While it would be ridiculous to allow the West the moral high ground, it is even more absurd for the Muslim world to transfer the responsibility for ISIS on to the West.
While it would be ridiculous to allow the West the moral high ground, it is even more absurd for the Muslim world to transfer the responsibility for ISIS on to the West
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is emulating al Qaeda, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Boko Haram and pretty much every single Sunni Islamist militant organisation in the world by taking up arms vying to establish a regional – and eventually global – caliphate.
Many in the West and the lion’s share of the Muslim intelligentsia, meanwhile, are relentlessly filling column spaces putting almost the entire blame for the Iraq crisis on George W Bush and Tony Blair.
Had Bush and Blair not decided to invade Iraq in 2003, would ISIS be wreaking havoc right now? Of course not. Health permitting, it would be Saddam Hussein who would be taking care of the wreaking bit. And, with Saddam at the helm, why would there be any need for a Sunni militant reactionary movement? Plus Saddam wasn’t a fan of militancy that wasn’t orchestrated via his command.
If Barack Obama had not hastily removed the US forces in 2007, would we witness the ongoing crisis? That might be slightly more difficult to answer; but it is hard to imagine any amount of sectarian diplomacy bridging the Shia-Sunni divide in Iraq in the last seven years.
The sectarian conflict has been there for 14 centuries. And if history, and the rest of the Middle East, is anything to go by, the odds are that a Shia prime minister like Nuri al-Maliki is not keeping his nose to the grindstone endeavouring to create an inclusive government or military.
While it would be ridiculous to allow the West the moral high ground that it is hankering after ever since ISIS began flexing its muscles, it is even more absurd for the Muslim world to transfer the responsibility for our own mess on to the West.
Lethally absurdity one might add.
Because the problem isn’t the US adhering to its national self-interests; the issue is that most Muslim countries don’t pay much heed to theirs.
It is always amusing to witness opinion makers in the Muslim world clamouring for the US to take responsibility for creating disharmony in their states, laying the burden of rectification on the Americans, all while bellowing about their sovereignty being breached.
It is even more amusing to witness the Pakistani intelligentsia that has finally warmed up to the idea of owning its own war against the Taliban, preferring to blame the US for the mess in Iraq.
The roots of the ongoing conflict in Iraq predate the American invasion. They actually predate Christopher Columbus discovering America by seven odd centuries. The roots are sectarian and the war over who is the true follower of Islam began when the first caliph of Islam was taking oath. The ‘true and false’ sectarian fault lines were established in 680 AD at Karbala. The fault lines have since been branching out, causing religious quivers for the past 1400 years.
Sectarian fault lines are more conspicuous than any nationalistic unity in almost every Muslim state.
It is no coincidence that sectarian demographics are at the heart of the various crises in the Middle East.
It is no coincidence that ISIS, TTP, Boko Haram, et al are following an identical ideology wherein outlawing and massacring everyone who disagrees with you has been god sanctioned.
It is no coincidence that Iraq, Nigeria and Pakistan, countries that are so different in everything barring their religious identity, are facing a common predicament.
It is also not a coincidence at all that the Muslim world hasn’t managed to solve its problems while ignoring the elephant in the room.
It is a no brainer then that tracing the commonalities among ISIS, TTP and Boko Haram, might give us all a ‘hint’ as to what that elephant in the room is.
When a religion’s political doctrine is being used as the rationale behind nationwide terrorism in a country, it is suicidal to incorporate said religion in politics. The political policy of the religion bolsters the religion’s inherent superiority complex, leading to antediluvian modes of suppression for the ‘wrong’ followers and non-believers.
Outlawing and butchering over ideological differences is as medieval as actions get, and the modern day solution to this particular problem is making religion irrelevant as a political entity. Sectarianism and religious extremism in turn are nipped in the bud.
Sectarianism and Takfir is at the heart of the quagmire that the Muslim world is precipitously sinking into. Any attempts to look elsewhere for either the problem or the solution will throw us into the vicious circle that we have hogged for almost a millennia and a half.
Kunwar Khuldune Shahid is a journalist and writer. Follow him on Twitter
22 Responses to “The responsibility for ISIS doesn’t lie with the West”
Just Visiting
So the country you chose as proof that Sunnis and Shia can live happily together: is a country where BOTH are in a minority.
So you seem to be supporting the view – that in countries where either Sunni or Shia are in the majority: there will be Sunni/Shia conflict!
Ortega
Why are you just emphasising Sunnis and Shi’ites? The Ibadis are part of the wider Khajarite strain of Islam which historically has had more hostile relations with relations with Sunnis than Sunnis and Shias have had with eachother. I pointed to Oman because all 3 sects live there without any notable problems. My point was that the current sectarian violence isn’t due to some innate disposition of these sects to fight eachother that goes back 14 centuries as the author claimed. Contemporary Sunni Gulf financing of puritan movements is much more important than some supposed long standing hatred.
Just Visiting
It was you, not me, that ’emphasised sunnis and Shias’ when you wrote above:
> Shia and Sunni dynasties were happy to work with each other throughout history.
> I pointed to Oman because all 3 sects live there without any notable problems.
So you now admit – Oman was not relevant at all, to the issue of Sunnis/Shias – just a red herring.
> My point was that the current sectarian violence isn’t due to
some innate disposition of these sects to fight each other that goes back 14 centuries as the author claimed.
So what do you say about the violence between Sunnis and Shias that started right back at the start:
From Wiki:
> The tragedy in Karbala has had an impact on religious conscience of Muslims beyond its sacredness among Shiites.[9] In the long term, the cruel killings at Karbala became an example of the brutality of the Umayyads and fueled the later Shiite movements.
Lastly, you said
> Contemporary Sunni Gulf financing of puritan movements is much more important than some supposed long standing hatred.
I’d agree that the new money in the gulf is a huge problem – but I’d say the money is being used to encourage the same violence that stems back to the roots of Islam.
tezz
Actually the first part is correct, and the last two sentences are a load of crap. I find it disgusting that you want to send more soldiers out to die in these places. Let people in these countries deal with their own problems. If you want to go fight in Syria or Iraq you go, but dont you dare suggest our army go and do your dirty work for you. The 2003 invasion was a total disaster to both the West and the Middle East, the best thing we can do is stay out of other people’s affairs!
Ortega
So you now admit – Oman was not relevant at all, to the issue of Sunnis/Shias – just a red herring.
The author pointed to Sunni/Shia violence. I used Oman to make a general point about sectarianism in Islam. I know that in the West it’s popular to break Islam into Sunnis and Shia but historically it is Sunnis, Shia and Khawarij.
The tragedy in Karbala has had an impact on religious conscience of Muslims beyond its sacredness among Shiites
This first sentence you quoted disproves your general point. Karbala is important to Shias and Sunnis, Shia just emphasize it more because they identify with Muhammed’s family more than Sunnis do. Sunnis do not identify with the villains (from the Shia perspective) of Karbala, and Shias do not identify the villains as “Sunnis”. They just portray them as oppressive monarchical forces. Some modern Shia even equate the modern (non-Sunni) regime in Tehran with the villains of Karbala, which shows it’s not seen by Shias primarily in Shia vs Sunni terms.