How to End Radical Islam

[Also published in http://www.newsmax.com/ScotFaulkner/islam-radical/2016/07/29/id/741177/]

 It is time for moderate forward looking Muslims to regain control of their religion.  They need to take historic steps to bring Islam into the 20^th Century, returning it to an honored place among the world’s great religions.

Slaughter in an Orlando Nightclub, slaughter on the streets of Nice, slaughter in Paris and in a Normandy church, slaughter at airports in Brussels and Istanbul, slaughter at a San Bernardino picnic, slaughter at Fort Hood, slaughter at the Boston Marathon, attacks on trains in France and Germany, the list is endless.  The weapons used were diverse – guns, trucks, pressure cookers, axes, knives, and bombs.  Only the motivation remained constant – jihad for Allah.

The threat and the fight are global.  Terror can now arrive anywhere, anytime, in any form. Some already label this World War III.  The problem is that increased drone strikes, bombing ISIS’ capital in Raqqa, Syria, or expanding intelligence gathering will not end the threat.  This is because every day millions of young boys attend radical Madrassas and learn how to hate, kill, and die.

In the mid-1970s Saudi Arabia used the flood of oil revenue to become the “McDonalds of Madrassas”.  Religious schools and new Mosques popped up throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.  This building boom had nothing to do with education and everything to do with spreading the cult of Wahhabism.

The Saudi Royal Family owes its rise to power to Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792).  He envisioned a “pure” form of Islam that purged most worldly practices (heresies), oppressed women, and endorsed violence against nonbelievers (infidels), including Muslims who differed with his sect.  This extremely conservative and violent form of Islam might have died out in the sands of central Arabia were in not for a timely alliance with a local tribal leader, Muhammad bin Saud.

The House of Saud was just another minor tribe, until the two Muhammads realized the power of merging Sunni fanaticism with armed warriors.  Wahhab’s daughter married Saud’s son, merging their two blood lines to this day.  The House of Saud and its warriors rapidly expanded throughout the Arabia Peninsula and collided with Shi’ite and more secular Sunni powers. 

Saudi forces were defeated but rose again, fueled by Wahhabi fanaticism.  These various conflicts always included destruction of holy sites of rival sects and tribes.  While done in the name of “purification”, the result was erasing the physical touchstones of rival cultures and governments.

In the early 20^th Century, Saudi leader, ibn Saud, expertly exploited the decline of the Ottoman Empire, and alliances with European Powers, to consolidate his permanent hold over the Arabian Peninsula.  Control of Mecca and Medina, Islam’s two holiest sites, gave the House of Saud the power to promote Wahhabism as the dominant interpretation of Sunni Islam.  This included internally contradictory components of calling for eradicating infidels while growing rich from Christian consumption of oil, and pursuing lavish hedonism when not in public view.

Unless Wahhabism is eliminated or moderated, the West is fighting a losing battle. 

The decline in oil revenue gives the West rare economic leverage.  It is time to convince the Saud family to convene an Islamic version of the Council of Nicaea.

In 325 Roman Emperor Constantine the Great convened a religious council in Nicaea (near modern Istanbul) to resolve various differences within Christianity.  This included consolidating and codifying beliefs, rituals, and the calendar of holy days and rites.  Over three hundred church officials and theologians attended.

While the Council of Nicaea did not resolve everything, it established a culture of dialogue and collaboration within Catholicism.  Christianity had its own wars and schisms, notably the Reformation, which was more about geopolitics than faith.  Isolated fanaticism and superstition led to the abuses from the persecution of Galileo to the Salem witch trails.  However, the framework and mindset was permanently in place for Western religions to move with the times and adapt as knowledge and culture advanced.  These forces of moderation and reason assure the continuous rise of civilization to this day and the marginalization and isolation of extremists.

Philosopher Eric Hoffer, in his famous work “The True Believer”, asserted, “the character and destiny of a group are often determined by its inferior elements.”  Reasonable people, spanning religion and ideology, are hoping Islam finds a way to isolate and diminish their forces of darkness.  It can only be done from within.

[Scot Faulkner served as the first Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives and on Ronald Reagan’s White House Staff.  As Deputy Associate Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), he coordinated the Administration’s response to the Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing.  Mr. Faulkner has advised corporations and governments throughout the Middle East since 2002.]

