The Muslim Solution to Afghanistan

THE MUSLIM SOLUTION TO AFGHANISTAN


The whole Afghan problem should be handed over to the Muslim nations. It would be good for them to work together to secure and help Afghanistan.
It was Saudi and UAE money that funded the terrorists, so let them now pay to put Afghanistan back together. I am not saying that Saudi and UAE princes should dictate what kind of Islam it will be in Afghanistan. Quite the contrary. How should we characterize Wahhabi Islam? This way: “The letter of the law killeth the spirit of the law.” As an Arabic lit scholar, schooled at Harvard and NYU, I have no problem finding passages in the Qur’an that go directly against what al Qaideh (and Ibn Wahhab) says and does. So the most competent jurists must have their say, rather than be always usurped by the hotheads who know nothing.
NATO is already victorious in Afghanistan. Over 3,200 schools have been constructed, 45 clinics set up, new sewers lines in Kabul and Kandahar, new wells, paved roads, the repair and improvement of scores of mosques – the first part of the mission is successful. Having lived in Afghanistan let me say quickly that these material improvements, are huge events that positively change the lives of millions of Afghans, more than we think. But there are more communities that do not get help – the work is not over - but with time all can benefit, especially if other Muslim countries are helping.
The Pentagon will probably not like this notion of handing Afghanistan to the Muslim nations. Rightly, they suspect any Afghanistan initiative by the Muslim nations, might be infiltrated by more boorish ignorant usurpers, the hot heads. But I believe every one of these Muslim countries has to confront certain issues, which they have ignored. By being forced to play a role in Afghanistan’s rebirth, they will come into contact with the (relatively) few competent jurists – men who walk the ‘Beaten Path’ (al-Muwatta’) of Malik Ibn ‘Anas. (He was the blind man who collected the earliest juridical decisions after Muhammed.) The Maliki school (madzhab) is the oldest, the most liberal, and the most secular of the seven schools of Muslim jurisprudence. Kuwait, the UAE, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauretania, Mali, are just the biggest regions where Maliki law is custom. Let them lead this Afghanistan project.
These Muslim nations refused to help in Iraq, which is amazing. In fact, there’s a string of other areas where the Muslims refuse the take responsibility. How can they refuse, with the whole world watching, when Europe and the USA, Russia and China, formally request the handing over to them of Afghanistan?
Before the troubles, Islam in Afghanistan was considered the purest, the straightest, the simplest. There were practically no intolerant fundamentalists. Looking back over the 10 months I spent there 1972-73, there was little discernible tension between secular and sectarian. It just wasn’t an issue. The king orchestrated a kind of harmony. So, involvement in Afghanistan is a ‘required seminar’ to the rest of the Muslim nations, which are seething.
Such a handover would be closely supervised. With so many observers, there’s little chance that such a world Muslim initiative would be co-opted by aggressive hot heads, armed or unarmed. The initiative would be transparent, supervised.
This Muslim expeditionary force, once in place, can disarm and defang the terrorists.
Because so many of our fine soldiers are living and learning with and from the Afghans, withdrawal of American forces is sad. Our personnel can learn so much from these extraordinary people. The gift giving goes both ways. And having given our gift, let the Muslim nations receive theirs, whether they like it or not.
By intentionally handing over Afghanistan to the Muslim nations, we would neutralize the world’s suspicions and misunderstandings; and they would love us, follow us - and us them. “We would be theirs, and they would be ours” as they say in Central Asia.
America doesn’t wish to conquer any nation – but the Muslim world does not see it that way. But what if we formally handed Afghanistan over to them, while withdrawing from Iraq? We throw it right back onto them, while neutralizing their wide-spread belief, erroneous of course, that the United States is an ‘imperial world-dominating crusading Christian superpower.’
In searching for the right solution, we should remember that the correct solution would solve, settle, several issues at once. It would be like a faceted jewel. It would possess unique applicability to other situations as well. Suppose that the civil war in Iraq picks up after the Americans and their coalition partners depart. A Muslim army in Iraq would be highly useful. It would resist Iranian influence. It might well resolve Iraq’s long-standing ethnic/sectarian impasse.
And in Palestine including Gaza, in southern Lebanon, the occupied Golan heights of Syria, and in Israel itself, a secular Muslim army, led by qualified Maliki jurists, can provide Hamas and other militants, a way of handing back usurped authority without losing face. Israel is, of course, a Muslim nation, its law court fully conversant with the Shari’a. (e.g., it uses fiqh routinely in the administration of waqf properties). Israel has no argument with responsible Muslim representatives in an over-watch administration able to de-mobilize hotheads. Quite the contrary.
Somalia, Sudan and Yemen may also benefit from an informed armed intermediary. Such a liberal Muslim initiative would be partly religious (mediating between Sunni and Shi’a), part administrative (able to recognize targets, persuade and de-mobilize them), part social services (strengthening the secular aspect of the Shari’a), and part an informed army (able to negotiate and coerce).
Muslim nations coming out of such multi-lateral assignments, guided by their own liberal muftis, would be a bulwark against the loud violent imposters in their own countries. This Muslim army would have its own luminous interior, basing their actions on a correct rather than a counterfeit Islam. It is not hard to see which parts of the Qur’an, hadith and shari’a would compose that rigorous operating ethic.
Though upstaged by the radicals, the terrorists, Muslims still adhere to a kind of chivalry. If that noble ethic does not apply to the ‘colonists’, it is because the West is too strong, too biased, or so they perceive. To themselves, they want to appear their very best. This chivalric virtue can be, in the mouths of jurists, an appeal to the boorish ignorant hotheads, pulling the carpet out from under their feet.
Being poor and fractious, how can the Muslims possibly agree on a western scheme? Even without global pressure, there will be many Muslims who approve of the idea of a small, moderate Muslim army, made up of 63 nations, and able to deploy in the field, to solve their own problems. With world pressure, perhaps with some public and backroom shaming, the Muslim countries will step up to their own authentic destinies. Don’t they want power, too?

