There is some effort to put Muslims down for being a 'death cult.' I was reading around and found this passage, quoted on the blog 'ilm al-insaan علم الإنسان , originally found in Kepel's text. Powell's on Hawthorne, here in Portland, actually has a copy. The business of the Iranian men's death wish struck me. It was not something I understand completely. Well, first here's the text,
"...I loved this passage from Giles Kepel's Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam, which I've been reading and scribbling in. Here he's referring to those men who died during the Iran-Iraq war, on pages 116 and 117.
The killing of so many young men brought about the symbolic death of their class as a collective political protagonist in Iran. From that point on, the political significance of Shiism changed completely. Earlier, under the influence of Shariati and then during the revolution, the commemoration of Imam Hussein's martyrdom at Karbala had become a pretext for the struggle against the modern incarnation of the oppressor-caliph of old, namely the shah. Religious energy was externalized, and its goal was to change the world. This contrasted sharply with the
dominant Shiite tradition, which had always foregone activism in favor of grief and lamentation, culminating with the self-flagellation of the ashura ritual. The appalling butchery of the eight-year war against Iraq gave the younger generation of poor Iranians an incentive to return to the former tradition of martyrdom, pushing the ritual of self-flagellation to the point of self-immolation--the ultimate sacrifice. No longer at issue was the transformation of the world, for the revolution had clearly failed to satisfy that expectation; rather, the young men developed a new desire--a longing for death--as a response to the failure of Iran's revolutionary utopia and the pressures of war with Iraq. The Shiite death wish took on massive dimensions with the sacrifice of the bassidjis at the front. The volunteers wrote letters and last testaments to their families, asserting their longing for death in the crudest, most detailed vocabulary of Shiite martyrology. What these tragic documents describe in religious terms is no less than the political suicide of the young urban poor of Iran in the 1980's.
http://ilmalinsaan.blogspot.com/2009/01/jury-duty-story.html
My first thought was to wonder whether developing a death wish would be the first, or anywhere near the top, on a list of reactions to being in a war.
I've asked the host, "Do you think Kamikaze pilots during WWII had a death wish? I don't think that's what got them into those planes." Or something like that. My point was, I don't think that the kamikaze pilots who tried to kill my Dad, by the way, got into those planes because they wanted to die. They were thinking, I believe, that their country, or their Emperor, needed someone to step up and make an effort to push the Americans back. They thought there was no better way of destroying the American aircraft carriers, or the landing transports, than to fly these missile like planes into them. Even though they were out to kill my Dad who was working in one of their targets, I would not belittle their effort by saying they just had a death wish. It would be to mischaracterize what the Japanese were at least thinking.
Mr. Kepel tells us that as a result of the religious revolution's seeming failure, and the brutal war with Iraq, the young men of Iran, "...developed a new desire--a longing for death." This is just to say that there was no greater goal in these guy's heads than to kill themselves as a result of these turns of events.
Mr. Kepel fails to understand Iranian men, and mischaracterizes them to the point of making the rest of what he might go on to say suspect. How could he stick this one in there without risking us, readers who should be sympathetic to his subject, losing our faith in him as a source?
We should imagine that young Iranian men, or Iraqi men too, for that matter, have better things to think about and do, but because their countries have been sucked into a brutal war, they feel they must fight in it.
Mr. Kepel fails , here at least, to point out whether young Iranian women developed a death wish. They too faced the failure of the revolution and the brutality of the war. The fact he does not mention what women developed suggests his observation about the men was just a casual belittlement without any good justification.
Mr. Kepel mentions "ashura" and says that these Iranian men pushed ashura to the point of self-immolation. Here's a short Reuters report on "ashura," a Shiite ritual, now becoming more prominent in Iraq,
The bloodletting for the annual mourning rite of Ashura has come back in force since the fall of Saddam, who repressed public displays of worship by his country's majority sect. But not all Iraqi Shi'ites are happy.
The ritual has long provoked heated debate among the world's Shi'ites and has been banned by several clerics. Some Shi'ites say it gives the sect a barbaric image and some Sunnis have pointed to the act as evidence of Shi'ite backwardness.
http://www.welt.de/english-news/article2984907/Shiites-gather-for-bloody-Ashura-ritual.html
Activists handed out leaflets listing the views of top Shi'ite scholars, which ranged from outright prohibition of the bloodletting, know as "tatbeer," to strong disapproval.
Opponents say the ritual violates Islam's prohibition against Muslims intentionally harming their own bodies.
But for many participants, the ritual is a profound display of devotion to the revered descendants of the prophet. They say the bloodletting allows them to feel a little of the sacrifice of Kerbala, a battle which defines Shi'ism.
"I feel no pain at all. This is for the love of Imam Hussein," said a tearful Ali Jabbour, his head bandaged and clots of dried blood in his hair and on his face.
Blood streamed down the marchers' faces and into their eyes before staining their white clothes and marking the road like rain drops, a mourning rite they said brought them closer to the Imam even though many observers said it was forbidden by Islam.
