Islamist Goals and Doublespeak
The goals of radical Islamists are by no means secret. They are clearly stated in the West for all to read, and often in English. One of my favorites is the UK website of al Ghurabaa’. Al Ghurabaa’ epitomizes the Islamist, and the Jihadist, viewpoint in a totally unapologetic fashion. They make no secret of their global aim: “We work to establish the deen [subjugation] of Islam on the earth until the word of Allah (swt) reigns supreme.” And how is that goal to be achieved, given that the group rejects western electoral politics? They deny that they intend to pursue their aims through anything other than a peaceful manner, or that they support terrorism. Al Ghurabaa’ does not:
glorify any acts of terrorism, whether committed by individuals, organisations or nation states such as USA or UK, we do not wish anybody to emulate them or praise them and make expressly clear that that is not the intention of any of our articles or comments of our representatives. If anyone was to mistakenly get this impression then that is not our intention and we will do everything we can to clarify the misunderstanding. But can we accept such a statement at face value?
But if you dig a bit deeper on the site you’ll find an article entitled “The Lion Roars Again.” In the view of al Ghurabaa’: “One such lion of our Ummah is Sheikh Osama bin Laden,” described as a man who “has been honoured and dignified by the will of Allah. . . . His message is loud and clear for all to see and only the wise will listen and take heed, the foolish are those who ignore what is said and continue without taking any lessons.”
How can we explain this paean to Osama with al Ghurabaa’s claim that they neither support nor advocate terrorism? Are the members of the group nothing more than clumsy liars? The explanation is simple: they oppose terrorism and support bin Laden because they do not consider him a terrorist. To them, Osama is a jihadist, not a terrorist. And they are right. OBL is a jihadist and within the framework of Islamists, jihadists are not terrorists. Keep this in mind the next time you see a Muslim spokesperson denouncing terrorism in the media. They may actually support the actions, motives, and goals of Qaeda al-Jihad while simultaneously denouncing terrorism because they refuse to consider jihadists terrorists.
glorify any acts of terrorism, whether committed by individuals, organisations or nation states such as USA or UK, we do not wish anybody to emulate them or praise them and make expressly clear that that is not the intention of any of our articles or comments of our representatives. If anyone was to mistakenly get this impression then that is not our intention and we will do everything we can to clarify the misunderstanding. But can we accept such a statement at face value?
But if you dig a bit deeper on the site you’ll find an article entitled “The Lion Roars Again.” In the view of al Ghurabaa’: “One such lion of our Ummah is Sheikh Osama bin Laden,” described as a man who “has been honoured and dignified by the will of Allah. . . . His message is loud and clear for all to see and only the wise will listen and take heed, the foolish are those who ignore what is said and continue without taking any lessons.”
How can we explain this paean to Osama with al Ghurabaa’s claim that they neither support nor advocate terrorism? Are the members of the group nothing more than clumsy liars? The explanation is simple: they oppose terrorism and support bin Laden because they do not consider him a terrorist. To them, Osama is a jihadist, not a terrorist. And they are right. OBL is a jihadist and within the framework of Islamists, jihadists are not terrorists. Keep this in mind the next time you see a Muslim spokesperson denouncing terrorism in the media. They may actually support the actions, motives, and goals of Qaeda al-Jihad while simultaneously denouncing terrorism because they refuse to consider jihadists terrorists.
