02 islam fundmntlsm rndtbl 4-02

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Held onJanuar 10, 2002

April, 2002

S ummary ofthe NCafP r ouNdtable

oN

m ilitaNt i SlamiC f uNdameNtaliSmiN the 21 St C eNtury


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Purpose

The National Committee on American Foreign Policy(NCAFP) was ounded in 1974 by Pro essors Hans J.Morgenthau, George D. Schwab, and others to serve as anonpro t, independent oreign policy think tank to helpshape U.S. oreign policy. Among members are experts romthe worlds o diplomacy and academia and leaders rombusiness and the pro essions.

The purpose o the National Committee on American Foreign Policy is to identi y and articulate American oreign policy interests rom a nonpartisan perspective within the ramework o political realism. American oreign policyinterests include:

Preserving and strengthening national security

Supporting countries committed to the values and the practice o political, cultural, and religious pluralism

Improving U.S. relations with the developed anddeveloping worlds

Advancing human rights

Encouraging realistic arms-control agreements

Curbing the proli eration o nuclear and otherunconventional weapons

Promoting an open and global economy

A distinguishing activity o the NCAFP is the publicationo rm, reasoned positions designed to help ormulate U.S.

oreign policy. When, a ter study and discussion, the Committeeor one o its study groups reaches a consensus on an aspecto oreign policy that a ects American national interests, theNCAFP makes that judgment known to the administration,Congress, the media, and the general public.


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CONTENTS

Summary ..............................................................................1

Participants ........................................................................34

(i)


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April 30, 2002

Dear Reader:

The January 2002 Roundtable on Militant IslamicFundamentalism in the 21st Century was the secondin the National Committee on American Foreign Policysseries on Islamic Law and Peace in the Middle East. As in the instance o the rst roundtable in this series,which was convened in May 2001, the closed-door ando -the-record discussions by Muslim scholars teachingat U.S. universities and ormer Muslim diplomats nowresiding in the West addressed core problems acingIslam that not only a ect the belie s and the li e-styleso Muslims in the Middle East but also have ar-reaching implications or the world beyond Islam.

The rank discussions that ensued and the conclusionsthat were reached by the discussants at the secondroundtable are summarized in this (not- or-attribution)report.

On behal o the National Committee on AmericanForeign Policy, I thank Mutual o America or itsgenerous support o the Committees activities andacknowledge, with gratitude, the support provided tothe roundtable by the Edith C. Blum Foundation and

individuals such as Sandy Frank, Thomas J. Moran,Sheila Robbins, and Clarence Schwab.

Sincerely,

George D. SchwabPresident

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Summar o theJanuar 10, 2002, Roundtable

onMilitant Islamic Fundamentalism

in the 21st Centur

Introduction

S ince the early 1990s, the NCAFP has calledattention to the expanding danger o internationalterrorism whose nature changed a ter AyatollahKhomeinis seizure o power in Iran. A ew years a ter theestablishment o the Islamic Republic o Iran, the NCAFPrealized that a new kind o activist had appeared--abeliever ready to sacri ce his or her li e to destroy whatthe terrorist organizations leaders dubbed as enemieso Allah; these diehards knew that i they were killed,hundreds would obey the summons to take their place.The spread o suicide bombings and other kamikazelike

operations extended the martyr culture o Shiiteextremists to the Sunnite radicals. The religious leaderso these terrorist organizations promise their ollowersimmediate access to Paradise and special recognitionby Allah. In the meantime they provide nancialcompensation or the amilies and organize networkso social services to gain recognition and recruit willingoperatives.

The NCAFP has requently noted a common threadthat runs through these militant groups: Whereverthey strike, they pursue three goals. First, they aimat overthrowing the governments o Muslim countriesbecause, in their view, the leaders have strayed rom theright path. Consequently, they want to replace them bytheocracies. Second, they seek to destroy Israel, whichthey consider an extension o the hated West implantedin the House o Islam. Third, they aspire to renew jihad(holy war) in order to bring Europe and the United Statesas well as the rest o the planet under the fag o Islam.To them Western culture (including Christianity andJudaism) represents the greatest danger to Islam, whichis the last and nal message o God and there ore should

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be obeyed and respected by all humans.

Although they share some interpretations o theKoran with a majority o Muslims, who do not approve o their terrorism and extremism, the militants constituteonly a tiny minority among Muslims. In order to drawa distinction between them and mainstream Islam, theNCAFP, in the 1980s, coined the phrase militant Islamic

undamentalists (MIF).

The barbaric attack on the United States onSeptember 11, 2001, con rmed the danger that these

anatic extremist groups-- unded or protected byparticular states, institutions, and rich individuals--poseto the civilized world. A ter that tragedy, the NCAFPthought it use ul to consider diverse aspects o MIF andthe means to counter its development. That is why itconvened on January 10, 2002, a roundtable consistingo a number o distinguished intellectuals who arerecognized experts in several elds pertaining to theMuslim world. The subject proposed to the participantswas Militant Islamic Fundamentalism in the 21stCentury.

The purpose o this report is to make available to theoreign policy community the views and suggestions that

were voiced at the roundtable.

Defnition o MIF

One panelist remarked that in academic circles andin the European media the term Islamism is generallyused to designate the phenomenon o militant Islamic

undamentalism. Actually Muslims reject altogetherthe undamentalist appellation on the grounds thatit comes rom American Protestantism and there orecannot apply to Islam. Nevertheless, there is a strongelement o undamentalism in the phenomenon. Thatpanelist added that militant Islamic undamentalism, orIslamism, is ar rom being new. For instance, althougha number o Muslim historians a rm that Cordoba wasdestroyed by Christians rom northern Spain in 1236,in act, the event took place much earlier at the handso North A rican Talibanlike people who conquered thatcapital city o Western Islam in the 12th century. 1 They

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representing about 10 percent o all Muslims). In each o these groups, the extremists subscribe to slightly di erentinterpretations o the Koran.

One panelist distinguished three kinds o undamen-talism: theological undamentalism, which can be consid-ered very narrow-minded in terms o issues o salvation;populist social undamentalism (as, or instance, populistreligious movements in the United States) that is anormal aspect o pluralistic civil societies; and religious-ly inspired political movements that use violence. It is thelatter that speci cally concerned this roundtable.

Speaking o bin Ladens Al Qaeda, one participantconnected it with the ideology o a group o scholarscalled Sala s who lived in the 18th and 19th centuriesin Yemen. Another panelist recalled that diverse

undamentalist interpretations o the Koran supersededless orthodox readings o the scriptures in the 12th and13th centuries throughout the Muslim world. From timeto time extremist and violent movements emerged. They

appear in the present against the backdrop o basicundamentalism. As previously indicated, the NCAFPcoined the phrase militant Islamic undamentalismin order to draw a line between terrorist activities andmainstream Islam. As several speakers remarked, a vastmajority o Muslims do not share the radical ideologieso the militant undamentalists and, more o ten thannot, reject and condemn acts o violence such as hostage

taking and the September 11 attacks. One panelist stated that one can nd in the Koran

and in Islamic theology whatever one likes. MIF isa political problem. In his view, the world is, to putit simply, divided into two camps: on the one hand,countries struggling to develop on the basis o democracy,

ree markets, and human rights; on the other hand,regardless o apparent di erences in their politicalsystems, states that lack civil society and have createddespotic i not totalitarian regimes. According to him,most Muslim countries are in the latter camp. Manyevents similar to the September 11 attacks have alreadytaken place inside those countries: the massacre o thepopulation o Hama, Syria, by the army ; the truckbombing o a U.S. marine barrack in Beirut, Lebanon,

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by Hezbollah; the use o chemical weapons against theinhabitants o Halabja, Iraq; the massacre o Kurds inIran; and so on. The militant Islamic undamentalistssay that Muslim nations are in a sorry situation becausethe people are not good Muslims and the leaders havestrayed rom true Islam; there ore they should becomemore Islamic and better Muslims.