A banner displayed on the procession route supported tatbeer as a tradition once practiced by Imam Hussein's sister Zainab, whose mourning for her slain brother is a model of forbearance.
"It's a tradition. It would wound the feelings of Shi'ites (if clerics were to halt it)," said onlooker Mazain al-Thaer, adding that other religions such as some Christian denominations also observe practices that harm the body.
I want to point out the paragraph relating the proponents views on the significance of this ritual, where they say, "...for many participants, the ritual is a profound display of devotion to the revered descendants of the prophet. They say the bloodletting allows them to feel a little of the sacrifice of Kerbala, a battle which defines Shi'ism." The proponents are saying that the bloodletting is a way of them showing their devotion to their religion. It does not mean that they are primarily interested in harming themselves.
To say this about them would be to say that circumcision is primarily about the need to make boys suffer.
Again, Mr. Kepel looks at the ritual or what the young Iranian men did during the Iran/Iraq war, and belittle them, as though they did not have the universal values, or hope to have lives, like Mr. Kepel might.
Mr. Kepel also mentions the "bassidjis," a group I'm unfamiliar with. But, it seems this movement was made up of rural youth, and used by the conservative religious leaders of Iran as special military units, to be used in special circumstances, where they were actually more likely to be killed. Escobar writes about them in Asia Times, and a part of an article is here,
For Mohammad Reza Djalili, professor at the Institut Universitaire des Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, this 2003 Tehran spring reflects a very deep social, political and economic malaise: "Iranian society is about to implode. The system is totally blocked. First of all politically, because the reformers can't find a way to change the regime. And socially because the regime can't come to grips with unemployment among young people." Djalili agrees that Iran's actual encirclement by the US - on the one side Afghanistan, on the other Iraq - has added to the regime's extreme nervousness, and has also given alternative ideas to a lot of Iranians. "But all these factors have a relative and marginal impact. The major problem is an internal problem."
The religious conservative elite has been forced to perform a dangerous balancing act: it can't organize a massive crackdown, but at the same time it must prevent the movement from spreading to the rest of the country. Djalili confirms that instead of brutal armed repression, the regime has preferred to send the bassidjis - young Islamist militants, all voluntary recruits - to confront the students, wielding their chains, iron bars and riding their Harley Davidsons.
The bassidjis - literally "mobilization" - are part of an organization created slightly after the Shah's fall in 1979 to entice poor kids into the service of the embryonic Islamic revolution. In the beginning of the war against Iraq in the early 1980s, they were integrated into a special army created to counter-balance a regular army "too influenced by the West", according to the mullahs. Farhad Khosrokhavar, an Iranian sociologist who teaches in Paris, qualifies them as exponents of "lethal Shi'ism, neo-mysticism and necro-mysticism". Middle-class boys and girls in Tehran are experts in dealing with the bassidjis. Whenever the militants patrol the routine Friday get-together of young people in the mountains north of Tehran, girls instantly readjust their black veils over their dark glasses and the odd stereo disappears inside a backpack. And when the bassidjis discover cassettes of "decadent" American pop, a bribe in the form of a pack of cigarettes will do the trick. The bassidjis are complemented by members of the Ansar-i Hizbullah, a plainclothes, volunteer Islamic militia that suppresses dissent and upholds strict codes of behavior by thuggish means.
Djalili stresses that the regime at this point simply cannot afford a repression with lots of dead and wounded: "The students have families, and their parents support them. And the conservatives have to be even more careful because the demonstrators now want the head of reformist President Khatami."
Mr. Kepel was not quoted pointing out the the bassidjis do not represent all Iranian young men, but just those among the poor rural youth who could be persuaded to do this job for their religious faith. Again, not all Iranians were so involved, and even then, the bassidjis could be explained as themselves not having a death wish, but just a willingness to give their lives for what they take to be a good cause.
One of the reasons the Iranian conservatives formed the bassidjis was that, being religious and growing up rural, they were not as susceptible to being turned to be used as assets by western intelligence services. So here we hear about this,
Tehran charged the Bassidjis Militia and the Revolutionary Guard Corps (Pasdaran) to control the population, which is not their primary mission. But it was not enough. Since 2005, Tehran has used a new intelligence service, Oghab 2, exclusively dedicated to the protection of its nuclear program, against outside operations. The creation of this agency was decided after the arrest of many agents sent to collect information on two nuclear sites which had not been discovered by the International Atomic Energy Agency: Parshin (southeast of Tehran) and Lavizan (to the north east).
Their value is not so much that they have little regard for life, as that they are more patriotic and tend to be reliable in the defense of their country.
This is not to say the bassidjis are nice people. See here, bassidjis doing their work,
http://www.livevideo.com/video/67D84784668B4086B001135481B1115D/iran-arrest-of-a-dissident-b.aspx
I want to quote a piece by a Muslim group on this question of whether Muslims have a 'death wish,'
Our religion is a call to life and success, not a call to death and despair. The Quran says: "O you who have obtained to faith, respond to the call of God, the Apostle, whenever he calls you unto what will give you life..." (8:24). Five times a day, the call to prayer calls individuals to success "Hai Al Al Falah", which means "come to success". Our young people are called to life, a gift from God that is to be cherished and appreciated, not trashed and trivialized.
