The brutal manner in which Muath
al-Kasaesbeh, the Jordanian fighter pilot, was killed should act as a wakeup
call for the Islamic world. Being killed in combat is obviously one of the occupational
hazards every soldier has to face, but what al-Kasaesbeh had to suffer goes far
beyond the call of duty.
What we are faced with here is
barbarism: pure and simple. Trying to bring relativistic arguments by referring
to events in Palestine or Afghanistan does not diminish this fact. The mistake
of harboring secret sympathies for terrorists acting in the name of Islam
because they are allegedly avenging the wrongdoings of Israel or the West
should also be apparent now.
It also has to be acknowledged that a
large number of innocent Muslims are being killed today in Iraq, Syria,
Pakistan and Afghanistan in terrorist attacks perpetrated in the name of the
sectarian divisions that exist in the house of Islam, and which have nothing to
do with the West.
Neither is there room for
differentiating between terrorism and acts that supposedly represents
resistance to occupation and injustice, but which amount to terrorism by any
definition. Nothing can justify the killing of innocent people because of the
brutality of others.
When faced with attacks like the one
against Charlie Hebdo in Paris, politicians in Turkey, starting with President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, say terrorism has no religion. Politicians and opinion
makers in the Arab world add that people who perpetrate these acts do not
represent Islam.
Such reactions are aimed at trying to
dissociate Islam from terrorism, as much as they are aimed at condemning
terrorism. Whether they belong to al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL), the al-Nusra Front, Boko Haram, al-Shabaab or whatever name they
prefer to go by, the simple fact remains that these groups act in the name of
Islam.
The young people who are attracted to
them may be driven by reasons relating to the social and economic conditions of
their lives, but they justify joining these groups and the acts they perpetrate
with Islam.
It is also not sufficient to explain
the motives of young people who are prepared to become suicide bombers by
declaring that they were driven by reasons other than religion. Ignorant and
naïve as they may be, no one gives up their life for nothing. The religious
appeal of “martyrdom” and belief in “eternal reward” cannot be overlooked.
Another thing that cannot be
overlooked is how many clerics in the Islamic world are allowed to preach
messages of hatred and vengeance that are no different to those of members of
terrorist groups acting in the name of Islam.
Simply saying “terrorism has no
religion,” or “Islam does not condone terrorism” is, therefore, not enough
anymore. There are Islamic thinkers and commentators in Turkey today who are
pointing to the bloodshed that has characterized Islamic history, and who are
calling for serious soul searching by Muslims.
Words, however, are not sufficient.
There is also the need for action to combat what is turning out to be the
scourge of the century, and which is discrediting the religion of hundreds of
millions of good people around the world.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan,
the foreign minster of the United Arab Emirates, in his statement condemning
the “obscene” and “brutal” killing of Al-Kasaesbeh referred to this as a
“defining moment.”
It remains to be seen how the moment will be defined
by Muslims. What is clear, however, is that the time has come for Islam to put
its house in order.
Credit to SEMİH İDİZ
