Skip to main content

FM
Former Member

It was not what was wished for was not logical or necessary. It was the will that was lacking and that burning of the Jordanian seem to have produced the catalyst on the need for consensus in what is creed.

 

Islamic State: Mid-East press urges Islamic discourse reform


 

A call to renew Islam's religious discourse has been gaining momentum in Middle Eastern press in the wake of the brutal killing of a captured Jordanian pilot by Islamic State (IS) militants.

Amid the condemnations, commentators are discussing new ways to fight IS ideologically, two days after the jihadist group circulated a 20-minute graphic video showing Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burnt alive.

'Misunderstanding Islam'

 

"Do not say Islam is innocent of such thoughts [burning people alive]. Islam has not been innocent since the lunatics and psychopaths started interpreting sayings according to their own mentality," Hidah Hizam of Algeria's pro-government Al-Fadjr writes.

 

He adds that the Koran and religion in general need to be freed from the ideas of "the lunatic" Ibn Taymiyah, whose writings are used by al-Qaeda to justify its acts.

 

 

"The incident reveals psychological disorder and a misunderstanding of Islam and requires quick action to renew religious discourse," Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram newspaper says in a front-page editorial.

Front pages of UAE's Al-Khalij and Egyptian Al-Ahram "Abdullah vows to fight terrorism in its den", says UAE's Al-Khalij newspaper; Egyptian Al-Ahram's front page editorial says: "Awaiting the reformers (of the faith)"
 

It says Islamic literature and fatwas or judgements written over many centuries should be "purified of ideas which might have been acceptable in the olden days, but contradict the essence of Islam".

"We are running out of time and there is no escape from this difficult task," it concludes.

'Stop brainwashing'

 

 

Egyptian President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi began the call for a new religious approach to purify Islamic literature from ideas not inherent in the Muslim holy book - the Koran - and the Sunnah, the prophet's sayings and actions.

Egyptian President Sisi Egyptian President Sisi's call for a new religious approach has been gaining support
 

The same call is echoed in an editorial in the UAE's pro-government Al-Bayan, headlined: "Ebola of thinking".

 

"Military and intelligence wars are inevitable, but this is not enough. Renewing religious discourse and dotting the i's and crossing the t's are required to stop the brainwashing going on with the participation of official and non-official institutions," the paper says.

Hasan Ali Karam in Kuwait's centrist Al-Watan daily calls on scholars and the media to "stand up to the exaggerations and deviations which were introduced to religion by extremists who seek power".

Front page of Jordan's Al-Arab al-Yawm Jordan's Arab nationalist Al-Arab al-Yawm calls for an end to a "dark era"

Although Jordanian papers give much space to King Abdullah's remarks that pilot Al-Kasasbeh's blood was not spilt in vain, Arab nationalist Al-Arab al-Yawm paper calls for "an end to the epoch of ignorance [darkness]".

 

The paper says there is no room for compromises and that everyone must reject "these mercenaries who penetrated our [Arab] societies under religious banners that have nothing to do with true Islam."

"Our first battle is with those who hijacked Islam and misinterpreted it," writer Yahya Shuqayr says in the daily.

Many regional papers quote Egypt's Al-Azhar, the highest worldwide Sunni authority, as saying that the opinions IS depends on to justify burning people alive were introduced long ago by "liars", adding that the prophet prohibited even the "burning of ants".

 

Clarification of stance

Commentators are discussing what other steps can be taken, with some urging groups to clarify where they stand on Islamic State.

Salih al-Qallab in Jordan's Al-Ra'y daily says that the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan needs to declare where it stands, rather than taking "evasive positions and using unacceptable justifications to defend those monsters".

Jordan's private Al-Dustur urges "exposing all those who support terrorist groups without hesitation".

 

Muafaq Mahadin of Jordan's Al-Arab al-Yawm daily goes further, calling for a ban on all groups and political parties which "feed into darkness and Takfiri [extremist Sunni] thoughts".

