The New Religious Revolution: Countering Jihadism, Al-Azhar Strikes Back

Sharia coupled with ijtihad (reason applied to text) are of tremendous lethal power. Against jihadism: ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Nusra Front, the Friends of Beit Al-Maqdis and Boko Haram. These are the forces of evil which have for long manipulated a legitimate longing. It is the longing of 1.7 Billion Muslims to join the world caravan, moving toward technological progress while keeping the values of faith. Every faith.

Yet that longing needs a voice. An institutional voice. A voice that does not simply say that Islam is a faith of tolerance. Because Islam, though simple to understand, could be confusing to comprehend. Especially for a western mind. And we are all now living the age of rage, of the non-state actors, of Trumpism which puts force ahead of reason.

To find that voice which could effectively counter jihadism, I peer over the horizon from New York City, looking eastward for a distance of 7000 miles. Over that horizon, I could imagine seeing the 4 minarets of Al-Azhar. A mosque and a university of more than 1000 years. That is where my late father studied, and brought up his family on the love for Al-Azhar. Why?

It has a universal message for all. Taught Islam in all its stripes, mainly Sunni and Shii. Has always been the focus of Egyptian nationalism and universal interaction. That is where the idea of American Senator Fulbright originated in the 14th century when African Emperor Mansa Musa of the Mali Empire decided on a bold course. Students studying abroad at Al-Azhar and funded by the seat of the Empire in Timbuktu. I shared that history with Senator Fulbright of Arkansas at Columbia University in 1954. He was greeting me as a Fulbright scholar. Was enchanted by the fact that his idea originated in Africa, and entered it in the Congressional record.

So the link between Al-Azhar and Africa is long and deep. Reason why its present Rector, Dr. Ahmed El-Taiyeb, a Sorbonne graduate, chose Abuja, the Nigerian capital, to address the terror catastrophe of Boko Haram. A hideous term, meaning: "Western learning is unislamic."

A total negation of what Islam (faith and knowledge) has stood for since the 7th century. Except during dark ages, not of the Crusaders (that was a passing episode); but of the Ottoman Empire. An Empire which suffered from a split personality: diversity of religions, but glorification of Turkish culture, and avoidance of modernization.

In Nigeria, El-Taiyeb's voice could reverberate through the great continent where Egyptian civilization, born 7000 years ago, was the first African civilization. And is still enduring. Threatened only by jihadism of which Boko Haram and Al-Shabab and the ISIS franchises are standard bearers.

The booming voice of Al-Azhar, uttered by its Grand Imam, who was hosted by Nigerian president, Buhari (A Muslim from Northern Nigeria) carried multiple messages. All of which are anti-jihadi. As his first salvo, he called jihadists "wrong-doers," as he quoted from the Quran: "And do not think that God is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only puts them in respite until a Day when eyes shall stare." (Chapter 14/Verse 42).

Referring to the wayward jihadis (calling themselves Muslim extremists is giving into their high jacking of the mantle of Islam) as wrongdoers, he went on to turn the table on them. He intoned:

• "They have placed Islam unjustly in the defendant's box; tarnishing its image; besmirching its exalted status, by blood letting, head-cutting on TV screens -a barbarism unknown before in history."

For what end? And who is behind this anti-Islamic insanity? The Rector of Al-Azhar provided his Nigerian audience (Muslims, Christians, and others) with his hypothesis.

• "Search for who is the beneficiary of this mischief, standing solidly behind these crimes in the name of Islam. It is those who fund it, those who provide it with arms and other war material; those who help these groups in planning; and those who provide them with a false cover of legitimacy."

How about the stance of Islam from non-Muslims? After all, the Al-Azhar Rector was standing on the soil of a country of nearly 200 millions, of whom there is about 60% Muslims in the north. An African economy measured as Number one in all of Africa, followed by Egypt, then followed by South Africa. That is the great African triangle (Cairo/Abuja/Pretoria), rounded up in the east by a fourth historic capital Addis -Ababa (Ethiopia).

In that regard, Al-Azhar, through the voice of Dr. El-Taiyeb is heard to say: "If we are to exit these bloody crises which inflict our world from end to end, and whose victims are largely the poor and uneducated in every faith and creed, we have to chart a new course..."

"A course which begins by a question: Is the relationship between Islam and other religions based on tension, suspicion, and foreboding? No!! In the Quran, Islam is not only the name of a certain faith. Islam is the name of a common faith which all believers, from whatever faith, subscribe to."

El-Taiyeb's evidence? "The Quran described Abraham as a Muslim. That was thousands of years before Muhammad's message. The Quran spoke of Ismail and Isaac as they raised the foundation of the first place of worship saying: Our Lord: lead us to submit to Your Will and raise from our offspring a nation which will submit to Your Will." (Chapter 2/Verse 128).

Here the emphasis by Al-Azhar is on the connotation of the term "Muslim." Meaning those who submit to the will of the Creator. It is not restrictive, as the jihadis in their ignorance advocate, to the world of Islam alone. An important distinction, of an ideological nature in the ideological war on jihadism.

Now to the stance of the Quran on other holy books. El-Taiyeb provides a definitive response: Equal respect and parallel veneration. Citing the Quranic text on the Torah where it says: "It was We who revealed the Law to Moses: therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by the Prophets who bowed, as in Islam, to God's will, by the rabbis and the doctors of law." (Chapter V, verse 44).

Followed by Quranic continuity on the New Testament. "And in their footsteps we sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God." (Chapter V, Verse 46).