Bin Laden and Salafsm

Although militant Islamic undamentalist groupspresent a number o common characteristics, diversecauses and theological interpretations explain theiremergence in di erent parts o the Muslim world. Speak-ing o bin Laden and Al Qaeda, one panelist singled outthe Sala movement and the ideology that developedaround scholars who lived in Yemen in the 18th and 19thcenturies. Within that movement bin Laden representsa ringe that can be called radical Sala sm. His particu-lar world view can be understood by looking at the rootso this ideology in Islamic intellectual history. Its teach-ings were marginal and opposed by mainstream Islamicthought. The majority o Muslims in the modern periodare either Sunnis (about 90 percent) or Shiis (10 percent).Bin Laden and his ollowers are Sunnis. The distinctionbetween the two groups pertains chiefy to a dispute overthe spiritual and political leadership o the Muslim com-munity (Umma) a ter the death o prophet Muhammad.

In political matters two principles are strongly identi edwith the Sunnis: rst, not pointing ngers at the othergroup and not declaring ellow Muslims in dels; sec-ond, prohibiting rebellion against Muslim rulers as longas Islam remains the religion o the state and Islamic law(Sharia) is en orced. Sunnis argue that adherence to thesetwo principles is crucial in order to maintain social orderand to avoid war are among Muslims that might lead tothe demise o Islam itsel .

The Sala branch o Sunnism dates to a smallgroup called Ahl al-Hadith whose central ideas were crys-talized in the teachings o Ibn Taymiyya, a 14th-centuryscholar who was willing to brand ellow Muslims hereticsand to declare that rebellion against Muslim rulers whodid not apply the Sharia was permissible. 2 Sala sms hall-

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mark is a call to modern Muslims to revert to the pureIslam o the prophets generation and the two generationsthat ollowed. 3

The message o Sala sm is utopian. Its adherentsseek to trans orm the Muslim community and to ensurethat Islam as a system o belie and governance will even-tually dominate the globe. In his October 7 statementre erring to the September 11 attacks, bin Laden said:These events have divided the world into two camps:the camp o belie , in which there is no hypocrisy, and thecamp o unbelie . May God protect us and you rom thelatter. It is there ore necessary or every Muslim to riseup in de ense o Islam.

In an interview with al-Jazeera (TV) in 1998, binLaden a rmed: Our goal is to liberate the lands o Is-lam rom unbelie and to apply Gods law so that when wemeet Him in the herea ter, He will be pleased with us.Even to Muslims opposed to his actions, bin Laden ap-pears to be a man sincere in his belie s who rejected li eas a rich Saudi to live according to his principles. He is akind o Islamized Robin Hood--a re reshing notion to themasses who are used to their own leaders being corrupt,murderous, venal, and hypocritical.

Sala s are not against technological progress butabhor innovations (in belie as well as in the practice o religion) that are not anchored in their conception o the

pristine Islamic age. Muslims should adhere to a strictlyliteral interpretation o the Koran and to the sayings o the prophet Muhammad. Sala s consider themselvesthe sole correct interpreters o the Koran. To a lesser orgreater extent, there ore, other Muslims are deviantinnovators. Obsessed with Gods oneness, they condemnall orms o polytheism and unbelie , even among ellowMuslims. They abhor the Su s, especially those who visitthe graves o the holy masters. They hate Shiis as wellas the ollowers o the traditional schools o law. Eternalsalvation is at stake, they believe, and they take veryseriously the concepts o heaven and hell. They are trueand sincere believers who want to grab power in order toensure salvation or all Muslims and the whole world.Their appeal lies to some extent in the simplicity o theanswers they provide to the problems o the world.

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In its radical orm, Sala sm leads to the practice o nger pointing ( takfr : calling ellow Muslims in dels).

This is exactly the meaning o bin Ladens November 4statement to the e ect that Muslims who were not withhim were by de nition in dels. In order to cross the gateso paradise, Muslims should carry out bin Ladens reli-gious edict ( atwa ) calling on believers to kill Americansand destroy American assets.

Ibn Taymiyyas teachings were picked up by AbdalWahab who allied himsel with the Saud tribe toward theend o the 18th century. His re ormist message galva-nized the tribes o central Arabia. In 1805 the Wahabis de-stroyed the tombs o the companions o prophet Muham-mad. Their excesses horri ed the majority o Muslims,leading the Ottoman sultan (who was also the caliph o all Muslims) to send an Egyptian military orce that de-stroyed the fedgling Saudi state. Immediately a ter WorldWar I and the collapse o the Ottomans, King Abdel AzizIbn Saud reestablished the Saudi kingdom based on the

Sala doctrine, which still is its o cial ideology. Aware o its potential or radical extremism, Ibn

Saud ought and vanquished his own radicals in the early1930s. The radical Sala s raised their heads again in No- vember 1979 when they seized Meccas Great Mosque. TheSaudis today adhere to the two principles o Sunnism that

orbid nger pointing and rebellion against Muslim rulers.

As a consequence, the Saudi minister o Islamic a airsdeclared in the a termath o September 11 that obedienceto Islamic rulers is obligatory, meaning that bin Laden is adeviant. Actually the rupture between radical Sala s andthe Saudi regime goes back to the 1990-1991 Persian Gul War. By allowing American troops on Saudi soil, the Saudileaders became deviants in the eyes o radical Sala s,and there ore their overthrow became licit. This, ratherthan the sanctions against Iraq or the Palestinian-Israelisituation, is the main issue or bin Laden and his ollow-ers, although both problems are important to them. MostMuslims do not appreciate or understand such legal argu-ments as the one about the presence o American troopsin Saudi Arabia. But they react enthusiastically to binLadens role as a leader and symbol o Muslim resistanceto both domestic and Western oppression. This reaction is

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supplemented by a century o argument voiced by Arabrulers who contend that all the problems o the Muslimworld stem rom oreign intrigue (conspiratorial theories)and not rom Arab policies.

There are several reasons why Arab regimes have notclearly condemned bin Laden: rst, reluctance to nger-point at ellow Muslims; second, the United States hasnot provided evidence incriminating bin Laden; third, the

ear o violent retaliation by radical Sala s has convincedthose leaders to remain silent.

Other Causes o MIF

One panelist observed that the political leadershipo the Muslim world has ailed to prevent theological

undamentalism and populist religious movements rombecoming violent political movements. Those leaders havesought to control and dominate the religious expressiono their citizenry. The panelist cited Turkey as a case in

point: The government attempts to impose its own versiono religious orthodoxy by bureaucratizing Muslimclerics. The United States, on the other hand, is the ex-ample Muslims should ollow: It ensures the right o allreligious believers to exercise their aith in a politicalsystem that does not sanction any state religion. Such abalance between civil society and political power is essen-tial. The same panelist said that in order to develop Egypt

economically and socially, the government not only identi-ed domestic groups that it considered reactionary butalso decided to teach people how to think in order to builda modern society. The government wanted Egyptians tounderstand that the state was the source or solving alltheir problems.

In Islam communal solidarity is an important parto religious expression. Thus in the Islamic Middle Ages,private endowments nanced all sorts o wel are activi-ties. Actually the most success ul populist violent move-ments are those that deliver this type o aid to people. I there is not enough o a legitimate outlet in civil society

or religious movements to act as i they have a stake inthe society, they will eventually turn violent. In the pastthe endowments provided material resources or religious

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scholars independent o the state. When theologians aresupported by the state and become bureaucrats, theylose their credibility. That participant cited the case o some Egyptian clerics who complained to journalistsinterviewing them a ter September 11 that nobody tookthem seriously because o their association with the gov-ernment.