by John Paul Maynard, Middle East and Central Asia specialist.
56 Village Park, Amherst, MA 01002 USA
Tel.: 413 549 7726 e-mail: tulku7@verizon.net

JP Maynard has lived and worked as an independent social scientist in Russia, Uzbekistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, Serbia, Switzerland, France and Sweden. He is the long-time editor/publisher of The Middle East Speculum Report, now online (through Google), and the irregular Central Asian Law Review. He holds degrees from Wesleyan (1972) and Harvard Universities (1978).

Iran's Time Has Come

The protest in Teheran and other Iranian cities (including Qom and Meshad)are following same track as 1979 'build up of frustration'.
But note Ayatollah Khamanei's speech on June 19th, where he threatened to unleash the full powers of the state. That the Shah avoided by leaving the country.If the Shah's troops were so disloyal, are we now supposed to believe the narrow sectarians hold a firmer grip on national institutions? Will the rebellion flounder under threats of force, force itself? At night one hears the shouts of Allah-u-Akbar across the roofs. And not just in Tehran.
Many people have gripes. Many would digest and swallow their own poverty if the state itself operated rationally. Allegiance to armies can be very powerful. In recent years these armies (the Pasdaran, the Baseej, et al.)have grown through recruitment of the very poor. Can peasant soldiers think for themselves? Sometimes. Remember the terrible legacy of Irani suicide assaults against the Iraq. That war could have been resolved in its ifrst year, butwas allowed to rage for eight years. A cool 400,000 Iranian children perished in those assaults. That truth the Marja'een (the Shi'ite clerical hierarchy)cannot dispel or banish from the army.
As for the USA: Americans should be sure to correctly pronounce the words "Iraq" and "Iran." Even educated Americans, even the troops in the field, mispronounced these words willfully: ay-raq and ay-ran (with a high nasal 'a' at the end. The correct pronunciation is of course ee-rAq and ee-rAn.Now ytou have no excuse unless, of course, you mean to demean and humilitate the 'enemy' which means you are disqualified as a player, or even as a reader of this blog.

