Bin-Laden Koran Interpretation Radical but Not Original
Bin-Laden and Zawahiri profess the most extreme of fundamentalist views of the Koran. Neither being a man schooled in the Koran (an imam) it is not surprising that they would adhere to a fundamentalist view of the Koran.
The original founder of their radical interpretation was an Egyptian. His name was Sayyid Qutb. He was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the 1950's and was jailed by Nasser. In jail he formulated the fundamentalist theology that Bin Laden follows today.
He was arrested as part of a conspiracy to kill Nasser and executed in 1966, two years after his release from prison.
Mainstream Islam is frequently mischaracterized in America as a theology based upon hate and warfare. It is just the opposite. The Koran is adamantly opposed to the use of force except in self-defense. It is also tolerant of other religions.
Qutb's fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran, however, stood the sacred scripture on its head. Jihad is not purely a means of self-defense. Rather, it is a struggle to seize power for the good of all humanity. In Qutb's view there could only be toleration after the victory of Islam and the establishment of a true Muslim state.
To Bin Laden, as to Qutb, in the view of Islamic fundamentalism, the world is divided into two camps. One was for God, the other was against Him. It is based on a rejection of secular modernism that is not only to be avoided by devout Muslims, but eliminated by any means.
Due to Bin Laden's heinous acts, it is this violent form of Islam that is now assumed to be the religion of Islam. It is not. It is extremist and viewed that way in the Arab world. That is why Bin Laden is sitting up in the Afghan-Pakistani mountains rather than on a throne.
Source: The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong
The original founder of their radical interpretation was an Egyptian. His name was Sayyid Qutb. He was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the 1950's and was jailed by Nasser. In jail he formulated the fundamentalist theology that Bin Laden follows today.
He was arrested as part of a conspiracy to kill Nasser and executed in 1966, two years after his release from prison.
Mainstream Islam is frequently mischaracterized in America as a theology based upon hate and warfare. It is just the opposite. The Koran is adamantly opposed to the use of force except in self-defense. It is also tolerant of other religions.
Qutb's fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran, however, stood the sacred scripture on its head. Jihad is not purely a means of self-defense. Rather, it is a struggle to seize power for the good of all humanity. In Qutb's view there could only be toleration after the victory of Islam and the establishment of a true Muslim state.
To Bin Laden, as to Qutb, in the view of Islamic fundamentalism, the world is divided into two camps. One was for God, the other was against Him. It is based on a rejection of secular modernism that is not only to be avoided by devout Muslims, but eliminated by any means.
Due to Bin Laden's heinous acts, it is this violent form of Islam that is now assumed to be the religion of Islam. It is not. It is extremist and viewed that way in the Arab world. That is why Bin Laden is sitting up in the Afghan-Pakistani mountains rather than on a throne.
Source: The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong
posted by Jim | 8:05 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home