The Many Faces of Islam

Submission and peace. These two words form the basis for the English translation of the meaning of Islam. A Muslim submits completely to the will of Allah and finds peace therein - a creed open to countless conflicting interpretations that have lasted thousands of years and haunted nearly every corner of the globe.

Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world, and Muslims make up the world’s third-largest religious community, behind Christianity and Buddhism. Islamic doctrine is based upon the Qu’ran, the sunnah (traditions), the ijana (community consensus), and itjihad (individual thought).

The five pillars of Islam, which all Muslims must observe, are the Shahada (belief that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger), the Salat (performing five daily prayers while facing in the direction of Mecca), the Zakat (the obligation to give a percentage of personal income to those less fortunate), the Sawm (fasting during specific holy times of the year) and the Hajj (a pilgrimage to Mecca).

The jihad is no longer considered a pillar of Islam, yet it is considered a duty wherein one must strive for moral and religious perfection while remaining on the path of Islam and observing the five pillars.

There are two Muslim sects. The Sunni Muslims follow collections of the Prophet Mohammed’s sayings. The Shi’ia Muslims believe in a more literal translation of the Qu’ran.

The Sunni sect embraces tolerance, enabling diverse sects, as well as other religions, to coexist. The Shi’ia sect interprets the Qu’ran to forbid recognition of other religions and teaches a 7th century translation of the holy scribe as the literally true immutable word of God. It is from this sect that Islamic fundamentalism has grown, producing such infamous leaders as Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden and his followers’ hatred of the Western world has had a long and complicated germination, and despite popular belief, they are not an isolated cult. They come from a culture that does not approve of terrorism but sponsors fanaticism. Islamic fundamentalism provides direction and focus to many confused and angry Muslims who feel that their traditional values have no place in the modern world.

To understand the dilemma that exists between the conflicting ideologies of the three religious powers involved in this struggle and to gain a real perspective of our present situation, all histories must be examined.

Islam and the West have battled militarily for hundreds of years, from the Crusades of the 11th century, to the colonial era of the 20th century, to the United States’ intervention in the invasion of Kuwait in 1991. Many of the largest Muslim countries show little anger toward the West. For example, Pakistan, with 97 percent of its 145 million people practicing Muslims, has mixed Islam and modernity cautiously for the past few years. Indonesia has been closely following American advice and examples in economics. It is in countries such as Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia where Islamic fundamentalism has had a resurgence, and this has begun relatively recently in history.

More than one-half the population is under the age of 25 in most Arab countries, and almost every Arab country is less free than it was 30 years ago. Young Muslims have been brought up in the middle of two colliding worlds, and Islamic fundamentalism appeals to those caught up in the confusion. Fundamentalist groups provide a clear sense of purpose and meaning to the world while supplying desperately needed medical assistance, temporary housing and a sense of belonging.

Saudi Arabia is a perfect example of this phenomenon. The rise in oil prices created a small group of wealthy Arabs who are supported by the United States but hated by the rest of the Arab world.

In order for these cosmopolitan leaders to keep their ties with the West while pacifying militant Saudi Islamic fundamentalists, they fund religious schools that teach Wahhabism, a strict puritanical form of Islam.

These schools have produced thousands of fanatical Muslims who despise the United States and non-Muslims everywhere. Osama bin Laden counts many of these graduates as his closest supporters in his terrorist organization al Qaeda.

Terrorism is not new. In 1090 to 1256 ACE the first recorded evidence of terrorism appears in the Ismaili Fedayeen war against the Abbaside Islamic Empire. In recent history, terrorist attacks include the bombing of Pan Am flight 747 over Lockerbie in December 1988, the bomb explosion at a U.S. military base in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, in June 1996, and the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.

Al Qaeda has been cited as the culprit of most attacks on the West, following Osama bin Laden’s demand for jihad in order to free holy Islamic sites from American occupation. Bin Laden has devoted his life to this cause, beginning in the 1980s, when he left his affluent family home in Saudi Arabia to fight the Russians who were occupying Afghanistan. After many long and grueling years of fighting, the Russians were defeated, due to the tenacity of Muslim fighters such as bin Laden and the military support they received from the United States. When the war was over, bin Laden’s wrath soon turned on the Americans when the Saudi government chose them, instead of bin Laden’s forces, to liberate Kuwait. After many years and intense pressure from the United States, bin Laden has vanished back into the rugged terrain of Afghanistan, appearing only occasionally on videotape to reinforce his demand for jihad against Americans.

The Afghanistan’s Taliban are ideal partners for bin Laden’s interests. Their religious ideology and noninvolvement with the West, combined with a history of protecting terrorists from more than 20 countries around the world, make the country a haven for Islamic fundamentalism. Extremists use Afghanistan as somewhat of a home base; yet , to date, there is no confirmed direct connection of Afghani terrorism against the America.