Hostage No More

From before Sept. 11, mainstream Muslims have found themselves in a very unenviable position: constantly having to explain that Islam is a religion of peace to an increasingly skeptical international community. After every bombing or terrorist plot performed in the “name of Allah and Islam,” a procession of Western Muslims could be found on news channels and talk shows trying to contain any potential backlash on the greater Muslim community.

The problem has been that while many mainstream Muslims do not agree with the extremists, they have allowed them to co-opt the religion to further political causes. But no more. On March 11, a year after the Madrid bombings, something unprecedented and unexpected occurred—Muslims took the first major step in reclaiming their religion.

The Islamic Commission of Spain, which represents the country’s one million Muslims, issued a fatwa (or Islamic edict) against Osama bin Laden. This fatwa declared bin Laden and al Qaeda’s terrorist acts at opposition with the teachings of Islam and bin Laden’s use of the Koran to justify his actions as unlawful. It also calls for all Muslims to consider al Qaeda apostates of Islam.

This is the first time that a Muslim religious organization has come out so strongly against bin Laden and his supporters and has been bold enough to declare them as outside of Islam. And the fact that this is coming from within the Muslim community is empowering. Only the Muslims themselves can effect the change necessary to remove these extremist elements from their religion—just as it took a people’s uprising in Lebanon to spur Syria’s nascent withdrawal. And as the representative of one million Muslims, the Islamic Commission of Spain has the clout to begin this much-needed purge.

Muslims in Britain have also taken charge. Earlier this year, members of the Muslim Council of Britain walked into a mosque and ousted its radical leaders. They then instated a new governing board, one that is more representative of the mainstream British Muslim community.

But while these changes by the European Muslim community are important, they will not lead to widespread change. It is important that Muslims from all over the world follow suit, especially those that come from communities where extremists thrive. Mansur Escudero—the Islamic Commission of Spain’s secretary general and the man who issued the fatwa—says that he consulted leaders in Morocco, Algeria, and Libya, and that they expressed their support for the move. However, these leaders have thus far been silent. They need to vocalize their support for it to be at all consequential.

This year—although barely begun—has seen an unprecedented shift in the politics of the Middle East. The Arab street has demanded change—and change has occurred from Egypt to Saudi Arabia to Lebanon. It is the Muslims’ turn to follow suit. They must speak up and tell the Osama bin Ladens of the world that they are no longer allowed to subvert and twist the faith for their personal aims. Only then can they ensure that the next tragedy is not followed by another line of Muslim apologetics, trying to salvage what is left of their religion.

Hebah M. Ismail ’06, a Crimson editorial editor, is a psychology concentrator in Eliot House.