Another panelist linked the surge in MIF to the cor-ruption o the ruling regimes in Muslim countries. Tohim such regimes are not substantially di ererent. Allhave destroyed civil society and created despotic, eventotalitarian, governments. Their extraordinary control o the economy, o nancial resources--o the whole society--is compounded by their absolute control o the meanso coercion centered in the military, the police, the spe-cial guards, and the various secret security services thatensure that corrupt, unelected regimes are accountable tonobody, not even to Allah. The monstrous, power ul stateapparatus su ocates energy emanating rom society.

There is also an incestuous relationship betweenthe ruling classes and business. In Iran, or instance, thesupreme guide, who claims to represent God on earth,is also on the board o directors o the company that hasa monopoly on importing o ce urniture and is a majorshareholder in Irans main automobile actory. In Indone-sia in the last days o the Suharto regime, one couldntmove rom anywhere that didnt belong to the dictator and

his amily. In Bahrain one big palace belongs to the emirand another to the prime minister and so on. The Mus-lim world as a whole doesnt produce any o the worldsleading products. It lacks great intellectuals, artists, andscientists. To justi y this situation some members o theruling elite claim it is attributable to the act that peoplestray rom Islamic law. Consequently, the solution is orsociety to become more Islamic and or people to becomebetter Muslims. In the past 20 years or so, the Muslimworld has become very Islamic, but it is worse o than itwas in the 1980s. Most o the MIF in the world today wascreated by the Muslim states themselves. The participantcited the example o Kuwait, where more than 70 Islamiccharities directly or indirectly nance terrorist groups.People opposed to such regimes also advocate moreIslamization o the societies.

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In act, the core o the problem is not religious. It is

social, political, and economic. All debates tend to becometheological: Muhammad said this. He didnt say that. Isthis in the Koran? Un ortunately, international debatehas allen into this trap. Experts and politicians spenda lot o time wondering whether bin Laden is theologi-cally correct or not, when it should be obvious that he isa politician ghting or power in the name o religion. Hemay exert appeal through his religiosity and his Spartanway o li e, but his objective is strictly political. Recentlyhe shrewdly added to his long-standing diatribes againstthe United States and the Saudi royal amily argumentsdrawn rom Muslims deep sense o rustration over thecondition o the Palestinians, the continuous occupation o Arab lands by Israel, and the sanctions against Iraq.

Another panelist insisted that these issues are someo the main sources o the expansion in MIF. He too citedthe di cult economic and social conditions o the majorityo the Arab people. He drew attention to the demograph-

ics: Seventy percent o all Arabs are under the age o 25;there are no civic institutions or enterprises to absorbyoung energies; all this presages an explosion and ex-plains the appeal o Islamic radicalism to many Muslims,especially to the younger generation.

One participant expressed the opinion that povertyand economic di culties have no bearing on the behavior

and actions o militant Islamic undamentalists. Bin Lad-en and the suicide hijackers o September 11 did not comerom the slums o the Muslim world. Moreover, the Koranorbids Muslims to question social di erences, which are

the will o Allah to which Muslims should submit. Inso aras attributing MIF to the nature o Islam, the panelistremarked that Islam, like other aiths, is neither violentnor nonviolent. A religion is what its believers and leadersmake o it.

The same panelist re erred to remarks by others thatalmost all Muslim countries, even those that are baskingin petro-dollars, are steeped in underdevelopment. Yet inthe year 1002, the Muslim world was the most advancedand prosperous part o the globe. This complete reversalo ortune was due to the triumph o the most orthodox

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interpretations o the Koran around and a ter the 12thcentury. In its rst our centuries, the Muslim world wasrelatively open and tolerant. But Islam turned unda-mentalist in the Middle Ages and remained so therea -ter. It rejected its scientists and thinkers and stood stillwhile the West advanced and accomplished scienti c andtechnological revolutions. A ter the Middle Ages mostreligions accomplished their aggiornamento and alignedthemselves with a changing world. Oddly enough, Islamicclerics ollowed the reverse path. As a result, a timegap developed between the Muslim world and the West.One can say that Muslims remained more or less in the12th century while Western countries moved on. In otherwords, the Muslim and the Western worlds are ar romcontemporaries.

In the second hal o the 19th century, the encounterwith an aggressive and technologically superior Europetriggered many modernizing movements in Muslim coun-tries. But most o the modernizers ailed, and the ultra-orthodox activists reemerged in the nal years o the 20th

century and eventually succeeded, as Khomeini did inIran. The toppling o the shah by the ayatollah encour-aged other radicals among Shiis and Sunnis to resort to violence or political gains. There ore, one can say that thetime gap between the Muslim world and the West is oneo the essential causes o MIF.

But i Khomeinis success in seizing power in Iran

and in establishing a Muslim theocracy that became amodel or activists in many countries explains to someextent the recent surge in violent groups, other causes,other panelists maintained, should also be mentioned.First, it should be noted that the concepts o martyrdomand suicide operations were introduced by the IranianShiite government and used in Lebanon against Israeli, American, and French troops and during the war againstIraq. Second, as several participants remarked, the de-

eat o Arab armies by Israel in 1967 sounded the knell o Arab nationalism and restored the prestige o religiousactivists. As early as 1970, old religious militant groupsreappeared, and new ones such as Jihad in Egypt and He-zbollah in Lebanon came into existence. Third, the rise inthe price o oil in the 1970s allowed the Saudis, Kuwaitis,and others to und many clerics and Islamic schools and

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mosques around the world, including thosein Western countries. Those mosques and schools becamenests o terrorists. Fourth, the cold war and the Sovietinvasion o A ghanistan prompted the United States totrain and help the worst militant undamentalist groupsin A ghanistan and other Muslim countries. As usual, American (and other Western) policymakers concentratedon immediate problems without bothering aboutthe consequences o using religious anatics. As oneparticipant put it, this was a kind o Frankensteinpolicymaking: creating a monster that in the end turnedagainst its creator.

Conspirac Theories

Many panelists reiterated that militant Islamic un-damentalists, like a majority o Muslims, blame the Westin general and the United States in particular or thesorry state o their countries. Citing the Crusades in the11th and 12th centuries, colonial rule in the late 19th

century and in the rst hal o the 20th century, and eco-nomic and political imperialism in the second hal o the20th century, radical Muslims accuse the West o wagingcontinuous war against Islam. As an Iranian cleric onceput it, the Crusades never stopped.

One panelist observed that the denunciation o theWest and the United States by militant Islamic unda-

mentalists has been curiously compounded by an expand-ing group o Western intellectuals and academics calledpostmodernists who criticize Western rationalism andpropound what they call relativism. In the views o thoseacademics, all the ills o the third world (including theMuslim world) stem rom Western policies o economicand political exploitation. As a result, Muslim students in American and European universities return home withanti-Western sentiments that acilitate their recruitmentby radical religious groups. Indeed one should not orgetthe number o highly educated people around MIF lead-ers. In Iran many such intellectuals joined Khomeini inthe late 1970s and early 1980s. Egyptian and Pakistanidoctors, engineers, and even atomic scientists have con-tacted bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Palestinian doctors andintellectuals help the militant group Hamas. In Lebanon

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many highly educated Shii are members o Hezbollah.

