Paris attacks occurred on the 13th of November 2015, killing more than a hundred people, led by people who have origins from the Middle East. On the 16th of November, three days after this tragic event, a Bloomberg Politics survey shows more than a half of Americans would not like to see the U.S accepting to resettle the 10,000 Syrians refugees. After all, on Sunday 6th of December, the results of the first tour in the French regional elections came: the right extremist party Front National is at the forefront in six regions on thirteen and is at the second or third place in the others. Obviously, those social reactions in America and France are not a surprise. In a period of crisis such as the current one, religious intolerance and racism are increasing, and it is tempting to make generalities, confusing often religion and politics. In the light of recent events, it is therefore essential to clarify the difference between the religion of Islam and the dangerous ideology of Islamism, in order to avoid the discrimination of Muslims.
Although the terms Islam and Islamism have almost the same spelling, their meanings are considerably different. Islam is a religion while Islamism is an ideology. The former is based on peace, love, mercy and forgiveness; the word itself connotes peace in Arabic. Moreover, the life of human beings, its rights and its individual freedom are considered as something sacred, hence its followers, the Muslims, have the duty to protect each other. Muslims believe in Allah, the only One Supreme God in the religion of Islam. They consider Him and Its attributes as perfect, and have to obey to His precepts. The revelations of Allah are found in the Quran, the main religious text of Islam. As a matter of fact, one of His most important is the obligation for the Muslims to respect the other religions, as well as Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, … In contrast to the spiritual and religious meaning of Islam, Islamism entails a political connotation. For instance, as an Islamist, a Muslim Brother from Egypt puts it, « We are neither socialist nor capitalist, but Muslims »; a Muslim of old would have said, « We are neither Jews nor Christians, but Muslims. » (Pipes) The danger is that lots of Islamists read literally the sacred Islamic texts, without putting them in perspective with the modern society or the historical facts. Even more, some want to impose their conception of Islam on their whole country, nay the whole world. The fact is, a generic dubious understanding pushes Islamists to be both against the Western World and the non-Islamist believers, called Kuffars in Arabic.
Another significant difference in meanings is the Islamic Sharia and its interpretation by the Islamists. The original Islamic Sharia is in fact the Islamic Laws, which is distinct from the Quran. It contains the rules and the legal system, derived from the religious precepts of Islam, that guide the life of Muslims. However, any particular or precise system of government had been set by Islamic scriptures; it has to be adapted in function of the modern context. A case in point concerning the laws found in the Islamic Sharia is the interdiction to drink alcohol, simply because it causes a loss of good judgment and affects the rational thought. Another one, less known, is the necessity to lower the eyes in sign of respect while talking with someone valuable. Depending on the culture, this rule is offending or not, but the thing to remember it is not because something is different that it is immoral. Nonetheless, the interpretation of Sharia by fundamentalist Islamists is truly evil. They intentionally twist the sense of some verses, nay create new rules, to serve their own interests; a practice which is totally forbidden according to the precepts of Allah. A strong illustration is the conditions of women: even though they were totally equal to men during the pioneering Islam, from the ninth century some Islamist jurists decided to write new laws in a manner to serve their individual cultural principles, in other words to relegate women to a position of secondary importance. To give a current and concrete example, Saudi official policy disallows women to drive, which is totally segregationist. Unfortunately, as aforesaid, Islamists aim to impose this kind of strict and erroneous application of Sharia to the entire society.
The last but most controversial concept to clarify thoroughly is Jihad, because of its erroneous use by the Islamist terrorists and its misrepresentation in the media. “The highest form of Jihad is to speak the truth in the face of an unjust ruler”, reads an impeccably authenticated saying of Prophet Muhammad. (Noorani 45) Ergo, there is not any reference to a holy war or other violent tenet. In reality, two distinguishable forms of Jihad are mentioned in the Islamic texts: The Greater Jihad and The Lesser Jihad. On the one hand, the former refers to the spiritual struggle of Muslims for their personal improvement; it is its internal facet. It can also be practiced in groups, especially to deal with a collective concern such as the jihad for water conservation, cleanliness and so on. On the other hand, the latter relates to the right of a believer to defend his life and his property in case of unjustified attacks, which is its external facet. It is revealing to focus on its original defensive aspect, because the Islamist tend to define their kind of Jihad by an offensive attack. In fact, they simplify and replace a complex notion with a hateful one. The worst is Islamist terrorists contradict themselves by serving the opinions they condemn. Indeed, most of them say they are fighting for Allah, while Allah says it is forbidden to begin a war in His name. This conception is naturally morally disapproved by the Muslim community and, from this perspective, it appears quite straightforward. Therefore, the interesting question to consider is why the media is confused about it so often. Its reason to always talk about Jihad as a motivation for getting involved in a terrorist attack is none other than the fact people are attracted by simplistic ideas. Unfortunately, because of this reductionist generalization, the majority of the spectators think Jihad as well as the rest of the Islamic precepts are only dangerous practices while they are not.
In short, the real current matter is not the religion of Islam which is basically peaceful and tolerant, but the ideology of Islamism and its violent and radical issues. Marie Curie said nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less; mainly when we acknowledge the first victims of this crisis are Muslims and Easterners in general, not Westerners. So, instead of taking refuge on safety and nationalist political parties or ideas, people who have the chance to live in a country nearly free from harm should warmly welcome the immigrants and refugees rather than reject them, as Canada has started to do on the 10th of December 2015.
Works Cited
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Harvard Institute of Politics. “Islam and the Future of Tolerance”. YouTube. Web. 17 Sept 2015.
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“Islam Beliefs and Practices.” The Islamic Bulletin. The Islamic Bulletin: Issue 24 (2009). 11-12 Web. 8 Dec 2015.
Nanji, Azim. “Dictionary of Islam”. Penguin Group. England, 2008. 82-83. Print.
Noorani, A.G. “Islam & Jihad: Prejudice versus reality”. A Brave New Series. Nova Scotia: Fernwood, 2002.
“Paris attacks: The investigation so far.” BBC News. BBC, 24 Nov 2015. Web. 8 Dec 2015.
Pipes, Daniel. “Daniel Pipes: Islam vs. Islamism”. National Post. National Post, 3 May 2013. Web. 5 Dec 2015.
“Résultats élections régionales 2015”. Le Monde.fr – chiffres, analyses, débats. Le Monde, 6 Dec 2015. Web. 8 Dec 2015.
Siddiqui, Haroon. “Being Muslim”. Groundwood Books. Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2008. Print.
Talev, Margaret. “Bloomberg Politics Poll: Most Americans oppose Syrian Refugee Resettlement.” Bloomberg Politics. Bloomberg, 18 Nov 2015. Web. 8 Dec 2015.
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