In the Name of God: An Open Letter to Muslim Extremists Who Kill in Our Name

By Lubna Nadvi

I write this letter as a Muslim sister, an anti-war activist, and as someone who believes in the egalitarian enterprise, and is vehemently opposed to all forms of imperialism, neo-liberalism and occupation.

It is very difficult for me to write this, but I am compelled to do so, because my conscience demands that I speak out. I despise silence more than I fear reprisals for holding the views that I do. Having observed the global Muslim umma undergoing some of its darkest moments in history, in present times, I have had to reflect on what the role of Islamic extremist groups has been, in contributing towards this unfortunate state of affairs that Muslims around the world find themselves in, particularly in the Middle East.

I have come to one conclusion, and that is that such groups have effectively become the enemies of the very faith whose interests they claim to advance, and have essentially evolved into self-serving agents, whose glorification of martyrdom as an end in itself (commensurate with attaining heaven and 70 virgins), has ultimately come to supersede its otherwise stated objectives—ridding the Middle-East and Muslim states of Western occupation, foreign troops and the “infidels.” And even if these goals are really why you are engaging in acts of violence, then your actions are not working. Here are my reasons.

The public face of Islamic extremism has come to represent an ugliness within the faith of Islam that one would never have imagined possible. From the bombing of public places (where large numbers of Muslims are inevitably killed together with people from all other faiths), to the beheadings of civilian captives, to the regular public declarations through Arabic news media of more attacks to come and so on, it is hard for me to believe that these are fellow Muslims, advancing an agenda that is ultimately meant to foreground the collective interests of the Muslim umma.

Although I believe that militancy has a role to play in legitimate resistance, there is a difference between militancy and barbarity. And so, I am forced to question from the very outset, your legitimacy. Firstly, who appointed you to speak on behalf of the Islamic faith, and then carry out acts of violence, in the name of Islam, and God, using the banner of Jihad? I would in principle have no objection to a Jihad against Western imperialism and occupation that did not entail the killing of innocents and civilians. If American, British and other coalition forces kill innocent civilians, does that give you the right to do so? If they use violence and engage in acts of state terrorism, must you respond by capturing civilians and beheading them, or kill other civilians with your bombs? I would have expected more from groups that claim to be Islamic in their ethos.

I watch in horror as you continue to plant more bombs in Iraq and take more lives. Ordinary Iraqis have had to endure 20 years under Saddam Hussein and his repression, then they had to deal with the American and coalition forces bombing, invading and occupying their country, and over and above that they have to deal with your indiscriminate attacks on whatever shattered remnants they have left to build a life with. You think that by placing bombs at centers recruiting police or army personnel, for the new Iraqi forces, you are hitting out at the coalition and occupation forces, but all you are doing is killing more fellow Muslims. What do you expect those Iraqis who are lining up seeking jobs at these places to do, go jobless and hungry? Are you going to feed them, or provide them with employment, seeing as you’re doing everything you can to prevent them from seeking a way to make a living? Exactly how are you helping them? Yet another mother mourns the death of her son, a wife becomes a widow, a child fatherless. Is this your Islam?

Has it ever occurred to you to take on the agents of Western imperialism in some other more intelligent and strategically well thought out manner, other than making bombs and killing people? Has it ever occurred to you to use the very institutionalized instruments with which Western governments oppress third world communities and Arab and Muslim countries, against them? Has it never occurred to you to engage broader civil society, to take on the collective enemy that is Western hegemonic interests and empire? Would it hurt if you tried?

I think that the way you interpret the concept of martyrdom is seriously problematic. You seduce young boys and men, to expect Heaven and 70 virgins awaiting them if they carry out your plans to kill the infidels. No doubt your marketing ploy is very attractive to impressionable young people who start to believe that death by blowing oneself and others up, is more attractive, given its supposed rewards. But how do you know for sure that Heaven is going to be their ultimate reward. After all, you can speculate. It is only God who is all knowing and all forgiving. And He might not take very kindly to the fact that one of your bombs has killed an innocent child, who had his whole future ahead of him, be it a victim of the bomb, or the person who detonated it in the first place, being a child himself. In fact He might hold you accountable for having the blood of those innocents on your hands. Is that a price you are willing to pay?

Yes, there is frustration, because foreign occupiers and land-grapping imperialists, have invaded and occupied territories that did not belong to them in the first place. They continue to kill and maim. But is the legacy of death what you wish to leave the next generation? Surely it is only if the youth are alive, can they continue to fight. If you advocate that they kill themselves by strapping a bomb to their bodies, you are robbing them of any chance they might have had at fighting for a better life.

It seems to me that it would be one thing to argue that you have been successful in Iraq (using certain criteria to determine this), and therefore your modus operandi works. But this is by all objective standards, definitely not the case. In fact you have only managed to strengthen the resolve of the occupation forces to stay, defeating the purpose of your original objective, which was to kick them out. Did it never occur to you that actually allowing the Iraqis to take over the government is a strategically useful thing to happen, even if they are perceived to be puppets of the US government. Strategic politics demands certain things must happen, before one achieves other more fundamental objectives. By perpetuating the cycle of violence as you are currently doing, you are only harming the Iraqis even more.

I think the key issue here is that it has become easier for your movement to pick up arms and just bomb and kill, instead of harnessing intellectual engagement and radical progressive strategy. You can no longer use theological arguments to support what you do, because you also end up killing Muslims, with random attacks. Over and above this, you are not achieving your objectives of expelling “the infidels” from Islamic states, merely making life much harder for ordinary Muslims around the world who are being attacked and harassed, because your lot also kill people from other faiths and cultures, who don’t take very kindly to this.

I want to ask you, are you working for the pleasure of God (as is every Muslim’s duty), or for your own pleasure? This world is His world, not yours to destroy as you will. Isn’t it enough that many Western nations are already doing that, by invading other countries, advancing their imperialist agendas and subjecting vulnerable communities to all manner of oppressions.

And then there is the gender thing. I have always believed that Islam is the most progressive faith when it comes to women’s rights, because it gave independence to women in the 7th century long before Europe did. As a woman, I am deeply incensed by the implicit patriarchal assumptions in your activities, which is counter to everything that Islam says about the sanctity of womanhood. Have you ever given a moment of thought to how you destroy families, and mothers especially, with your policy of killing and martyrdom, not to mention reveling in the prospect of conquering 70 virgins in the hereafter. I would expect Muslim men to have more elevated ideals, than has been demonstrated by your behavior.

Finally, I as an individual am far from perfect. My critique of what you are doing does not render me superior, just concerned for my fellow humans, both Muslim and non-Muslim. God forbid that I should walk down a street one day and become a victim of one of your bombs. I pray to God that he grant us all the wisdom to know better and do better. And lastly I appeal to you (and no I am not an agent of Western interests, as you will no doubt argue), to cease brutal violence as a way of resistance. We know that the forces of some Western nations already engage in vile and barbaric practices. How different are we as Muslims, if we resort to worse methods of killing like beheading? We need to rise above this, retain our dignity, never cease our resistance, but also not become branded as butchers and murderers. We have the hereafter to think of. The more we value life, the more rewards we gain in this life for the hereafter, the more we are living our faith, as it should be lived.

Lubna Nadvi lectures in Political Science at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, and is a community activist.