Islamists in War Against Individual and Social Freedoms

So far, two aspects of the Islamists' programs (as political ideologies for gaining power, distinct from religious beliefs in Islam) have been well noted in both Western and non-Western countries: the effort to acquire weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, and disrupting security and public order to destabilize governments and demonstrate the incompetence of security and law enforcement institutions. Terrorist groups in all societies have focused on the second issue to gain the power of intimidation, but the signs related to the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction among Islamists stem from their vision of establishing an Islamic caliphate and governance across the world. Islamism is a staunch enemy of freedom. Another aspect of the Islamist movements that are currently active worldwide, which has received less attention than the two mentioned, is the Islamists' war against individual and social freedoms. While Islamists maximize their use of freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and individual freedoms (such as dress, food, education, and recreation) in Western societies, they consider these freedoms for others (especially Jews, women, homosexuals, and non-believers) as their enemy and have restricted them wherever they have gained power. Western citizens and governments have taken this aspect less seriously, which is why they are shocked by the massacre of the editorial staff of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. They seem to be unaware of dozens of bombings and attacks on newspaper offices and the suppression of journalists in Iran over the past 36 years under the Islamic Republic's rule. Dominance or Freedom? If we refer to the texts of Islamists regarding the West over the past few decades, we will see that the Islamists' enmity towards the West is more directed at the diversity of lifestyles in the West and the guarantees of individual freedoms by Western governments than at the military and economic power or the colonial histories of European countries. Islamists have shown in their behavior how thirsty they are for dominance and superiority in their societies and others, and they cannot be hostile to the West due to the claimed dominance. They are hostile to individual and social freedoms in the West. Sayyid Qutb and Ali Shariati are exemplary in this regard. These two idols of Sunni and Shia Islamists speak with such hatred about individual freedoms, especially women's freedom in dress and public presence, as if their own honor has been violated. When they speak of corruption in the West, they mainly consider moral corruption based on a Sharia-compliant view of ethics, not the abuse of power. Based on this literature, the sensitivity of the ruling Islamists in Iran to deviations from the clerical lifestyle is far greater than to the abuse of power, assassination, and torture. Sayyid Qutb states about the revival of Islam: "For a scholar, reviving what has been lost from our civilization and overcoming the corruption and divisions that harm the country is not difficult... We can revive the sacred flames against the corrupt Europe that has become a heartless machine." (Quoted from James Toth's book "Sayyid Qutb: The Life and Legacy of a Radical Islamic Intellectual," Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 74) Now, the children of Sayyid Qutb's movement have aimed this fire at French satirists and American runners and coffee drinkers in Australia and Canadian lawmakers. Sayyid Qutb's disciples in Iran also call Westerners wild for the same reason: "The West is an organized zoo" (Jawadi Amoli, Fars, January 9, 2015); "Westerners, especially European races, are wild races; they appear well-dressed and perfumed, but the same wildness that has existed in history still exists in them." (Khamenei's official website, speech with women, May 10, 2013) Although Ali Shariati tries to express his anti-Western sentiments in Marxist frameworks like alienation or anti-imperialism, he cannot hide his hostility towards individual freedoms, especially women's individual freedoms. He has mocked women's makeup and lack of hijab in several speeches and refers to women who beautify themselves and appear in public as "wind-up dolls." Whenever he mentions corruption (for example, in his book "Revisiting Iranian-Islamic Identity," Collection of Works, Volume 27), he only considers Western individual freedoms and distancing from ideological and legal restrictions, not the abuse of power by governmental or religious authorities. In his political works (Ummah and Imamate), he sees the power of religious authorities as absolute and beyond scrutiny and even public choice, completely neglecting the abuse of power by them and considering methods for oversight over them. The anti-Western stance in Shariati's approach to the problems of Iran and other predominantly Muslim societies has prevented him from addressing the internal factors of corruption and abuse of power, especially among the religious. The Sharia-compliant view prioritizes deviation from Sharia over the abuse of power and inequality before the law. Three Factors of Neglect Three important factors for the neglect of the threat of Islamism to individual and social freedoms, both in the West and in predominantly Muslim societies, can be identified. The first factor is cultural and value relativism. Some critical theorists of the West relate the Islamists' war against individual freedoms to the differences in value systems and believe that none of these systems is superior to the other. From their perspective, the human rights-based system is as valid as the Sharia-based system. Islamists consider these two systems to be at war and justify this war through the pursuit and implementation of Sharia teachings in an armed manner: from the massacre of members of a newspaper's editorial staff in Paris to patrons of a café in Sydney, and from bombings targeting marathon runners and spectators in Boston to attacks on the Canadian Parliament. Relativists distinguish between Western values and human values and norms. When human rights, the separation of religious institutions from the state, democracy, freedom of religion, and the four freedoms of expression, media, assembly, and association are presented as Western, it creates a mental and social space for promoting Islamism as an alternative to Western values and norms. Relativists once elevated Marxism to this level, but today they consider Islamism a more suitable weapon to confront Western values, which are indeed universal human values. Other terrorist groups primarily engaged in warfare against established governments for political power or revenge, but Islamists have also waged war against societies and civil institutions. The Islamists' efforts to impose their ideology and lifestyle on others, whether in predominantly Muslim societies or in societies where Muslims are a minority, reflect this sense of duty without regard to social contexts. The second factor is the confusion of some Westerners' superiority ideas with fear of Islamism. This is why Islamists have found a favorable environment to promote their ideas, especially among marginalized groups (such as migrants) in Western societies. They present Islamism as a response to superiority claims, while Islamism has no basis other than superiority and ambition based on belief and doctrine. The third factor is the complacency of Western governments towards Islamist doctrines and systems. Some leaders of the Anglican Church have even gone so far as to recognize the issuance of judgments in British civil courts based on Sharia among Muslims, while some aspects of Sharia regarding custody, ownership, and the right to work and education are clearly in violation of women's rights. When the beheading of convicts in Saudi courts is not protested and is considered law in that country, it is natural to expect that Saudi citizens or other Arab citizens in Syria and Iraq will also behead Western citizens on camera. Signs of Hope A gathering of tens of thousands to commemorate the members of the Charlie Hebdo editorial staff in Paris, London, and New York on January 7 and 8, 2015, could mark the beginning of a social movement to stand against the total barbarism of Islamists towards journalists and other pioneers of the proposal and use of individual and social freedoms. These gatherings on a million-scale could deter Islamists from attacking the pillars of Western societies, of which media freedom is one of the most important. Silence in the face of this horrific crime by Islamists will embolden them in their inhumane actions.