Islam

September 7, 2014

So I am done with my final exam for my MA in Middle Eastern history. I must say that after almost ten years of constant balancing between studies and work and vice versa (either I studied full time with work on the side or worked full time with studies on the side), I feel relieved, more relaxed but slightly strange as well.

The three months of reading all sorts of things covering the history of Islam, the Middle East as well as the Ottoman Empire and especially the week leading up to the exam itself were very intense. As you may have guessed, I am more than intrigued about these topics. I live in a country, in an area, that is loaded with history, and I have learnt so much recently and previously as well about this area with “the help” of this degree. I do not consider myself a Middle East expert nor an expert on Islam, yet I have come to understand what I live in and what I see around me from many more perspectives than merely current affairs.

We can all easily get so carried away by headlines in the news that appeal to some or many of our emotions and make a quick opinion of what we see here and now. Many rarely see the need, or perhaps they do not want to bother with really understanding what lies behind a person or a state’s actions. Why do they do that? What is their purpose of their doing? What is their history?

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While I was studying about the difference between different Salafi movements, I was interrupted for some minutes by the sound of the siren and had to rush to the stairs. The missiles were shot from Gaza, by the military wing of Hamas I presume.

While I was reading about the fascinating life of the Prophet, prior to the period in his life, where he experienced the revelation brought to him by the angel Gabriel, I was similarly interrupted by the siren signaling that it was time to head to the stairwell again.

Without going into the “politics” of what happened during these last shenanigans, I was amazed at the strangeness of these episodes above. I don’t think I can really describe the feeling, but I think you may understand what I’m getting at. Perhaps in a few years, I will be able to joke about how “I was studying about the history of the Middle East while having missiles fired at me.” – Again, I do not claim to having experienced the same as Gazans.

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In the three weeks leading up to my exam, I began to read about ISIS/IS. I am a little bit out of words when it comes to them, because as much as I understand (not tolerate) their logic, their master-plan, their goals, I do not understand how they can assemble justifications for all the horrific violations they are committing, especially when it comes to violations of women. Shooting someone in order to kill him/her quickly and efficiently is not near as cruel as violating someone, whether that includes torturing and/or raping and more. I understand the ideology of Wahhabism behind their doings. I can understand that eliminating people like they were bricks that you need to get rid of is perhaps a means to a goal; just eliminating, nothing else, for the sake of something new. But everything else that has to do with the only intention of hurting the other one is still not comprehensible to me. Are they all psychopaths? Or how do they convince themselves? What form of brainwashing do the newcomers to IS undergo?

And I say it like this, because by comparing their doings and ideology with what I have read, I can understand that they now are in the middle of “a means to an end,” but I do not find any justification for the need to “violate” within Wahhabism, not to say within Islam and the sayings and doings of the Prophet, but that’s a whole different story. Anyhow, perhaps I need to dig in more in Wahhabism to get a full picture.With all my efforts to try to understanding their means to an end, I am nonetheless disgusted by what I read- and see about them. I feel physically sick.

I felt even more so, because when these things happen close to home, they just become more personal, and they as such become more important. The fact that the country that I live in also doesn’t provide humanitarian aid to those in Syria – officially at least, because who knows what is happening unofficially – is also weird to me, although I know of Israeli initiatives that help Syrians in different ways, but undercover. If you would like to hear more about that, let me know, and I will send you more info.

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A week before my exam, IS became even more personal, when I saw the video published by IS showing the beheading of the American journalist Foley, followed by them showing Steven Sotloff, still alive. Although I didnt know him that well, he was a former school mate, and we did a project for a class about Israeli Politics and Society, where I recall him knowing a lot about the subject and being as critical of Israel, as I am – it sounds funny, when I say it like that, but yes, not just accepting everything that goes on here. I remember him also taking interest in One Voice (“international grassroots movement that amplifies the voice of mainstream Israelis and Palestinians, empowering them to propel their elected representatives toward the two-state solution”), a movement I myself became involved in during my studies.

So I am “happy” that I didn’t get to know him better, but the fact that I had known him for a bit and also recall his kindness and tolerance, which were slightly unique in some ways (there is a lot of truth to those articles published about him talking of him in that way), made it even stranger to see the video.

Then came the exam, by email. It was based on three parts, and I had to choose one question out of two from each part. We had 48 hours. Three essays. The last part I wrote about concerned the differences between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims and the ways in which they split. Fascinating topic. One could actually write about it for ages.

So on the night that I wrote my last essay, I accidentally read about the beheading of the second journalist, my former school mate. It made me sick to my stomach even more, and I still really cant fathom the reality of it. As with the missiles, I think my brain just doesn’t want or just can’t turn this event into reality. It may sound like a cliché, when I write it a like that, but really, I still see it as a movie.

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I have had a lot of respect and admiration for Islam and the actions and utterings of the Prophet Muhammad, and I still do. I obviously do not know everything there is to know about Islam, but I, for sure, know a lot more about this religion than my own, which I do not really practice, as I keep my own private religion and spiritualism to myself.

I have no respect however for the Islam, which IS claims to preach. What a shame. In so many ways. What a disgrace to such a beautiful religion, preaching social justice, peace, mercy and love. Did you know that Islam came about as a call to mend injustices? How beautiful. But the foundations and the very root of Islam became corrupted by self-helping interpretations, just like it has been corrupted by IS in recent years.

I spoke to my mother the other day about Steven and IS. And I told her that so many that are critical of Israel make me accountable for Israel’s actions in some ways. Ok, fine. I will take some of that responsibility, it makes sense to me.

With this, I am hoping to hear of voices coming from the Muslim world, protesting against IS, because as much as I can discuss the unfortunate disadvantages of the West’s involvement in the Middle East not only today but ages ago, which some, including myself, would claim has a little role – at the very least – in the big mess that is today the Middle East, I would also like the Muslim world to take some responsibility for their own futures. As a Muslim, do you identify with the actions of IS? Are they right in your eyes? Yes? No? If not, please speak up.

My mother, who is the big liberal, always has been a big promoter of tolerance, replied that, with what she sees IS doing, she is afraid of becoming an anti-Muslim. That says something.

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Making this a small tribute to a former class mate, who had visions about a much brighter future for the Middle East.