First, on the author. Dr. Gerges is a Christian, from a poor family in Lebanon, and has personally witnessed some of the foul conditions which partially lead to Jihadism
“Guided by a spirit of martyrdom... they aimed at pleasing God. (52) ” Kamal el-Said Habib said of the Jihadists who assassinated Anwar Sadat (in 1981). Kamal assisted planning that attack, and spent many years in jail (and remains under close scrutiny, although he has been released) because of it. According to Gerges, Kamal's own history “epitomized the recent history of jihadism (268).” Understanding this revolutionary will help to understand Jihadists, and allow us to examine the more important and fundamental questions: What causes the hatred of the US? Is a clash of cultures between the US-led West and Arab-led Islam inevitable. First, we need to consider Jihadism.
Muslims are not all Jihadists, not all Jihadists are militant, not all fundamentalists are Jihadists, and not all militant Jihadists are terrorists. Did you follow that? Islam is a religion of peace, and a religion which focuses heavily on corporate rights and community duties. Jihad is one of those duties, and a requirement of Muslims. The word translates as “struggle,” “to strive,” or “to fight.” About.com*a correctly explains that the Qur'an uses the term to apply in two ways: to an individual attempt to better oneself and the world, or a community requirement to violently oppose unbelievers who wronged the community, especially by invasion (2-3). The latter definition is not the preferred or most common, but it is used by militant Jihadist groups, including Al Qaeda, as a call to arms. Fawaz Gerges' book focuses on militant jihadists, but they are far from a majority. Even among jihadists, most believe in personal and community revitalization that has nothing to do with blowing people up. So what is a jihadist?
The goal of jihadists is to institute an Islamic state which obeys Shari'a law, and has a seat of power in a reestablished Caliphate (terms: Shari'a law is Islamic religious law, the Caliphate is the office of the leader of Islam, an individual who assumed the authority of Mohammad after his death). Most Muslims support these goals,*b and look back to the strength of the Ottoman Empire as glory days for Muslims. Jihadists, then, are at the crest of a movement something like the American Great Awakening. They represent religious, patriotic and cultural revival (the sort of thing my country desperately needs, but that's for another blog). Possibly even of the importance of the Reformation, although Gerges does not go that far (*c). The militants are idealists, Gerges points out, “change the names, the language, the dress, and we can see in Abu-Jandal the young volunteers of the Lincoln Brigade, heading off to defend democratic Spain in the 1930s,” or the Contras of Nicaragua - “freedom fighters” as Reagan called them. They are motivated by Chivalry and zeal.” They see brothers and sisters being butchered in placed like Bosnia-Herzegovina, and are motivated to join up. Americans would like to think we had such high ideas when volunteers and conscripts set out to fight the Axis!*d
Jihadists are not anti-Semite; “how could we get out of our own skin?* They do have a deep hatred for the state of Israel for the same reason most Muslims do: Israel displaced a large number of Palestinians when it was created, and even today no accommodation has been made. Now, Muslims do not hate Jews in general. Under the Ottoman Empire, Jews and Christians were treated far better than Muslims or Jews in Christian Europe. Israel is massively polarizing to the Muslim world. A through understanding of the reasons for that is beyond my present ability to answer, but the “Palestinian Question” is key. The first step toward today's poor relationship between the Muslim world and the US was in 1947, when Truman helped establish Israel and was among the first to recognize it as legitimate.
A term considered synonymous with militant jihadists is the Mujahideen (singular: Mujahid). The body of Muslim believers is called the Ummah. Their opinion of Jihad and terror will, in the long run, decide everything. Terror. Death in a martyrdom operation is not the goal of a jihadist. The promises of so many virgins after death are insignificant. “We are not born with a violent gene,” says Kamal, “The Qur'an tells us that fighting is repugnant... We possess no cult of death. We love our families....The jihadist who makes the supreme sacrifice to defend his religion and home is an exceptional human being – full of humanity. (271-2)”
Who would disagree with that? Despite the gulf in culture and understanding, I respect any man who would die to defend his family and his home. Indeed, I find the idea of a man who would not do that repugnant. So having established this basis for understanding a jihadist, what is the source of the conflict? Is the war inevitable, or can something be done to de-escalate?
*a http://middleeast.about.com/od/religionsectarianism/g/me080122a.htm
*b http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/02/international-poll-muslims-support-strict-sharia-islamic-supremacism.html
*c reference lost. Related information on page 99.
*d the primary call to arms in WWII was revenge on the Japanese, but protecting the Chinese or Europeans being killed by the Axis was barely on the radar in '41.
*e reference lost.
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