The theology of a homegrown terrorist and the problem of citizenship

The arrests of two American Muslims, one American born (Abdel Hameed Shehadeh in Hawaii) and one naturalized (Farooque Ahmed in Virginia) this week for planning attacks and aspiring to become terrorists has once again reminded everyone of the threat of “homegrown” terrorism. In the last year and a half there have been a cascade of homegrown terrorists, Major Nidal, Jihad Jane, Faisal Shahzad, the Virginia five to name a few. The threat is serious.

The reasons for why many Muslims are angry with the U.S. are well known. The war in Iraq, the civilian casualties in Pakistan, support for Israeli occupation of Palestine and the blockade of Gaza and the perception that U.S. is anti-Islam are clearly the main reasons. But the connection between religiosity and extremism in nearly all the cases begs the question, is there something in the way that American Muslims are teaching Islam that is making American Muslims more inclined towards radicalism?

In order to answer the question in a serious way, we would need a massive content study of what is preached and taught in Islamic institutions in the U.S. In the absence of such a study I can merely advance two hypotheses, one about what American Muslims are not doing, and the other about how Islamic sources can be used as instruments of radicalization.

In May of 2010, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding and theUniversity of Delaware hosted a conference on the phenomenon of domestic radicalization, in which scholars and government representatives participated. The key conclusions of that conference were (1) that indeed the number of domestic terrorism episodes, more than 140 in the last ten years was a serious concern and (2) the number of incidents were actually low primarily because of the many initiatives undertaken by the American Muslim community to challenge radicalism.

We know what American Muslims are doing; they are condemning terrorism, underscoring its unIslamic character, emphasizing interfaith relations, reporting on suspicious activities, even reporting their own children to the FBI, and forming alliances with law enforcement agencies. However, what American Muslims are not doing very well is educating their community on what it means to be a good citizen of a nation state. This is a serious problem and needs to be addressed.

Weak Bonds and Weak Citizens

For nearly three decades, the predominantly immigrant element of the Muslim community has been obsessed with preserving the Islamic identity of Muslims and particularly the identity of their progeny. Therefore the only institutions in which the community has invested are mosques and Islamic schools and the sermons and curriculum are dominated by the identity preservation agenda. The problem with this approach is that it focuses not on emphasizing what it is that Muslims have in common with other Americans, but rather on what is different about Muslims from other Americans – Islam.

The consequences of this have been that Islam in America is very identity oriented. People go to great lengths to project their Islamic identity, sometimes in ridiculous ways. For example I see Indian Muslims dressed as Saudis walking around in mosques confusing fashion for piety. They are clearly signaling to each other that they have become good Muslims. But the unconscious message it sends is dangerous. It says – “I may have come to America the land of the free, but I really aspire to be a Saudi, where there is no freedom of religion, or thought”!

Very rarely are efforts made to celebrate the Fourth of July. Muslim children see the celebrations of Independence Day in schools and fireworks all over the cities, but their mosques generally are disengaged or busy raising money for people in some foreign country far away they might not have ever visited. The message to ignore the “American” in American Muslim starts here. We send speakers by the ton to talk about Islam to churches and synagogues but rarely if at all do we invite people of other faiths to present their beliefs to us. We have dismissed them as false and unworthy of a hearing. These are some of the unintended and intended omissions by the Muslim community, which contributes to weak bonds between American Muslims and America and makes Muslims weak citizens.

But we must be careful not to generalize this weak bonding with America to all American Muslims. First of all only a small minority of Muslims are mosque centered and the patriotic weakness is in the orbit of mosques. There are many Muslims who are in US armed forces and law enforcement and their commitment to America is no less than anyone else’. There are many Muslims who have even given their lives for America. Because the bond of citizenship is weak among religious people, most of the radicals tend to be religious.

The Exclusivist Theology

Islamic sources are often used by radical imams to recruit Muslim youth to join their terrorist movements. Islamic sources, like all religious sources, are used by Muslim scholars and political elites in the service of their politics. Today, the Muslim world is divided. Some Muslims live in the West, they wish to live in the West and many Western values such as freedom of religion, thought and economic prospects attract them to the West. For other Muslims, West is the enemy that attacks and occupies it and they hate and despise. Thus there are Muslims who love to live free in the West and then there are those who wish to live free from the West.

Both these groups use Islamic sources to legitimize their politics. Muslims, who condemn terrorism, point to verse 5:32 in the Quran – He who kills an innocent soul is as if he has killed all of humanity — to argue that Islam condemns terrorism. Those who wish to advocate Jihad focus on other verses such as Quran 2:216 — fighting has been enjoined upon you while you dislike it. But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you.

Muslims who seek to live in peace and harmony with Christians and Jews point to verses in the Quran that praise them as people of the book and recognize their spiritual worth such as Quran 3:113-3:115 – Among the people of the book, there are those who are righteous, they recite the verses of God, and pray to him, they believe in God, in the day of judgment, call people to good and forbid evil, and the good that they do will not be taken from them.

But Muslims who seek to justify hostility towards Christians and Jews can also find sources in the Quran such as 5:51 — O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies (friends and protectors). This verse is specially used against Muslims who live in the West to discourage loyalty to the countries where they live and instead demands are made that they join in solidarity with those who are fighting the West.

This is the current atmosphere and age: America is bombing Muslim countries on nearly a daily basis, there are reports about atrocities against Muslims under Western occupation (civilian deaths, torture) which are widely disseminated, and reports of Islamophobia such as opposition to mosques, Quran burnings and mockery of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) through cartoons. This potent mixture of weak patriotism, political and cultural anger and alienation and on top of it religious justification make the appeal of Jihadism very attractive to youth.

In the past few months there has been an open season on Islam. Newt Gingrich compared it to Nazi ideology. Franklin Graham never misses an opportunity to call it evil. Imagine how in this atmosphere, some verses from the Quran taken out of context and deftly recontextualized by a charismatic speaker like Anwar Awlaki can deployed in the service of their war against America. Consider this verse for example, it is as if it was revealed to address this very moment in time (emphasis are mine):

O you who have believed, do not take as intimates those other than yourselves, for they will not spare you ruin. They wish you would have hardship. Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, and what their breasts conceal is greater. We have certainly made clear to you the signs, if you will use reason. (Quran 3:118)

In the absence of strong patriotism, and in the face of growing Islamophobia, which is very alienating, Muslim youth become susceptible to spiritual messages massaged by charismatic radicalism.

What can we do?

American security, the future of Muslims in America and meaning of Islamic teachings are at stake. If radicalism is not fought, many Americans will be killed by terrorists, Islamophobia will increase and make the life of ordinary Muslims more difficult, in turn radicalism will increase and this cycle of violence and hatred will produce more Al-Awlaki’s whose legacy of hate and violence will forever scar Islam with terror.

We need policy changes. The US government must combat Islamophobia and radicalism simultaneously. American Muslims too must struggle against Islamophobia and radicalism simultaneously. But they must also work to becoming loyal and patriotic citizens of the country they chose to live in, and teach their children to be patriots.

If Muslims believe that indeed Prophet Muhammed was as sent mercy to humanity (Quran 21:107) – We have not sent you (O Muhammed) except as mercy to the Worlds; and Islam as a source of enlightenment (Quran 6:104), — There has come to you enlightenment from your Lord — then they must work to ensure that enlightened interpretations of Islamic sources prevail over radical theologies.