In this life they should reach the peak of success. They should master the skills, power of knowledge and enlightenment. They should be qualified to enjoin what is right and forbid what is bad, evil and unjust, in a constructive guided way that actually and realistically may make a difference. We are people who love life but are not intoxicated by it. During our life on this planet, we pursue happiness and we vie with others to capture goodness as the Qur'an teaches. We seek life, not death, but if death comes, we hopefully accept it as the will of God who designed the end of the worldly phase. We practice life, we promote it and celebrate it.
We don't go out seeking to die, and needless to say, we don't deliberately bring death on ourselves or on others who are innocent. Martyrdom is a concept that has been distorted to mean nihilism ought to be reclaimed to its truth. A martyr dies against his or her own will. Dies because death has been either an accident or a crime committed against the martyred, who could not avoid it, or maneuver away from it. Instead, you should maneuver to a safe position, or to join another protecting group.
"...for whoever on that day (when the enemy attacks) turns his back on them - unless it be in a better maneuver or in an endeavor to join another troop..." (8:16)
The Prophet, peace be upon him, taught his followers not to wish for facing the enemy in confrontation but if confrontation is inevitable, they ought to be steadfast. He also said, "Never wish to die!" It is sad to see the gurus of hate programming young people to blow themselves up while the gurus remain in their homes safe and sound.
I find Andresen's explanation of the misunderstood self-sacrifice of iranian young fighters illuminating and a correction of the stigma and bad propaganda that the west has labeled Muslim people.
When Iranian military fighters, or soldiers give up their lives so that their army can advance, they do it because they have no other way of doing it. They do not throw themselves in the fire because they have a death wish. And in cases where they can do without such high sacrifice, they simply fight their way like any soldier defending his homeland would.
All across the United States, I have noticed many small towns have erected monuments to honor their fallen soldiers who served in the revolutionary war, the civil war, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, etc. These monuments read that these soldiers were honored for defending their nation, and when needed made the ultimate sacrifice.
Every army on this planet expects this from it's soldiers.
Muslims are simply no different from anybody else.
Sam
Posted by: Sam Little / real soldiers. | January 15, 2009 at 03:39 AM
Why do Muslims slaughter innocent animals during their pilgrimage to Mecca? While beheading animals, Muslims shout Allah Akbar? Why? Do you think Allah loves fresh blood. While beheading kaffirs, Jihadis also shout Alla Akbar. Is it because Jihadis have a death wish? It seems that Islam has a special place for killing infidels.
Posted by: Roger Bannister | January 16, 2009 at 07:51 AM
Roger,
I asked my friend and source for some of my information and understanding about these things about your questions. He thought the answers were actually easy to explain.
Basically, you slaughter animals to eat. It's a common muslim thing, eating. Apparently, we do this in this country, too. During the time leading up to the feast of Thanksgiving, there's a lot of slaughtering going on in Turkey farms. I hope this explains Muslim animal slaughtering.
Sam says, Muslims usually say something different than "Allah Akbar" when they kill an animal. When they kill an animal for food, or when they eat, they say, "bism illah." It's a prayer, which in english is "in the name of God." They say this, if you are a religious muslim, in doing anything.
You asked about why Allah loves fresh blood. Neither I nor Sam are able to say why God likes this, that, or the oter thing. I'm not sure God loves fresh blood, for sure.
You ask about whether Jihadis have a death wish. This is actually the issue I discussed in this post. I said the bombings and killings, whatever, could be explained by pointing out that the jihadis and other Muslims are concerned about the wrongs of the world. That is, they want to protect their families. They want to protect their land. These are goals and values we share with them. So, for example, Americans died in the Civil War, WW's 1 and 2. Vietnam. Iraq. All these they died so that some greater purpose could be furthered. This is the reason all these soldiers fought.
I see no reason to think Muslim fighters have any other thought in their heads.
Does Islam have a special desire or plan for killing Infidels? I think this is a good question. Whether or not muslims have a death wish, there would be another question about whether they had some special interest in killing those who did not believe.
I doubt it.
We could ask the same question about Jews or Christians. Do Christians have a special place for killing muslims or Jews? In the past, during the crusades, one could have asked that question, I believe, and said that maybe they did. They were there, killing both Jews and Muslims. But, again, I bet the idea thay had was that the Holy land had to be taken back from the infidels for some religious purpose. It wasn't special. Just a religious duty.
Now, we have Israel that wants to redo the crusades. Only as Jews they want to take the land from the muslims and christians who live there. Maybe the Muslims are no different than the policy guys working for Israel. They want the land for themselves.
I am thinking the land doesn't belong to any particular religion. It's something they'll have to share.
But, that's my view on that. I don't think the muslims are different than any of the rest of us.
Roger, if you want to ask better questions, and get better responses, it would be best to give me more information to work with. What was you thought on these questions? Do you think it's best to just ask an incendiary question and run?
Posted by: steve andresen | January 17, 2009 at 05:52 PM