As if in a Heavenly Club of God's messengers, whose membership is premised on co-equality, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar cites the Prophet Muhammad as per his authenticated tradition. By that Muhammedan tradition, the Prophet of Islam has declared: "I am the most rightful inheritor of Jesus. In this world and in the hereafter. The Messengers are brothers. Born to different Mothers. But having one faith." 

What an apt riposte, a quick counterstrike, to the dark heart of the jihadis who claim that the only true religion for mankind is Islam. Embellished by the wickedness and the viciousness of the ridiculous claim of "Reserved only for Sunni Muslims." Thus wiping out the verity that in Islam, there is no Sunni vs. Shii. Except in the minds of those who use faith as a mechanism for control.

In that historic speech in Abuja, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Shareef does not limit the circle of respect and authenticity to "the revealed religions" (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). For more than half of humanity abide by Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

El-Taiyeb goes on to clarify the reason for the Quranic silence on all these faiths. He says: "These were religions not known to the Arabs in the Arabian peninsula nearly 1500 years ago. Yet they are included within the spacious tent of the Quran in regard to respect and equal treatment expected of every Muslim towards the  adherents of these faiths."

That inclusiveness is manifest in the Quranic instruction for justice and amity towards "the adherents of every faith, every creed, and every philosophy which do not aggress against Muslims in Muslim lands." The very words of Imam El-Taiyeb in Abuja. Words which he bolsters by the primary source of Islamic Law, the Quran.

Thus he quotes: "God forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for your faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them, for God loveth those who are just." (Chapter 60, Verse 8).

The above material covers only half of the Abuja speech by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Shareef. Space limitation of this blog posting does not allow for its comprehensive coverage. So in the remaining space, let us deal with the following conclusions:

• Jihadism is not Islam. Calling their criminal activities "militant Islam" is a misnomer. The word "Islam," if joined to their self-made name, would be a misconception which indirectly advances their criminal cause;
• Jihadi activity has nothing to do whatsoever with the true Islamic meaning of jihad. Jihad, in Islam, is of two kinds, both of which are legitimate. The first is internal: self-policing to avoid following one's base urges; the second is self-defense, permitted under all kinds of law, including international law.
• The unity between faiths, as stressed by Imam Ahmed El-Taiyeb, is a cardinal tenet of Islam. The principle of "TAWHEED," "Onness," applies in two directions: The "Onness" of the Creator; and the "Onness" between every faith and other faiths. The first type is vertical; the second is horizontal -universal.

It is noteworthy that the fear from Islam is not only the consequence of ignorance of its precepts, and of its lingua franca, Arabic. It is also, the consequence of its criminal enemies, "the jihadists."

Ironically jihadism which had inflicted on our world 9/11 and beyond, has its unwitting Muslim auxiliaries. Here are examples:

• In Switzerland, students shaking the hand of their teacher upon entering or exiting the classroom is a tradition. At a school in the small town of Therwil, two Syrian immigrant brothers refused to shake their female teacher's hand. Igniting a national outrage. The cantonal board of education decided against those errant students. The Swiss acted properly. But the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland opposed that ruling.
• In 2009, the Swiss, in a national referendum, voted to ban the construction of minarets. Reason: A Saudi sued the municipality where he resided for preventing him for building there the tallest minaret in the world. Because of his refusal to abide by Swiss zoning laws regarding the height of any construction, a total ban was issued. Once again, the Swiss edict was correct.
• Fear from "creeping Islamization" in all of Europe, to which millions of Muslims, fleeing from Muslim lands, is understandably rampant. In Germany, nearly one million migrants arrived in 2015. The government of Angela Merkel, against all odds, proposed an integration law this week. Its purpose is to give those immigrants a quid pro quo: something for something. A path to full employment, but a requirement to learn German, and accept local laws and customs.
• And why not? We all remember, how in New Year's eve, a group of Muslim hooligans went on a rampage in Frankfurt and elsewhere. Groping German women, in violation of every law, religious or secular, and of every custom having to do with privacy and the sanctity of the individual. Hundreds of culprits are being readied now for ejection from their hard won sanctuaries.

The gulf between the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world remains vast. Of course, as Ambassador Seyed Hussein Mousavian, the Irani scholar at Princeton is correct. In late 2015, he posited in a famous article in the American Huffington Post that targeting Muslims is the real threat to peace. Mousavian made that assertion months before the ideological anti-Islamic tsunami of Donald Trump, now the assured nominee of the Republican Party for the American presidency.

But the fact remains that polls indicate that 7 of the top 10 countries which view America most unfavorably are Muslim countries. It is obvious that the US/Israel strategic alliance plays a considerable role in that unfavorability. But this is not the full picture.

The issues of faith and politics cross one another at dangerous angles. Including the misunderstanding of Islam. By non-Muslims and those who call themselves Muslims, as in the case of the jihadis.

But at least, on the religious ramparts, there stands a sentinel called Al-Azhar Al-Shareef. Whose head, Ahmed Al-Taiyeb is now engaged in a shuttle of global efforts of enlightened clarification: FAITH IS ONE!!

A message which he has recently carried to Germany, followed by Nigeria, followed by the Vatican, and lastly to France.

This is where he had internalized at this Alma Mater, the Sorbonne motto of all France: Liberte; Egalite; Fraternite. With a universal application. The most effective wooden stake being plunged in the heart of Drakula -a name which is most befitting the so-called jihadis of today.