Anne Aly’s statements are designed to comfort and reassure non-Muslims. And they no doubt do just that, unless the non-Muslims in question are knowledgeable enough about Islam to see through them. The assertion in the article’s headline, that “there is nothing Islamic about a beheading,” doesn’t appear in the article, but in any case it is another deception: beheading is mandated in the Quran. “When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks…” (Qur’an 47:4)
“There is nothing Islamic about a beheading: Muslims v extremists,” by Aleisha Orr, WA Today, August 20, 2014:
Curtin University research fellow Anne Aly says there are a lot of misconceptions about people who follow Islam.
She said that in reality, the wide majority of Muslims did not support the extreme actions of groups such as Hamas, ISIS or the Taliban.
When I type “all Muslims are…” into Google on my smartphone, the first suggestion I get is “all Muslims are terrorists”. Another is “all Muslims are extremists”.
Several views have been aired across talkback radio since a controversial speech from a Muslim activist that had been planned in Perth was publicised and then cancelled.
Uthman Badar had been invited to speak at the university by a student group but when his controversial background was highlighted in the media, the invite was withdrawn.
Badar sparked outrage in Sydney recently when he planned to give a talk at an arts festival titled “Honour Killings are Justified”.
Dr Aly says just as the actions of Christians who carry out targeted attacks on abortion clinics did not represent most Christian views, terrorist actions carried out by extreme Muslims and associated views do not represent the beliefs or wishes of most Muslims.
Back on my mobile phone, an anti-mosque Facebook page provides me with a number of statements that I put to Dr Aly as questions.
Do all Muslims…
These questions are misleadingly framed. Of course all Muslims don’t support Hamas or promote the non-acceptance of religions other than Islam, etc. All Muslims can’t be said to do anything beyond believe that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. Orr should have asked Aly whether there was anything in Islamic texts and teachings that supported gender inequality, Islamic supremacism, etc., and what Muslims like her who ostensibly rejected such things were doing to reform the general Muslim understanding of those texts and teachings.
Support Hamas? “No”
Promote the non-acceptance of religions other than Islam? “No”
“And whoever desires other than Islam as religion – never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.” — Qur’an 3:85
Believe that men and women are not equal? “No”
“Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them” — Qur’an 4:34
“Get two witnesses, out of your own men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women, such as ye choose, for witnesses, so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her” — Qur’an 2:282
“If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice” — Qur’an 4:3
Chant Hitler verses? “No”
Want Sharia law implemented worldwide? “No”
Believe in female genital mutilation? “No”
“Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr ‘clitoris’ [this is called khufaadh ‘female circumcision’]).” — ‘Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64
Support the Taliban? “No”
Support genocide in Sudan? “No”
Believe women have to cover their bodies from head to toe? “No”
Promote and accept marriage between young girls and men? “No”
Dr Aly pointed out that most of the things I asked about were cultural practices specific to different parts of the world, not the Islamic religion.
“Female genital mutilation is not a Muslim practice, it actually pre-dates Islam,” she said.
See above.
Dr Aly said the questions also brought up the issue of interpretation.
Muslims are people who believe in the five pillars of Islam; that there is one God and that Mohammad was his prophet, that they should go to Hajj at least once in their lifetime, in giving alms by contributing to charity or helping the poor, pray five times a day and fasting at Ramadan.
So if Muslims do not promote the non-acceptance of religions, how come one of their main principles is believing that there is only one God? Dr Aly said Islamic people believe that their God is the same God as the God of other religions.
“Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam.” — Qur’an 3:19
She said the Koran recognised men and women as equals, “but remember some societies where Islam is practiced in are also ancient societies, that haven’t recognised women’s rights”
See above. Also note the anomaly: Islamic law covers every aspect of life, every detail of human behavior, and yet Islamic apologists would have us believe that in the societies where it has existed for the longest time and has taken the deepest roots are rife with cultural practices that have nothing to do with Islam and actually contradict Islamic law.
Dr Aly pointed to the rule in Saudi Arabia, that women should not drive, as one of these cultural practices that was seen mistakenly by many as being part of Islam but did not exist in other mostly Islamic countries.
Islamic law forbids women to leave the house without permission of her male guardian — husband or brother or father. The ban on driving is extrapolated from that.
She said 95 per cent of Muslims were what she would describe as “moderate”.
Dr Aly said 0.01 per cent were “extremists” who took their belief of the religion to a radical scale – where they would be willing to break the law and resort to violence in the name of their religion.
If there are a billion Muslims, that’s 10 million people who are “willing to break the law and resort to violence in the name of their religion.” That’s an awful lot of jihad terrorists.
“They believe is the spread of Sharia law and Islamic law through violence,” Dr Aly said.
In addition to this she said the remainder were likely to support the spread of Islam but through peaceful means.
Including, presumably, its laws denying basic rights to women and non-Muslims.
Dr Aly described Sharia Law as “guidelines for life” which can and do exist in some places, alongside regular law enforcement processes.
These guidelines are a way of life to live by which cover things like, rules around how divorce can take place, such as a husband must ask for a divorce three times and it cannot be asked for in anger.
In terms of covering women’s bodies, she said that this came from the Koran, which talks about women being modest.
“The idea is that you cover your modesty but what’s interpreted as modesty is different, some cover their hair with a hijab, some extend that to their face and hands,” Dr Aly said.
“Others have the more modern look and wear tight clothes and tight jeans and wear a scarf over their head,” she said.
“Some think modesty is more about your demeanour and that’s how I interpret it.
“I don’t wear it,” she said (Dr Aly is a Muslim).
She said she has often been told that she “can’t be a Muslim”.
“They say: ‘you can’t be a Muslim, you don’t believe in subjugation’ or ‘if you were a Muslim you would wear a head scarf'” which she described as a narrow minded way of thinking.
Dr Aly said extremists exploited their connection to Islam.
“There are a minority of Muslims who turn it around and say it [certain practices such as those listed previously] is not culture, it’s religion, and that shows a lack of comprehension and a misinformed position about Islam,” she said.
“They are using religion to try to make them seem credible.
“Islam does not have a central authority like a Pope, we have many different schools of thought and debate is encouraged in Islam.”
We constantly hear this. Yet we never, ever see moderate Muslims explaining how the jihadists are wrong on Qur’anic and Islamic grounds, and working to convince them of their error. They tell credulous non-Muslims, but say nothing to their fellow Muslims.
She said nearly all Muslims would have been “absolutely disgusted” by the photograph of a young boy, believed to be the son of Sydney jihadist Khaled Sharrouf, holding up the head of a slain Syrian soldier that made headlines last week.
“Some of the Muslim leaders came out and spoke about it and said he’s a mad man, that is incomprehensible whatever your background,” Dr Aly said.
Liberal MP Liz Behjat has since called on all Muslims within Western Australian to actively speak out against those that support extremism in any form.
“My colleagues and I who regularly meet with and attend functions organised by the various Islamic groups here in Western Australia know full well that none of these people ascribe to the radicalism that is often highlighted in the media as portraying the way that all Muslims feel, but we do not hear their leaders speaking out in condemning these jihadists and radical Islamists, and the vile speeches that they make,” she said.
“I am now speaking directly to all the Muslims from so many ethnic backgrounds and urging you to make your peaceful voices heard to ensure that as true Australians you all come together and speak with one voice to condemn those who would seek to harm our way of life and do harm in our communities.”