The Rage of Islam

Islam is a truly global religion.  It already has a quarter of the world’s population as followers, and is the fastest growing religion in the world.    Wherever I go in the world, I see mosques alongside Christian churches and cathedrals, and even (notably in Almaty) alongside Jewish tabernacles.  I confess to knowing little about the faith, nor ever having read anything from the Koran, but from conversations I’ve had with Muslims on my travels (and a brief read through of Wikipedia’s page on the subject) the central core beliefs of One True God, peaceful co-existence, and helping others less fortunate than yourself, in order to obtain entry into Heaven, Nirvana or (simply) the afterlife do not seem to differ that much from Christianity in all its guises, or Buddhism or pretty much any other faith (I exclude Scientology here).  I understand that in other areas, Muslims are stronger in their insistence that “their” God is the one True God, that Mohammed is the Real Prophet (and that Jesus was merely a prophet rather than the Son of God), and that Sharia Law is the only true law.  There is more fasting in Islam (the Holy Month of Ramadan), women hold a lesser place in society than in Christianity or other faiths, and overall its followers take it much more seriously than any other faith I’ve been exposed too.  I’ve worked in banks in the Middle East where a room on each floor was set aside as a prayer room, and was used each day by people praying to Allah at the designated times – you never get a prayer room at your local NatWest.

I applaud that – there is nothing wrong with taking your religion seriously, even if I don’t do so, and with the followers of Islam that importance seems so much more genuine and of vital importance than the mealy mouthed version of worship that seems common elsewhere.  Whenever I see a US President, whether Bush or Obama, closing a brief tv address with “God Bless you all and God Bless America”, I’m afraid I cringe…..it never seems sincere to me, nothing more than a soundbite to appease the masses.   By contrast, when the Queen makes a similar “Gawd Bless You All” statement at the end of her annual Christmas message, it seems somehow to be sincere and from the heart, in a way that no President in my memory (that unfortunately stretches all the way back to LBJ) seems able to replicate.  I mean no offence to my American friends and readers – it’s just my perception.

There are, of course, many people across the US who take their religion very seriously indeed, particularly in the South – the Bible Belt – and even to extremes.  I watched a program recently on BBC Entertainment where Louis Theroux re-visited “The Most Hated Family in America”.  Now these guys were the classic example of American religious fanatics.  They run their own church, that has only a handful of believers, its tenets based solely on the grandfather’s personal interpretation on the Bible.  Like all fanatics, they are absolutely resolute in their version being the Truth and every other version a lie: we’re right and the rest of the world is wrong.  We’re on a fast train to Heaven and you’all on a one-way ticket to Hell and Damnation……unless you join Our Church, of course – that’ll be fifty thousand dollars.  Hallelujah!  Anyway, these guys actively travel across the US and stage pickets and demonstrations outside various churches – one that had a female minister, another where the pastor was openly gay – and these pickets invariably featured verbal abuse of the most virulent kind directed at anyone and everyone walking by, whether they were attending the targeted church or not.   The guy running the church even kicked his own daughter out of the family home because she danced with a guy who was not a church member at the end of term school dance – she was 17 at the time.  He was unrepentant, and said she deserved to go to hell…..hallelujah.  It was uncomfortable viewing. 

But one thing about Islam troubles and confuses me.  It is that to be a true follower seems to mean a sense of humour bypass.

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Over the years, there have been many situation comedies on tv or in the cinema that gently (more or less) mock Christianity – All Gas and Gaiters, for instance, or the Vicar of Dibley.  Father Ted, with all its politically incorrect parody of Catholic priests is perhaps the most extreme mockery – but some of the characters in it do bear an uncanny likeness to some priests and their housekeepers of my acquaintance.  In the cinema, The Life of Brian is without doubt the classic example and for its pains was banned in many towns and cities across the UK at its release, before more tolerant times allowed for its acceptance.  I remember seeing a studio discussion on the tv at the time, where John Cleese and Michael Palin, two Python stalwarts, defended the film in a live debate with philosopher Malcolm Muggeridge and some Archbishop (I can’t remember which) and succeeded in making them look complete idiots, old fashioned, bigoted and out of touch with late 20^th century reality.  It remains one of my all-time favourite movies, and “He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy” the best line in the history of cinema (but perhaps I’m easily pleased….). 

