Jihadi Du Jour: Why Trusting a Moderate Muslim is Dangerous

I know that most Muslims are fine people and make fine citizens in most situations.

However, I wonder if we recognize the difficulty Muslims from certain societies face in maintaining any real, practical allegiance to a Western society. There is an issue endemic to Islamic culture that we Westerners tend to overlook in our natural desire to be tolerant and inclusive of Muslims.

The Qur'an and many commentators are explicit to point out that for a Muslim to pledge allegiance to a non-Muslim government is illicit and places that Muslim outside the protection of the Islamic Umma.

S.5:51 “O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust.”

The classical commentator Ibn Kathir says of this verse “The Blessed and Exalted One forbids to his servants the making of allegiances with the Jews and Christians, who are the enemies of Islam and His people, - fight them of Allah! - then he informs that they are only allies of one another. He then threatens those who practice this (i.e. such forbidden allegiances) saying ‘he amongst you that turns to them for friendship is of them’. He then states directly “That means that those who make allegiances with Jews and Christians are among the hypocrites.”

Maududi is clear in comments saying “In view of the degenerate moral condition of the Jews and the Christians, the Believers have been warned not to make them their friends and confidants. Likewise they should be on their guard against the evil designs of the hypocrites, the disbelievers and the like and should rely on the true Believers alone.”

If a Muslim lives at peace in, or worse still as a citizen of, an avowedly non-Muslim society s/he is subject to the charge of being a hypocrite. Remember that in Qur’anic usage “hypocrite” does not mean merely that one is failing to observe faithfully the dictates of one’s religious faith; it designates those Muslims upon whom the Muslim community cannot rely in times of conflict and war.

The Qur’an directly equates such hypocrites with Jews and Christians:

S.59:11 “Have you not seen those who have become hypocrites? They say to those of their brethren who disbelieve from among the followers of the Book: If you are driven forth, we shall certainly go forth with you, and we will never obey any one concerning you, and if you are fought against, we will certainly help you, and Allah bears witness that they are most surely liars.”

Allah’s command regarding sthese persons is unequivocal: S.9:73 "O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination."

Now how do Muslims square these passages with living within Western societies? Simply by considering their lives in Western lands as missionary (dawa’) in nature, supportive of, and ostensibly, preparatory for jihad.

So what does this mean in practice in our era? Is there a hidden danger here? Should we get paranoid concerning Muslims like our society once was in suspecting the loyalties of Roman Catholics? (Just go back to J.F.K.’s election to see what I mean) While I do believe that there is a certain degree of danger that there could be a kind of jihadist fifth column in a Western society, that does not seem to me to be our biggest worry. History shows us times when loyal Muslim citizens of Western non-Muslim nations existed.

Yet, I think that we would do well at least to be asking ourselves how we could defend against one particular dangerous scenario. Every Muslim, regardless of how moderate his personal views, could well be approached by more jihadist-inclined Muslims and have demands placed upon him. He will be susceptible to these demands because of two powerful influences.

One, he does not wish to be identified with the hypocrites who oppose Allah and his army. He wishes to be a true believer. This moderate Muslim would not easily do a major act of betrayal to his host Western nation, but he is susceptible to emotional manipulation, therefore, in a desire to prove his Islamic bona fides he may well be willing to do things that support the jihadist cause. Would they be overt acts? Probably not, but they may be acts of support that would make an overt attack possible. Therefore, the emotionally/religiously manipulated Muslim represents a potential danger, as he becomes a controllable instrument for jihadi agendas.

Two, jihadists have a long track record of attacking fellow Muslims mercilessly. Algeria’s FIS is a good example of such brutality. This makes even the most moderate Muslim extremely susceptible to coercion. So let’s say that you are a nice Muslim guy with moderate views regarding the sharia’ and no Islamist agenda in mind. You work in a small company where you track shipments. You simply push paper. No big thing. No high clearance CIA stuff. Then one Friday after you are done praying at the mosque a nice young man and his older friend say they want to talk to you. They seem nice, maybe a bit religious, but nice.

The three of you go for a short walk and they tell you that they want you to help them put a simple little package on a certain shipment. You don’t understand at first and tell them that that kind of thing is not your department. Then the older guy of the two smiles and says, “You know that Allah has told us to not make allegiance with the infidels. Our first loyalty must be to Allah and the Umma Islamiyya. We are all called to serve the cause of the holy Prophet.”

You say, “Well I got to go. I got the evening shift.”

The younger man grabs you and spins you toward him. Then he shows you a couple of photos. You immediately recognize your younger sister and your nephews. They live in Cairo (or Beirut, or Casablanca, or Basra etc.). The younger man hisses, “Your sister is very beautiful. I’m sure that her children would be heart-broken if anything happened to her. A car wreck or a group of sexually frustrated deviants can be easily arranged.”

You might fight it. You might not. Anyway, this represents one of the jihadists’ most frightening and dangerous tools. Is our society even grappling with the implications?

S.9:33 “He it is Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that He might cause it to prevail over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse.”

d.w. pack

Labels: cultures and civilizations, Islam, Quran