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8/6/2019 Critic Rand

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EXPOSED

BY OMAR JAVAID

he RAND Corp. claims to seek onlyto bring institutional democracyeconomic development and sociaprogressiveness in the Muslim worldand nothing else. The claim is no

only invalid and void but hypocritical throughand through, something which I shall discussin its appropriate place.

These reports and more do concern theMuslim World and as such must at least beheard about, if not read. The reason beingit will make you more aware of the sociaplayers around you at work and theiunderlying objectives. Besides, it is also anopportunity to clarify to the unsuspectingminds (Muslims or non-Muslims) about thetrue facts and nature of Islam while keepingthem distant from such propagandas. It ialso an opportunity of realization thaIslamour beautiful religionis undethreat. It is under threat both by people

Dr. Angel M. Rabasa:is a RAND Corporation Senior Policy Analyst.He is the lead author of The Muslim World After 9/11 (December2004) and has just completed a project on the future of globalterrorism: "Beyond Al Qaeda: Countering Terrorist and Other Non-Traditional Threats." Before joining the RAND Corporation, Dr.

Rabasa served in a variety of political-military positions in the U.S. Departmentsof State and Defense. He has a B.A. and Ph.D. in history from Harvard University

and was a Knox Fellow at St. Antony's College, Oxford University

Cheryl Benard: Benard is an analyst at RAND Corp. and also theDirector of the Initiative for Middle Eastern Youth (IMEY) Program.She is the wife of Dr. Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad who is the highestranking native Afghani and Muslim in the administration of U.S.President George W. Bush. Mrs. Benard has also written many

feminist-themed novels ridiculing Muslim women who wear Hijab which she

THE RAND CORP. IS A 60-YEAR-OLD SEMI-AUTONOMOUSresearch think-tank for U.S. providing objective analysis andeffective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. It goes without sayingthat Islam is one such challenge that needs immediate addressing and fixing up. It has taken RAND Corp. three distinct yetcomplementary reports to strategize how this can best be doneand it can best be done through the moderates within theMuslim societiesso it is said.

T

An Introduction to RAND & Its Strategies to Doctor Islam

FIXINGRELIGON

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from the within (hypocrites) and peoplefrom the without who are bent on redefiningits principles in strict conformance to theWestern socioeconomic and political ideals.

CIVIL DEMOCRATIC ISLAM:PARTNERS, RESOURCES, ANDSTRATEGIESBY Cheryl Benard, 2003

The suggestions in thisreport , by CherylBenard, according toAbdus Sattar Ghazali,the Executive Editor ofAmerican MuslimPerspectives, arenothing more than a M a c h i a v e l l i a nmanifesto that seeks toe n f o r c e W e s t e r n

hegemony and cultural imperialism throughthe policy of divide-and-rule. The type ofIslam that Benard espouses is a passive andweak Islam that can be easily penetratedand hence reformulated to suit the Westsagenda The recipe to achieve this objectiveis to encourage and promote the so-calledmodernist Muslims and play one section ofthe society against another to split it (intodifferent factions).

Benard does not hesitate to divide the 1.3billion Muslims in the world into four (4)simple categories:

The Fundamentalists who reject

democratic values and contemporaryWestern Culture;

The Traditionalists who are suspiciousof modernity, innovation, and change;

The Modernists who want the Islamic

World to become part of global modernity;and

The Secularists who want the IslamicWorld to accept the division of religion andState.

Benard believes that the Modernists are theWests allies in the Muslims world. Shefurther goes on to define the parameters ofthis particular Muslim group:

Modernists believe that Islam is responsiblefor the underdevelopment of the Muslimsbecause prosperity and progress dependson modernity and democracy (and so the

drive for secularism).

Modernists believe in the historicity ofIslam, i.e., that Islam as it was practiced inthe days of the Prophet reflected eternaltruths as well as historical circumstancesthat were appropriate to that time but areno longer valid.

Modernists do not regard the originalIslamic community or the early years ofIslam as something that one wouldnecessarily wish to reproduce today.

Modernists believe that some verses (suras)

may have been falsely or inaccuratelyrecorded in the Quran.

Modernists believe that the Quran islegend.

It was Angel M. Rabasa (2007) in his reporttitled Building Muslim Moderates Networkwho actually went as further as to namesome of the personalities that actually fit

the description. Not surprisingly, thesepersonalities include only the prominentIslam-bashers: Ayaan Hirsi, Salman Rushdie,Taslima Nasreen, Irshad Manji, Basam Tibi,etc. ImagineSalman Rushie and TaslimaNasreen as the role models of ideal Islam!This goes on to show exactly what type ofIslam is being envisaged and propagated forin these strategic reports.

The 88-page report is divided into threechapters and supported by four appendixes.One of the most important tables in thereport is Marker Issues and the MajorIdeological Positions in Islam which carefullyou t l in e s t h e s t an ce of a l l t h e

fundamentalists, traditionalists, modernists,and secularists in the Muslim world on allcontroversial issues. What is important toknow is that Benard has further subdividedthe Fundamentalists into the Radical andScr ip t u r a l Fu n d ame n t a l i s t s , t h eTraditionalists into Conservative andReformist Traditionalists, and the Secularistsinto Mainstream and Radical Secularists.There are however no sub-divisions in theModernists category.