Judaism too has had its comedy moments on tv, especially in Britain I think – Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width in my youth, about an old Jewish tailor was awful and portrayed a stereotypical Jewish tailor.  More recently, Guy Ritchie’s movie Snatch, another personal favourite, featured a good line up of Jewish villains.  But in both, the mockery was more of national characteristics rather than the Jewish faith.  Even Sikhs and Hindus have had their moments of caricature – the Tea Wallah in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum is probably the best example: an embarrassing impression of a Sikh man-servant played by an English guy in full make-up including turban and waxed moustache, and an excruciating Indian accent (it makes me chuckle still, I’m afraid….).

But the point is, that in each of these cases, everybody recognized the characters for being parody, there to be laughed at as part of the performance and not meant to denigrate in any way the people or faith portrayed.  Even those Catholics or Jews or whatever that were offended, once they had made their feelings known by letters to the newspapers, interviews on tv or whatever, let things go, accepted the joke and moved on, peaceably, with their lives – and in private I’m sure quietly laughed along with the rest of us.  That surely is how it should be.

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Compare and contrast that with any non-serious (or even serious) view of Islam, portrayed in literature, film or whatever, and the furious reaction of Muslims worldwide.

Case 1: The Satanic Verses, a book released getting on for thirty years ago by Anglo-Indian writer Salman Rushdie.  I read the book and found it turgid and dreadfully dull.  I can’t remember the plot, and certainly not the few paragraphs that apparently were offensive towards Mohammed and caused such outrage throughout the Muslim world.  In any case, the Ayatollah Khomeini, then ruler of Iran after the overthrow of the Shah, was so incensed he announced a Fatwa against Rushdie – essentially an instruction to any good Muslim to guarantee his entry to Heaven by killing Rushdie.  The author spent years in hiding, using an assumed identity and under 24-hour armed guard for his own protection at a cost of millions of pounds. 

Case 2: The rise of al Qaeda and Militant Islam.  This has been an on-going problem for twenty or more years, and has led to the most appalling bloodshed and slaughter from the 9/11 tragedy to the current killing fields in Syria via the London and Bali bombings, the insurgency in Iraq after Saddam’s downfall and the Taliban activities blighting Afghanistan and Pakistan for years.  What the root causes for that little lot are I have no clear idea – I don’t think any one event triggered it all – but despite years of bloodshed and tit-for-tat killings there is no sign of it ending any time soon, despite the killing of bin Laden last year by US Navy SEALS in Pakistan.  Whole books have been written attempting to explain it all, and it is without doubt the biggest issue facing world peace today – and one that neither the UN nor any government seems able to come to grips with, never mind resolve.

Case 3: Most recently, The Innocence of Islam.  This is a quite appalling home movie apparently filmed in the US and placed on You Tube that has offended Muslims worldwide.  I’ve looked at It (or at least a ten minute trailer – it was all I could stomach), and it is the most awful pile of trash I’ve ever seen – I have home movies of my kids on my phone that are better quality.  The acting is dreadful, the script a joke, and I cannot understand how anyone in their right mind can take it seriously.  It is grossly offensive, and there are scenes and dialogue that do indeed poke fun at Islam and Mohammed in the most crude and unamusing way possible.  But here is the thing – the offensive bits have clearly been added in post-production, the dialogue dubbed by somebody else – the actor’s voice is totally different.  Really, it’s laughable – but tragically, instead of treating it (and its mysterious Egyptian -American maker) with the contempt it deserves, there has been an explosion of anti-American outrage across the entire Muslim world.  The American Embassy in Tripoli was stormed and the American Ambassador to Libya killed along with three members of his staff (the fact he played a key role in helping the insurgents topple Gaddafi less than a year ago counting for nothing).  There were other protests across North Africa, the Middle East, and as far as Malaysia.  After initial rioting, the Pakistani government declared last Friday a National Holiday to allow people to demonstrate “peacefully in demonstration of their love of Islam”.  More than 30 people died in the subsequent rioting.  Obama and Clinton apologized to the Muslim world, and condemned the film and its maker, but quite rightly condemned too the violence that has followed.  As they rightly pointed out, the film is the work of a single misguided individual and not in any way condoned or supported by the US government – and in any case under the Freedom of Speech laws in the US there is actually nothing illegal about what he has done, no matter how distasteful it might be.  They have clearly wasted their breath, as the protests continue unabated.

