| |
|
I thought this was interesting........should stimulate some discussion.......
Of course this war is about Islam, argues Rushdie
By Philip Delves Broughton in New York
(Filed: 03/11/2001)
SALMAN RUSHDIE said yesterday that world leaders were wrong to say that terrorism and the war against it were not about Islam.
The author, who lived for years under threat of assassination after a fatwa over his novel, The Satanic Verses, said Islam was being hijacked by political fanatics - and needed its own Reformation.
He added that "paranoid Islam" was the most rapidly growing form of the religion and needed to be challenged in the Muslim world and the West.
Citing the worldwide demonstrations by Muslims in support of Osama bin Laden and the thousands of Muslim men declaring their readiness to fight for the Taliban, Mr Rushdie wrote in the New York Times: "Of course this is 'about Islam'."
Mr Rushdie said the Western leaders' "mantra" that "this war isn't about Islam" was not true. He wrote: "If this isn't about Islam why the worldwide Muslim demonstrations in support of Osama bin Laden and al-Qa'eda?
"Why are the war's first British casualties three Muslim men who died fighting on the Taliban side? Why does Imran Khan, the Pakistani ex-sports star turned politician, demand to be shown the evidence of al-Qa'eda's guilt while apparently turning a deaf ear to the self-incriminating statements of al-Qa'eda's own spokesman?
"Why all the talk about American military infidels desecrating the sacred soil of Saudi Arabia if some sort of definition of what is sacred is not at the heart of the present discontent?
"For a vast number of 'believing' Muslim men, 'Islam' stands, in a jumbled, half-examined way, not only for the fear of God but also for a cluster of customs, opinions and prejudices that include their dietary practices; the sequestration or near sequestration of 'their' women; the sermons delivered by their mullahs; a loathing of modern society in general; and a more particularised loathing (and fear) of the prospect that their immediate surroundings could be taken over - 'Westoxicated' - by the liberal Western-style way of life."
Mr Rushdie called on Muslim societies to depoliticise their religion. He also challenged them to stop blaming America for their problems and ask themselves if, in fact, they were to blame.
External links
Yes, this is about Islam [2 Nov '01] - New York Times
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2001. Terms & Conditions of reading.
Commercial information. Privacy Policy. |
|
|