It was observed that militant Islamic undamental-ists, even those who have been educated in Western in-stitutions o higher learning, cling to more or less absurdconspiracy theories instead o considering the mistakesmade by their own religious and secular authorities inthe past and in the present. Many believe that the UnitedStates and Israel are conspiring to erase Islam rom theplanet. Right a ter the attacks on the World Trade Centerand the Pentagon, rumors spread throughout the Islamicworld that Israel was the perpetrator and had warnedJews not to go to work in Manhattan on September 11.Such antasies still distort Muslim public opinion.

Agendas

Most MIFs believe that the West, inspired by Satan,is conducting a vast conspiracy against the Muslim world,which started with the Crusades and has continued under

many guises, including colonialism and imperialism. A terWorld War II the in dels implanted Israel in the Houseo Islam as a rst step in the realization o their plans.They also corrupted most Muslim leaders and plunderedthe natural resources o Muslim countries. Moreover, thesteady decline o the Muslim world is a sign o Godswrath, signaling that the time has come to resume the jihad against traitorous leaders as well as the in dels.

One participant cited several high Islamic authorities.In one quote, Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader o Iran, a rmed the ollowing belie : We are at war with America as our Prophet was at war against the corrupt-ing empires o his time. Because we believe that Islam isthe One and Only true aith, it is incumbent on us to ghtuntil the entire humanity either converts or submits toIslamic authority. This natural march o human history isresisted by America, which is o ering a li e o corruptionand debauchery and waging a war against Islamic valuesall over the world.

That participant quoted Dr. Zaki Badawi, a verymoderate British Muslim leader: Islam is a prosely-tizing aith. As such it has either to win new territoryall the time or to retreat and decline. Khamenei hopes

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to achieve proclaimed Islamic goals through seizing American hostages, organizing demonstrations at which American fags are burned, and nancing militant anti-Western groups. Badawi pursues his targets throughpeace ul propaganda. Bin Laden and his Al Qaedasought to achieve the same objectives by organizing theSeptember 11 attacks and other terrorist operations. Thesame panelist recounted the harangue that Sheikh SalehBen Humaid, the imam o Mecca, Islams holiest place,delivered to an audience on January 5, 2002: The WorldOrder imposed by America is a dark one characterizedby arrogance, haughtiness, humiliation, and disdain. Itis characterized by tyranny, the annihilation o nations,domination, and monopolization. These are attitudes thatprovoke legitimate hatred. What kind o a system is thismonstrous mani estation o conceit and arrogance? It be-comes even worse when domination and arrogance exer-cised through violence [are said to be carried out] in thename o legality, thus assuming a programmed systematiccourse. The sheikh went on to ask: Can Islam turn its

ace away rom the crimes committed against its children

everywhere? Can Muslims allow their most sacred valuesto be trampled under oot by a power that recognizes nogod but money and guns? That participant added thattextbooks in countless schools rom Malaysia to Nigeriatell Muslim children that the world is divided into twoirreconcilably antagonistic camps: The House o Islamand the House o War (countries not ruled by Muslims).Children are taught that there can be no peace between

the two until Islam triumphs. The most that can be al-lowed in that ongoing war is a truce that would have to berenewed every 10 years.

In the view o another participant, such statementshelp in de ning the agendas o the various militant Islam-ic groups, which can be summed up as ollows: expellingthe in dels rom the House o Islam ( or instance, remov-ing American servicemen and servicewomen rom thesacred soil o Saudi Arabia, as demanded by bin Laden);overthrowing the secular Muslim leaders who cooperatewith the West; establishing Islamic republics, as in Iranand Sudan; removing Israel rom the Islamic soil o Pal-estine; multiplying attacks in the House o War; and,

nally, resuming the great jihad against the West in or-der to bring the planet under the banner o Islam. In the

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resumption o the holy war, all means o combat are licit:assassinations, terrorism, guerrilla war are, and regularwar are.

One panelist said that both mainstream and militantMuslim clerics beckon Europe and America to the rightpath. They want to convert all and make no secret o their goal. In their view, the new century will be a cen-tury o spirituality in which the oriental man (meaningMiddle Eastern) will deploy his thousand years o spiritual experience in order to bring the West outo darkness.

Wh Hatred o the West?

Recriminations against the West in general and theUnited States in particular are multiple: colonialism, im-perialism, plundering Muslim countries natural resourc-es, backing Israel, and so on. All the participants alludedto them in di erent contexts, and some o them have beencited in the preceding sections o this summary. But sev-

eral panelists observed that they are marginal comparedto the essential accusation.

A panelist quoted rom Mawdudi, a long-standingPakistani militant undamentalist theologian o the 1930sand 1940s who propounded a theory o Gods exclusivepossession o sovereignty:

Any institution or individual attempting to as-sume political and legal sovereignty and seekingthereby to restrict the jurisdiction o God to sphereso personal law or religious duties is a usurper anda rebel. The truth is that no one can claim to be alawgiver save under the dispensation o God; noone can challenge the supreme authority o Godalmighty in any sphere.

To Mawdudi and all militant undamentalists, democracyis there ore a mani estation o Satan who told the rstman that he could disobey the law o God and pursue hisown schemes. This is precisely what the West is doing inthe name o democracy. It tells mankind that it doesntneed to obey the divine law, that it can make its own hu-

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man law by voting, and so on. That panelist quoted roma March 1999 speech given at the University o Florenceby the so-called Iranian moderate President Khatami,who said that mankind is divided into East and West. TheEast is the domain o the soul and the West o reason.Reason led to the Renaissance, which led to modernity,which in turn led to oppression, domination, and subju-gation o the world by colonialism and imperialism. TheWest, Khatami continued, is the prime exponent o ratio-nality, whereas the East is the giver o spiritual guidance.

To militant undamentalists the Judeo-ChristianWest is the enemy. Its values (democracy, secularism, hu-man rights, individual reedom, equality o women, and soon) contradict Muslim values and mores (total submissionto the will o God, theocracy, in eriority o women, and soon). To them the existence o Western alien values consti-tutes a permanent threat to the survival o Islam. Theyre er in particular to the United States because it is theonly remaining superpower and the leader o the so-called

ree world.

Another panelist stated that militant undamentalistsas well as many mainstream clerics despise democracy asa system o government. Ayatollah Khomeini rejected it onthe grounds that God alone is the legislator. Ali ben Haj,ideologue o the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front (infu-enced by Ibn Taymyyia) once declared in an interview:My ather and his brothers-in-religion expelled France

physically rom Algeria. My aim is to banish it intellectu-ally and ideologically and get rid once and or all o allthose who still harbor the venom o democracy in theirminds.

As a panelist put it, militant Islamic undamental-ists are determined to set up a historical duel betweenthe orces o democratic regimes (the West in general andthe United States in particular) and the orces o despoticregimes (most Muslim countries).

How to Deal with MIF

Most o the participants concurred that the waragainst terrorism, even i success ul, would not by itsel

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suppress the likes o bin Laden and all terrorist networks.In order to cut o MIF, the war should be accompaniedby other measures, both inside and outside the Muslimworld.

One panelist observed that moderate Muslims,many o whom have been and continue to be oppressed by Arab and other Muslim governments, do exist and mustbe encouraged to take center stage. Indeed most Muslimshave not heeded bin Ladens call to kill innocent Ameri-cans wherever and whenever they nd them. And this initsel constitutes a hope ul sign or the uture.

Another participant cited the existence o liberalelements in the Arab world who have been intimidated bymilitant Islamic activists over the last ew years. A thirdpanelist said that more important or the uture are theenlightened members o Muslim communities in Europeas well as American Muslims who should be encouragedto express their rejection o undamentalist interpreta-tions o the religion. This panelist said that victory over

the Taliban and Al Qaeda in A ghanistan was made possi-ble by the cooperation o the Northern Alliance. He addedthat ideologically and intellectually there are Northern Alliance liberals and democrats in many parts o theMuslim world. They can help de eat other militant Islam-ic undamentalist groups and should there ore be encour-aged and helped to do so.

