The Coming Assault on Islam

You know you're in trouble when liberal hackola's like myself say something like this:

"I'm just going to do what everyone else is doing - be observant, look for dark skinned men with rucksacks, and get ready to tackle someone if they look like they're going to set off a bomb (or wear trainers and ready myself to run screaming). And yeah, it's dark skinned men with rucksacks. I'll broker no PC on this one because we know who's trying to blow sh*t up and it ain't a bunch of Irishmen."

Of course, I am the guy who was amused by a classmates argument that Islam is in crisis because it annoys Westerners and thusly, needs to change. So take my comments with a grain of salt. Seriousness is seriously difficult.

But now that I've had a chance to let the fiery passions of discontent over the latest L'episode de terrore wane, I'd have to say that Islam is facing probably the gravest challenge of the last hundred years (or longer, I don't know jack about the history of Islam). There is a growing perception that the minority (terrorists) are speaking for the majority. Who has this perception? Well, unscientifically, I'd say the public at large. But also, I think the UK media and political machine's aggressive stance that the terrorists were A) Muslims and B) Not all Muslims are stark raving lunatics that want to blow up innocent civilians, suggests that the undercurrent of bias and presumption of guilt is flowing just under the surface of the public eye. The recent increase in "hate crimes" against Muslims and mosques correlates this trend. On top of that, I've been hearing the argument that "terrorists live within your midst, if you don't give them up, then you're complicit with the violence."

I, for one, believe that the problem is rooted in the constant contest between traditionalism and Westernization. Muslims, like it or not, are here to stay in the UK. And it's not just the "traditional" Brits that the "like it or not" part applies to. In fact, that statement is more apt when applied to Muslims because they have long withheld the type of assimilation necessary to integrate themselves into a culture because they fear the dilution of their traditions, religion, and family units. Muslims, in general, have self-isolated themselves from their British or international neighbors, self-segregated themselves into schools and burroughs, and in some cases, have resisted simple things like modern Western conveniences.

The result of the ongoing "challenge" to traditional Islam is that many Muslims in the UK are sent to "religious schools" for what I'll term "reeducation". It is no great surprise that several of the terrorists from the 7th went to a religious school in Pakistan. Usually, the family sends the younger generation who has grown up in a Western culture because they feel that they need to understand the Muslim tradition more accurately. This, while totally anecdotal, happened to one of my prof's neighbors. Tellingly, they were buddies before the guy was sent to Pakistan. They'd lived side-by-side for almost 10 years. Their kids went to the same school and were good friends. The family, however, decided that this guy was becoming too westernized and sent him to a school in Pakistan for 3 months (mind you, he's in his 30's). When he came back, his daughter was placed in a different school, he ceased communication with my professor, and he's apparently a completely different person. Re-educated.

All of this background has come to the fore now that British Muslims have conducted suicide attacks in London. It is now no longer a social problem in that the effects are no longer just interpersonal relations, but are now mass violence and extreme radicalism. While I don't buy into the Clash of Civilizations hypothesis, I do believe there is now a direct confrontation between Islam and the West, even if that confrontation is being led by the extreme minority elements of the faith. The number of extremists isn't the relevant issue. What is relevant is that Islam is now under assault because, like it or not, the modern wave of terror is led by what we once termed "Islamic Fundamentalists" before the PC crew got a hold of the phrase.

Of course not all Muslims are bloodthirsty nutjobs seeking to inflict harm. But the danger, however, is that people are beginning to see Islam as a threat - not just the extremists, but the every day rank and file of the faith. The Islamic community in Britain needs to confront this problem head on, but unfortunately, I think it's a lion in their midst that they are way late in identifying and vastly unable to counter. The radicalization of Islam in the UK is not something that happened overnight. It's something that has festered and grown that the established leadership has done nothing to counteract. Claims of shock and surprise from the Muslim community are disingenuous. The writing has been on the wall for quite some time, yet the leadership has been unable or unwilling to address the danger.

What does this all mean for Muslims in the UK? I really don't have a good feel for the direction this country is headed, but I can't imagine this is good news. The more information that becomes available for public consumption, the greater calls for regulation and containment of "terror inciting speech". State regulation of religion is a bad and desperate idea, but I think we're getting awfully close to generating momentum for that sort of thing. People want answers and they want action. Just like the American public, they're not going to be overly concerned with civil rights and other pleasantries when they feel threatened on the way to work.

In the end, it falls on the Muslim community of the world to contain the radical elements within their midst. Terrorism is largely generated from these elements and no amount of flowery speeches or adamant statements is going to change that. It may not be an easy task, but the alternative, wars across the globe or war on Islam is untenable.

All of this makes one thing clear: Reform Islam or suffer the consequences.