The ex-jihadi's changing theology

Things that don't help us 'win' 'The War Against Terror'
The behaviour of Dick Cheney

Things that might help us manage the current situation better
Understanding what drives self-styled British jihadis.

Hassan Butt, former British jihadi who helped recruit UK Muslims to fight in Afghanistan explains his youthful political ideaology, his rather feeble argument that British Muslims have ''no covenant, no allegiance'' to Britain as 'they did not ask to be born here', and his hopeless pipedreams of a Sharia Caliphate here, ( August 2005, when he was 25 years old) in the usual depressing rent-a-rant illogical way i.e:

''The British establishment has always hated Islam. Look at the crusades''

''I would agree to being called a radical and one day I may even be called a terrorist, if Allah permits me. That is something it would be an honour to be called.''

Now here he is, writing in July 2007. He has renounced his previous groups, (and has been stabbed and threatened for it). Look how he has changed...

''I believe that the issue of terrorism can be easily demystified if Muslims and non-Muslims start openly to discuss the ideas that fuel terrorism. (The Muslim community in Britain must slap itself awake from this state of denial and realise there is no shame in admitting the extremism within our families, communities and worldwide co-religionists.) However, demystification will not be achieved if the only bridges of engagement that are formed are between the BJN and the security services.'' ( Butt, 2007)

He is talking about something that I have been driven to explore for two years. I wrote about it again yesterday in this essay that got bumped by the airport/carbomb stuff, called 'My Brother , The Bomber'.

In this blog, I have tried to look at some of the ideas that fuel terrorism. I have said many times that I believe the disasters of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, rendition, torture, the witches' cauldron of sectarian violence that has developed in Iraq as a result of lack of post-invasion planning and the legitimacy of the war in the first place, act as a recruiting sergeant for the sense of rage and victimhood that extremists use to try to give credibility to their cause by pointing at ''Muslim global suffering''.

This is not to say that I blame Blair or the Government for the bombs. I am saying that the ISC did specifically warn Blair that invading Iraq was likely to raise the terrorist threat to the U.K. I have said that our actions at home and abroad, if they add to the sense of festering grievance amongst Muslims - and other subjects - by being heavy-handed, unfair, untruthful, etc, are not helping any of us. Nor is making us generally less free, helpful. If terrorists seek to attack our free society, yet fail, what is the point in us then attacking our own rights and freedoms ourselves? Own goal.

But Butt makes an interesting point: It's The Theology, Stupid. And yet we don't talk about that.

''By blaming the government for our actions, those who pushed the 'Blair's bombs' line did our propaganda work for us. More important, they also helped to draw away any critical examination from the real engine of our violence: Islamic theology.'' ( Butt, 2007)

Sometimes it seems to be almost taboo for non-Muslims, even Muslims sometimes, to try to challenge extremist beliefs by raising theological questions of the Qu'ran and Hadith and discussing/disagreeing. Why? Yes, for Muslims the Qu'ran is the holy and perfect word of God; none the less, as I understand it, learning from scholars is encouraged as part of development and witness to faith. With extremist Islamist belief systems, there is a definite theology there, there is a series of teachings interpreted by men. Who may be revered but who are only human. Who can be challenged.

It is time they were challenged and discussed, publicly, regularly; in many cases their teachings are illogical and debased, and cruel, and easily disproved. It is not just something that Muslims can take an interest in; if preachers are peddling an ideaology that tells young British men it is okay to kill the men and women and children you live amongst, then that needs to be spoken out against.

''By refusing to challenge centuries-old theological arguments, the tensions between Islamic theology and the modern world grow larger every day. It may be difficult to swallow but the reason why Abu Qatada - the Islamic scholar whom Palestinian militants recently called to be released in exchange for the kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston - has a following is because he is extremely learned and his religious rulings are well argued. His opinions, though I now thoroughly disagree with them, have validity within the broad canon of Islam.''( Butt, 2007)

Here, (PDF) is a very respected Muslim scholar taking on the arguments of Abu Qu'tada, one of the main proponents of Islamist extremist theology. I found it both interesting and reasonably easy to understand. Like many non-Muslims, I have read the Qu'ran, and Hadith. I am not saying that I am a scholar, I am very far indeed from being knowledgable. I am merely a non-Muslim who is interested in theological issues, who enjoyed studying Theology at Uni and asking questions and reading different opinions. I can read around and apply critical thinking to sources, and if I can do it, so can anyone, surely? There is no harm in it.

''If our country is going to take on radicals and violent extremists, Muslim scholars must go back to the books and come forward with a refashioned set of rules and a revised understanding of the rights and responsibilities of Muslims whose homes and souls are firmly planted in what I'd like to term the Land of Co-existence. And when this new theological territory is opened up, Western Muslims will be able to liberate themselves from defunct models of the world, rewrite the rules of interaction and perhaps we will discover that the concept of killing in the name of Islam is no more than an anachronism'' ( Butt, 2007)

I'm delighted to be speaking briefly at a terrorism conference at Brunel University tomorrow. I will be going to another conference in September. With the current news, the need to hear each other and exchange ideas is more pressing than ever. I want to listen, I want to learn, I want to engage.

It's really encouraging that just as the latest generation of UK terrorist strikes have been so inept, so the man who was an active recruiter at the time of the 7/7 bombs has already grown up, and moved on, and is now bravely speaking out. Perhaps the ineptitude of the latest failed bombers is because the security services have disrupted their ability to fly out to Pakistan and train with more able bomb-makers and indoctrinators. In which case, well done to the security services and police. Perhaps we are closer to ''winning'' than we think. Winning back our freedom to think for ourselves and be ourselves, winning our young men back so they can think freely too.

UPDATE: cracking post by Septic Isle