It was observed that the problem o militant or radi-cal Islam is at the core o a larger and many-sided ques-tion concerning the nature o Islamic politics and socie-ties. Muslims make up a diverse group in the world.There are moderate Muslims, state-sponsored Muslimclerics, radical and moderate Sala s, secular nationalists,Sunnis and Shiis, Su s, American (and other Western)Muslims o many di erent kinds, and so on. Each con-

ronts a lot o problems that no one group can easily solveby itsel . On the other hand, the United States cannotplay the primary role in solving their di culties. Total victory in A ghanistan will not end the problem o radi-cal Sala sm. Many bin Ladens are positioned o stage inthe Islamic world, waiting to continue the struggle begunby Osama. The United States can serve as a catalyst ormoderate Muslims who are the only orces that can ulti-

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mately de eat the militant radicals and promote a versiono Islam that is neither extremist nor antagonistic to theWest. Such an objective should be pursued by undertak-ing to convince the Saudis to stop unding institutionsand individuals that propagate Sala sm. Very o ten thekey to most o the issues related to MIF is in the handso regimes in Muslim countries. There are other dimen-sions that must be considered, including demographic andeconomic questions.

One panelist remarked that just as Muslim govern-ments should not engage in the business o theology, theUnited States should re rain rom telling Muslim popula-tions what they should believe or do. For instance, push-ing or the introduction o democratic practices withoutheeding well-established undamental Muslim principlescan only help people like bin Laden to tell the masses thatThis is a war against Islam; even i you dont engage interrorist activities and only observe daily prayers and

ast and dont drink liquor, theyre going to suspect youo being some sort o radical. That panelist deplored

the unavailability in local languages o classical textsconcerning American democracy. In his opinion, a historictragedy occurred in the 19th century when Muslimrulers turned to France and other European countries asthey introduced political re orms. European democraticpolitical systems refected the model o very centralizedstates, whereas American democracy, based on ederalism,would have been much more appropriate. Structurally

the Anglo-American system o jurisprudence is more akinto the traditional system o government in the Muslimworld. Similarly, the West should have at its disposal ac-curate translations o texts pertaining to Islamic law and jurisprudence. Westerners would then understand thatIslam is compatible with modern civilization. One doesnot have to accept the theological precepts o Islamic lawto understand its legal doctrine. A ter all, Islam does notexempt Muslims rom the laws o gravity or o economicdevelopment.

Another participant, although agreeing with the ideao translating important American texts on democracy,considered the initiation o a genuine local democraticdiscourse in Muslim countries to be o more importance.This endeavor could be helped by the translation o extant

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texts by Muslim modernizers o the 19th and 20th centu-ries. One can nd a democratic tradition in many Muslimthinkers o the past such as the Iranian Saadi and NasserKhosrow, not to mention recent authors both in Iran and in Arab countries.

A panelist observed that a change in the interpretationo the religion can originate within Muslim communities inEurope and North America more easily than in the Mus-lim world itsel . According to him, the number o West-ern Muslims is estimated at between 20 and 22 million.Those Muslims pose both an opportunity and a threat. Atthe moment they might be a threat because many o theirorganizations and mosques are nanced and controlledby the reactionary regimes in power in the Muslim world.First, those Western Muslims should re ute lies spread inthe Western media. For instance, ar rom being a symbolo Islam, the hejab (the headwear worn by some Muslimwomen in some Muslim countries and in the West) origi-nated in 1975 in Beirut (Lebanon); it has nothing to do withIslam. It is a political element or statement, like the Mao

uni orm in China. It di ers rom what conservative Muslimwomen wore be ore 1975. The same goes or beards. West-ern Muslims should seize the opportunity provided by the

reer space in Europe and America to create universitiesthat will train Muslim theologians and mosque imams be-cause, in act, Islamic theology is dead.

In the same vein, another panelist said that American

Muslims, as law-abiding citizens, live according to the Con-stitution and the laws o the United States that contradictsome precepts o Islamic law ( or instance, those relating toinheritance, women, divorce, and so on). Yet they considerthemselves good Muslims and practice their aith reely.They constitute living proo that Islam and modernity arenot at odds with each other. Their presence in the UnitedStates bears witness to the act that it is possible to per-

orm the leap rom the 12th to the 21st century in a reason-ably short time and without any harm. Some critics saythat changing a mind-set would take a very long time. Thecommunication revolution o the last ew decades beliesthis pessimistic opinion. Today in ormation and educationcirculate and infuence people airly rapidly. Such meansshould be used intensively. The panelist added that Ameri-can Muslim intellectuals should be encouraged to help their

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coreligionists in the Muslim world understand the neces-sity o emerging rom eight centuries o stulti cation.With their colleagues in Muslim countries American Mus-lim intellectuals could organize seminars in which wayso joining the international community o the 21st centurywould be discussed. The panelist quoted an AmericanMuslim businessman:

Today the Muslim world awaits a move in a mod-ern direction. . . . Perhaps Muslim immigrants inthe West will ultimately become the catalysts or amajor ideological transition [that will occur] in theglobal Muslim community. Nostalgia or Islamsglorious past may provide com ort or some, but the

uture demands a mind-set open to change. 4

Discussion and Conclusions

The ollowing remarks were made during the discus-sions that ollowed the participants presentations.

Several participants, re erring to the battle o ismsthat characterized the 20th century, said that Muslims, intrying to de ne their identity in relation to the globalizedconficts o the time, developed Islamism as part o theanswer. 5

One panelist observed that in the 1930s and 1940s,

ascism played a more or less important role in the Mus-lim world, especially among popular movements. Themu ti o Jerusalem, Haj Amin Hussein, traveled to Ger-many and met Hitler whom he praised. That panelistcited a jurisprudent who wrote that jihad means only thatOur Faith is to rule the world. In a long ootnote the jurisprudent tried to answer the question: How to live inan ideological age in which the world is divided into twocamps--the capitalist and the communist--that are tryingto obliterate [each] other. Although he disagreed with the jurisprudent, the panelist cited him because he showedthat the way in which Muslims understand their owntradition and their relations with others is pro oundly in-fuenced by the context o global politics. A vibrant liberaltradition existed in the Arab world among both secular-ized and religious intellectuals. It collapsed a ter World

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War II. It is important to explore and explain the causeso that collapse.

Another panelist said that ascism in the prewar daysappealed to the clergy both in the Arab world and in Iranwhere Ayatollah Kashani said that Hitler was the mahdiwho was going to help liberate the Europeans rom theJews and the Muslims rom the European colonial powers(England and France). Beginning in the 1950s and con-tinuing into the 1960s, some sections o the Muslim clergylooked to another kind o totalitarian ally and ound it incommunists and various other brands o Marxists because

ascism had been de eated. At no point did they try to ndallies among democratic orces. They always looked or atotalitarian orce outside the Muslim world with which toally against trends toward democratization in their owncountries. A majority o the Muslim clergy generally sidedwith the secret police against Muslim intellectuals who

avored democratic change.

One participant observed that reversionary or re-

gressive trends constitute a eature that one nds in thehistory o Islam since its inception. They became muchmore active a ter the 12th century because o the triumpho various undamentalist interpretations o the religionthat are still in orce. Fundamentalism naturally begetstotalitarianism. Another panelist objected that MIF is ba-sically a political movement that should not be attributedto ancient theological debates. Yet another one said that

i Islamic undamentalism, like Islam in general, is notmonolithic, all undamentalist brands, even when theyreject the theological bases o other brands, in the nalanalysis, say the same thing: They proclaim jihad andpromote violence against the in dels. In practice, whetherShii or Sunni, such radical groups cooperate against thecommon enemy, the in del, meaning the West. I oneseparates these movements rom their religious color-ation, it would become impossible to re orm Islam anderadicate the danger involved in the return o people suchas bin Laden.

