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What would make a "middle-class university student from Jordan" decide to go to Iraq and become a soldier, even though he was never in the military before? He says it was the Qur'an.
This comes from a story in the San Francisco Chronicle, with thanks to LGF.
"In a rare interview with a foreign fighter battling U.S. troops in Iraq, a middle-class university student from Jordan described this week how he has spent months launching attacks on American soldiers, after being smuggled across the Jordanian border during his summer recess, and trained at a guerrilla camp in central Iraq.
"The well-dressed, slight-built mechanical engineering student from the University of Jordan said he was drawn to fight in Iraq purely by religious conviction -- not because of any link to al Qaeda or other terror organizations, and despite his intense dislike for Saddam Hussein's supporters."
In Onward Muslim Soldiers I explained that Muslims were traveling to Iraq for religious reasons. It's good to see the Chronicle, at least, doing a bit of catching up.
"'There's no way for al Qaeda to contact us, and we don't need al Qaeda to bring us here,' he said during a 90-minute interview, sitting in a tiny village on the outskirts of Ramadi, about 70 miles west of Baghdad.
"'If you read the Koran closely, it says you must fight against infidels who occupy your country,' said the student, 25, who asked to be named in print as Abu Zobayer. 'This is clear. There is no choice.'"
Now wait a minute. Moderate Muslim spokesman Jamal Badawi recently insisted that "a careful reading of the Qur’an leaves no doubt" that "Islam is a religion of peace and nonviolence." How did Abu Zobayer get it so wrong? What can people like Badawi do to convince Abu Zobayer that he is misunderstanding the book?
The article also says that "for months, the Bush administration has said it believes American soldiers are facing terror operatives from seasoned organizations, including al Qaeda, who are now using Iraq as their main staging ground. A top U.S. military official told reporters in Baghdad last Sunday that about 300 foreign passport holders were in custody, among the 5,000 or so detainees arrested by coalition forces.
"At least for this urban transplant and his friends, that description did not appear accurate. Dressed in a patterned sweater with a pressed blue shirt collar peeking out, Abu Zobayer, who speaks a smattering of English, said he had had no military experience before arriving in July, and no experience in the rural living into which he has been thrust.
"He needed a weeklong crash course in combat before picking up a weapon. 'I was never in the military,' Abu Zobayer said. 'I didn't know how to fight.'
"He insisted that he and many intensely religious Muslims from neighboring countries supported the anti-American fight simply on Koranic grounds.
"Although U.S. officials have said the foreign fighters are not a serious threat, the prospect of a religious call to jihad could draw in many others, Abu Zobayer said.
"He said he wanted to dispute claims by U.S. officials that foreign fighters were paid to attack American soldiers: 'We are not paid money,' he said. 'We are guests of Iraqis, staying in their homes.' . . .
"He said he had been assigned to a cell of 15 men by an Iraqi trainer. Of those, two others were foreigners: one from Saudi Arabia, the other from Kuwait. . . .
"Abu Zobayer also said that it had become a growing challenge to smuggle foreign reinforcements into Iraq.
"'Just in ... the last one or two months, it has become much more difficult to cross the borders, with all the Iraqi police and border guards,' said Abu Zobayer, who crossed over with four university friends, helped by a Jordanian intermediary in contact with Iraqi insurgents.
"Gen. John Abizaid, head of the U.S. forces in the region, told reporters in Baghdad on Tuesday that foreign fighters continued to infiltrate the borders.
"'It is not correct to say that there are floods or thousands coming in. The numbers are small,' Abizaid said, adding that they had captured some fighters from as far afield as Sudan.
"Abu Zobayer said he and his friends had met a Jordanian recruiter at their mosque in Amman during their summer university recess. He said he did not think the man was affiliated with a terrorist organization.
"'He told us people in Iraq needed help,' he said.
"Abu Zobayer said he had been inspired to fight by watching accounts of the occupation on television from the comforts of his family's living room in the Amman neighborhood of Jabal Al-Hussein.
"'I saw on the news the American treat Iraqis like animals, like slaves,' he said. 'We are Muslim brothers.'" . . .
"In a living room hidden from the road, the student sat huddled over a gas heater, nursing a heavy cold that had turned his voice hoarse. When the prayer call began from the mosque next door, he excused himself, and stood in a corner of the room praying for 10 minutes, before resuming the interview.
"Over the months, Abu Zobayer said he had come to believe he would not return home -- or at least not alive.
"With increasing risk of being arrested by Iraqi police or American soldiers while trying to cross back into Jordan, he said he was determined to stay in Iraq.
"'I don't need to return,' he said. 'I'll stay here until the Americans leave or until we become shaheeds (martyrs). If they are here for years, God willing, we will be here too.'"
Posted by Robert at November 29, 2003 7:02 PM
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I disagree with Abu Zaboyer. I have read the Koran and you don't have to "read it closely" to understand that Islam is about jihad. I wish someone would also ask him to explain the "divine wisdom" of why Allah does not allow alcohol consumption and fornication here on earth because it is sinful/bad for Muslims but hands it out as a reward for jihad.
Posted by: longhunter at November 30, 2003 3:49 AMPlease learn the truth about Islam and not what propaganda is being turned out by those who have no real love of God.
It is well known that alcohol causes loss of control of what we say,think,understand,liver and other diseases as well as lessing our reaction time. Alcoholism,drunkedness costs billions and destroys lives and drinkig is permitted and encouraged. Islam recognizes that there is some benefit in alcohol(and gambling) but the harm outweighs the good therefore it hould be abandoned.
