Author: Irfan Husain
Publication: Dawn, Karachi
Date: October 20, 2001
Our paranoid preoccupation with
conspiracy theories and the boundless capacity Muslims have for self-delusion
never cease to amaze me. Had the consequences of these follies not been
so tragic, they would have been downright hilarious.
Consider the horrifying events of
September 11 as an example: several weeks later, millions of Muslims continue
to believe that the Israelis were behind the strikes on New York and Washington.
As proof, they assert that 4,000 Jews absented themselves from their workplaces
at the Twin Towers on that fateful day.
Reasonably educated and intelligent
people have declared this rubbish to me as gospel truth. When I have tried
to reason with them, pointing out that there was no way for anybody to
determine the faith of those present or absent from the WTC buildings within
days of the tragedy, there is never a cogent reply. Indeed, employment
records in the United States do not include information about religion.
My interlocutors simply cannot grasp
the reality that Israel would be the last country on earth to risk the
wrath of the United States, the source of so much of its wealth and power.
They argue that Zionists staged this attack to somehow frame Muslims so
that the Americans would become their enemies, but are unable to explain
what Israel would gain by this. Their clinching argument is that Muslims
are simply incapable of planning and carrying out such a complex operation.
Then there is another school of
conspiracy theorists that maintains in all seriousness that it was actually
the American government that attacked its own cities. The 'reasoning' behind
this far-fetched plot is that this would give the Bush administration an
excuse to bomb Afghanistan, throw out the Taliban and build a gas pipeline
across that country from Turkmenistan to the Arabian Sea.
These crackpot theories, ludicrous
though they are, are firmly entrenched in the minds of millions of Muslims.
These same people probably also believed the hype about the invincibility
of Iraq's Republican Guards and the 'mother of all battles' they were supposed
to put up against the American-led coalition in the Gulf War. In the event,
they were pulverized by the long bombing campaign that preceded the land
assault, and then mercilessly slaughtered in a 'turkey shoot' as they fled
from their bunkers and trenches.
Now as American planes blast targets
across Afghanistan, the Taliban and their supporters are again falling
into the same trap, and boasting that American troops will 'meet the same
fate as the Soviets' when they land. No such thing will happen because
the Americans will simply not send in a large number of soldiers. Also,
the analogy with the Soviet invasion is false as in the latter case, the
Mujahideen had a sanctuary in Pakistan, and the financial and diplomatic
support of a superpower. The Taliban enjoy none of these advantages, and
the firepower the Americans can bring to bear is far superior to the resources
the Soviets could muster.
But we blithely ignore such realities,
and are disappointed each time a Muslim nation is humiliated by a western
power. This disillusionment adds to the bitterness and anger that has built
up in the Islamic world towards the West. But in order to compete more
effectively with this perceived foe, many orthodox Muslims want to turn
the clock back: instead of using the modern tools of reason, logic and
science, they seek to return to the imagined purity of early Islam, purging
society of all modern influences so that somehow we would regain the supremacy
and glory of the all-conquering armies that swept out of the Arabian peninsula
fourteen centuries ago.
This romantic daydreaming is fine
for a Sunday afternoon after a heavy lunch, but to base the goals of entire
societies on it is madness. Unfortunately, this shallow rationale is now
prevalent in Muslim countries around the globe. Even educated people have
succumbed to this pipedream. In a way, this is a seductively attractive
path: instead of having to put in the hard work involved in building a
modern, progressive society, how much simpler to just transform ourselves
into good Muslims by rigidly following the letter of the holy scriptures.
This will ensure God's blessings on the true believers - blessings that
have been withheld because we have deviated from the path shown to us by
the Almighty.
Unfortunately, as there is no single
interpretation of God's revelations and what constitutes the ideal Islamic
society, there has been endless conflict among the various schools of thought
that divide Muslims. Sunnis and Shias are often at each other's throats;
sects are declared 'non-Muslim' for not adhering strictly to a particular
dogma; and for centuries, the slaughter among the believers has been far
bloodier than war with the infidels.
Weakened by internecine conflict
and thus easily colonized by Western powers, most of the Islamic world
has been left at the starting blocks in the race for scientific progress
and economic prosperity. Rich Arab states have been unable to translate
their enormous oil wealth into political power or military might; and when
they have, they have mostly used it against their own people or other Muslims.
None of them has sought to use their resources in building up their educational
systems and their scientific base. As a result, they remain importers of
western technology, and send their own children abroad for higher education.
As Muslims see themselves falling
further and further behind, and watch impotently as Palestinians and Iraqis
are killed and humiliated, their rage against their own rulers and the
United States mounts steadily. In a relatively new development, young Muslims
born, raised and educated in the West are being radicalized into taking
up arms for Muslim causes. And as the United States is perceived as the
source of so much angst and suffering in the Muslim world, there is every
possibility that these home-grown young militants will launch the next
wave of attacks.
In this low-intensity war without
end, there will be no victors and no losers, only hostages to hatred and
suspicion on both sides. Unfortunately, there is no indication that either
side will change policies and attitudes any time soon. Among fundamentalist
Muslims, rationality and a scientific approach are anathema as they would
be marginalized and dogma would be questioned in a modern dispensation.
But until Islam has its own Reformation, Muslims will continue to wallow
in the past while ostrich-like, they keep their heads firmly in the sand.