Cheryl Benard suggests the followingstrategy-mix to align Islam in toe with theWestern agenda:

Pakistan, for example, is home to a vocal andpoliticallypotent fundamentalist segment; it also has a significanttraditionalist population; andpolitically, it wishes to affiliateitself with the modern international community. Howcanthe country reconcile these goals on the issue of Islamiccriminal justice? Abandoningsharia lawwouldalienate the

fundamentalists and portions of the traditionalists, butamputating hands and stoning adulterers would lead tointernational condemnation and alienate domesticmodernists andsome traditionalists.The solution: Imposesharia sentences but do not carry themout.

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BOX A: CIVIC DEMOCRATIC ISLAM: THE STRATEGY (p.63)

Support the Modernists First:

Create Role Models and LeadersPublish and distribute their works at

subsidized cost.Encourage them to write for mass

audiences and for youth.Introduce their views into the

curriculum of Islamic education.Give them a public platform.Make their opinions and judgments on

fundamental questions of religiousinterpretation available to a massaudience in competition with those ofthe fundamentalists and traditionalists,who have Web sites, publishing

houses, schools, institutes, and manyother vehicles for disseminating theirviews.

Position secularism and modernism asa counterculture option fordisaffected Islamic youth.

Facilitate and encourage an awarenessof their pre- and non-Islamic historyand culture, in the media and thecurricula of relevant countries.

Assist in the development ofindependent civic organizations, topromote civic culture and provide aspace for ordinary citizens to educatethemselves about the political process

and to articulate their views.Develop Western Islam: German Islam,

U.S. Islam, etc:

Support the TraditionalistsAgainst the Fundamentalists:

Publicize traditionalist criticism offundamental ist v io lence andextremism; encourage disagreementsb e t w e e n t r ad i t ion al i s t s an dfundamentalists.

Discourage alliances between

traditionalists and fundamentalists. Encourage cooperation betweenmodernists and the traditionalists whoare closer to the modernist end of thespectrum.

Where appropriate, educate thetraditionalists to equip them better fordebates against fundamentalists.Fundamentalists are often rhetoricallysuperior, while traditionalists practicea politically inarticulate folk Islam.

In such places as Central Asia, they

may need to be educated and trainedin orthodox Islam to be able to standtheir ground.

Increase the presence and profile ofmodernists in traditionalist institutions.

Discriminate between different sectorsof traditionalism. Encourage those with

a greater affinity to modernism, suchas the Hanafi law school, versus others.Encourage them to issue religiousopinions and popularize these toweaken the authority of backwardWahhabi inspired religious rulings. Thisrelates to funding: Wahhabi moneygoes to the support of the conservativeHanbali school. It also relates toknowledge: More-backward parts ofthe Muslim world are not aware ofadvances in the application andinterpretation of Islamic law.

Encourage the popularity andacceptance of Sufism.

Confront and Oppose theFundamentalists:

Challenge their interpretation of Islamand expose inaccuracies.

Reveal their linkages to illegal groupsand activities.

Publicize the consequences of their

violent acts. Demonstrate their inability to rule, to

achieve positive development of theircountries and communities.

Address these messages especially to

young people, to pious traditionalistpopulations, to Muslim minorities in

the West, and to women. Avoid showing respect or admiration

for the violent feats of fundamentalistextremists and terrorists. Cast them asdisturbed and cowardly, not as evilheroes.

Encourage journalists to investigateissues of corruption, hypocrisy, andimmorality in fundamentalist andterrorist circles.

Encourage divis ions amongfundamentalists.

Selectively Support Secularists:

E n c o u r a g e r e c o g n i t i o n o ffundamentalism as a shared enemy,discourage secularist alliance with anti-U.S. forces on such grounds asnationalism and leftist ideology.

Support the idea that religion and thestate can be separate in Islam too andthat this does not endanger the faithbut, in fact, may strengthen it.

Support the idea that religion and

the state can be separate in Islamtoo andthat this does not endangerthe faith but, in fact, maystrengthen it.



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BUILDING MODERATE MUSLIMNETWORKSBy Angel M. Rabasa, 2007

Only recently, in 2007,

Angel M. Rabasa haswritten yet anotherreport for RAND Corp.t i t l e d : B u i l d i n gModerate Musl imNetworks pointing outthe various socialsectors that could andwould constitute thebuilding blocks of the

proposed moderate Muslim networks. Thesesocial sectors include, in priority wise:(Box C)

Furthermore, he also suggests that theprograms directed at the above audiencesshould have the following foci: democraticeducation, media, gender equality, and policyadvocacy. (Box D)

With regard to geographic focus, AngelRabasa proposes a shift of priorities fromthe Middle East to the regions of the Muslimworld where greater freedom of action ispossible, where environment is more opento activism and influence, and where successis more likely and more perceptible.

The report concludes by giving severalexamples of moderate Muslims, and notsurprisingly they include prominent Islambashers. The list includes Ayaan Hirsi Ali;Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasreen, IrshadManji, Basam Tibi, etc.

