Fadel Boula was writing in a pro-Iranian newspaper, so it isn’t really surprising that he would denounce Salafism, which generally regards Shi’ites as rafidite dogs, heretics who reject true Islam and the first three caliphs. Still, his relative honesty is refreshing compared to the deception of Erdogan and the self-delusion of Kerry.
“Iraqi Journalist Comes Out Against Claim That ISIS Has Nothing To Do With Islam,” MEMRI, February 1, 2016 Special Dispatch No.6288
In an article titled “Does Terror Truly Have No Religion?” in the pro-Iranian Iraqi newspaper Al-Akhbar, Iraqi journalist Fadel Boula came out against the claim, which is frequently heard in the Arab world and outside it, that the terror of the Islamic State (ISIS) and its ilk is completely unrelated to Islam. He pointed out that these terror organizations are motivated by an extremist Salafi ideology and claim that their atrocities represent Allah’s will and directives.
The following are excerpts from his article:[1]
“[Does terror truly have no religion?] This slogan is uttered regarding terror, as though [terror] reflects a picture that is completely unrelated to its perpetrators’ religious affiliation, and as though there are no religious goals or values behind it, but only a state of insanity that causes those afflicted with it to run amok, unaware of what they are doing or what [they seek] to achieve by their actions – [actions] that disgust not only human beings but [even] the beasts of the jungle.
“The terror that is shaking the world today is not a natural disaster like a tornado, a thunderstorm or an earthquake, and it is not perpetrated by savage tribes. It is perpetrated by people who enlist [because they are] inspired by a religious ideology. [These people] advocate enforcing and spreading [this ideology as a set of] dogmatic principles that must be imposed by the force of the sword, and which [mandate] killing, expulsion and destruction wherever they go.
“Since its inception, this movement of terror has espoused a Salafi ideology that champions religious extremism, and brainwashed people of all ages have rallied around its flag, [people who were] trained to kill themselves and kill others in order to attain martyrdom.
“The terror organizations that act in the name of religion were born when [the mujahideen] declared Islamic jihad against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan. It was the Saudi sheikh Osama bin Laden who laid the cornerstone for the first [terror] cell, which he named Al-Qaeda. Later he called to launch a war in the name of religion, and young believers, influenced by fatwas of extremist [clerics], especially Saudi ones, flocked from the Muslim lands [to Afghanistan].
“[Then, Abu Mus’ab] Al-Zarqawi formed a branch of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which, calling itself ‘the Islamic State in Iraq,’ recently settled in the city of Mosul and united with its counterpart in Syria. Thus, a scary organization [namely ISIS] suddenly appeared, which advertises itself as the bearer of Islam’s message and banner. [Emulating the early] Islamic conquests, [this organization] invaded Iraq and Syria and appointed a Caliph for the Muslims: Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who settled in Mosul and showed its people what [it is like] to be ruled by a government [that is a throwback to] 1,400 years ago, in terms of the treatment [they received] and the plunder of their lands. The invaders attacked the populace of Mosul and eastern Syria, arrested them by the hundreds, and took a sword to their necks, and later singled out the Christians among them and offered them two options: either convert to Islam or pay the poll tax, as happened to their forefathers when the Arabs attacked their lands in the days of the Caliph ‘Umar Al-Khattab [583-644 AD]. When [the Christians] rejected this humiliation, [ISIS] seized their property, expelled them from their historic home, the province of Ninveh, and sent them to wander destitute under the skies, seeking rescue and safety.
“As for the Yazidis, their plight was and remains an historic disaster that was inflicted upon them by the God-fearing Caliph [Al-Baghdadi] when he applied to them the verse pertaining to infidels, namely offering them two options: to [either] embrace Islam, or die and have their money, women and children seized. We keep seeing images of innocent people being killed and beheaded by these terrorists, who butcher their victims while crying out “in the name of Allah the merciful” and “Allah akbar.” All these crimes are [ostensibly] carried out with Allah’s approval, and they are perpetrated by those who praise Allah day and night and who pray fervently and do everything according to His will….

mortimer says
Yoo-hoo! Mr. Boula! ISIS terrorism is ‘bad’ terrorism? Is Shi’ite terrorism ‘good’ terrorism? Did you hear of Ayatollah Khomeini, Mr. Boula?
“Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those [who say this] are witless. Islam says: Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all! Does this mean that Muslims should sit back until they are devoured by [the unbelievers]? Islam says: Kill them, put them to the sword and scatter [their armies]….Islam says: Whatever good there is exists thanks to the sword and in the shadow of the sword! People cannot be made obedient except with the sword! The sword is the key to Paradise, which can be opened only for the Holy Warriors! There are hundreds of other ayahs and hadiths urging Muslims to value war and to fight. Does all this mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make such a claim.” -Ayatollah Khomeini
“The purest joy in Islam is to kill and be killed for Allah.” – Ayatollah Khomeini
“Killing is a great Divine gift.” – Ayatollah Khomeini
salim says
I feel I have to say something here.
Sunni Muslims are evil and stupid. Shia Muslims are mainly stupid (but less evil than sunni). Most of suicidal attacks, bombings, mosque bombings, beheadings ..etc are committed by sunni Muslims. The shia have been trying to respond in kind regarding the bombing of their mosques but they cannot match the sunnis.
There are over a hundred active terrorist organisations in the world, to my knowledge, none of them shia (apart from hizbullah which is civilised compared to other terrorist organisations). Shia do not force their ideology on the others; they ruled Egypt for centuries and established Al Azhar but never tried to convert the Egyptians to shia islam (on the contrary, Azhar was converted to a sunni institute). Shia muslims are traditionally ‘less islamic’ than the sunni and are more likely to leave islam and integrate in the west, look around you and you will find most secular muslims are of Shia background.
Historically, Shia sect was embraced by none Arabs, like Persians, who did not surrender their civilisation to Islam. They are more Persians than they are Muslims (unlike the Americans and Europeans converts to islam). Those who embraced sunni islam surrendered their culture completely and became like muslim Arabs.
One last point, the great scientists and philosophers who excelled in their fields were shia muslims (mostly non Arabs) and were generally described by the sunni clerics as apostates (Omar Khayyam, Ibn Sina, Khawarrizmi, Al Farabi, Razi ..and Yes they were great)
I am an Arab from a sunni background.
Angemon says
salim posted:
“Most of suicidal attacks, bombings, mosque bombings, beheadings ..etc are committed by sunni Muslims.”
That’s to be expected, since sunnis outnumber shias, what, 7-8 to 1? And the declaration of the caliphate tipped the numbers even more to their side – shias probably won’t rush out to obey the commands of a sunni caliph.
Yeah, the so-called “Golden Age” of islam pretty much amounted to a theft of Persian culture and heritage.
Omar says
This is a fair statement of some of the differences; however, I think you should take a look at the mechanisms employed by the Ayatollah and his henchmen to impose islamic law during the Iranian revolution in order to make a fair comparison, including the terroristic methods used to impose gender apartied and purdah on Iranian women. Also, the Iranian Republic’s treatment of the Bahia – whom they consider adherents of a “non-divine” religion (i.e. NOT people of the book) – is fully in compliance with the traditional islamic choice of “convert or die” in the sense that the Bahai can have their lives taken and their property destroyed by muslims without consequence (since they exist outside the realm of the covenant of dhimma – the only reed on which islamic “tolerance” depends, however precarious). An old but good article documenting this traditional islamic treatment of a minority faith is “Murder with Impunity” published by the Weekly Standard.
salim says
My initial post explains why I believe the sunni sect pose more threat than shia (or indeed any other sect in Islam). I am convinced the Iranians are largely secular despite their islamic government (which will not last forever). Leave the shia in Iran and move to the sunni Arabs and you find the exact opposite, extremist nations covered by a thin layer of less extremist government.
I am aware of the various atrocities of the Mullah’s regime and the way they treat apostates and Baha’i. How many seconds a Baha’i could survive in a sunni environment?
I noticed that many in the West do not grasp the idea that we are threatened mainly by sunni Islam (Saudi Islam) and whenever this is mentioned they say all Islam is bad. It reminds me with the other argument about Islam which is: “why only Islam? all religions are rubbish, look at the history of Christianity”. I don’t like any religion but, at least today, I don’t see Christianity a threat.
Actually the Iranians had their own ‘Iranian spring’ before the Arabs had theirs but they were let down by the Western governments who were more interested in removing the secular Arab governments in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria and Yemen than removing the Mullahs in Iran!
