• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Robert Reilly: The dangers of wishful thinking in the Middle East

Jan 12, 2012 7:56 am By Robert Spencer

In “The dangers of wishful thinking in the Middle East” in MercatorNet, January 11, Robert Reilly skewers the latest example of fantasy-based analysis in the reliably dhimmi Wall Street Journal:

Last July Matthew Kaminski opined in the Wall Street Journal
that the transition to democracy in the Middle East would be as easy as
it was for the democracies that emerged after the fall of the Soviet
empire. Alas, this was predictably not so, and has now been proven, as
vote after vote has shown the strength of the Islamists, most
particularly in Egypt, where they have won some 70 percent of the
ballot. With his article on January 3, “Arab Democracy Is the Best Bet for a Muslim Reformation“,
Kaminski continues in this vein of false optimism, based upon his
propensity to project Western conceptions and norms onto the Islamic
world, where they are largely irrelevant.

Wishful thinking can be dangerous when it distorts reality. Here is a short list of misconceptions in his latest piece.

“The appeal of political Islam… grows when religiosity is repressed.”
Islamism is a reaction to modernity, not to repression. It would grow
regardless. With the shackles off in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, watch it
grow even more. To think that it will diminish because it is not
repressed is a dangerous fantasy. Thanks to the Arab Spring, it now has
the opportunity to seize control, and most likely will do so. Democratic
elections have simply revealed the strength of the view that “Islam is
the answer.”

“Calls for Sharia to become state law emerged only in the twentieth century, as a result of Islam’s encounter with the West.”
Really? Sharia existed for many centuries before this encounter. The
first call for state sharia enforcement came from Ibn Taymiyya in the
late thirteenth century when he declared the Mongol rulers (converts to
Islam) apostates because they continued to live by their tribal law,
rather than by Sharia. Taymiyya laid the basis for requiring a ruler to
enforce sharia if he wished to maintain his legitimacy, which is why
Taymiyya is so popular among the Islamists today. The only recent sharia
states have been Saudi Arabia, Taliban Afghanistan, and Sudan — those
with the least amount of exposure to the West. In any case, the sharia
enforcement issue emerges from the struggle within Islam, not from the
encounter with West.

“The Quran is politically agnostic and says nothing about the preferable form of government.”
Not quite. In Surah 3:110, the Qur’an speaks of the regime in Medina as
“the best community [or nation] ever raised for mankind.” Since the
Qur’an is understood by almost all Muslims as coexisting eternally with
God, this statement means that the Medinan concept of the “best
community” obtains forever. This is why the Salafists desire to emulate
it exactly, and why every major effort of reform in Islam goes back,
instead of forward. It may also help explain why democracy has never
arisen indigenously in the Arab Middle East.

“Salafists… practice Osama bin Laden’s creed of Islam.”
No, bin Laden’s creed of Islam is not Salafist, but came directly from
the Muslim Brotherhood and is infected with its ideology, which was
partially obtained from Western totalitarianism. His teacher in Saudi
Arabia was Mohammed al Banna, the brother of the founder of the Muslim
brotherhood, Hassan al Banna. Salafism, on the other hand, is an ancient
and integral part of Islam.

Kaminski calls for a Reformation in Islam, without seeming to realize
that Islamism is that Reformation. Be careful of what you wish for. One
reason that the Islamic world became calcified is that the “gates of
ijtihad” were closed in the Middle Ages. This meant that the authority
for making original interpretations of the Koran or the hadith had been
withdrawn because the sharia had, by that time, covered every possible
situation in human life with a specific ruling. The Islamists today have
reclaimed the authority of individual interpretation in order to wipe
out the Islamic jurisprudence that stands in their way, most
particularly in their use of indiscriminate violence and terrorism….

Read it all.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Useful idiots


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • Michael Copeland on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Michael Copeland on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Westman on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • gravenimage on Erdogan: ‘Turks must defend the rights of Jerusalem, even with their lives’ for ‘the honor of the Islamic nation’
  • gravenimage on Erdogan: ‘Turks must defend the rights of Jerusalem, even with their lives’ for ‘the honor of the Islamic nation’

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.