 

UAE's pro-government Al-Khalij says terrorism needs to be tackled on all fronts, with no group singled out for special treatment. "Everybody has to give up policies that differentiate between terrorist groups because of certain interests or calculations."

Like Al-Bayan, it compares extremism to a disease, and says: "Narrow self-interest is behind the spread of such an epidemic."

 

Jamal Kamil in Iranian Arabic-language daily Al-Wifaq calls on people who justify IS actions by saying that they defend Sunni believers to reconsider their position, considering that most victims in Syria, Iraq and the Middle East are Sunni rather than Shia.

 

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Well....I will take the bitter pill and apologize to Terry. I said nothing will happen. Note I would not have apologized even if a few nations came on board to fight ISIS

 

This however is big. This if it gains momentum is a break from all the crapola from every local mullah been authoritative without some widespread consensus on the matter.

FM
Originally Posted by Stormborn:

Well....I will take the bitter pill and apologize to Terry. I said nothing will happen. Note I would not have apologized even if a few nations came on board to fight ISIS

 

This however is big. This if it gains momentum is a break from all the crapola from every local mullah been authoritative without some widespread consensus on the matter.

Whatever the Wahabbi dictates in Saudie Arabia, that is what going to take place. Islam is much more than figure heads-it is not like an ancient religion yet its disguise is rooted in very ancient beliefs. This faith forbids the pursuance of all other knowledge. Thereby putting a ban on knowing better.

 

And I am not talking about or to muslim converts. Middle-Eastern muslims know their religion just as the Jews know theirs as well as Christianity. And the hindus know theirs in India. We in Guyana, were given the sugar coated versions of the three religions.

 

One of the things a Guyanese muslim is told when contact with Middle-Eastern muslims, is what he knows is wrong. He must unlearn, learn and relearn. 

S

Stormy and Cainsta, it's simple. Arabs are quiet about the atrocities by the Taliban, by Al Qaeda, Al Nusra, ISIL, etc, not because they are Muslims, but because of tribal imperatives. These savages can use Islam as their calling card for all they want and people can engage in discussions as to whether Islam is inherently barbaric, etc., but the point is being quiet has nothing to do with a religion.

 

The Kurds were a threatened tribe and they helped the US in northern Iraq. The tribes in Northern Afghanistan (Pashto as they were) got fed up with the Taliban and helped the US. The Sunnis in Faluja and Anbar province were also fed up with what turns out to be ISIL today and helped the U.S. in the waning days of the Bush Administration.

 

That Jordanian pilot came from a tribe where loyalties are important. king Abdullah is a man who keeps his word. The idea of this being an Arab war (note Abdullah's spokesman did not say Islamic) against these savages (he used a derogatory Arab word) is simply a tribal dynamic at play here. That the spokesman said that these thugs misuse Islam is not the important point - it's all about tribal workings. ISIL craves the equivalence of their Islam and you guys inadvertently gave them such cover by your arguments over Islam. To borrow from a particular expression - it's tribe, stupid!

Kari
Originally Posted by Kari:

Stormy and Cainsta, it's simple. Arabs are quiet about the atrocities by the Taliban, by Al Qaeda, Al Nusra, ISIL, etc, not because they are Muslims, but because of tribal imperatives. These savages can use Islam as their calling card for all they want and people can engage in discussions as to whether Islam is inherently barbaric, etc., but the point is being quiet has nothing to do with a religion.

 

The Kurds were a threatened tribe and they helped the US in northern Iraq. The tribes in Northern Afghanistan (Pashto as they were) got fed up with the Taliban and helped the US. The Sunnis in Faluja and Anbar province were also fed up with what turns out to be ISIL today and helped the U.S. in the waning days of the Bush Administration.

