Uprooting terrorism from its Islamic source

Islamic terrorism has become routine, but the West fails to understand its roots – Western intellectuals ignore the human longing for a life filled with faith, content, and ideals, whether good or bad.

By Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, INN

Islamic Terrorism
The rise of terror in Europe raises the need to speak about the social and religious circumstances which bring about these horrific attacks.

The Growing Tension between the West and Muslims

There was nothing new about the terrorist attacks in London. For years, Muslim terrorists have murdered hundreds and thousands of people every month. They murder members of other religions, and moreover – members of rival factions in Islam. The number of murdered people is steadily increasing, and is spreading to other countries.

Nevertheless, the leaders of the powerful countries in the West, despite the shock, continue business as usual. They think these are simply frustrated, emotionally disturbed people who are unemployed, or an oppressed “people” demanding its “rights” from the Jews who conquered their homeland. They ignore the sheer hatred that the Muslims openly express – towards the West in general, and Israel in particular.

Criticism of the West and its “Experts”

The “experts” in Western countries believe that everyone wants to emulate them. And those who do not wish to do so, feel that way only because they are still underdeveloped; the process of advancement will inevitably lead them to the Western approach, according to which all people desire freedom, material prosperity, and the independence to choose a belief, or some other hobby they fancy.

The technological and economic advantage achieved by Western “experts” (in no small part thanks to significant contributions of Jews), make it difficult for them to understand man’s deep longing for a life filled with meaning, idealism, and imbued with faith. The plethora of luxuries creates a type of screen which blinds them from seeing the fiery flames burning in the depths of the human soul and mind, which can explode in a negative direction of fanaticism, destruction and hatred, or in contrast – in a positive direction of faith, productivity and change for the better. As a result, they find it difficult to understand the motives of their enemies and rivals. No less severe, they also fail to analyze the roots of the crises befalling their countries, reflected in the loss of identity, the breakdown of the family, and the serious difficulties in educating children.

The Religion of Islam

Religious Islamic perception views God as an omnipotent conqueror, to whom everyone must submit and whose absolute authority everyone must accept. Out of the five major precepts of Islam, four of them deal directly with the honor of God and surrender to him: 1) declaration of faith in him. 2) praying to him five times a day, mostly involving kneeling and reciting seven verses 17 times praising Allah and accepting his lordship. 3) The Ramadan fast. 4) Pilgrimage to Mecca (the other precept is giving charity to the poor, which also expresses the idea that money belongs to Allah, and not man).

Even praise and thanks to Allah are performed out of feelings of submission and respect.

Islam’s Influence on Inter-Personal Relations

This approach extends to all interpersonal relationships, which are based on honor. A wife must highly respect her husband, and a husband is obligated to take care of, support, and protect his wife – this being his honor. Needless to say, children are also required to honor their parents. Interpersonal relationships as well are based on great respect, emitting a sense of noble generosity, giving room for hospitality and brotherhood.
Since honor is so important, offending a Muslim is intolerable, because it undermines the very foundation of his existence; consequently, he is obligated to respond with extreme severity, leading to the familiar and horrifying “family honor killings.”

Since force and control are vital to Islam, as a result, a ruler who is not perceived as being strong, and even cruel, is incapable of surviving in Muslim culture. Consequently, the democratic system is incapable of providing stability for Islamic countries. For them, the ideal government is an authoritarian rule which protects and grants respect to all its citizens, similar to a compassionate father who cares for the welfare of his children.

Islam – A Religion of War

Islam also has positive aspects, but our focus right now is on the difficult ones. After the five major precepts of Islam, the next most important precept is jihad. Those faithful to Allah must model themselves after him, follow his ways, act courageously as he did, and forcibly subdue those who do not succumb to his authority. “Muhammad lives by the sword!”

Power and the sword play a central role in the Muslim religion. They emphasize the actual strength of the religion, enhancing the greatness and honor of Allah by imposing his beliefs on all mankind. Even the calls to prayer over loudspeakers by the muezzin day and night are an expression of imposing the religion over wide-spread areas, both towards the believers themselves and towards others.

It is no coincidence the Arabs have succeeded in imposing Islam on many nations, to the point where today there are approximately 1,400,000,000 followers. Islam’s genetic code is aimed at a steadfast war to impose Muhammad’s religion on the entire world by means of the sword. To achieve this goal, everything is legitimate. The nations they conquered realized this, and opted to convert to Islam rather than die.

True, all nations attained their achievements through wars and victories, however in Islam, unlike other cultures, the principle of compromise is intolerable – especially a territorial compromise. Compromise is an expression of weakness, whereas a Muslim is obligated to represent the heroism and strength of Allah, and must always clutch the sword to be prepared for the battle of imposing the religion on the entire world.

