by their Jihadi enemies have challenged the dominant ideological paradigm. But till lately, they never decided to act collectively, and till the meeting in St. Petersburg in Florida, haven't decided to meet. Hence when a few among them (with well known names in the field of dissidence) decided finally to get together and face the world, they have knowingly or not, began to change the world. This was, as I saw it, a first small step in this direction. The opening remarks were given by two famous Western-based Muslim dissidents. The first to speak was Ibn Warraq, the author of several volumes on Secular Islam. Elaborating on a long and sophisticated introduction to the "intellectual movement," he laid out the philosophical basis of full separation between religion and state in the Muslim world. But Ibn Warraq said he already "left" Islam and his call was to reform the "Relationship" between Muslim societies and religious laws. He advocated universal values and a global reform of education. On political grounds, he called for a regime change in many countries, including in Iran, the formation of Human Rights centers, and in an interesting and new twist he asked to "take Mullahs to courts for issuing fatwas." His conclusion was simple: "they hate us because they were taught to do so."

The second to address the summit was the "refuznik" Irshad Manji. Born in Africa and raised in Canada, the best selling female author told the audience that the response to Jihad is Ijtihad. In short, reinterpretation of the religious texts (and the Koran), according to Manji would defy the Fundamentalists. Unlike Ibn Warraq, Irshad said she is still a Muslim and she will fight for her "Islam." She argued that there are many verses in the texts that can help a new interpretation defeat the tight reading by the Islamists. In conclusion, Manji invited non-Muslims to take part in the debate along side with reformist Muslim: "If they tell you have no business in Muslim affairs, tell them they have no business meddling in non-Muslim affairs." The first panel included Tawfiq Hakim from Egypt who underlined that the roots of terrorism are found in the ideology that pretends being a religious doctrine. Hakim, who claims previous affiliation with the Jihadist movement said he "left Jihad and the terrorist ideology emanating from it" and can show the way to other Muslims to distance themselves from the Fundamentalists. Nibras Kazimi, an analyst from Iraq elaborated on the "mind of the Jihadi generals." He argued that there are very political motives behind the Salafi and other Jihadi leaders in their call for violence and war.

Other intellectuals, such as Shahriar Kabir from Bengla Desh, Dr Shaker al Nabusli from Jordan and Dr Afshin Ellian a Dutch-based Iranian, addressed the relationship between traditions and Sharia laws. Nabulsi, who spoke to al Jazeera that day, said "we the liberal Muslims and Arabs want a space to speak, express ourselves. We really don't care what podium, but we need to reach out to our masses."

At the end of the first day the last panel, with Salamat Neemat from Jordan, Hasan Mahmoud from Bengla Desh and me discussed international law and politics and the Islamist movement. The following day, Nonie Darwish from Palestine, Wafa Sultan from Syria, Zeino Baran a Turkish American scholar, and Manda Zand Ervin from Iran will address secularism, women terrorism and Islamism.

The conference was endorsed by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the internationally recognized Muslim dissident, who has been under death threats in Holland after the assassination of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh. But while no U.S. and Western officials were noticed at the conference, a U.S. Congressional leader, Rep. Sue Myrick, attended the event and delivered remarks underlining "the importance of the message." Myrick, the co-chair of the newly formed bipartisan Caucus on Counter Terrorism in Congress said she was interested in "learning from the sources about the suffering of the dissidents and the scope of the Jihadi threat."

From Europe, another prominent legislator, MEP Paulo Casaca, also expressed his support to a broader international action on behalf of the dissidents. Casaca, who is active in the human rights fields within the European Parliament told me he would want to see more liberal democracies supportive of the oppressed minorities in the Middle East. Interestingly enough, and "before" the summit takes place, internet-based attacks were unleashed against the conference by pro-Wahabi, Salafi and Khomeinist websites and bloggers. Al Jazeera sent a crew to interview the participants and also air "opposing views" from leaders of the local community in the area. In its afternoon shows, the network had a local representative of the advocacy group CAIR and Dr. Nabulsi from the conference "cross fire" about the conference. In my presentation I focused on the multiple areas of international relations where Jihadi concepts have to be addressed not only by the dissidents but also by so-called mainstream countries: Jihad, infidels, Caliphate and dar el Harb. These terms from early Islamic history may have been part of the norms of world politics and religious wars at the time, i.e., 1300 years ago, but under this international system there is no place for Jihadism and its derivatives. Otherwise, this will reopen the way for a disintegration of international law. In this conference, I argued, and the global reform movement may not agree on all aspects of the crisis, but constitute a Muslim resistance to Jihad. I termed the latter concept so that Muslims, who can make the distinction between religious identity and a specific militant ideology, can initiate a debate and liberate themselves from Jihadism. I also argued that the West has abandoned the anti-Jihadist Muslims for decades and deplored the fact that Western Government and the US included have been advised by Jihadi apologists instead of liberal Muslims for decades. In a sum, the Secular Islam Summit may have not been as large as the Wahabi or Khomeinist funded and supported conferences around the world but it certainly gave an example of what could occur if the United States, Europe and the international community would seriously consider supporting the Muslim intellectuals who seek Pluralism, human rights and democracy: a surge in the War of Ideas that could push the War on Terror to conclude faster, and with much better results.