Where Middle Eastern leaders come from

Middle Eastern leaders almost invariably come from rural towns or villages, including the Mubarrak family in Egypt, the clerical rulers of Iran,the many Arab emirs tracing origins out from the desert, plus many new office holders in Turkey, in Syria (where the Nusayris or Alewites, hold sway. Also consider David Ben Gurian's preference for rural living.

The reason is that the cities are seen by most as symptoms and sources of corruption, economically, culturally, historically.Rural areas are considered the rightful source for the most wholesome identifications, in the Middle East, if not the rest of the world.

It is quite different than the USA or Europe where cities are seen as cultural capitals, with its cuisine, fashion, music. New York, Boston, San Francisco, and, once, New Orleans, all served as cultural beacons. Places in the mind. But it is different in the Middle East. The region is littered with ruined cities.

Everyone is Lying

The Speculum has been delicately separating the tissues of the collective body politic. You too can venture forth into the unknown, by studying the lies that all players maintain. The curious law here is that you can't change somebody unless you know yourself inside out thoroughly. In fact, there are just three ways to influence others: 1) by setting an example 2) by using suggestion 3) by using competition We can go even further into the marrow by just forgiving everyone, then asking other countries to enjoin us in severe self-criticism. Only an open admission of mistakes will generate the trust needed. If we hang our sins around our collective neck, other countries will be moved to do the same. Warriors often ended up fighting alongside their enemies, yielding a degree of mutual respect.
There are American lies, European and Russian lies, the lies of the politically active clergy, living lies of imposters, Israel's lies, Arab lies, the lie of ther militants and the terrorists. If is impossible to say one is more virtuous than the other, then how can one play a one-sided blame game? The price for a ticket to the admission of the 2 state solution, is self-critique, by all involved. For certainly the people of Palestine have failed - and that includes the 140,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and the Golan. The American lies hurt the US by letting Israel do whatever it wanted - expand into Arab lands, using the gun to suppress even the local farmers. Both the Arabs and Israelis are sick. So too Russia, China, the USA.

Muhammed's Pain

MUHAMMED’S PAIN

What they do in my name is an abomination
Worse than blasphemy because they mock God
And use terror to seize power and then kill.
But my pain is not like their pain of eternal hell.

“The power is God’s alone.
And God is stern in punishment.”
(Qur'an)
But look, the willful usurpers. Their power
Comes from the barrel of a gun, from terror.

They oppress women which is strange because
The Qur’an says women and men are equal.

How many times in the sacred Qur’an
Is it said that non-combatants cannot be attacked?

As for the hadith, Muhammed’s own words,
they are even more explicit:

“If two Muslim parties are at war,
Determine who started it
Then attack the aggressor.”

“If Muslims are faced with a contest
Between a righteous non-Muslim lord and
A non-righteous Muslim,
Fight for the righteous non-Muslim lord.”

Consider for example the Qur’anic verse:

“Those who believe and those
Who follow the Jewish scriptures,
And the Christians and Sabians
Anyone who believes in God
And the Last Day, and
Who work righteousness
Shall have their reward
With their Lord. On them
Shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
(Qur'an 2:62)
So Islam insists that Jews and Christians and anyone who recognizes
Higher Mind, God, are believers to be protected and respected.
As for the indiscriminate slaughter of non-combatants, civilians,
The voice of the Qur’an is furious:

“If a man kills a believer
On purpose, his recompense
Is Hell, to abide therein
Forever. And the wrath
And the curse of God
Are upon him A dreadful penalty
Is prepared for him.”
(4:93)
Muhammed’s hopes for the Middle East are very different from the situation in the Islamic world today.
God in the Qur’an calls for brotherhood, and condemns divisive accusatory talk, lies told against others,
as does the Judaeo-Christian commandment:

“Thou shall not bear false witness against another.”