One panelist looked at how MIF started. In the 1950s Arab nationalism reached its zenith with Gamal AbdelNasser in Egypt. Expanding Arab nationalism was antico-lonial, anti-Israeli, and anti-American. It allied itsel with

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the Soviet Union. Its secularism rightened countries likeSaudi Arabia, which leaned toward Islamic nationalism.In those days a strong secular atmosphere existed in mosto the Middle East. On the streets one hardly saw womenwearing veils. There was a lot o openness; traditions werebreaking down. Suddenly the attempt to counter Arab na-tionalism with Islamic nationalism changed the picture.Preoccupied by the cold war and secular nationalismsleaning toward the Soviet Union, the United States oundthe Islamic reaction very convenient. Outside unding o Islamic movements began. When they were released rom jail, those who had been persecuted by Nasser and impris-oned in the 1950s and the 1960s headed toward the coun-tries o the Persian Gul and ound employment mainlyas school teachers. While in detention they had developedpolitical casts o mind. Their new sensibilities were di er-ent rom those that characterized the people o such coun-tries as Kuwait, Qatar, the Emirates, and others, whichwere rather apolitical. The immigrants politicized thewhole region. They even politicized the Saudi Wahhabidoctrine that had been stripped o its political veneer by

King Ibn Saud. A ter the Soviet invasion o A ghanistan, Islamic

groups received increased nancial support and arma-ments. Eventually the Islamists propagated simpletruths: Everything is in the Koran; Islam is the solu-tion; and so on. Until September 11, the developmento the Islamic reaction against Arab nationalism and

secularism seemed tolerable to the United States becauseit served its goals in the region. A ter the end o the coldwar, the Americans considered it in the context o thesurvival o riendly (or what they dubbed moderate)regimes.

Indeed liberals espousing democratic and secularideas created only headaches or local rulers who ounda welcome relie in turning militant Islamic undamen-talists against them. Liberals are highly educated citydwellers, whereas conservatives--mainly Bedouins--are

rom the countryside. The coming o Bedouins to the cit-ies created the desertization phenomenon--the desertinvading the city--which has had a bearing on everything,including business. The level o thinking is diminished.Everything has been turned upside down, and civiliza-

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tion is su ering.

One participant said that one o the reasons or theemergence o radical and violent movements is the rup-ture with the past that occurred in the intellectual tradi-tion o the Muslim world. It started with colonialism andwas intensi ed by the regimes that took over a ter itsdemise. The ew small pockets that did not experiencesuch a rupture are completely marginalized. When peoplelike bin Laden claim that they are expressing true Is-lam, they are in act propounding a completely inventedreligion. There are di erent, competing, invented Islamsin the marketplace o radicalism, but very little space isle t or real scholars to think reely and speak credibly. 6 Clerics have lost credibility because the state has co-optedthem and controls what they say. As a result, an intel-lectual crisis has stricken the Muslim clergy. One wayto reestablish a coherent version o Islam would be to

und the marginalized scholars. Citing the cases o an American Egyptian pro essor o sociology in Cairo and anEgyptian independent scholar, this participant described

what he called government policies o striking deals withradical groups while pretending to be at the ore ront o the ght against terrorism; thus, or instance, the au-thorities tell a radical group that they want them to orgo violent demonstrations against American bombing in A ghanistan; in exchange, the group asks or the arrest o a scholar or another intellectual who is opposed to mili-tant Islam. That is not the way to deal with terrorists, or

it will make things worse in the long run. Instead, pres-sure should be exerted on Muslim governments to aban-don such practices and take real and positive measuresagainst terrorist groups.

The same panelist pointed out another practice o Muslim rulers that creates avorable grounds or thespread o militant Islamic undamentalism. It has to dowith the question o succession. Not only do rulers stayin place as presidents or li e, but they have begun topave the way or the trans ormation o their sons intocrown princes who will replace them a ter their deaths.The panelist cited Syria, Egypt, and Libya. Thousandso young people in Arab countries study hard in the bestuniversities o the world and become top experts in many

elds, only to be denied high positions that have been

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reserved or the unskilled siblings o high-ranking o -cials. The American Egyptian pro essor mentioned by

the participant was imprisoned in Egypt or criticizingthis practice. 7 It is understandable, he maintained, thatyoung, educated people turn toward militants who wantto overthrow such rulers.

That participant brought up the question o Muslimcommunities in Europe and the United States. He esti-mated the number o Muslims living in the United Statesat about our million. Many o them are very wealthy, butonly a ew contribute generously to the campaigns o thepolitical parties as well as to local Muslim organizationsthat maintain direct or indirect ties to militant undamen-talist groups. That is why so many extremist Islamists

rom the Muslim world, including one o bin Ladens toplieutenants, used to travel to the United States, wherethey could raise more unds or their organizations thancould be raised in Muslim countries.

In Pakistan during and a ter Zia-ul-Haqs dictator-

ship, universities distributed degrees to members o Islamist groups who easily obtained visas to Canadaand the United States. That and the help o an existingnetwork, which provided them with American wives andhelped them obtain green cards and citizenship, is howthey created a power base in the United States. The net-work is now very rich and power ul, and it intimidatesand even threatens the rest o the Muslim community.

That participant underlined many contradictions inU.S. policies. Even a ter September 11, President Bushmet several times with so-called representatives o theMuslim community who in act do not represent a major-ity o American Muslims and are mentally or ideologicallyon the same wavelength as Al Qaeda.

According to that panelist, there is a split in militantIslamic undamentalist groups. In one camp are those op-erating rom caves and camps in mountains and deserts toachieve their ultimate objective o killing Americans andEuropeans and destroying the assets o the United Statesand other Western countries. In the other camp are thosewho are American citizens and think that they can over-take the United States without destroying physical assets

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and killing innocent people. Indeed they think they caninfuence the two political parties and, through them, gov-ernmental decisions with their campaign and other dona-tions. They have set up approximately two dozen charitiesand other organizations that help militant undamentalistorganizations in the Middle East and indoctrinate Ameri-can Muslims through a network o schools and mosques.Rich American Muslims as well as oil-rich Muslim coun-tries und such organizations, schools, and mosques. TheU.S. government has shut only a ew since September 11.

The leaders o those organizations and mosques arecontinually being invited to the White House and theState Department. Eighty percent o American Muslims voted or Bush, whereas American Jews voted en masse

or Gore. The leaders o rich American Muslim organiza-tions boasted that they had brought Bush to the presi-dency. They sent him a letter asking or evenhandednessconcerning the Palestinian and Kashmiri questions. More-over, or years they have been lobbying in avor o theSudanese theocracy. Their network in the United States

is ocused on oreign policy. Muslim army chaplains comerom institutions established by American Muslims. Therethey were trained to adopt a mentality very close to thato bin Ladens ollowers.

That panelist added that the contradictions in Ameri-can policies that have already been cited in this sum-mary bewilder a majority o American Muslims who are

law-abiding citizens. They suspect that something iswrong with American politics. It seems to them that whatthe United States su ered on September 11 stems romsomething American politicians have encouraged, i notcreated. For them it is still risky to take a clear stand inthe midst o so many Islamists in the United States. (Oneshould remember that a large number o American Mus-lims are political re ugees who fed the radicals in theircountries o origin.) The United States is a country thatharbors masses o quali ed anti-Islamist Muslims andthe largest number o rich and educated Islamists. TheUnited States is also supporting and helping a new A -ghan government that includes several radical Islamistsas important ministers.

