If ISIS members are not Islamic and not true Muslims, then what are they?

In my view there is no such thing as an Islamic scholar, especially in Malaysia.

OutSyed the Box

This is an essay from Middle East sources. It is written by Hakim Khatib. Truncated for quick reading. My comments at the end.

ISIS: A wake-up call for Muslims all over the world

By Hakim Khatib  

The Islamic State (IS) has sown nothing but destruction, chaos and sectarianism. 

recruits came from all over the world, mainly from Muslim countries. 

highest number Tunisia (3,000), Saudi (2,500), Morocco (1,500), Russia (800), France (700), Turkey and UK (400 each).

excluding Syrians and Iraqis who are already in ISIS.

Arab leader of ISIS is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was named its caliph

• ISIS seems to have clear and strategic ideological path
• not alien to Muslims, these teachings still exist in Islamic books, Friday-prayer preaching and school books. 
• ideology of ISIS is interpretations of Koran and sayings of the prophet
• Salafi-flavored ISIS is extension of fundamentalism in Arab societies

Such an apocalyptic interpretation of Islam does not seem to be acceptable to the majority of Muslims.

• supreme imam of Al-Azhar Univ. said IS does not represent Muslims, Al-Azhar, nor prophet and his teachings. 
• grand mufti of Egypt said naming ISIS an Islamic state is a huge mistake
• World Association of Al-Azhar Graduates declared un-Islamic and conspiracy against the Muslim world – ISIS, Taliban and Boko Haram.

1.  NOW IF ISIS members are not Islamic and are not true Muslims, then what are they?
2.  All their slogans are Islamic, and all their interpretations are Islamic. 
3. Actually, on their flag it is written: “There is no God but Allah and the prophet Muhammad is his messenger.” 
4. Most of ISIS’s recruits have come from Muslim countries, and to a greater extent from Arab countries. 
5. They mainly rose from Islamic societies and communities and studied in the same religious books at schools and universities as their contemporaries
6. They went to the same mosques and they received the same religious messages as the rest of the community. 
7. They might actually be the sons, brothers, fathers, sisters and mothers of so-called moderate Muslims.

The shocking reality of the horrible actions and ruthless brutality of ISIS members should bring the attention to the real problem – that Islam needs reformation and revivalism.

Reformation could perhaps start from elementary school, beginning with religious books for children, to the highest forms of religious education. 

A reformation could start at mosques and at preaching sessions at Friday prayers to enforce tolerance and build toward peace. 

A reformation could also start when religious institutions in the Arab world and the Muslim-majority countries stop interfering in politics, and when the political institutions stop using religion and co-opting religious institutions for the consolidation of power.

The rise of ISIS should be a wake-up call for all Muslims, all over the world.

Muslims calling ISIS un-Islamic or arguing that it does not represent Islam is not enough, and certainly does not stop newcomers from joining the group.

ISIS is Islamic as much as they claim they are.

Reformation of religion is due; otherwise, the world risks the emergence of organizations similar to ISIS in the near or far future. 

Describing ISIS as un-Islamic is apologetic and serves reality with nothing. 

It neither prevents the emergence of another 100 ISIS-like extremist organizations nor improves the image of Islam and Muslims. 

A real framework of reform should start from scratch with every source being put under scrutiny and thorough study by Islamic scholars.

Either politics dominates and destroys religion or religion dominates and destroys politics. 

This is a chance for Muslims to make real reform. 

Islamic scholars should lead such a reformation far from politics and far from the divide of what is the right Islam and what is the wrong one. There must be a framework to lay down the first bricks in this long process. The political leadership must in return observe the process closely.

It does not seem enough for Muslims to condemn a terrorist act and simply call it un-Islamic. There must be a real change and it should start now. ■

(Hakim Khatib is a lecturer in journalism, intercultural communication and the politics and culture of the Middle East at Fulda and Darmstadt Universities of Applied Sciences and Phillips University Marburg. He specializes in the application of religion to political life and discourse in the Middle East.)

My comments : In my view there is no such thing as an Islamic scholar, especially in Malaysia.

Imagine this folks. Say you believe in a certain sectarian belief system.  Then to prove that your sectarianism is legitimate, intelligent and intellectual you get your "scholars" to organise forums, seminars and conferences. 

But there is a catch. If anyone comes to your forum and says something that your scholars do not agree with, then you will shoot that person dead.  

"What type of scholarship is that?" you may ask.  

"You are welcome to speak freely but if I dont like what you say then I will kill you." 

