Anti-Islamism in an Islamic Civil War

The American Spectator ^ | 1.24.13 | Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi

[Zhang Fei]

Recently a video emerged in which pro-Assad militiamen can be seen beating and shooting a prisoner to death. What might seem remarkable is that the militiamen are insulting Islam in the process, mocking the takbir — that is, the cry of “Allahu akbar” — the Islamic conception of paradise for martyrs. In the first half of the video, one of the executioners — disparaging Muhammad — shouts, “F—k you and your prophet.” Later, another of them yells, “Damn your God.”

It may come across as odd that pro-Assad militiamen would disparage the Islamic religion in such a crude manner, but it should be noted that there are many videos like this in which the anti-Islamic sentiment takes a more subtle form.

Thus throughout in the course of the civil war there have been some videos of regime loyalists beating detainees and insisting that they proclaim that “there is no god except Bashar,” which reflects not so much cult-worship of Assad as a mockery of the Shahadah (Muslim declaration of faith, of which the first part goes “There is no deity but God”).

A particularly striking observation is that these videos invariably show pro-Assad militiamen whose accents illustrate that they are Alawites. It may seem odd that Alawites — most frequently described in media reports as either an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam or simply a sect of Shi’ism — would disparage Islam, but an examination of the history of Alawite identity in Syria will demonstrate that such an attitude towards Islam among pro-Assad Alawite militiamen and soldiers comes as no surprise at all.

[Zhang Fei]

Syria enjoys the distinction of being the only country in the Mid East, apart from Israel, that is run by non-Muslims. The article explains the ways in which Alawites are not only non-Muslim (except for propaganda purposes), but in practice actively opposed to the Muslim faith, whether Sunni or Shiite.

[Diogenesis]

And hence, Obama supports Islam as he promised
-— even if it includes al Qaeda.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Zhang Fei.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Aymenn%20Jawad%20Al-Tamimi

[alloysteel]

Secular versus theocracy. Until relatively recently, the country of Turkey had managed to suppress the radical Islamic factions, and ran a country that, by Middle East standards, was pretty much a viable state.

But once the Jihadists get in control, they tend to excesses not seen in Western countries since the effective end of feudalism. For the fanatics, there are three distinct classes - the Noble Islamic Gentlemen, the imams and ayatollahs, and the dhimmi, plus another form of “monkey-people”, the kufir or infidels, somehow subhuman and subject only to slaughter.

It is an error to term this conflict with the Islamic Jihadists as a “war on Terror”. The name of the enemy is the Jihadists, and they have already unilaterally declared war on the rest of humanity. “Anti-Jihadist” has become the new countervailing force in the world.

With the relatively fading influence of Communism, the spectre of Islam as propagated by the Jihadist faction has loomed much larger in the affairs of mankind, and threatens human dignity and wisdom in ways that lead back to some kind of Dark Ages.

[BO Stinkss]

Thanks for posting. This sheds new light for me.

[Patton@Bastogne]

great post !

[JimRed]

No good guys in that fight. Arm both sides and let them kill each other off.

[skinkinthegrass]

!

[Bigg Red]

Thanks for explaining that so clearly.

Dark Age, indeed. I feel it coming.