When a Muslim realizes he lacks the power to defeat his enemy, he is permitted to agree to a cease-fire (‘tahadiya’ in Arabic), while preparing for the continuation of the religious war. Such thinking is based on the treacherous behavior of Muhammad, in particular, towards the tribe of Quraysh.

How to Deal with the Islamic Threat

The only way to relieve a Muslim from his duty to jihad is to create a situation in which he is controlled and  lacks the ability or prospect of succeeding. Only then, according to Muslim law, is he exempt from the necessity to wage war. At that time he must wait for years, or even generations, confident that when the time comes, he will return to wage war.

Conversely, any attempt to compromise with Islam will inevitably lead to continued terrorism and war, for compromise is perceived as a weakness because according to Islamic culture, if the Western countries had the power to defeat them, they wouldn’t possibly be seeking a compromise. This can only mean that they find it difficult to face the heroic attacks of Allah’s faithful, the glorious martyrs, and hence, their downfall is close at hand. Similarly as far as Israel is concerned – any attempt at compromise or presenting a “political horizon”, instills hope within the Arabs that they can defeat us, and encourages terrorism and war.

Anyone who desires peaceful and quiet relations with Muslims must first defeat them, avoid any talk of peace, and strive for a stable truce while managing a respectable relationship.

The Detrimental Social-Welfare Policy

As a follow up to the issue I dealt with in previous articles, even the conventional social welfare policies of Western countries are perceived by Islamic followers as a weakness that promotes militancy. They believe that Christians who did not accept upon themselves the religion of Islam must pay a high tax to the Muslim rulers – a tax which among other things, is meant to express the superiority of Islam. Consequently, many Muslims have no gratitude for the child benefits and welfare payments they receive in Western countries, for naturally, they are superior to all Christians and entitled to receive taxes from them. This is the religious justification for demanding increases in benefits, and the indignation when they are reduced.

Leftist Policies Creates Ungrateful People

And this is in addition to the basic problem, namely, that the position of the political left, which maintains the state must provide for the welfare of all its citizens, corrupts the morality of welfare recipients, in that it makes them ungrateful.

The punishment imposed upon Adam to work hard for a living corrects his sin, and turns him into a positive person who understands the value of work and creativity, and by means of his responsibility and diligence in earning a living, he becomes a partner with God in tikun olam (improvement of society). In contrast, when child benefits and welfare payments enable many Muslims living in England to maintain a higher standard of living than in their countries of origin without any effort or responsibility, they become exploiters and ingrates. And in order that their conscience doesn’t torment them, they are forced to hate and hurl accusations against those that grant them the benefits for not properly respecting them and their prophet, and for not giving them more benefits.

The Crisis in Islam

Throughout the world Islam is in a state of crisis, frustration, and decline. This is reflected in a huge drop in their birthrate. Terrorism represents an attempt to escape the crisis, and efforts by the West for reconciliation and compromise add fuel to the flames. At any rate, in leading countries such as Iran and Turkey, the population has been shrinking because the average woman gives birth to fewer than two children. Western countries are the only places where Muslim population has grown – thanks to the child allowances.

The same thing happened in Israel at the time when child allowances were particularly high, and happens today to a lesser extent with other benefits. An example of blatant foolishness in Israel is the granting of a benefit of 1,500 shekels for each child of a divorced woman if the courts rule that the father of her children is unable to pay child support. Thus, it turns out that the State of Israel encourages polygamy in the Arab and Bedouin sectors, because their husbands divorce them fictitiously in order to make a living off the increased allowances for their children and their supposedly divorced wives, who are recognized as single mothers. This money, of course, returns to the honorable husband, who, thanks to the State of Israel’s foolishness, is able to maintain an exploitative Muslim lifestyle ideally. We are only left to thank him for accepting it, and not taking part in terrorist attacks.

Europe’s Response

After the horrendous murders the Europeans committed for centuries in the name of nationalism and religion, particularly against the Jews, many proponents of morality in Europe today have turned to the other extreme, the left, which advocates complete equality of rights for all. And so, they are allowing jihad thinking to flourish in their countries. Let us hope they come to their senses.

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed 
The writer is Head of Yeshivat Har Bracha and a prolific author on Jewish Law, whose works include the series on Jewish law “Pininei Halacha” and a popular weekly column “Revivim” in the Besheva newspaper. His books “The Laws of Prayer” “The Laws of Passover” and “Nation, Land, Army” are presently being translated into English. Other articles by Rabbi Melamed can be viewed at: www.yhb.org.il/1