Taking Truth about Jihad Terrorism to the People
by Robert Spencer
Posted Jun 30, 2005
“The only person who matters is Allah — and the only question he will ask me
is ‘How many infidels did you kill?’”
These are the words of Marwan Abu Ubeida, the subject of a Time
magazine piece entitled “Inside the Mind of an Iraqi Suicide Bomber.” It is
gratifying to see Time being willing to make this trip inside
Marwan’s mind, since most mainstream media outlets have been singularly
uninterested in the thought processes of jihad terrorists. But even Time
doesn’t explore the implications of Marwan’s words. And this is no trivial
omission: jihadists from Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to Marwan Abu
Ubeida have consistently made clear that today’s jihadists are working from
mainstream traditions and numerous Qur’anic exhortations, and that by means of
these traditions and teachings they are able to gain recruits among Muslims
worldwide — as well as to hold the sympathy of others whom they do not
recruit. This explains why there has been no widespread, sustained, or sincere
Muslim outcry against the jihad terrorist enterprise in general.
Marwan makes it clear: “The jihadis are more religious people. You ask them
anything — anything — and they can instantly quote a relevant section from
the Qur’an.” He is chillingly forthright: “Yes, I am a terrorist. Write
that down: I admit I am a terrorist. [The Qur’an] says it is the duty of
Muslims to bring terror to the enemy, so being a terrorist makes me a good
Muslim.” He invoked Qur’an 8:60: “Against them make ready your strength to
the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into the
enemy of Allah and your enemy.” The jihad ideology Marwan reflects is rooted
in the Qur’an and Islamic tradition. The longer we postpone confronting that
fact, the worse the problem will grow.
Yet both liberal and conservative media analysts do not want to face this.
They think that by speaking about the Islamic roots of jihad violence they will
undercut moderate Muslims. But in fact, no reform in Islam can ever take place
without an acknowledgment of what needs to be reformed. The near-universal
refusal to provide that acknowledgment is just one reason why that reform is
virtually certain not to be forthcoming. The contemporary problem of global
Islamic terrorism will never be solved unless people are willing to speak
forthrightly about the nature of the challenge we face and work to find positive
solutions. Ignoring or distorting the true nature and source of the problem will
only postpone the crisis, and make its ultimate resolution more difficult.
The media is failing the American public on this issue. But the truth will
out, if in other venues. It’s time for the direct approach. One organization
is taking the truth about jihad terrorism directly to the people: The People’s
Truth Forum. On September 21 I will be participating in a symposium on terror,
sponsored by the Forum, entitled, “The Radical Islamist Threat to World Peace
and National Security.” This symposium will challenge media bias head-on by
exploring forthrightly such unexamined dogmas as the idea that regionalized
economic conditions and American injustices are the real cause of terrorism, not
any imperative derived from Islamic theology. We will explore the mindset of
people like Marwan Abu Ubeida who think that terror is commanded by God,
providing a profile of the slaughterers of innocents that is urgently needed —
and has not been provided by the media in almost four years since 9/11.
Other speakers include the renowned terrorism expert Harvey Kushner, author
of Holy War on the Home Front; Brigitte Gabriel, a former anchor for
world news in the Middle East and a prominent Arab-American journalist; and
Judith Jacobson, vice-president of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME)
and the coordinator of the Columbia University SPME chapter. This promises to be
one of the few places in modern-day America where you will be able to hear the
truth about what we're up against. Get more information about how you can attend
at http://www.peoplestruthforum.com/.
Mr. Spencer is director of Jihad
Watch and author of Onward
Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West (Regnery
-- a HUMAN EVENTS sister company) and Islam
Unveiled: Disturbing Questions About the World's Fastest Growing Faith
(Encounter); and editor of The
Myth of Islamic Tolerance (Prometheus).
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