Islam’s Present Fitna

Naiem A. Sherbiny

The House of Islam is in disarray. Those who claim to speak on behalf of Islam fall in three groups: conservatives, moderates, and the Jihadis (followers of Ben Laden). For decades, the battle of ideas has been ongoing: each group claiming ‘true’ representation of Islam and Muslims. It was the anti-Soviet armed struggle in Afghanistan that boosted the Jihadis claim. Related terror acts of the last 15 years in the name of Islam against the West and its Muslim allies propelled Ben Laden to prominence in Muslim lands. Those acts have also startled the world, galvanized the public to shape tough anti-terrorist policies, and created Fitna among Muslims. As the French author Gilles Kepel sees it in his book The War for Muslim Minds, the Jihadis have brought “sedition, war in the heart of Islam, a centrifugal force that threatens the faithful with community fragmentation, disintegration and ruin”.

That Fitna is already creating chaos in 60-some countries in which about 1.2 billion Muslim live, pitting brother against brother and diverting scarce resources away from economic development to ensuring security. No surprise that the record of economic development in Muslim countries is dismal at best. Equally alarming, the Fitna is stirring the wrath of Western public and governments against Muslim communities in their midst, estimated at some 30 million. The acts of terror in New York, Madrid, and London, among others, have hardened Western posture towards Muslims in general and Muslim migration in particular.

A possible way out of this mess is to begin reforming the ways Muslims understand Islam, along similar lines to what was proposed by the Ibn Khaldun conference in June 2005. The Fitna has exacerbated the socio-political conditions under which Muslims live. The annual reports of Amnesty International document violations of human and civil rights of citizens in various countries, and Muslim lands sadly figure prominently in those violations. Intimately linked is the rampant corruption of Muslim governments, documented in reports of Transparency International. Briefly, the donia of Islam today is ruthless and corrupt!

A new daring body of thought needs to emerge, cleansing old teachings from dogmas and putting Islam back on its progressive trajectory. Equality and justice for all, respect for ‘other’ religions, belief in all God’s holy books, reaffirming human rights, and confirming women’s rights are but a few guidelines for the new thought, if the Muslim world is to overcome the present Fitna in its midst.

Sr. Representative of Ibn Khaldun Center in North America; his email: nasher@erols.com