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What Should Be Done?

One panelist suggested that an examination o Muslimassociations and institutions in the United States be con-ducted case by case because there are some positive ele-ments among them. He added that September 11 brought alot o changes and splits inside radical Islamic movementsand suggested the establishment o a dialogue with Is-lamists who abide by laws and re rain rom aggressiveactions. In his opinion, what happened to Arab national-ism ollowing the 1967 de eat can well happen to militantIslamic undamentalism a ter the de eat o the Talibanand bin Laden in A ghanistan. At any rate, i the environ-ment that produced bin Laden is le t unchanged, then thesame destructive network will reappear under new anddi erent names. In Western schools, in ormation aboutMuslim thinkers and their achievements should be taught,and in Muslim schools a similar curriculum pertaining toWestern philosophers and scientists should be devised andimplemented. Re erring to the gradual opening in Kuwaitssociety, the panelist expressed the opinion that things will

change or the better in the Muslim world. Another panelist deplored the act that the history

o Western civilization in colleges is taught separately romother cultures, particularly the Muslim one. He expressedthe hope that some re orm would take place in order topresent all civilizations in one course attended by allstudents. He added that novels and intellectual works by

Arab writers should be translated into English so that American students as well as the general public can be-come amiliar with the problems o the Muslim world. Inhis opinion, all such initiatives would promote a betterunderstanding between the West and the Muslim world.

Other participants were less optimistic about thepossibility o rapid change in relations between the twoworlds. One panelist observed that a great part o the di -

culties relating to the diversity o interpretationso the Koran stems rom the absence o a ormal church.Most o the Islamic associations are linked with govern-ments. He emphasized the need or the creation o agenuine American Islam that expresses its own identity,without being beholden to anybody nancially and politi-cally, and propagates its understanding o the religion in

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its own way. Another panelist expressed doubts about therole that American Muslims can play in orming culturaltrends in the Muslim world at large.

It was observed that the radicals use the UnitedStates as a base rom which they infict su ering onpeople in Muslim countries and elsewhere. One o theirweapons comes rom creating phony academic tradi-tions. For instance, the University o Cali ornia at Berke-ley is teaching the thought o Khomeini as i he had beena great philosopher. In Iran they use this as proo thatKhomeini was a great philosopher and thinker. ActuallyIslamists seem to su er rom a kind o in eriority com-plex when they compare themselves to Westerners whoseendorsement they o ten seek. American Islamists do moreharm to Muslims in the Middle East than to local militantgroups. In the United States these people terrorize mem-bers o Muslim communities. The United States shouldremain true to its values and de end them without com-promise. At many international con erences there is anallowance or Islamic exception. The other con erees think

that they should treat Muslims di erently simply becauseMuslims say that they are di erent. He stated thatthey should be treated like everybody else. The panelistremarked that American leaders and o cials do a greatdisservice to the image o the United States by acceptingthe pay o various Muslim regimes or acting as consul-tants or business partners. In doing so they rein orce thenotions o people at the local level that Americans can be

bought. And that supposition creates ground or anti- American eelings.

In the opinion o one panelist, the problem withradical populist movements is that they have con erred ontheir own cultural traditions some sort o eternal mean-ing, which means that i they gave up any one o them,they would seem to be committing an unacceptable acto ontological compromise. Such a philosophical error isthe kind o thing that is usually corrected through typicaldemocratic processes. Denying to Arab Muslims the rightto work these things out and excluding rom the politicalprocess the people who hold to their traditions because,it is eared, they might take over government will onlyretard political development. In this respect Algeria isthe quintessential example: It got a brutal military

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regime and an unending civil war. The suspension o thedemocratic process is utterly wrong. The United Statesmust remain true to itsel in order not to be accused o adhering to double standards and not to lose credibilityand legitimacy. The tensions that Muslims ace as a resulto modernity are not di erent rom those that Koreans orChinese people experience. In act, the United States hasits own traditionalists who dislike a lot o things that go onin the country.

Another participant said that Islamists should becountered in the political arena and not be allowed to claima kind o sanctity. Muslim societies cannot work out theirproblems because they have regimes that do not allow themto develop in a normal way. What is happening now is akind o reaction: a going backward, in comparison to whatexisted even 30 or 40 years ago. This reaction, presented astrue Islam, should be opposed. The same panelist addedthat i we protect the rights and reedom o the Islamistlobbyists, we should also protect the rights o the Muslimmajority who are subjected to intimidation by them. He

said that wherever Muslims were o ered a chance to adoptdemocracy, especially to participate in elections, they seizedit. We must not assume as true whatever the most reaction-ary and retrograde elements o the Muslim community say just because they are organized and have power ul govern-ments behind them. In this respect, a panelist recalled thatwhen the radical Islamists sought to ll the vacuum le t bythe exponents o a waning Arab nationalism, they promised

solutions or problems besetting their societies. Now it hasbecome obvious that they have no solutions, and so there isan opening or something di erent and e ective.

One participant criticized the exceptionalism thatcharacterizes American oreign policy toward the Muslimworld. He gave the recent example o Pakistans presi-dent who launched a coup against an elected leader and ishated by his own people yet is treated as a good guy bythe United States. He admitted that the circumstances o the war against terrorism make that position understand-able but expressed the hope that a ter the war is over, theUnited States will reconsider its attitude. Another panel-ist remarked that the predecessor o the present Pakistanipresident had orced out the legal government, removed theleader o the Supreme Court, and banned the main opposi-

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tion party. He was about to arrest the present president,who outmaneuvered him by acting rst.

It was observed that the so-called Koranic schools inPakistan prepared recruits or bin Ladens Al Qaeda. Theauthorities have closed many o them since September 11.One panelist expressed the opinion that a re orm o edu-cation is overdue in many Muslim countries and cited thesuccess ul experience o Tunisia in this respect. He addedthat a revision o textbooks is also necessary. Anotherparticipant, although approving the creation o modernelementary and secondary schools in Muslim countries,said that special schools to train Muslim theologians andmosque imams should be set up in Europe and the UnitedStates where theologians trained in the West are amiliarwith scienti c matters. He even suggested the creation o a modern Islamic Theological Society that would takeadvantage o science and other kinds o knowledge. Heindicated that theological centers in Egypt and Saudi Ara-bia had come up with decisions about cloning withoutknowing the scienti c background o the question. He also

cited the nonsensical theory, aired by some theologians as justi cation or the hijab, about the property o womenshair, which is said to emit a kind o ray that drives mencrazy. Theologians trained in the West would be able tore ute such notions.

One panelist, re erring critically to Muslim privateschools in the United States, observed that their improve-

ment is hampered by sinister accusations continuouslymade against Muslim institutions: It is hard to improvethe schools when the institutions have to spend a lot o resources in an e ort to re ute charges o conspiring todestroy the United States.

Concerning recent developments in Iran, one panelistsaid that the country was in a kind o preinsurrectionaryphase. Tehran is the only Muslim capital where youngpeople demonstrated in support o the United States a terSeptember 11. Several participants concurred that anychange in Irans policies or its government as a wholewould have a bene cial impact on the whole region. At the11th hour the United States should not begin to support abankrupt regime that is in the throes o death. It shouldmake it clear to the present rulers that there can be no

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dialogue that excludes the Iranian people. The Iranianauthorities should not limit their concessions to oreignpolicy matters; they should also o er concessions in do-mestic politics. It is in the interests o the United Statesto be riend a successor regime rather than the presentone.

One panelist said that Iraq is an important key statein the region. A change in Iraq would have a deep impacton Iran and on a great number o other countries in theMiddle East as well as on the peace process between Pal-estinians and Israelis.