 

That Jordanian pilot came from a tribe where loyalties are important. king Abdullah is a man who keeps his word. The idea of this being an Arab war (note Abdullah's spokesman did not say Islamic) against these savages (he used a derogatory Arab word) is simply a tribal dynamic at play here. That the spokesman said that these thugs misuse Islam is not the important point - it's all about tribal workings. ISIL craves the equivalence of their Islam and you guys inadvertently gave them such cover by your arguments over Islam. To borrow from a particular expression - it's tribe, stupid!

 

My Dear Friend,

 

That is an excellent analysis that covers only a part of the problem. However, it fails to address the near universality of some very barbarous ideas/practices among Islamic societies.

 

1) the killing of apostates

2) the execrable treatment of minorities in "Muslim" states

3) the killings of homosexuals

4) the rape of virgins prior sentenced to execution

5) the killing of cartoonists

 

The list goes on and on. Are these practices that find favor within all the various schools of Islamic jurisprudence and are deemed formally "Islamic" and quite halal also tribal?

FM

Holy Shaitaan! What Arab governments do that is abhorrent must be seen for what the drivers are - religious? Or cultural/historic? I'm from the school that looks at religion critically and empathize to some degree with those who question certain practices of Islam. However I would not confuse acts that are clearly driven by cultural or centuries of traditions for religious observances. 

Kari
Originally Posted by Kari:

Stormy.... but the point is being quiet has nothing to do with a religion.

  - it's tribe, stupid!

You dissapoint me!
 I do not see anywhere in that article any one commenting on the struggle being about tribal differences. Instead it is a "A call to renew Islam's religious discourse has been gaining momentum in Middle Eastern press in the wake of the brutal killing of a captured Jordanian pilot by Islamic State (IS) militants." There is an insistence that "political parties which "feed into darkness and Takfiri [extremist Sunni] thoughts" and that "people who justify IS actions by saying that they defend Sunni believers to reconsider their position, considering that most victims in Syria, Iraq and the Middle East are Sunni rather than Shia." Where is the commentary that it is tribalism and not sectarian violence?

FM
Originally Posted by Kari:

Holy Shaitaan! What Arab governments do that is abhorrent must be seen for what the drivers are - religious? Or cultural/historic? I'm from the school that looks at religion critically and empathize to some degree with those who question certain practices of Islam. However I would not confuse acts that are clearly driven by cultural or centuries of traditions for religious observances. 

The justifications for the practices comes because there is an ongoing sectarian struggle. It is a failure to accept the basic premise of Islam as one creed. Anyone can tinker with words in holy text to harmonize with a belief. They however has to be motivated to do so because of some prior condition. There is but one in the ME Shia Vs Sunnis.

FM
Originally Posted by RiffRaff:

I think they should have listened a few years back when I spoke about the Lunatic Fringe....like CHief...although he seemed to have listened to me and come around...

Saudi Arabia and all the other supposedly Islamic nations who are now "supposedly banding together" are the biggest hypocrites I have ever seen.

Currently Suadi is giving billions to the dictator Sisi in Egypt to do worse to Egyptians than what Isis is doing.

 

God does not have one eye.

Ray jumah starts at 1pm at Masjid Hamza please be in the front saf today.

Chief
You dissapoint me;I do not see anywhere in that article any one commenting on the struggle being about tribal differences. Instead it is a "A call to renew Islam's religious discourse has been gaining momentum in Middle Eastern press in the wake of the brutal killing of a captured Jordanian pilot by Islamic State (IS) militants.

)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Stormy, GNI resident historian  hehehehe

The damn Spanish keyboard limits my editing and the blasted emoticons do not show up. This framework should cater for foreign language keyboards.
Kari
Originally Posted by Kari:
Stormy reminds me of the way Prem Misir writes. Didactic! Opaque! Meandering! like he has literary ADD. hehehehehe (Lack of emoticons on this damn keyboard)

I guess one has to attack the man when intellect fails. Your apparent breathless grasping for emoticons affirms that failing. As dumb  down tools for the linguistic handicap, there are ready work arounds; just embed them as pictures if you think you need such a crutch.

FM
Last edited by Former Member

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×