So will any scholar step forward to contradict you or say something that you may not agree with? Especially when you hold the power to shoot people? Not very likely.

But the reality is this is the religious scholarship all over the muslim world.  It is controlled by pointing a gun at your head, threatening to chop off your head, throwing you in jail,making you pay a fine or whipping you with a rotan. Do read on.

In Saudi Arabia the Wahhabis chopped off the heads of people who did not agree with their ideology.  This means intellectual differences have been made a criminal offence. It is a crime if your thought processes disagree. That is why the Saudis are so stupid.

Did you know that in Saudi Arabia there are Arab Sunnis who are NOT Wahhabis? They are a minority and they keep their beliefs to themselves. If they speak up too much the Wahhabis may shoot them.

In Egypt writers have been declared apostate (and their marriage dissolved) for saying things that the religious authorities did not agree with.  Again intellectual thought processes are a crime.

In Malaysia we have 3,5,6.  What is 3,5,6 ?     Tiga tahun penjara atau  lima ribu Ringgit denda atau enam kali sebatan rotan atau semuanya sekali.

Three years jail, five thousand Ringgit fine, six strokes of the rotan or all three.

This is the maximum punishment for "religious" offenses in Malaysia. 

Religious offenses in Malaysia include  that girl who just happened to work the shift at that Borders book store on the day the religious guys raided the book store is one example.  Religious crime - 3,5,6.

Zaid Ibrahim's son getting charged for publishing / distributing some book is another example. Religious crime - 3,5,6.

Kassim Ahmad getting arrested and charged for writing something in his book 30 years ago is another example. Another  religious crime - 3,5,6.

So anyone who writes anything, says anything, puts forward an intellectual argument or believes in anything that does not fit in with the religious authority can be hit with 3,5,6.

The soalan cepu mas is what is the ultimate difference between this type of behaviour and ISIS?  Its almost the same. The only difference is in the degree of the punishment. 

The ISIS does NOT have 3,5,6. They only have chopping head.

In Malaysia we dont have head chopping - yet.  We have 3,5,6. 

But who knows what the cat will drag into the house tomorrow? 

Whether ISIS style head chopping or Malaysian style 3,5,6 the net result is the same -   if you say anything they dont like they will use force against you.

In this type of environment how can you have intellectual growth or intellectual development in religious discourse?    

It is a tightly controlled discourse.  Those who resort to this type of controlled discourse cannot be called scholars.  Your intellectual scholarship is under the umbrella of jailing dissenting views, sentencing intellectuals to whipping with the rotan if they say something that you do not agree with.

There is a phrase for such behaviour : intellectual cowardice. Kebaculan intelek. 

This is another way of saying that the intellectual development in religious discourse (in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia etc) is as good as the non intellectual ISIS. 

Because any dissenting religious views will either get their heads chopped off (ISIS & Saudi Arabian style) or get hit with 3, 5, 6 (Malaysian style), declared apostate (Egyptian style) etc. 

1.  All ISIS slogans are Islamic, and all ISIS interpretations are Islamic.
2. ISIS’s recruits come from Muslim countries, from Arab countries. 
3. ISIS rose from Islamic societies and communities 
4. ISIS studied same religious books at schools and universities
5. ISIS went to same mosques and same religious messages as the rest
6. ISIS are sons, brothers, fathers, sisters, mothers of so-called moderate Muslims

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Looking at the list above what is the difference between ISIS and other religious scholars? 
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As I said the only difference is one group believes in chopping heads to prevent any type of intellectual discourse. The other group has not yet come to the head chopping stage.  They may use things like 3,5,6 instead.  The end result is the same - to prevent other intellectual discourse from displacing you.
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My suggestion for Malaysia is this - it will be done at some point in time, so the sooner we do it the better - just abolish the 3,5,6.

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Abolish the 3 yrs jail, RM5000 fine and 6 strokes of the rotan as punishment for "religious crimes" in Malaysia.  There should be no such thing. 
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Strange laws like these are designed to keep the Muslims stupid. 

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I have a question. The Muslims all over the world are always blaming the Jewish conspirators, CIA conspirators, Zionist conspirators, anti Islam conspirators etc who they say are constantly trying to destroy Muslims and Islam.
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Ok very well. Lets go with this argument. 
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Lets say such conspiracies do exist, which method will the conspirators prefer?
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To create an Islamic society that has no restrictions on thinking and intellectual discourse 
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OR
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to create an Islamic society where people are killed, shot, whipped, jailed, fined or all of theabove   just for having thoughts that are not agreeable to those in power? 
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How you answer this question will determine if you are stupid or not.