Concerning the latter confict and its impact on anti- American reactions on the street in Arab lands, a pan-elist stated that the issue o Palestine a ects all Arabs.There is a strong sense o personal identi cation with thePalestinians, and what happens to them is genuinely eltby all Arabs. Moreover, people eel that i the same treat-ment were meted out to Americans or British citizens,the United States or the United Kingdom would never

tolerate it. Another panelist added that U.S. oreign policy is

perceived by ordinary Arabs as driven only by its interestsin the security o Israel and in the ree fow o oil, not bytrying to nd a just solution to the confict and other prob-lems. At any rate the people o the Middle East have theimpression that the United States does not engage itsel

in their region as it does in other regions such as Asia andLatin America. In the view o that panelist, the reluctanceo the United States to engage in Middle Eastern a airshas created a vacuum that has been lled by radicalIslamists. He urged the United States to draw up policies

or its long-term engagement in the region.

Another participant expressed the hope that the Unit-ed States would also address the economic problems o the Middle East. He suggested a kind o Marshall Plan. Another panelist was o the opinion that notwithstand-ing existing obstacles and di culties, the United Statescan and should improve its image in the region as well asits relationship with the Arabs. He deplored the act that American diplomats in Arab countries o ten do not engagewith the population even when the opportunity is given

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stanis and the Indians press the United States to accepttheir versions o their dispute over Kashmir. Some statesadvise against taking action against states that give ha- ven to terrorists. And on it goes. The United States shouldbase its oreign policy on its own interests in each case. Itshould also remain true to its values and principles.

Concerning U.S. engagement in the region, severalparticipants underlined the act that there is no real e -

ort to explain American positions to the public in Muslimcountries. It was suggested that the Voice o Americaand other channels like those broadcasting to Iran and A ghanistan be used or this purpose. One panelist ob-served that we are living in a people-to-people era andthat the United States should spare no e ort in creatingpeople-to-people relations. In e ect, it should enlarge toa considerable extent the only contacts the United Stateshas with people in the Middle East, which are generallycon ned to businessmen and military leaders. The peopleo the region hate the United States vicariously becausethey hate their own governments. Where Muslim govern-

ments are riendly with the United States, people hate Americans. The visits o several U.S. presidents to Syriasdictator, Ha z Assad, tarnished the image held o theUnited States by the people o many Arab countries.

It was observed that in other regions, nongovern-mental organizations (NGOs) have greatly helped theprocesses involved in developing civil society. According to

one panelist, there is an explosion o NGOs in the MiddleEast. For instance, every year the World Bank holds aMiddle East Development Forum in one Arab capital.NGOs participate in the orums. The Europeans sendsenior ministers to those gatherings; in contrast, the U.S.government is absent. Even the o cials o American em-bassies do not bother to respond to criticisms aired duringthe orums. It was suggested that the United States sendhigh-ranking representatives to such con erences.

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Notes

1 . This is a re erence to the al-Muwahhidin dynasty (the Unitar-ians--corrupted into Spanish: Almohades) ounded by Ibn Tumart,a member o a Moroccan Berber tribe, who assumed the title omahdi. (See note 6.) His general, Abdal Mumin, succeeded him in1130 and propagated his undamentalist doctrine in an empire thatincluded North A rica and Andalusia.

2. This participant recounted that during the time o Ibn Taymiyya,the Mongols invaded the eastern part o the Muslim world andconverted to Islam. But they did not apply the Sharia. Ibn Taymi-yya declared them heretics and argued that rebellion be launchedagainst them.

3. Muslims o the early period are called the pious ore athers; henceSalifs re erence to those early pious ore athers.

4. Munawar Anees in Civilization, February 2000.

5. See the text under the heading Defnition o MIF.6. In Shiism, the mahdi is the awaited twel th imam who disappeared

in his childhood. The imam-mahdi dogma is an essential part othe twelvers Shiite creed. In Sunnism, the mahdi restorer o the

aith does not occupy such a central place. At any rate, the beliein the coming o the mahdi lent itsel in the Arab world to the ap- pearance o many pretenders in all periods o Muslim history.

7. Pro essor Saad Eddin Ibrahim.

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Participants

Pro essor D. Khalid Durn

Visiting Scholar Mohammad H. Fadel, Esq.

Attorney

Dr. Sha eeq N. GhabraPro essor o Political ScienceKuwait University

Pro essor Bernard Haykel

Member o the School o Historical Studies at theInstitute or Advanced Study, Princeton UniversityAssistant Pro essor, Middle Eastern Studies andHistory, New York University

The Honorable Fereydoun Hoveyda

Former Ambassador o Iran to the United NationsMember o the National Committees ExecutiveCommittee and Board o Trustees; NCAFP ProjectCoordinator, the Middle East: Islamic Law and

Peace

Dr. George D. SchwabPresidentNational Committee on American Foreign Policy

Mr. Amir TaheriEditor o Politique InternationaleColumnist or Asharq Alawsat , a pan-Arab dailynewspaper (London)

Moderators

Dr. George D. Schwab

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MORGENTHAU AWARD RECIPIENTS

Honorable Angier Biddle Duke David RockefellerHonorable Sol Linowitz Honorable James A. Baker, IIIHonorable Henry A. Kissinger Right Honorable Margaret ThatcherHonorable Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Honorable Thomas R. PickeringHonorable George P. Shultz His Majesty King Hussein

N atioNal C ommittee oN a meriCaN f oreigN P oliCy , i NC .

FOUNDER DR. HANS J. MORGENTHAU

KENNAN AWARD RECIPIENTSHonorable George F. Kennan

Honorable Cyrus R. VanceHonorable Paul A. Volcker

Honorable Richard C. HolbrookeINITIATIVE FOR PEACE AWARD RECIPIENTS

William J. FlynnHonorable George J. Mitchell

THE (Renamed) WILLIAM J. FLyNN INITIATIVE FOR PEACE AWARD RECIPIENTRight Honorable Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, M.P.

OFFICERS 2001

Honorable George F. KennanHonorary ChairmanWilliam J. FlynnChairmanDr. George D. SchwabPresident

William M. RudolfExecutive Vice PresidentDonald S. Rice, Esq.Senior Vice President

Dr. Eve EpsteinVice PresidentHonorable Francis L. KelloggTreasurerProfessor Howard L. AdelsonSecretary

TRUSTEES*Kenneth J. Bialkin, Esq. Dr. Susan A. Gitelson Ann PhillipsGeneral Wesley K. Clark,USA (Ret.) Judith Hernstadt Honorable Thomas R. PickeringJohn V. Connorton, Jr., Esq. *Honorable Fereydoun Hoveyda *Honorable Maxwell Rabb*Professor Michael Curtis *Richard R. Howe, Esq. Jacob Stein*Viola Drath *Dr. Patricia S. Huntington Grace Kennan Warnecke Anthony Drexel Duke *Thomas J. Moran Honorable Leon J. Weil*Sandy Frank *Joan Peters Professor Donald S. Zagoria*Executive Committee

BOARD OF ADVISERSDr. Giuseppe Ammendola Professor George E. Gruen Professor Michael RywkinProfessor Kenneth J. Arrow Honorable Roger Hilsman Professor Arthur M. Schlesinger, jr.Saul Bellow Honorable Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Dr. Ronald J. SheppardProfessor Bernard E. Brown Professor Franklin H. Littell Professor S. Fred SingerProfessor Ralph Buultjens Professor Richard Pipes Honorable Nancy E. SoderbergHonorable Harlan Cleveland Dr. Carol Rittner Dr. Arnold SolowayHonorable Seymour M. Finger Professor Henry Rosovsky


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