Last week, 90,000 mosques across Turkey prayed the 48th chapter of the Qur’an for victory over the Kurds. Surah al-Fath, the 48th chapter of the Qur’an, promises Muslims who wage jihad much material reward: “Allah has promised you much booty that you will take and has hastened for you this and withheld the hands of people from you – that it may be a sign for the believers and He may guide you to a straight path” (48:20).
It also contains this command:”Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those with him are ruthless against the unbelievers, merciful among themselves” (48:29).
This is the message that the Turkish government is giving to its soldiers as it sends them against the Kurds. It’s interesting in light of the fact that Islamic apologists in the West routinely insist that such verses apply only to seventh-century situations, and not to today in any way, shape or form. Ismail Kahraman and the rest of the Turkish government hasn’t gotten the memo.
“Turkey Parliament Speaker calls offensive against Syria Kurds ‘jihad,'” by Ari Khalidi, Kurdistan 24, January 26, 2018:
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Speaker of Turkey’s National Assembly on Saturday described a now week-long military offensive against US-backed Kurdish forces in northern Syria’s Afrin as “jihad.”
Speaker Ismail Kahraman’s use of the Islamic definition of “holy war” came amid rising religious rhetoric from the government circles targeting Kurdish political parties and the larger Kurdish movement in Syria and Turkey as well.
“Look, we are now in Afrin. We are a big state. Without jihad, there can be no progress, one cannot stand on their feet,” Kahraman said, praising the campaign against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) that the US trained and armed in the war on the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.
He was also critical of the US military presence in the Middle East and elsewhere globally, in his remarks aired on the state TV.
Kahraman had created a heated debate in 2016 when he told a convention of Muslim scholars that secularism would have no place in a new constitution for the country.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, later in the day, said the YPG, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), as well as IS had no “religion, faith, or God.”
During Friday prayers this week, sermons held across some 90,000 mosques in the country focused on national unity and military victories of the Turkish past.
Imams asked for the Turkish army’s victory in Afrin….
Terry Gain says
Obviously this Turk needs to talk to the Globe & Mail’s Doug Saunders, who will explain to him that Jihad means personal struggle.
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
+1
Good one!
utis says
With all his faults, you have to give Ataturk credit: he wanted to free the Turks from islam and make Turkey a Western nation. Erdogan is doing a great job annihilating those efforts.
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
It also helps proves that Mohammadism is unreformable and that once a nation is majority Mohammadan, it is doomed to be a hellhole forever, Ataturks or not.
Indiana Tom says
Turkey is going down the same path as Iran. Turkey is no longer an ally but an enemy.
gravenimage says
They were never much of an ally to the West, Tom–but less so all the time.
Georg says
There don’t seem to be a lot of instances where more Islam makes things better.
gravenimage says
So true.
StellaSaidSo says
Indeed, Georg, I can’t think of a single instance where more Islam has led to more freedom, more prosperity, more knowledge, more achievement, more social harmony, or more human happiness. Islam is a destroyer of all of these things. No other ideology can compete with Islam’s bloody record.
DHazard says
The Speaker of Turkey’s National Assembly on Saturday described a now week-long military offensive against US-backed Kurdish forces in northern Syria’s Afrin as “jihad.”
So my question is; what is Afrin?
According to Google it is a nasal decongestant. I am pretty sure that nothing is being manufactured in northern Syria, since Muslims countries don’t have any manufacturing at all. So this can’t refer to some business in northern Syria that makes Afrin.
So I guess “Afrin” is some new imaginary land that certain Muslims are trying to conquer. That makes sense since Muslims aren’t happy unless they’re attacking and killing other people over the desire for more property or over some trivial dispute about the details of Islamic “scholarship”. That’s the way you can tell a “real” Muslim from a “pretend” Muslim; one wants to conquer the world by force and the other wants the same thing, but pretends not to.
DHazard says
Just found out that Afrin is a town in Syria. So they are not fighting for control of a nasal spray. But just a little searching showed that the Quran and Hadith are not silent on the issue of breathing and smelling.
There are rules for both of those things and Muslims must follow whatever Muhammad and Allah did or said. This is an exact quote from the site “Islamqa:
In Islam, it is prohibited to breathe into the vessel and to blow into one’s drink.
I bet most Mulims don’t know that. And even if they did they wouldn’t understand it. However Allah told us that the Quran is very clear so it should be clear to Muslims.
.
gravenimage says
DHazard, Afrin is just a district and city in nothern Syria.
Sense and Sensibility says
It’s highly likely now that Turkish and US special forces will clash on the ground in northern Syria, if indeed that hasn’t already quietly happened.
It’s unlikely that NATO as we know it, in which Turkey has thus far remained (in spite of its internal policies) a major ally with strong forces, can survive this eventuality. Turkey will have to leave the alliance.
Now, that’d be unacceptable to many in the Turkish forces, so it’s conceivable that it could trigger another coup attempt against Erdogan’s islamist government, perhaps even a successful attempt, which might restore normal relations.
Failing such a dramatic move, Turkey’s potential departure from the alliance has major consequences. Allies will lose the use of important military bases and even more important intelligence facilities. Turkey will be out on its own seeking new strategic partnerships … the Russians will bid hard, because Turkey would be hugely valuable to them strategically, but there’s an awkward history of hostility, so the Turks might not buy the Russian deal … and the other obvious big bidder will be the Saudis, offering a more equal partnership (presumably also including Egypt and Gulf states), which the Turks might well buy in the realistic hope of becoming the dominant force later. That’d put the restoration of the Ottoman Caliphate firmly into the region of possibility, as well as encouraging new military adventurisms around the region.
Dov Berrol says
Maybe it’s high time for Israel and her technologically-advanced defense forces to replace Turkey in NATO. It’s a natural fit for such a western-oriented country that shares the same values as the USA.
gravenimage says
Turkey is no ally of ours.
Sense and Sensibility says
@gravenimage
Well, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Right now, under this islamist government, I agree that Turkey is an ally in name only, whose objectives are incompatible with western interests.
However, it hasn’t always been so bad. Turkish membership of NATO has always involved some clashes and loud disagreements, especially when they invaded Cyprus (and they’re still there, of course), but nevertheless it was the case (back when they had a secular government) that we had significant interests in common, and a military alliance was useful to us as well as them.
It remains the case that secularism has substantial support in Turkey, and still has some chance of eventually returning to power.
So I agree that Turkey is not currently a friend, but we should keep open the possibiity that a time may come when we can be friendly again. Sometimes one has to ally with those with whom one only partly agrees, in order to defend against a greater threat.
Eric jones says
Now that the Islamic state has been defeated Erdogan wants to attack Syria again? Turkey must be kicked out of NATO and must never be allowed in the E.U.. I hope that Trump’s tower in Istanbul does not stop him from putting American interest first.
Eric
roberta says
I cant see much reason not to cheer for both sides. They just never seem to tire of killing. Better for all when its muslim killing muslim.
gravenimage says
We must always be cautious when dealing with Muslims, Roberta–but in recent years the Kurds have been much less of a threat to Infidels and have sometimes protected them.
LeftisruiningCanada says
Hopefully the west isn’t counting on the good will of the kurds should their enemy numero uno no longer be Turks.
CRUSADER says
The story in the movie “The Promise” about Armenian Christians a century ago,
really puts Turkey into a perspective we must have concern about…..
Assyrians were also poorly treated. As were the Greeks.