It is not hard to see how hate speech rises to oppression, then terror,
Resulting in a fearful chaos, burnt out wastelands like Gaza, Chechnya,
Southern Lebanon, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Somalia and the Sudan.

Ethnic/sectarian groups fall victim to their own propaganda
And rise up to take power. Liberal secular people would
Shut them up if only Israel and the USA did not give
The Arab and Persian radicals a pretence of truth..

God has no chance in an environment where ego is in charge.
Humanity has no chance if left to a dim self-willed clergy
Be they rabbis, priests or mullahs.

Behind every real religion is a real way
Or there once was a real way
A way to develop, grow with God.
But the fractious personalities
Cover and dominate the Essence.
Any growth of essence
Is at the expense of personality. Therefore
Go against the ego and the small mind.

But this is not the way of loud popular sects.
Their leaders are self-selecting and gloat.
Even their children become violent serial killers.

Any way in which ego rules is cut off from truth..
Any way which claims to be the exclusive
Way to God, is not nearly humble enough
To be granted access to – the Power.

But look at how it is on Earth. The loud
Ostentatious religion is what it is -
A display of the ego, a usurpation
Of the body and the body politic
By willfully ignorant personality.

So do not ever think a viable political
Religion can arise from the sects,
From self-appointed clergy
Who do not doubt themselves.

They think they know, but
the way to God is not to know.

The ugly truth is that most Muslims
Have not the classical Arabic skills
To be able to read the Qur’an.

The mullahs and the ayatollahs
Were, are, unfamiliar with critical approaches.
They have no liberal education.
They were never taught to doubt
The crude constructions in their heads.

For some reason they believe they can select
Some verses in the Qur’an and ignore others.

Muhammed was not much of a warrior.
He was forced to fight to save himself
His family and friends. Only after his death
Did the Muslim Arabs move out of Arabia.

There are verses urging Muslims to fight,
But they were handed down as contemporary guidance
For Muhammed’s immediate situation.
They were not intended to be
Universal proverbs.

Muhammed doubted himself, his head,
So Angel Gabriel moved to encourage him.

This is the man who, when he first started hearing
The words which are now the holy Qur’an,
Thought he was going insane and wanted
To kill himself.

Contrast that with the hard-hearted mullahs
And ayatollahs and their executors.

People think conflict in the Middle East is normal
But it is not normal. It is already the worse case scenario.

Because the fundamentalists are so full of themselves,
They can’t escape but aim to kill and to maim.
They are what they are: they can only be themselves.
And their stupid ideas and behaviors help no one.
They do not benefit from experimentation, or cross-fertilization.
They do not think for themselves.

God says in the Qur’an: “There is no compulsion in religion.”
But it seems many neighborhoods fear armed thugs
Backed up by renegade self-willed “clerics of the ego.”.
They each give what the other needs,
The thugs get some legitimacy
The clerics lethal power and protection.

Instead of looking at themselves,
They blame outsiders for their problems.

It is God that leads them astray
And Eternal Hell is their just reward.






Don't let the Middle East (or Texas) colonize your head, or determine whether you're warm, or mobile, well fed. What you don't know will kill you.
You might enjoy the Shortfalls: The Novel on blogger.

Don't let the Middle East (or Texas) colonize your head, or determine whether you're warm, or mobile, well fed. What you don't know will kill you.
You might enjoy the Shortfalls: The Novel on blogger.

The Israeli invasion of Gaza may have been technically legal, but disproportionate. The Arab world gets no accurate reportage, as everything is Israel's fault. There are two sides to this issue. On both, extremists hold sway - they need each other and call up each other. It's foolish not to surrender - Israel is too strong. If the Arabs opted for peace, Israel would fall under strong pressure to correspond.