Confusion throughout the Islamic world

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See the Sol Sanders Archive By Sol Sanders SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM

Nothing so illustrates the intellectual confusion that grips the Islamic world from Casablanca to Zamboanga as Malaysian Prime Minister Mahahir bin MohammadÕs comments during a visit to Cairo in mid-January. Mahathir was at Al-Azhar University, long considered the Islamic worldÕs intellectual center.

The fact that Mahathir heads a multicultural country which has made enormous progress during the half century since colonialism illustrates the complexity of the issues. Malaysia does not represent the starving and embittered Arab masses, or the wretchedly poor billion Pakistani, bangle Deshi, and Indian Moslems, nor an Iran, with its exploding population and falling living standard. Some Westerners, brainwashed by a century of economic determinism, are quick to look for solutions to the problems of the U.S. in dealing with Islam as a result of these Òfundamental [economic] problemsÓ.

Mahathir told his audience Islam was at its lowest ebb, and that Moslems were, themselves, Òat least partiallyÓ to blame. ÒThere has never been a time when the Moslems are so looked down upon, treated with disrespect and so oppressed as they are today. Everywhere, Muslims are bullied, detained, bombed and massacred with impunity.[They are] [D]isunited, confused about Islam, fighting each other for power and lacking in essential knowledge and skills....Ó

Referring to terrorism ø Malaysia has become a primary arena of international plotting ø Mahathir said: ÒBut what have Muslims really gained by these acts of terror? The enemies of Islam found justification for attacking and killing them and treating them and their religion with contempt. ÉMuslims nowadays fight and die not in order to achieve any real objective or free themselves from oppression. They fight and die in order to retaliate, in order to take revenge and to vent their anger.'

The Malaysian leader is considered a ÒmoderateÓ under attack from a Malaysian Islamacist movement that despite electoral successes is moving toward more radical policies. [Last year its predominantly ethnic Chinese electoral partner broke off an alliance against Mahathir because the Moslem party insisted on sharia, Islamic law, as a coalition goal.]

Mahathir said Òblaming others for our sad fateÓ might only be partially correct. But he added: ÓOn the other hand, if we blame ourselves, there is something that we can do to overcome our own faults and weaknesses. ÉOur enemies will always attack us because we are weak. If we want peace, then shouldn't we strive for peace, at least among ourselves as Muslims first, and then with people of other faiths?Ó

But Mahathir complained bitterly Malaysian students at Al-Azhar were returning to their country as fanatics. ÒActually, when you come to [live in] Egypt, you should be more liberal-minded. For example, there are statues of pharaohs everywhere but the people (Muslims) donÕt objectÉ. And you can see a mosque next to a church in Cairo. Again there is no problem. In fact, there is nothing in Islam to say you cannot have a church next to a mosque.Ó Therefore, Òpeople who came here should learn to be more liberal-minded after living in the country for many years. ÉI am disappointed that Malays who study here when they return home appear to be more extreme than Egyptians. ÉThey might as well stay at home and learn the religion there (in Malaysia) because they are not learning anything in Egypt.Ó

After conferring with Grand Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi of Al-Azhar, he announced the Malaysian Embassy would vet students. Last year as a result of the discovery of widespread terrorist networks operating in Malaysia ø through unusually close collaboration among Singapore, Malaysian and U.S. authorities ø Kuala Lumpur announced a freeze on aid for more than 500 religious schools. But the legal Islamicist opposition, probably correctly, saw MahathirÕs action also as an attempt to blunt their penetration of the ethnic Malay electorate now that they control two of the Malaysian state governments. And any move to curb opposition is seen as part of MahathirÕs tactics to continue his 30-year primacy, just as accusations to imprison his former heir apparent, Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim were widely disbelieved.

Mahathir, himself, has a history of bigotry ø he was expelled as from the ruling partyÕs youth leadership for anti-Chinese chauvinism. During the 1997 East Asian financial crash, which most foreign observers attributed in no small part to his Òcrony capitalismÓ, Mahathir said a Jewish conspiracy had brought on the crisis. His promise of two years ago to finally leave the stage still hangs in abeyance. While denouncing terrorism, he bitterly opposed the U.S. military role in Afghanistan, and now opposes any UN or American military intervention in Iraq.

It is just this tangle that dominates the thinking of Moslem elites throughout the vast Islamic world.