AFRICA/EGYPT - Where does Islamic terrorism come from? In 30 lines Italian Comboni missionary in Egypt provides the answer

Wednesday, 13 October 2004

Cairo (Fides Service)- “The west is so proud of its studies sociology and yet it fails to grasp the complexity of Islam” Italian Comboni missionary Father Giuseppe Scatolin an expert on Islam told Fides. “Islamic terrorist movements are rooted in a tradition which dates to the first century of Islamic history. In Islam there have always been movements which in the name of Islam challenge the established power on the grounds that it does not represent real Islam. Therefore it is not correct to say that Islamic fundamentalism was born to oppose the West. For example the Wahabit group in what is today Saudi Arabia, was born in the 18th century to fight the Ottoman power, long before the start of colonialism in the Middle East” the missionary told Fides.
“It is in the name of a presumed return to pure Islam of the early centuries that terrorists today attack Arab countries friendly with the West. The most important ideologists are Egyptian. For example Sayyid Qutb, ideologist of the “Muslim Brothers” condemned to death by Nasser in 1966, is a source of reference for the Al Qaida terrorist network. Few people known that Bin Laden probable took the name Al Qaida from a book written by Qutb. Today’s Islamic terrorism stems from an alliance between Egyptian fundamentalists and the Saudi Wahabit group. An alliance which the west mistakenly ignored or even encouraged when the USSR invaded Afghanistan. Indeed Islamists were used to chase the Soviets from Afghanistan, completely overlooking the fact that fundamentalists have their own anti-west agenda. Even thought in his writings Qutb openly declared war on the west” Scattolin told Fides.
With regard to the future Scattolin says: “Unless Islam succeeds in untying the knot which binds religion with politics the Islamic question will become a serious problem even in Europe. As its stands today religion and politics are intrinsically united in Islam. This means Muslim immigrants will continue to demand laws which acknowledge Sharia precepts. It is as if Hindus were to try to impose a caste system in Europe”
“The problem is that 90% of Muslims today follow Sunni Islam which does not have an authority with the power to change Sharia Law so that it takes into account human rights and concepts of democracy” the missionary said. “It is hardly likely therefore that currents sufficiently strong and representative as to conciliate Islam with democracy will emerge in the near future”. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 13/10/2004 righe 34 parole 418)


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