living in Islamic countries in the the Middle East were affected by
the post war era and introduction of Communism . This new outlook,
which was in no way compatible with the tenets of Islam, was
stealthily changing the mindset of people on these lands that were
once shaped with the beautiful values of the Qur'an for centuries.
This also had its impact on the nascent political structures
gradually forming in the region.
Given this history, the dreadful state of Syria in our modern day
cannot be attributed to Islam. It is surely a legacy of the
communist ideology that was planted in those lands whose borders
were artificially created following the collapse of the Ottoman
Empire. In the absence of a ruling system predicated on Islamic
tenets like that of the Ottoman Empire, the countries that emerged
became vulnerable to ideologies that were either Western or
Eastern, (Communist Soviet Union and China), and did not value or
give importance to the ideas of love, brotherhood, and compassion,
or simply humane ideas.
Syria is just one example. When Hafez Assad came to power with the
Ba'ath Party in the 1960s, the state started to exert violence over
its own people. This type of harsh and cold rule by the Ba'ath party
became widely known in the world as the news of the horrible Hama
massacre dominated the international headlines of the press.
Syria was not the only country in the Middle East that was subjected
to the inhuman practices of the Ba'ath Party. The Party also became
influential in Egypt and Iraq. Meanwhile other Arab countries
including Iran silently came under the sway of communist China.
Another part of the Middle East whose roots were detached from
Islam and surrendered itself to communism was Palestine. The
al-Fatah movement that had grown in this country was not hiding the
ideology by which it was acting upon.
The conflicts and bloodshed that raged throughout the Middle East
were a result of communism coupled with Arab nationalism that
steadily intensified. Withn the regimes that identified with
communism and socialism, it is then not surprising that such
violent developments would take place, it is actually a part of the
normal course of events.
These countries - as systems and individuals – having gone through a
transformation to communism and socialism, and departed Islam still
kept their names as "Islamic Republics", and were thus always
identified with Islam. This being the case, all the crimes,
murders, mass killings perpetrated by these regimes and individuals
were always incorrectly attributed to Islam and Muslims.
A suicide bomber is a typical example. A suicide attack happening
in any corner of the world today is being identified incorrectly
with Islam and it is perceived by the West, especially those who
are unfamiliar with the tenets of Islam, as a practice encouraged
by the religion of Islam.
Islam, however, is a religion that gives the utmost value to human
life. It is a religion based upon humanity, love, compassion,
brotherhood, tolerance, justice, and peace. It treats the "human
being" as a very precious being. Communism, on the other hand, is a
savage system that in no way appreciates an individual as a human
being. It is founded on the tenets of Darwinism and the theory of
evolution, which incorrectly expounds social darwinism, namely that
the strong are eligible to survive while the weak are doomed to
perish. Thus one should not be surprised by the actions of
communists, since it is a system based on a cruel set of ideas.
Therefore communist regimes do not hesitate to kill people, even if
they are of their own nation, race or ethnicity. Indeed, killing
people is such an indispensable and inherent part of this system
that, committing suicide or taking part in suicide bombings,
becomes acceptable, while it is openly an outrageous act condemned
by God in the Qur'an.
According to Islam, suicide is an unlawful act no different from
killing another person. In other words, committing suicide equates
to murder. It is God Who gives life to a person and it is only He
Who can take back that life. A person does not have the right to
kill himself thinking that it is his own life and thus he can decide
when to put an end to that life. Therefore a person who is ready to
kill innocent children, women, that is anyone, together with
himself, openly acts against the provisions of the Qur'an and thus
can by no means be a Muslim. Such a person's mind and soul is
totally divorced from Islam and thus Islam cannot be held
accountable for such crimes.
As we have seen, individuals, communities and systems in the Middle
East of today have gone through a grand transformation. The norms
that shaped the behavior of the citizents of the Middle Eastern
countries aare no longer purely based on Islam. Communism,
socialism and other ideologies that are completely against Islam
have entered the equation and have been influencing them for a
quite long time. Since this is the root cause of radical and
extremist mindsets, one has to reflect and think deeply about the
underlying motivations for the behavior of radicals and extremists
in order to make a correct judgment, otherwise we would attribute a
false label on an entire religion.
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