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Islamic bigotry toward non-Muslims: pundits proclaim that Osama bin Laden's fanatical followers do not practice `true' Islam. But what exactly is the difference between `moderate' and `militant'?
Insight on the News, Feb 4, 2002 by Tony Hays
Americans have listened carefully since September as politicians and commentators have waxed sagely that the war on terrorism is not a religious war, that the Islam of Osama bin Laden is a false Islam and that true Islam is a religion of love that accepts all faiths. Religious bigotry is not politically correct, and religious tolerance is a principle of the American ethic. But those claiming that Islam is not devotedly hostile to other faiths either have turned a blind eye or are unaware of the long history of religious persecution in the Muslim world.
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Andrew Sullivan has made this point straight, clear and without apologies in the New York Times. "The religious dimension of this conflict," he wrote, "is central to its meaning." Bin Laden openly blames Christianity, Judaism and the United States for his jihad, or holy war, citing the Koran for justification. Consider:
* "And whoever does not believe in Allah and His Apostle, then surely We have prepared burning fire for the unbelievers" (Sura [Chapter] 48, Verse 13).
* "O you who believe! Fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard [against evil]" (Sura 9, Verse 123).
* "And kill them [unbelievers] wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers" (Sura 2, Verse 191).
But even such rhetoric doesn't do justice to the centuries of religious persecution by Muslim leaders. For that, you have to get up close and personal, like the 16 Christians murdered while worshipping at St. Dominic's Catholic Church in Pakistan on Oct. 28, 2001; or the incident at Quetta Airport in the same country a week later, when pro-Taliban gunmen opened fire on five security guards, coincidentally killing the only Christian guard among them while leaving the Muslims unharmed.
This reporter has seen Islamic persecution up close and personal, and the reality belies the commentators' labels of "real" and "false" Islam. If Islamic government comes in two flavors, moderate and militant, the line between them scarcely is visible.
My introduction to Islamic persecution of Christians came in May 1996. It was one of those years the Chinese curse as "interesting," and the Persian Gulf was one of the most interesting places in the world. Less than a year before, Bill Richardson, a Democratic congressman from New Mexico, had managed to talk Saddam Hussein into releasing two U.S. defense contractors who had been arrested just inside the southern border of Iraq. They had been held for months in Abu Ghraib prison outside of Baghdad. Kuwait had just celebrated the fifth anniversary of its liberation from Iraq with much fanfare and AK-47 fire.
This reporter was looking for a Kuwaiti who was having problems with his own (religious) liberation. The first meeting with Robert Hussein, formerly Hussein Qamber Ali, was arranged through intermediaries and the location disclosed only minutes ahead of time. A thin, nervous, frightened man, Hussein had renounced his Muslim faith and converted to Christianity. To choose Christianity over Islam, even in moderate Kuwait, was a capital crime and, under the Shariah law of the Koran, was punishable by death.
Once a prosperous building contractor, Hussein attributed his conversion to "dreams." As a culture, Arabs tend to put as much stock in dreams as the ancients of the Bible. They also believe strongly in witchcraft and the supernatural. During the course of any given year on the Arabian peninsula, some half-dozen or so women are tried for practicing witchcraft.
It was Hussein's powerful belief in the supernatural that spurred his conversion to Christianity. As Hussein explained to me on a steamy May night, "Muslims believe Mohammed is the greatest prophet of God, but they also believe that he came from Earthly parents who are now dead. Muslims also believe Mohammed is dead. But they believe Jesus rose from the dead, still is alive, is coming back and his father is not an Earthly father. They believe that."
His dark eyes squinted and flashed as he said, "I ask other Muslims, `Which one do you prefer -- Mohammed or Jesus?' They say, `Mohammed.' This doesn't make sense, I tell them. If you believe that Jesus is still alive, then he is supernatural. It seems to me that they worship Mohammed, not Allah. But I cannot talk about my dreams to Muslims because these dreams deal with religious questions. If I mention them, they will accuse me of having a djin [genie/devil] inside." Robert's frustration was etched into the wrinkles on his sunken cheeks.
So it was that Robert had announced his conversion to Christianity and started a Bible study. That was when the roof caved in on his life. He says he became worse than a nonperson; he became a pariah in his own home and his wife deserted him. The Hussein home was ransacked, probably by officers from the ministry of the interior; his family and even his business were stripped from him. Death threats followed, and he was forced to take refuge with Western expatriates, who in turn were threatened with loss of their jobs for harboring him.