The drink in paradise is one that gives pleasure and happiness and does not cause loss of mind or drunkedness. If we abstain from drinking alcohol and illicit sex in this life we are rewarded by our Creator with pure food drink and companionship and the greatest gift, the good pleasure of our Creator.
Though Jihad is not one of the 5 "Pillars of Islam" it is an obligation under strict conditions. It is against "evil empires" who suppress and oppress the people under their control not allowing them to hear the truth but only falsehood about the Creator and to understand the way of living that allows them to live in peace, justice and harmony. Islam is otherwise against aggression simply to colonialize as the "white man's burdern"
The US considers its act in invading Iraq as a crusade or jihad to get rid of a regime it considers dangerous to Iraqis and the world. Whether this was done with the proper intention or support and whether it was an imminent threat that required immediate action or unnecessary at this time producing more harm than good is another question. Jihad in Islam must always be evaluated in this context. It is not to kill non-Muslims or to force conversion to Islam. Jews and Christians lived under Muslim rule and whatever handicaps they had they were able to thrive. The Ottoman empire had many minorities that were not exterminated as in Europe. We can't say the same for Muslims and Jews in Spain and many lost their lives in the Crusades. Taking verses from the Qur'an out of context or without knowing the occassion and circumstances or how they are to be applied results in false interpretation.
There is an unholy war (crusade) against Islam by those who want to marginalize Muslims in the US for political reasons e.g. pro-Israel and to discourage the many free choice conversions to Islam by Jews(www.jewsforallah.com)
and Christians as well as to demonize Islam to perpetuate a confrontation between the Arab and Muslim world or clash of civilizations that fundamentalist Christians and some extremist Jews and Israelis consider to be of their benefit.
To Ameer and Others:
Ameer wants us to "learn the truth" about Islam..I've done that by reading scholarly translations of Islam's sacred texts, many of which were written by pious Muslims (for eg. Marmeduke Pickthall), and thousands of pages of the actual history of the Islamic jihad conquests, from Portugal to Spain, and from Hungary/ Southern Poland to The Southern Sudan- over more than a millennium...The idyllic view Ameer presents is a corrosive fantasy that glorifies and perpetuates the brutal subjugation and plunder of non-Muslim peoples and societies- which continues to this day..Here is what the revered Ibn Khaldun- a pious Muslim scholar consider to be the Muslim Aristotle wrote about jihad war, based on the Muslim sacred texts and centuries of Islamic jursiprudence from all 4 schools of Sunni Islamic Law:
“In the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the [Muslim] mission and [the obligation to] convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force... The other religious groups did not have a universal mission, and the holy war was not a religious duty for them, save only for purposes of defense... Islam is under obligation to gain power over other nations.”
from, Ibn Khaldun, “The Muqudimmah. An Introduction to History”, Translated by Franz Rosenthal. (New York, NY.: Pantheon, 1958, vol. 1, p. 473).
Ibn Khaldun's classic assessment reflects exactly what another respected contemporary Sunni Muslim scholar, Professor Bassam Tibi, maintains:
"...The Western distinction between just and unjust wars linked to specific grounds for war is unknown in Islam. Any war against unbelievers, whatever its immediate ground, is morally justified. Only in this sense can one distinguish just and unjust wars in Islamic tradition. When Muslims wage war for the dissemination of Islam, it is a just war (futuhat, literally "opening", in the sense of opening the world, through the use of force, to the call of Islam); when non-Muslims attack Muslims, it is an unjust war ('idwan). ..."
from, Bassam Tibi, “War and Peace in Islam” in “Islamic Political Ethics”, Edited by Sohail Hashmi (Princeton, NJ.: Princeton University Press, 2002, p.178).
Here is what Ameer and all like minded Muslim apologists need to consider- written by a former oppressed dhimmi- now living in freedom in the West- if Muslims and non-Muslims are to share this planet in peace:
Thirteen years ago (September, 1990) Bat Ye’or made these prescient observations regarding the struggle against what she termed the “Islamist trend,” by its myriad victims:
“…this effort cannot succeed without a complete recasting of mentalities, the desacralization of the historic jihad and an unbiased examination of Islamic imperialism. Without such a process, the past will continue to poison the present and inhibit the establishment of harmonious relationships. When all is said and done, such self-criticism is hardly exceptional. Every scourge, such as religious fanaticism, the crusades, the inquisition, slavery, apartheid, colonialism, Nazism and, today, communism, are analyzed, examined, and exorcized in the West. Even Judaism- harmless in comparison with the power of the Church and the Christian empires- caught, in its turn, in the great modernization movement, has been forced to break away from some traditions. It is inconceivable that Islam, which began in Mecca and swept through three continents, should alone avoid a critical reflection on the mechanisms of its power and expansion. The task of assessing their history must be undertaken by the Muslims themselves…there is room to hope that the ending of the contentious dhimmi past will open the way to harmonization of the whole human family….”
Islam is not compatable with democracy. The Middle East going to be facing some difficult times. Clans rule the Middle East and do not want to give up power. The use Sharie law as their form of government. Until Islam reforms, like the Cathlic church did in the 18th century, Islam will stuck in the 13th century. 75% of the Iraqi people want peace, but it is the minority that causing the problems(the minority that were in power). Islam can not surpress half is population an expect to prosper. Finally, the progaganda has to change in the middle east. Instead of blaming the USA, maybe the dictators/clans should stop oppressing their people and make reforms.
Posted by: Jason Lantz at December 1, 2003 8:47 PMNo religion is compatable with democracy. ALL religion drains the ability to think freely, while democracy requires you to think and make decisions. The only way to peace would be to start putting the shackles of restriction on Islam and to finish putting those shackles on Christianity.
Posted by: Zyler at March 27, 2004 6:03 PM
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