Religious freedom between Islam and fanatic Muslims

By Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour

USCIRF Fellow (2009-2010)

Acknowledgment

The author would like to express his greatest appreciation for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for the opportunity to work on this book over the past year. Without the institutional support of the Commission and the patient guidance of Dr. Dwight Bashir, the Deputy Director for Policy and Research, this work would have never seen the lights. For him and for the Commission, the other is indefinitely grateful.

Ahmed Subhy Mansour

September 2010

Contents

The research is divided into three main parts, after an initial introduction:

·         Part One: Freedom of Religion in Islam

·         Part Two :Fanatic Muslims violating Islamic value of religious freedom:

o   Section one: Muslim History in brief glance

o   Section two: Some samples of the war of ideas in the field of religious freedom, done by the Quranists during the last twenty years

·         Part three: Suggestions for American policy makers in the field of dealing with Muslim World and religious freedom

I. Freedom of religion in Islam: this section discusses the following:

Preface of Part 1

(1) How to understand the Quran and authentic Islam

(2) Freedom of religion in Islam at a quick glance

Chapter I: The Roots of Freedom of Religion in Islam

(1) Freedom of religion as a test for humans

(2) Freedom of religion in Quran

Chapter II: Dialogue is Evidence of Freedom of Religion in Islam

(1) Dialogue is evidence of free will

(2) Decency of dialogue in the Quran

(3) In Dialogue:  Recognizing and accepting religious freedom for the other party

Chapter III: Freedom of Religion Applied by the Prophet Muhammad

(1) “No compulsion in religion”

(2) Freedom of religion in Prophet Muhammad’s Government

(3) How far oppositions enjoyed freedom of opinion

(4) The Extent of Opposition in prophet Muhammad’s Government

Chapter IV: Muslim’s Identity Belongs to His Religious Freedom, not His Country or Nation:

(1) On the practical level

(2) The essence of belonging

(3) The true believer and nationalism

(4) Migration for religious freedom is the essence of belonging to Islam

(5) Contradiction between the Wahhabi Identity and Islamic Identity

(6) In conclusion:

Chapter V:  Religious Freedom and Islamic Values of Justice and Tolerance

(1) Between Islamic justice and forgiveness

(2) Infidel, unbeliever, disbeliever are judged by humans according to their criminal religious behavior, not their faith

(3) ‘Az Zolm’ is against justice

(4) “A-sabr” (Tolerance or Patience) as an Islamic value to respond to “Az Zolm

(5) The terrorist is the worst criminal

Chapter VI: Religious Freedom and Islam as a Religion of Peace

(1) Peace and Islam in a quick glance

(2) The relationship between Islam and peace in Arabic Quranic language

(3) Understanding Muslims and peace in history

(4) Qureish tribe converted to Islam and the disappearance of peaceful Islam after Prophet Mohammed’s death

Chapter VII: Legislation of Jihad in Islam is to Confirm Religious Freedom

(1) Understanding laws of Jihad in Islam

(2) Jihad and freedom of religion

(3) Rules of alliance in time of war

(4) Rules in battlefield

(5) The first order of Jihad as fighting gives as its objective: to defend churches, monasteries, synagogues and mosques

(6) Conclusion

II. Part Two: Fanatic Muslims violating Islamic value of religious freedom has:

Preface: The majority of Muslims throughout their history committed themselves to religious freedom.

(1) Define terms and expressions and not to confuse them with each other.                     

( 2) Judge a certain period of history, with its own cultural standards and not with ours.            

 (3) Fair-minded western researchers who wrote about Islam’s tolerance as a religion                  

(4)Unjustified unfounded accusation of Muslims                                                                        

 (5) Most of Sunni jurisprudence was disconnected from practical life of Muslims during the Medieval Ages                                                                                                                       

(6) Sunni jurisprudence does not reflect the intellectual life of Muslims                                   

(7)The lived reality in Muslims’ History, and the theoretical writings of Sunni jurisprudenc               

Section one of part two: Muslim History in brief glance

Chapter one: Arabs and Muslim in a brief Historical account

Arabs in Middle aged history:

(1) Extinct Arabs - Two Lines of the Current Arab Tribes                                                         

(2) South Arabs of Kahtan                                                                                             

(3) The Northern Tribes                                                                                                            

(4) Strong Families inside the Tribe of Quraysh                                                                        

(5) The Two Powerful Families of Quraysh Ruled the Muslim Empire                                    

(6) The Prophet Mohammed                                                                                         

(7) Why did Quarysh Accepted Islam?                                                                                   

 (8)The Omawy Family Used Islam to Restore its Power.                                                      

(9)The Opposition inside the Omawy Empire                                                                       

(10)The Abbasy Dynasty                                                                                           

(11) Quraysh; the most famous tribe in the world:                                                    

(12)Spiritual influence of Quraysh after destroying the Abbasy Empire:                             

(13)Quraysh was the present/absent factor of the Non - Arabic Muslim States:                  

