Author:
Publication: Zenit.org
Date: September 27, 2004
Statements of Professor of Pontifical
Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
According to a professor at the
Pontifical Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, we are currently witnessing
an "ideological leap" of "Muslim fundamentalism, of extremist groups and
terrorists," who see the West as the enemy.
Francesco Zannini explained to AsiaNews
that the latest on-line decapitations of Western hostages in Iraq, is a
way of bringing "the West to its knees."
Although decapitation "exists in
the history of Islam," the "cutting off of heads is not a punishment foreseen
in Islamic rules."
"It may have existed in the past,
but it was not a specific punishment" and, "above all, it is not specified
for use against enemies," he said.
"There are texts that order the
killing of enemies of Islam, but they do not order decapitations. The Koran
does not mention it. Nor do the hadith (the Prophet's maxims)," Zannini
continued.
In his opinion, "the choice to decapitate
and use the media to broadcast such killings are made precisely to attract
attention and to intimidate" and "to bring the West to its knees," and
affect "mass psychology."
Including in cases like the slaughter
of Beslan, Russia, or the recent kidnapping of two Italian volunteers,
Simona Torretta and Simona Pari, the terrorists are "going against every
traditional rule."
Zannini clarified that the "killing
of women is explicitly condemned by Islamic texts. The most accredited
hadith say that women, children, clergy and even farmers cannot be killed,
nor can young men of military age who are not in the military."
"But these terrorists have taken
an ideological leap: they have redefined the figure of the 'enemy,'" he
warned.
"For fundamentalism, for extremist
groups and terrorists, the enemy has become the whole of the West as such,"
so that every Westerner, even if a child, is someone who 'attacks Islam""
and who, therefore, "must be annihilated," he explained.
According to Zannini, it "is an
ideological framework that justifies total Jihad," although it is true
that in Iraq, those who kill might be Muslims, but "there are also atheists
that hide behind Islam, or some secret service or another."
In face of this situation, Muslims
themselves "are aghast," he said.
"They find themselves faced with
something new and unprecedented," and although they "have not forgotten
past struggles," they are "left stunned by what is happening today."
"A Muslim friend of mine from Bangladesh,
an intellectual, confessed to me his concern: he feels that there is an
urgent need to strengthen education in ideals among the young who are otherwise
headed for a future of darkness," the professor added.
"Even some members of the Muslim
Brothers in Egypt have admitted their astonishment. The Muslim Brothers
see that the Iraqi terrorists go partly by their ideology, but they themselves
feel that ... 'they are giving Islam bad publicity,'" Zannini added.