Stopping Radical Islam

Also published at:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stopping-radical-islam-scot-faulkner

Forty world leaders, from every political and religious affiliation, led over a million people, from every political, ethnic, and religious affiliation, through the streets of Paris.  It was a vivid and historic show of solidarity for Western civilization and its freedoms.

What next?  Cynics have already said this high spirited unanimity will pass as politicians and normal people return to their daily lives. 

It does not have to be that way. 

There are strategic actions that can be taken to stop radical Islam, and its terrorist legions, in their tracks.

Cyber Warfare

It is time to shut down the social networks and websites used by radical Islam to recruit, fund raise, and mobilize. All internet services should ban websites associated with radical Islam.  Youtube and other media share sites should ban all images and videos that promote ISIS, Al Queada, BokoHaram, al-Shabaab, and all other terrorists groups. Except on legitimate news sites, these images should be banned the same way NAZI images are banned – across the globe.

All nations should launch a coordinated assault to crash and keep off the air all websites, servers, and communication technologies of violent Islamic groups.   There should also be a decision by all news outlets to not show any videos or messages from these groups.

Dismantle Sharia Controlled Zones

Western governments must dismantle radical Islamic “no entry” zones.  This can be done by passing laws enforcing the host country’s laws within all jurisdictions, and providing funds for law enforcement to be active and visible in these enclaves of hate.  Alternatively, Congress and other parliaments should threaten to end funding support of municipal governments that refuse to move against radical Islamic zones.

Over the last decade, Islamic radicals have established these “no entry” zones in major Western cities.  Block after block of major cities, in Paris, London, Detroit, Minneapolis, and many others, are ruled by radical Islamic councils.  Sharia law is enforced and holds itself exempt from host country laws and jurisdiction.

Alhurra, and other courageous news outlets, have exposed these beacheads of radical Islam.  This includes recording “no entry” residents proudly declaring that they are not immigrants, but “colonists for the Caliphate”.  These enclaves are recruiting hubs and staging areas for terrorism.  They exist because the West values religious freedom.  They exploit the West’s tolerance and naiveté to promote intolerance and hate.

End Radical Islamic Madrassas

Wahhabi curriculum must be ended in all Islamic religious schools.  National and local governments must review and approve curriculum, educational materials, and faculty for these schools.  They are the primary incubators of treason against host governments, and for fermenting terrorism designed to destroy Western civilization and its values of freedom. 

This is a global war for hearts and minds. The West is fighting a losing battle unless these poisonous training sites are closed.

Wahhabism promotes the most radical interpretation of the Koran.  This includes complete oppression of women, hatred of the West, and approval of jihad against the West and even against more moderate Muslims. Wahhabi leaders have approved destruction and desecration of religious and historic sites across the world.

Promote Islamic Moderates

Western media needs to promote moderate Muslim leaders.  Western universities, think tanks, and other forums need to bring Muslim voices of reason into high profile public dialogues.

Recently, some Islamic leaders and commentators have promoted the need for the equivalent of a Council of Nicea or Vatican II to bring their religion into the modern world.  Some have referenced aggiornamento, a Catholic term meaning a sustained effort to embrace modernity in both doctrine and rite.

There are also substantial Muslim groups, such as the Indonesian- based Pengurus Besar Nahdlatul Ulama (“Awakening of Scholars”), the largest Muslim organization in the world, that promote a peaceful and forward looking interpretation of the Koran.  These groups need larger stages upon which to counter the radicals.

Use Oil as a weapon

America needs to use its growing energy independence as a strategic weapon.  American and Canadian oil needs to be pumped and subsidized until oil prices are driven below $30 barrel.  The West can then do to the oil producing Arab nations what they have done to the West since the mid-1970s.  The West can dictate ending funding of radical Islamic Madrassas, ending banking and funding of terrorist groups, and ending safe havens for terrorists. That would be exchanged for stabilizing and increasing oil prices.  If the Arab states refuse to work with the West, they will see their billions in revenue evaporate back in to the desert. 

This is war – civilization must win.

[Scot Faulkner has served in executive positions in the government and the private sector.  He has worked in the Middle East since 2002, including Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar, and the UAE. http://citizenoversight.blogspot.com/ ]