Omar says
Good points, all. Still, I think the Islamic Republic of Iran is animated by the same islamic supremacist ideology as the Sunnis and engages in the same kind of activities to impose islamic law – witness the fatwa against Rushdie and the various attacks and assassination attempts against the book’s publishers, sellers, etc.. If anything, the Iranian regime are the ORIGINATORS of world wide “cartoon jihad.” They are simply more constrained in their actions because of their status as a minority faith occupying a smaller territory.
mortimer says
Iran is believed to execute the most people per capita, according to Amnesty International. If that isn’t terrorism, what is? Is Iran also un-Islamic?
PRCS says
Mark Swan says
The people who live in the Middle East Countries need the Strong Man rule and what have We done…helped remove some of them and left what will prove to be the very worst volatile mess.
I remember Saddam Hussein…as doing what it took to keep Iraq under control…keeping Iran in check…His waving an expensive shotgun on the balcony of one of his mansions in His western suit…nostalgic…it beats remembering Him hanging at the end of a Shia rope.
We were warned from many wise friends and enemies in the world…don’t…getting into Iraq will be much easier than getting out of it…We would fail to manage post-Saddam Hussein Iraq successfully…with the result that it would fracture into two or three pieces…to the detriment of the entire Middle East and the benefit of Iran.
They were correct and now Saudi Arabia who has always been a snake in the grass…is influencing what is left of the Arab peoples that we wasted so many years and so much effort courting.
I remember Hussein….Mubarak…Gaddafi…al-Assad…they applied the one thing everyone in that part of the world agrees on…overwhelming force.
America had better focus real hard on rebuilding quickly…our economy…military…
and social values…our True Alliances that are flapping in the wind…or the wolf will be at the door.
We don’t have time for Islamism or Progressivism…Multiculturalism…
just Nationalism and Now…( patriotism: proud loyalty and devotion to a nation )…
No More Hyphenated Americans.
vcragain says
You are absolutely correct – and we all remember shouting at the tv when they went into Iraq, swaggering about with that cocky air of ‘knowing what they were doing’ – when almost the whole of the world was aghast at this action !!! Now we are still paying the price. I think you are quite right about the dictators as ME leaders – their ideology seems to need and want the STRONG MASCULINE leader, that seems to be the mode they respect. What a mess – the West should remove itself asap and leave them to ‘reorganize’ themselves, not without major bloodshed of course!, but we do not need to justify anything in the name of more oil, so what is our excuse now ???
DFD says
Mark Swan,
Nice to see you posting. To continue were we left recently…
Please go to http://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/01/tsunami-of-money-from-saudi-arabia-funding-24000-madrassas-in-pakistan/comment-page-1#comment-1370738 and let me know.
Primarily about the sections a, b and c, further down. It’s a long excerpt, but you’ll find it interesting.
Gravenimage commented, but he only glanced through it, and drew the wrong, or partially wrong conclusions. Should you be interested to comment, leave a reply on the page (above) concerned.
Best
DFD
mortimer says
IS IRAN A TERRORIST STATE IN A SIMILAR WAY TO ISIS?
“Iran has, in a way that is almost qualitatively different from any entity on earth except maybe the Palestinian Authority, used terror as a conscious tool of state policy. And the United States has said so again and again and again. It hasn’t always said so from a State of the Union [address]. [It] said so in print, and it said so through its actions. The United States maintains sanctions against Iran because it recognizes Iran, and has recognized Iran, for a long time as a terror-sponsoring state.” – David Frum, speech-writer for George W. Bush
What does Fadal Boula say about Iranian terrorism? Islamic? Or not?
Matthieu Baudin says
If Fadel Boula thinks and talks like this then he’s the type of man you could have a meaningful and productive dialogue with – if only some others would also come forward and make a contribution.
WorkingClassPost says
Exactly right, and what Salim said deserves a better response than I can offer from a phone in a couple of minutes snatched here and there, but if anyone is totally serious about tackling jihad head on, without destroying the world we’re trying to protect, then we must all be prepared to listen, and learn whoever is speaking and however much we think we already know.
Maximus says
Boula is using the worst type of deception, the one that’s closest to the truth. He’s likely practicing taqiyya.
Samuel S. Kent says
The roots of hatred, violence, subjugation and world domination are set forth in the Koran and the Hadith. The approximately 250 positive verses [toward unbelievers] are abrogated/voided by negative verses which occur chronologically at a later time. Islam is not a great world religion that advocates general peace, love and harmony for all mankind. The followers of Islam alone are acceptable to Allah. Allah instructs the faithful to destroy or convert all unbelievers.