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April 12, 2005
Arab News: Exclusivist vs. Inclusivist - A Saudi Muslim's view of "terrorist acts"
Topics: Understanding IslamKhaled Al-Maeena, Editor in Chief of Arab News has this excellent opinion piece today that offers a distinction from those that would bring people of faith together verses those that would drive them apart. As a Saudi, he's well aware of the problems that Saudi society is trying to deal with now, and as John Burgess at Crossroads Arabia suggests, foremost among those issues are religion and world-view. Khaled's piece addresses those issues very well and has John Burgess' recommendation.
- Arab News by Khaled Almaeena, almaeena@arabnews.com
(...) During the nearly four years since Sept. 11, 2001, I have been looking
closely at the situation of Muslims all over the world. The new threat
of terrorism that has sprung up in many parts of the Muslim world is a
constant source of worry and anxiety, not only to me but to millions of
other Muslims the world over. The last two years in fact have seen
terrorist acts in our own country. Such acts are alien to Islam and its
ideology; they cannot be justified in any way since there is no
justification for the murder of innocents. At the same time, there are
those in the Muslim world who believe that "terrorist actions" are a
direct reaction to -- and a result of -- attacks on Muslims in other
places. There is no excuse for those "terrorist actions"; they lack any
validity and violate every principle of Islamic behavior.
(...) In spite of Muslim differences and conflicts with Christians, Jews and
Hindus, Dr. Ahmed says the "real battle of the 21st century" will not
be between religions but between exclusivists on one side and
inclusivists on the other. Exclusivists such as the terrorists who
carried out the Madrid bombing concentrate on the differences between
their religion and everyone else's, especially that of the despised
enemy. They draw clear lines between themselves and "others".
Inclusivists, on the other hand, concentrate on the similarity between
themselves and others despite religious and national distinction. They
draw on the famous Qur'anic "diversity verse" which says that God made
humankind "into diverse nations and tribes" so that the various nations
and tribes could "come to know each other, not despise each other".
(49:13). Another Qur'anic verse that they emphasize is 2:256 which
states clearly that there is "no compulsion in religion". -End Item
Continue ...
In the article the author recognizes that it is pointless, in the face of the well-publicized exclusivist actions(of the terrorists), for Muslims to say that Islam is a religion of peace. Inclusivist moderate Muslims -- including their religious scholars -- must indeed speak out and make the point strongly that exclusivism and terrorism have nothing to do with inclusionist's Islam. The author contends that they must begin to do this by saying "No to terror." In my mind that is a most important begining and something non-Muslims have been asking for since September 11.
On another note, as is mentioned by Khaled in his article, all exclusionists are not Islamists, and the Islamists are not the only exclusionists. Non-Muslims also need to do their part in moving toward a meeting in the middle.
Hat tip - Crossroads Arabia
Posted by Hyscience at April 12, 2005 10:46 AM
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