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Another Pyrrhic Victory: Are Muslims missing the bigger picture
27 January 2006
Fahad Ansari overviews recent Muslim politics in relation to the new terrorism proposals in the UK.
Another Pyrrhic Victory
Are Muslims missing the bigger picture
by
Fahad Ansari
\"Another such victory over the Romans and we are undone.\"
- King of Greece, Pyrrhus, on being congratulated on defeating the Romans
10 November 2005: A great victory; a glorious day for democracy; Blair was finally defeated; the fruits of having a Muslim MP in Westminster were finally showing after years of campaigning: yes, the British Muslim community had finally come of age with our very own Sadiq Khan, MP for Tooting, courageously voting against the government, and thus ending the Blair regime’s desire to lock people up without charge for 90 days. Let us ignore the fact that Parliament did in fact agree to lock people up without charge for 28 days. Let’s not mention that Mr Khan himself was also pressured into agreeing to 28 days. And let us not ruin the celebrations completely by recalling that the government did succeed in passing a law making it an offence to voice support for the mujahideen around the world. All with the consent of the “Fantastic Four”. Yes, victory is ours, until we actually think about it.
It is worth recalling Winston Churchill’s famous statement.
“The power of the executive to cast a man in prison without formulating any charge known to the law and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government”
Those who claim that 28 days detention without charge is a victory do not actually realise what it means to be deprived of your liberty for even one hour. For those who believe in the 28 day victory theory, I ask them to imagine spending an entire month behind bars in a tiny cell away from your friends and family with only members of the Metropolitan police as your companions. The presumption of innocence becomes a Utopian ideal as opposed to a practical principle of law. On release without charge, how do you explain your whereabouts for the previous four weeks? What do you say to your employer? What do you tell your children? Will your neighbours trust you? And how can you be sure they won’t come again?
The Terrorism Bill 2005 is the most draconian piece of legislation to date to be introduced into the UK. Although most would agree that the Bill itself is draconian and antithetical to a democracy, few seem capable or willing to comprehend the full implications of such a Bill. Through the creation of a number of new offences such as encouragement of terrorism and dissemination of terrorist publications, the Bill seems aimed at pushing forward a sinister process of social engineering, through which a pacified apolitical version of Islam is being created, one which will destroy the very essence of Islam, Jihad.
A closer examination of just a few of the proposed offences is necessary at this moment. It is vital to note that the definition “terrorism” used is so broad as to include legitimate political lobbying movements based in other countries aimed at removing brutal dictators and oppressive regimes. While reading this, remember that on the mere suspicion of a single police officer that you have committed any of the following, you could be arrested and held for up to one month, due to the “great victory”.
Encouragement of Terrorism
This offence under which the “glorification of terrorism” will become illegal will be used as a tool to terrify Muslims into remaining silent in the face of the barbaric oppression being inflicted upon other Muslims throughout the world. Due to the broad definition of terrorism, even calling for political opposition and lobbying to remove a foreign regime, let alone calling for violence in self-defence, could result in a British citizen being jailed for seven years. The recitation of the dua qunoot during Ramadan in which the Muslims call upon Allah to strengthen the will-power of the mujahideen and grant them victory over the enemies of Allah could carry a similar sentence. By criminalising any form of recognition of the right of the oppressed to fight back and resist the persecution, the offence seeks to reinforce the physical borders which already divide the Muslim Ummah.
The government’s initial drafting of the legislation suggested that even if one had no intention of inciting people to commit acts of violence, he could still be committing an offence so long as members of the public might reasonably have regarded his statement as direct or indirect encouragement. Furthermore, the provision may prove potentially discriminatory in its application. Certain statements made by Muslims will be regarded as “glorification” due to the Muslim audience. Similar comments made by members of other communities will not be held to the same standard of accountability. For example, both Sheykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Cherie Blair1 have publicly stated that they can understand why oppressed Palestinians become human bombers. It is difficult to see the Prime Minister’s wife being prosecuted for “glorification”; the same cannot be said for sure if it were Sheykh Qaradawi in the dock.
Interestingly, the Association of University Teachers (AUT) has also strenuously objected to the offence of “glorification” on the grounds that it would severely restrict the “legitimate study of controversial historical events, terrorist activity, the motivation of those who use terrorist means and the use of violence for political ends” during which “students are required to read, listen to or watch texts and statements that do indeed glorify terrorism or could be seen to encourage it.”
The government’s recent announcement that it is now considering including an element of “intent” into the offence, offers little comfort to Muslims who believe in jihad as not just something that others do while we sit and watch but something that all Believers should strive for, with their money, possessions and if necessary, their lives. The oppressed must be defended and have their rights upheld by all Muslims. It is part and parcel of the deen.
While jihad of course includes such activities as speaking out, campaigning, demonstrating and other peaceful means, nobody can deny the military aspect of jihad; one which must not only be supported but which everyone should strive for. And this is perfectly natural, something to be proud of, not ashamed of. While the military armies of the Western powers illegally invade and occupy other nations and carry out the kinds of atrocities we have become accustomed to in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, slogans of “Support our Troops” are openly marketed in public recruitment centres for these armies. Yet, we are too ashamed and terrified to state that not only does Islam justify violence in defence of the oppressed but vigorously promotes it, promising those who fight and die in the way of Allah unimaginable rewards both in this life and the Hereafter. It is imperative to point out that we are not calling for any attack in Britain or on civilians but simply the right of oppressed people to resist foreign occupation and repression as permitted under international law.
Dissemination of Terrorist Publications
Following on from encouragement of terrorism, this offence will be one of publishing, and possessing for distribution, publications that indirectly incite terrorist acts through glorification or are likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. In the context of the anti-terror legislation as a whole, this clause is extremely frightening. “Terrorist publications” will include “apparently authoritative tracts wrapped in a religious or quasi-religious content.”
As we have seen, glorification is likely to be interpreted as support for those who fight oppression and injustice around the world, using diplomacy where possible and violence where necessary. Consequently, any bookstore or bookseller who may have in their stock copies of Sheykh Abdullah Azzam’s Join the Caravan or Syed Qutb’s Milestones could be charged under this offence. Books of seerah or the battles of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) could even be included if they glorify jihad.
Even the word of Allah, the Qu’ran, discusses the issues of fighting oppression in much depth. Ultimately, those who fight against oppression are exalted and praised as heroes and promised Paradise in return for their blood. For anyone to even give a Qu’ran as a gift to another may be likely to fall foul of this provision as it glorifies those who die fighting in the way of Allah against injustice. For those who may accuse me of scaremongering, it is worth remembering that there have already been a few cases where, during a police raid of their homes, Muslims were asked whether they owned a Qur’an, whether they believed in it and whether it discussed jihad. On responding in the affirmative to these three questions from the Metropolitan police’s own version of Munkar and Nakir, the brothers were subsequently arrested.
As Ian Blair recently said, “The threat is real. It’s present and with us.” So lets not be too naïve about this. These laws will have the effect of pacifying the Muslims in Britain. Too terrified to speak out against the injustice taking place on British soil, British Muslims will merely cry for Palestine, Chechnya (Republic of Chechnya of the Russian Federation), Iraq and Kashmir but do little else. Unless we awaken and realize that this is a social engineering experiment designed to create a version of Islam with which the Establishment is content, one in which there is no armed jihad, we must be prepared to be scorned like the last Muslim king of Granada, Boabdil, whose mother taunted him and told him not to \"weep like a woman for the land he could not defend as a man\".
fahad@ihrc.org
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