STATEMENT OF THE SUMMIT

Released by the delegates to the Secular Islam Summit, St. Petersburg, Florida on March 5, 2007

We are secular Muslims, and secular persons of Muslim societies. We are believers, doubters, and unbelievers, brought together by a great struggle, not between the West and Islam, but between the free and the unfree.

We affirm the inviolable freedom of the individual conscience. We believe in the equality of all human persons.

We insist upon the separation of religion from state and the observance of universal human rights.

We find traditions of liberty, rationality, and tolerance in the rich histories of pre-Islamic and Islamic societies. These values do not belong to the West or the East; they are the common moral heritage of humankind.

We see no colonialism, racism, or so-called "Islamophobia" in submitting Islamic practices to criticism or condemnation when they violate human reason or rights.

We call on the governments of the world to reject Sharia law, fatwa courts, clerical rule, and state-sanctioned religion in all their forms; oppose all penalties for blasphemy and apostasy, in accordance with Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human rights; eliminate practices, such as female circumcision, honor killing, forced veiling, and forced marriage, that further the oppression of women; protect sexual and gender minorities from persecution and violence; reform sectarian education that teaches intolerance and bigotry towards non-Muslims; and foster an open public sphere in which all matters may be discussed without coercion or intimidation.

We demand the release of Islam from its captivity to the totalitarian ambitions of power-hungry men and the rigid strictures of orthodoxy.

We enjoin academics and thinkers everywhere to embark on a fearless examination of the origins and sources of Islam, and to promulgate the ideals of free scientific and spiritual inquiry through cross-cultural translation, publishing, and the mass media.

We say to Muslim believers: there is a noble future for Islam as a personal faith, not a political doctrine; to Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Bahaâ'is, and all members of non-Muslim faith communities: we stand with you as free and equal citizens; and to nonbelievers: we defend your unqualified liberty to question and dissent.

Before any of us is a member of the Umma, the Body of Christ, or the Chosen People, we are all members of the community of conscience, the people who must chose for themselves.

Endorsed by:
Mona Abousenna
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Magdi Allam
Mithal Al-Alusi
Shaker Al-Nabulsi
Nonie Darwish
Afhin Ellian
Tawfik Hamid
Shahriar Kabir
Hasan Mahmud
Wafa Sultan
Ibn Warraq
Mourad Wahba
Manda Zand Ervin
Bonafsheh Zand-Bonazzi

— Dr Walid Phares is a senior fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington, D.C., and director of the Future Terrorism Project of the FDD. He is a visiting fellow with the European Foundation for Democracy in Brussels. His most recent book is Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies against the West.
    Dr Phares holds degrees in law and political science from Saint Joseph University and the Lebanese University in Beirut, a Masters in international law from the Universite de Lyons in France and a Ph.D. in international relations and strategic studies from the University of Miami.
    He has taught and lectured at numerous universities worldwide, practiced law in Beirut , and served as publisher of Sawt el-Mashreq and Mashrek International. He has taught Middle East political issues, ethnic and religious conflict, and comparative politics at Florida Atlantic University until 2006.
    Dr. Phares has written seven books on the Middle East and published hundreds of articles in newspapers and scholarly publications such as Global Affairs, Middle East Quarterly, the Journal of South Asian and Middle East Studies and the Journal of International Security. He has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, BBC, al Jazeera, al Hurra, as well as on radio broadcasts.
    Aside from serving on the boards of several national and international think tanks and human rights associations, Dr. Phares has testified before the US Senate Subcommittees on the Middle East and South East Asia, the House Committees on International Relations and Homeland Security and regularly conducts congressional and State Department briefings, and he was the author of the memo that introduced UNSCR 1559 in 2004.

Visit Dr. Phares on the web at walidphares.com and defenddemocracy.org.

© 2007 Walid Phares

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