(14) Al Khawarej [the revolutionists]; the pioneers of Anti - Quraysh:-                                           

(15) Arabs in Modern History

1-Najd resumes its role                                                                                              

2- Egypt                                                                                                                     

3-Arabs under the European colonialism                                                                               

4- Arabs [1914-1952]                                                                                                 

5- Arabs between 1952- 2001:                                                                                               

 Chapter two: Historic roots of Wahabism

(1) Saudi Arabia and bringing back the worst forms of fanaticism to our era and spreading it in the name of Islam                                                                                                           

(2)  This requires a clarification                                                                                              

(3)The rise of man-made religions, Sunni being the most prominent, as an expression of dominance and oppression                                                                                               

(4) Recording the tradition of Muslim man-made religions, starting with the first Abbasid Period (132-232 Hijri) corresponding to (750-847 C. E.).                                                                 

 (5)Caliph Al Mutawakkil (232-247 H.) The strict Hanbali fanaticism period, and recognizing it as religion                                                                                                                                  

(6) The political struggle between Sunnis and Shiites and the development of moderate Sunni Sufism                                                                                                                             

(7) Saladin the Ayybid and establishment of Sufi Sunni religion                                         

(8) Sunni Sufi Dominance during the Memluk period (648-921 H…1250-1517 C.E)                     

(9) Ibn Taymiyyah (died in 728 H, 1327 C.E.), the Hanbali’s persecution in the Memluk period        

(10) The effect of persecution on Ibn Taymiyyah’s severity in decreeing death and apostasy

(11) The dominance of the Sunni Sufi religion in the Ottoman Era                                      

 (12) Promoting the good and forbidding the detested), between Islam and Sufism and Wahhabism                                                                                                                    

 (13) Features or characteristics of( promoting good and forbidding evil ) in Islam             

 (14) Features or characteristics of( promoting good and forbidding evil ) between Sunni Hanbalis and Sufis                                                                                                                   

Finally: Chapter 3: Fanaticism during establishing the current Saudi State

(1) General view                                                                                                                    

(2) The Formation of Nejdi Brotherhood and their role in founding the Saudi State                       

1.      Creation of Al-Hejr (Settlements for Bedouin)                                                                     

2.      Abdul Aziz’s goal for transforming Bedouins into Brotherhood                                          

3.      Was Abdul Aziz the first to try this method, of the settlements?                                         

4.      The meaning of (Al Hojar), (Al Hijra) and (The Brotherhood).                                            

5.      Most famous Wahhabi Settlements and dates of settling activities                          

6.      Management of Al Hojar (Settlements)                                                                     

7.      Life within the settlement                                                                                          

8.      The Brotherhood’s military reputation                                                                                  

9.      The Brotherhood and the founding of Abdul Aziz’s rule                                                     

10.  Final capture of Hejaz and the start of public conflict between Abdul Aziz and

11.  the Brotherhood                                                                                                           

(3) The Brotherhood’s opposition to Abdul Aziz in a brief historical report                        

1.      Dissension and conflict over work and idleness, and the scholars’ conference in 1919                   

2.      Al-Artaweyya Conference in 1924 and what ensued:                                                          

3.      Annexation of Hejaz and sending the Brotherhood back to Nejd                            

4.      Opposition by Means of Conferences                                                                                   

5.      Al-Artaweyya Conference in 1926                                                                                        

6.      Ar-Reyadh Conference in 1927                                                                                             

7.      Interlude between the 2 Riyadh’s conferences 1927-1928                                       

8.      General Assembly: Public conference in Riyadh November 5th 1928                                  

9.      Transforming Brotherhood opposition to military confrontation caused their demise          

(4) Some analysis:

1.      Symptoms of Ibn Abdul-Wahhab thought on the differences between the Brotherhood  

2.      and Ibn Saud                                                                                                             

3.      Allegiance between the scholars and the Brotherhood                                                         

4.      Persecution of the Shiittes                                                                                         

5.      Abdel Aziz resumed his authority

Section two of Part two: Some samples of the war of ideas in the field of religious freedom, done by the Quranists during the last twenty years

Preface                                              

Chapter 1: Attacking terrorism and exposing fanatics: Quranists wage war of ideas having Islam against the fanatics who violate religious freedom

 (1)The International Quranic Center (IQC) condemns the atrocity at Fort Hood, Texas yesterday November 5, 2009.

(2) The latest suicide operations in Israel and their implications

(3) That who explodes himself killing innocent people looses this life& the hereafter

(4) Fanatic Fatwas:

(5 ) The Criteria of the Islamic fatwa

(6 )  Reading –discussing – analyzing –viewing –overview of Ben laden’s latest statement.

(7) Is it possible to reform the Saudi State?  The Saudi State must be reformed , But they refuse the reform to keep their dictatorship

(8) The Saudi Regime needs Al-Qaeda, Why?

