Perhaps it wasn't inevitable that we would have to confront the radical idealogical jihadism that led to our being struck on 9/11, but funded by petrodollars and ignored by us for decades, this virulent form of fundamentalism has taken root and thrived and what might have been a lunatic sect out in the desert wastelands of Arabia is now a worldwide movement and our meeting it head on is no longer a question. It is necessary, therefore, to understand what these people believe, and Mary Habeck's thoroughly researched and annotated book will be helpful to you.
She begins her book with a simple proposition. Instead of theorizing why the jihadists are at war with us, with explanations that include social and economic deprivation, US foreign policy, the Arab/Israeli conflict and so on, she posits instead that we ought to learn what the jihadis themselves have to say on the subject. What do THEY think justifies their jihad?What support for their views do they find in the Qur'an and traditional Islam?
The answers she discovers are going to be an eye opener to many in the West employing the conventional wisdom espoused above.
First, this radical jihadism goes back 8 centuries to earlier fundamentalist thinkers who believed even back then that the followers of Islam had strayed from the righteous path and purification was in order. This thinking espoused initally by Ibn Taymiyya and then later Wahhab was picked up by the founders of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1920's and in the following decades by others to the present with Bin Laden, Zawahiri and Zarqawi. Violent jihadism pre-dates the founding of Israel and the US ever setting foot in the Middle East.
Second, believing they are the righteous and "true believers" intent on purifying Islam, establishing the Caliphate, and creating a worldwide Islamic paradise, justifies their killing anyone they consider "non-believers" which includes Muslims not adhering to Islam as the jihadis believe it. So, the murder of innocents, destruction of mosques, virtually any act of violence can be explained in their idealogy.
Third, there will be no compromise, meeting of minds, reasoning, or accomodation made with these folks. These are hard core idealogues, and their beliefs so severely narrow that any deviation from those beliefs would undermine their whole reason for being. Their way is the only way, and "infidels" are anyone not complying with that way, including Muslims.
Fourth, these are people who will never accept modernization in any form. They are anti-democratic, anti-pluralism, anti-anything but their form of "pure" Islam. They believe solely in a world ruled by Allah, through a Caliph, and under shari'a law. Anything less is rule by man and that is apostacy. Their dream is a totalitarian Islamic state. The best form of what they have in mind for the peoples of the world was Afghanistan under the Taliban. No other thought, idealogy, form of government, religious belief, or societal organization is permitted in their world view.
There is much much more and this book will provide you a very accessible grounding in the history and development of radical jihadi thought. We are in for some tough sledding in the next years, this is an unbending idealogy and it will have to be fought with every method and means at our disposal. But it is an idealogy that must fail in the end, for its severity leaves a great deal of humanity, including most of Islam as its sworn enemy. But oh, the damage and heartache that will be rendered before this chapter plays itself out.
I bought this book because I wanted answers to the question, "Why do they hate us so much." Unfortunately, I didn't like the answers but at least I understand better whatwe are up against. The book was extensively footnoted and sometimes got a little dry, but overall it was a good read and I have recommended it to my friends.
Ms. Habeck does a nice job of distilling a complex socio-religious movement into the kind of prose which highlights the fanaticism of the jihadists. My take away from this book is that the "War on Terror" is indeed going to be a long struggle. Unfortunately, their desire for a theistic caliphate is at odds with the principles of democracy and the desires of free people everywhere. Once again the name of God is used for evil. We must win this war.
