Islamic Apologists...

I just caught the end of the O'Reilly factor. I'm not a huge fan of the show anymore. O'Reilly has become a 'bit' narcissistic for my liking; even as he continually talks about the "folks" (which has to be one of the most annoying terms on tv...and he says it approximately 400 times a show)...

Anyway, I'm not intending to post about all the reasons O'Reilly gets on my nerves. But his show brought something to mind.

On a later segment of the show, he had two 20-something women from an Islamic school here in the States. They were, by all indications, very devout Muslim women.

Towards the end of the interview O'Reilly asked the women if they agreed that the U.S. should destroy al-Qaeda.

It seems to me that an unequivocal answer shouldn't have been hard to muster. Apparently it was. The first women started her sentence by saying: "Let me say that I am coming from the Islamic cultural and educational experience...." She then continued on essentially saying nothing other than she does not like targeting buildings, but would not agree that the U.S. should destroy Al-Qaeda.

The second girl started off seeming to agree with O'Reilly's assertion, but it quickly became obvious that she wouldn't condemn the terrorist organization. She noted repeatedly, however, that al-Qaeda does not practice according to Islamic dogma, and therefore should not be seen as Islamic. Her fellow student nodded enthusiastic agreement.

The whole dialogue brought some thoughts to mind. It seems to me (at least based on casual observation) that like the aforementioned women, many Muslim commentators, scholars, and academics can't bring themselves to condemn al-Qaeda.

I am at a loss for why this is. Partly, it seems that these individuals are leery to speak against other Muslims. I frankly don't understand the sentiment -- surely there are limits to collective identity when one is faced with allying with mass murders -- but it certainly appears part of the equation.

Strangely, they are quick to point out al-Qaeda doesn't adhere to true Islamic teaching. Now, I think that’s an accurate assertion. But in making it, they provide the exact reason for why they logically shouldn't feel any hesitation to criticize al-Qaeda and call for its destruction. If you have a value which says that you won't criticize fellow Muslims in public. And your second value is that al-Qaeda isn't Muslim, a refusal to criticize al-Qaeda doesn't logically follow assuming your value system.

In fact, Muslims should be the most vociferous opponents of al-Qaeda precisely because Bin Laden and his cronies pervert their religion to ends that are antithetical to its teachings.

I am an open, loud critic of the Irish Republican Army because it claims my beliefs as a Roman Catholic of Irish descent as justification for evil ends. Why don't Muslims have a similar reaction towards al-Qaeda?

This is especially troubling due to the nature of the conflict America finds herself in.

In the current world situation, there are only two possible positions:

1) You are for the United States

OR

2) You are for Al-Qaeda.

There is no nuance in our scenario precisely because al-Qaeda is philosophically antithetical to the United States' advocacy of Liberalism. Academics might like to be cute and say that such a dichotomy can't exist in the real world (Absolutism is akin to cretinism in higher education), but any reading of Sayyid Qutb -- the philosophical creator of the Islamism in which al-Qaeda is based-- clearly indicates that Islamist fundamentalism is completely at odds with the basis of Liberal Democracy in the United States. They are mutually exclusive systems.

Quite simply, al-Qaeda cannot permit the United States to exist.

That many Muslim scholars (who must be familiar with Sayyid Qutb) still refuse to speak ill of al-Qaeda in light of this is deeply troubling.

Ultimately, as the previous dichotomy indicates, if they are not for the United States then only one conclusion can be drawn. While it’s their prerogative to choose a side, it's our prerogative act off their decision. If, like those women on the O’Reilly factor tonight, Muslim scholars are unwilling to oppose al-Qaeda, then we must treat them as they are: propagandists for enemies in our war against Islamic fundamentalism.