I can understand where they’re coming from – freedom of speech is perhaps the most important benefit of a free and democratic society.  Certainly that was a point Rushdie made during his hidden years – he has remained steadfast in his belief that as a writer, it was his duty to write stories about any subject that occurred to him, even if the tale offended people.  It’s a belief I share, else I would not be writing these words now.  The Python crew used a similar view in defending Life of Brian and pointed out that anyway the film was about Brian Cohen not Jesus Christ…..  Many other comedians and writers have equally defended their art by insisting that no individual or institution – whether the Queen or the Catholic Church, Prime Minister or Pope – should be exempt.  It is a consensus not shared by the church of Islam.  To mock Islam is an offence, against Allah and his followers.  But mocking God and the Pope could be considered a sin too, against God and his followers.  The difference is that with Christianity such things are forgiven.

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The problem I, and most people, have is equating a religion that is supposedly a peaceful one, with the most extreme violent reactions that invariably follow any critical (intentional or otherwise) comment or view on Islam.  For a supposedly forgiving faith to preach Fatwa and jihad against non-believers makes no sense at all to this mystified Englishman.  If the idea is for world domination and the scouring of all non-Islamic faiths, then frankly the methods being employed by Islamic fundamentalists make Hitler’s antics seems like a walk in the park – and should make us all fear for the future.

I wrote on here a few months ago a piece about Anders Behring Breivik, who justified his slaughter of 77 young Norwegians last year as being a reaction to what he perceived as an Islamic invasion of Europe and his homeland that needed to be stopped.  I wrote then that, while his actions could in no way be condoned (and he is as guilty as hell and should spend the rest of his miserable life rotting alone in a cell somewhere) he actually had a point to make there.  I cited a number of e-mails and other communications I had received over the previous couple of years that made his claim about the existence of an extreme right wing anti-Islamic group not as far-fetched as it was made to sound in the court case. 

The events of the past couple of weeks make me worry for the future.  Clearly there is a very militant and violent strain of Islam, acknowledged everywhere I think, that has an open anti-Western agenda.  The militant cleric Abu Hamza and four others, held for several years in British prisons on terrorist charges, have this week lost an appeal at the European Court of Human Rights and will soon be extradited to the US to face more charges and potentially life in a maximum security jail – an event that is bound to cause yet more outrage and violence across the world. 

The belief is that Militant Islam is only a very small minority of Muslims.  That may well be true – but what seems unarguable is that the militant minority is extremely well organized, extremely well-armed, and quite willing to die for its perceived cause.   It therefore is extremely dangerous to the rest of us.  Is it not possible that the peaceful majority of Muslims who do not follow this course, could actually do something about it themselves, from within?   Is it perhaps time for Muslims everywhere to reclaim their faith somehow, take it back to a more peaceful path, before it destroys us all? 

I hope that is case – but I fear it’s gone way too far for that to happen now.  I believe that Islamic militancy is something we are all going to have to live with, and take whatever precautions we need to in order to stay safe.  Please don’t think for one minute I am racist or anti-Islamic – I’m not.  It’s not possible really to be racist in my job, and through that job I have many good friends in other countries and societies, including Muslims.  I strongly believe an individual’s religious beliefs are solely the business of that individual, and nothing to do with me at all – but I do not expect that individual to try and force those beliefs on to me (in the same way that I would never consider trying to force my beliefs on someone else).   I certainly would never expect (or respect) anyone who reacted with anger or violence if I disagreed with their opinion. 

I try to be tolerant.  I condemn all violence, but especially that carried out in the name of religion or politics – whether Catholic against Protestant, Jew against Palestinian or Muslim against the World.  I sincerely hope that someone, somehow, can find a solution to these problems, because I worry about what sort of a world my kids are growing up into, or my grandkids are going to be born into.  I have no faith in the UN to do so, and no faith in the current crop of politicians to do so either – by and large, they’re a poor bunch.

It’s a rum old world, as my mum used to say.  And frankly, mum, not getting any better.