BOX C: HOW TO ENGAGE SOCIAL SECTORS TO BUILD MODERATE MUSLIM NETWORKS

1. Liberal and secular Muslimacademics and intellectuals

This sector is the primary building blocfor an international moderate Muslimnetwork.

2. Young moderate religiousscholars

A liberal or moderate Muslim movementwith a mass base will depend on enlistingthe active participation of moderateclerics, particularly of young clerics, whowill become the religious leadership ofthe future.

3. Community activists

The muscle of this initiative, communityactivists propagate the ideas developedby liberal and moderate intellectuals.They take real personal risks byconfronting often-violent extremists inthe battle of ideas, and are the victimsof fatwas and violent attacks. Thesegroups, therefore, are most in need of

the protection and support that aninternational network can provide

4. Womens groups engaged ingender equality campaigns

Groups and organizations have emergedto advance womens rights andopportunities in the areas of legal rights,

health, education, and employment. Thisupsurge in womens civil-society groupsin turn provides opportunities formoderate network-building.

5. Moderate journalists, writers,and communicators.

Through the use of the Internet andot h e r n e w me d ia ou t s id e o f

governments control, radical messageshave penetrated deeply into Muslimcommunities around the world. Toreverse radical trends in the Muslimmedia, therefore, it will be critical tosupport local moderate radio andtelevision programming, as well as Websites and other nontraditional media.

BOX D: FOCUS OF ATTENTION

1. Democratic education:

...particularly programs that use Islamictexts and traditions for authoritativeteachings that support democratic andpluralistic values

2. Media.

Support for moderate media is critical tocombating media domination by anti-

democratic and conservative Muslim

elements.

3. Gender equality.

The issue of womens rights is a majorbattleground in the war of ideas withinIslam, and womens rights advocatesoperate in very adverse environments.Promotion of gender equality is a criticalcomponent of any project to empower

moderate Muslims.

4. Policy advocacy.

Islamists have political agendas, andmoderates need to engage in policyadvocacy as well. Advocacy activities are

important in order to shape the politicaland legal environment in the Muslim

world.

EXPOSED

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RESPONSE FROM THE MUSLIMWORLD:

The Rand reports try to create a fictitiousvision of Muslims and of Islam, where it is

antihuman, uncreative, authoritarian, andintrinsically against Western societies. It isan ethnocentric view of Islam that dominatescurrent representations of Islam that arereductive, predominantly negative, andencouraging a culture of Islamophobia.Abdus Sattar GhazliExecutive Editor, American MuslimPerspective

it is a purely ideologically motivated effortt o p e r p e t u at e t h e f r i c t ion an dmisunderstandings between the UnitedStates and Muslim societies, rather than tofind positive solutions through mutualrespect.Sheikh Mohamed El-Moctar El-ShinqitiImam, The Islamic Center of South Plains,Lubbock, Texas, USA

I feel greatly offended by this think tank,which is known for its bias against Islam. Itclaims the right to define the concepts, thedescription, and the thoughts for a nationthat almost represents the third of the world.It further suggests to it a new God, religion,and prophet.Dr. Taha Jaber Al-'AlwanyPresident, The School of Islamic and SocialSciences, USA

The Shari`ah offers women status and rightsthat are unprecedented in Western societiesand not available in contemporary Westernlegal systems.Dr. Muhammad Ra'fat OthmanThe Islamic Research Academy, Member,Egypt

It is not helpful to resort to self-servingarbitrary, undefined, and stereotypical, andoften times superficial classifications of otherpeople.Dr. Jamal BadawiProfessor of Management and ReligiousStudies, Saint Mary's University in Halifax,

Nova Scotia, Canada

The report concludes by giving severalexamples of moderate Muslims, andsurprisingly they include prominent Islambashers. The list includes Ayaan Hirsi Ali,Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasreen, IrshadManji, Basam Tibi, etc. Ultimately, it is notcommitment to democratic values andpractices, but proximity to Islam, that setsmoderates and radicals in the eyes of theauthor of the recent RAND report onmoderate Islam.Dr. Louay M. SafiExecutive Director, ISNA Leadership

Development Center, Indiana, USA

the report considers the application ofIslamic Shari`ah to be a form of racism, whilein fact, this view is racist in its own right.Dr. Nasr Farid Wasil

Former Mufti of Egypt

They avoid speaking about the oppressionthat is widespread all over the world as wellas about the double-standard policy thatgoverns the world, in addition to other suchcauses that stir up terrorism. They onlyadvocate conflicts between civilizations, asthey serve the interests of weapons mafiaand provokers of wars, like what ishappening in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, andPalestine.By Sheikh Husain HalawahSecretary General, European Council forFatwa and Research

Ref: Islamonline.net

The author is an Engineer by profession. Hm a y b e r e a c h e d a

[email protected]

I feel greatly offendedby this think tank, whichis knownfor its bias againsIslam. It claims the right to define the concepts, the description, and ththoughts for a nationthat almost represents the thirdof the world. It furthesuggests to it a newGod, religion, andprophet.

Dr. Taha Jaber Al-'Alwany

President, The School of Islamic andSocial Sciences, USA


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