(9) Statement from the International Quranic Center:

(10) The official Saudi responsibility in September 11,The Religious Historical Roots of September 11

(11) Exposing radical Islam

(12) Contradiction between the Islamic state and the religious state

(13) Salafi Wahabism is anti Islam. The Contradiction between the Salafi Wahabism and real Islam

(14 ) Free the Holy Mosque .For how long will this violation to God’s Sharee’a last?

(16) Sheiks of torture

(17) The False Alarm of Evangelism

(18) The False Conviction of The "Territory of Peace& Territory of War"

Chapter 2: Defending the victims of religious persecution

Firstly: Defending the victims of religious minorities

 (1)Persecution of Copts in Egypt Post Muslim Conquest

Prelude to this Research, Preface

 First: Position of Islam Regarding Persecution of Non-Muslims

 Second: Persecution of Copts during the reign of the rightly guided caliphs:  (Imposition Of Poll Tax ( Al Jizyah ) (The Term Ahl-Zimma(People of Covenant of Protection).  

 Third: Persecution of Copts during the Umayyad Period .

Fourth: Oppression of Copts after the Umayyad era :

1- The period from the start of Abbasid dynasty until the reign of caliph Al-Mutawakkil in 255 Hijri .

 2-Second During the time of Al-Mutawakkil, 

3-: The Memluk State:

1.      The tragedy of Bulous the imprisoned monk in 666 Hijri

2.       The Sufi sheikh Khudr Al-Adwi in 672 Hijry

3.      The Christians’ unfortunate incident of 682 Hijri

4.      The Moroccan Vizier incident in 700 Hijri

5.      Sheikh Al-Bakri incident in 714 Hijri.

6.      The incident of collective torching of Egyptian churches at the same time in 721 Hijri 

Epilogue:

(2) A call to the Muslim Brothers: Building Churches in Egypt and defending them is a recognized right in Islam.

( 3 ) The Muslim Brotherhood and the National Party against Egyptian Baha’is   

 Secondly: : Defending the right of apostasy                       

(1 ):Penalty of Apostasy: A Historical and Fundamental Study

Prelude to this Research,   Introduction:

One:The penalty of apostasy in the light of the Holy Qur’an and the true practice of the Messenger

Firstly: The word "Hadd", generally interpreted to mean "penalty" or "punishment", is used in the Holy Qur’an to mean "the truth" or " the law", not to mean punishment.

Secondly: The position of the Holy Qur’an regarding accusation of apostasy.

Thirdly: The position of the Holy Qur’an regarding the verdict of executing someone outside the principle of: "a life for a life".

Fourthly: The penalty of apostasy in the light of the true practice of the Messenger.

Two:The penalty of apostasy in the books of ancestors and in the history of Muslims.

Firstly: The events in the Prophet's life negate the existence of a penalty for apostasy.

Secondly: The penalty of apostasy and the war with the apostates.

Thirdly: Developing the penalty of apostasy between the two scholars "Al-Awza'ee" and "lkremah".

The Tradition of Al-Awza'ee As Reported In Sahih Muslim

Discussing Ikremah's Hadith in: "Sahih-ul-Bukhari"

Fourthly: Is it permissible to put people to death based on traditions that have been reported by one person?

The VerdictConclusion:

The penalty of apostasy, a verdict to kill all people

Chapter 3: Persecuting the Quranists because they are successful in war of ideas against the fanatics

 (1)Islamic tolerance between Egypt and America

 (2)Muslim Brothers and the Quranists

(3) Quranists as persecuted Muslim scholars

 (4)  Because of this article, my half brother Abdellateef Sa’ed and others have beenarrested in May 28th. This article was published in Arabic on May 4, 2007

 (5) In Egypt, interrogating the Quranists under torture

 (6) The Egyptian Taliban State: Holding the Egyptians Hostages

 (7) Is it A Conspiracy To Eradicate the Quranists in Egypt?

 (8) Answering Al-Qa’da Rascals’ Incitement to Murder Me

 (9) Because of this address at the American Congress, Saudi agents sabotaged Ahl-AlQuran site.

 (10)Because of this article, our site was the target of an attack by Hosni Mubarak’s hackers.

Part three: Suggestions for American policy makers in the field of dealing with Muslim World and religious freedom:

Preface

Examples of our proposals of war of ideas:

Example one: Making America the super power in war of ideas in this century with minimum costs: 

Example two : Countering terrorism in the field of war of ideas: What can the Quranists do in war of ideas against terrorism?

Initiative (1): Online War of Ideas to defeat the terrorism and promote the American Image in the Muslim world

Initiative (2): Conferences to understand reform and recruit

 Initiative (3): Writing T.V programs (in brief):

 Initiative (4): Writing drama for T.V and theaters

Example three: My Testimony to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee: October 25, 2005                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Introduction

The First part:The Wahabism and the Saudi State

The Second Part: The bad results of the Wahabism

The third Part: Reforms in the Saudi Kingdom

The Fourth Part: The Wahabist war on America

The Fifth Part: American Mission: How to defeat terrorism in this intellectual war?

(Some of these topics will not be published here as they were published before in this English section )