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The heart of the matter, February 17, 2009
"In February of 2002, the international support that the United States had enjoyed immediately after 9/11 was falling victim to global discord. Anti-American sentiment was on the rise in Europe, and, in the wake of the war in Afghanistan, support for bin Ladin had reached disturbing levels in the Middle East. Early whispers of a stepped-up campaign to affect regime change in Iraq only aggravated this global polarization. Collectively, these developments threatened to convert the war against jihadism into a "clash of civilizations."
It was in this context that sixty prominent American intellectuals released an open letter, entitled "What We're Fighting For," that sought to redefine the struggle against terrorism in terms of universal human values. See: [...]
One of the conservative Middle Eastern responses to "What We're Fighting For is a letter signed by 153 prominent Saudi intellectuals entitled "How We Can Coexist". The authors' of the American letter's basic argument was that jihadist groups like al-Qa`ida pose an implacable threat to the United States and the universal values it embodies; in accordance with the stipulations of "just war" doctrine, the United States has a right defend itself and its values with military force when other methods will not suffice. The Saudi letter begins by agreeing with a basic presupposition of "What We're Fighting For": that Islam and the West share common values that are capable of supporting a just and peaceful coexistence. But the Saudi authors aver that it is not al-Qa`ida that poses the greatest threat to peace, but rather U.S. foreign policy, which is unjust and conflicts with universal values.
Referring to September 11, the Saudi authors write that American foreign policy is largely to blame for "what happened." Accordingly, the U.S. should modify its aggressive policies and pursue a just world order through international institutions. These arguments about universal values and U.S. policy constitute the letter's basic thesis.
Despite its largely critical view of the United States, "How We Can Coexist" drew vehement opposition from some jihadis. "Please Prostrate Yourselves Privately" is a refutation of the Saudi letter written by one of these jihadis, `Abul Bara'. Bara argues that, contrary to the opinion of the Saudi intellectuals, Islam and western civilization have nothing meaningful in common. Muslims must avoid infidel ideas and culture and struggle against unbelievers until Islam triumphs: "Antagonism, fighting, and hatred between Muslims and infidels are the basics of our religion." Making frequent reference to Qur'anic passages, Bara maintains that the Saudi intellectuals have obscured the fundamental messages of Islam by taking its values--such as "justice" and "tolerance"--out of their proper context. Bara argues that, contrary to the opinion of the Saudi intellectuals, Islam and western civilization have nothing meaningful in common. Muslims must avoid infidel ideas and culture and struggle against unbelievers until Islam triumphs: "Antagonism, fighting, and hatred between Muslims and infidels are the basics of our religion."
A letter entitled "Letter to the American People," was tacitly endorsed, if not penned, by al-Qa`ida. This letter echos Bara's arguments made in "Please Prostrate Yourselves Privately."
The "Al Qaeda Reader" is a collection of documents published by Al Qaeda and compiled by Raymond Ibrahim, (of coptic - Christian - Egyptian ancestry). His analysis of these documents exposes al-Qaeda's ultimate motives by showing the striking differences between statements published in English for Westerners and those published in Arabic for Muslims. Al-Qaeda's publications for the Muslim world are completely different in tone and content.
Is al-Qa'ida waging war on the United States--issuing a fatwa to "kill the Americans and seize their money in retaliation to U.S. oppression, or is this animosity founded on something else? Is it mere reciprocity or is it a religion-based ideology? Talking to the West, al-Qa'ida insists it is reciprocal treatment; talking to fellow Muslims it insists that Islam demands this animosity.
Ibrahim's analysis of these statements lays bare al-Qaeda's dissimulation. The Al Qaeda Reader includes both the organization's propagandist speeches, provided in English, which are directed primarily at Americans, Europeans, and Iraqis, and also its exhortation to fellow Muslims written in Arabic. Analysis of the statements in this book makes clear that al-Qaeda is NOT an organization committed to a war that is finite, defensive, and based on specific complaints.
In its communications with fellow Muslims Al-Qaeda stresses Islam's compulsory demand for "offensive jihad," that is, not because Islam is "under attack," as they claim in messages to the West, but simply to offer the world the three sacred choices mandated by the Koran: accept Islam, live in total submission to Islamic overlords as marginal citizens of an Islamic state, or die. If that is a correct statement of the motive of the terrorists, dialogue and appeasement make no sense because the enemy will only be satisfied by world domination.
In his analysis "AN ANALYSIS OF AL-QA'IDA'S WORLDVIEW: RECIPROCAL TREATMENT OR RELIGIOUS OBLIGATION?" that you can find at [...] Ibrahim shows in detail that the statements of Al Qaeda in English outline a sole motivation to respond to the attacks of the West, but that in his statements to other Muslims, he reveals that his motives are to enforce the requirements of the Koran regarding offensive jihad, namely to offer the world the three sacred choices: accept Islam, live in total submission to Islamic overlords as marginal citizens of an Islamic state, or die. This concealment of motivation is perfectly in accord with the Muslim doctrine of Taqeyya which is the use of deceit or dissimulation in war.
Ibrahim found these documents at the Library of Congress and translated them. One important one is the jihadi response to a letter by a group of Saudi intellectuals which had suggested it would be possible for Muslims to co-exist with the West.
Some of the foregoing is paraphrased from Alex Roberts "Islam/West Debate, and some from Ibrahim's "AN ANALYSIS OF AL-QA'IDA'S WORLDVIEW: RECIPROCAL TREATMENT OR RELIGIOUS OBLIGATION?". Links to these are shown above.
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