Responsible People Should Question Syrian Refugee Problem - It is about being Muslim

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President Obama, Secretary of State Kerry, and even former Secretary of State Clinton should not be so quick to condemn those who question the wisdom of mass refugee transfers to the United States.

Of course, the liberal media and progressive advocates will condemn anyone who questions them, especially on such a controversial issue.  Such condemnation is then given the right progressive spin, like what kind of threat are Muslim babies, mothers, and old people.

The intent is to entice well meaning but gullible people into condemning Republicans and Republican presidential candidates directly, and seducing Independents and Democrats who might be genuinely concerned about the cause.

The truth, well so far no one is talking about the truth or historical facts and lessons.  To be honest, they cannot afford to discuss it.

You will not find the truth in the Qur'an (the Muslim holy book), you will find it in the historical battle for dominance within the Muslim world between the bitterest of all enemies, the sects within the Muslim faith.  The truth has been unfolding for 1,400 years but our liberal media either does not want you to know the truth, or is oblivious, which is a much greater concern to us.

There are two dominant sects within Islam or the Muslim religion, the Sunni and the Shi'ite.  For purposes of accuracy, there is confusion in how to spell Shi'ite.  Here are the results of eight different sources on the proper spelling.

Is it Shi'i, Shi'a, Shia, Shi'ite or Shiite?

• Real Arabic is Shi'yan e Ali, a group of fellows of Ali formed in life span of Muhammad pbuh.
  
  
• Commonly called Shia in arabic,
  
  
• Shiite's in English
  
  
• Shi'a in Arabic(شیعه)
  
  
• Shiite in English
  
  
• Shia in YA because it is easier to type it

• Shi'a - a sect in Islam

• Commonly it's spelled Shi'i or Shia

• I believe the best way is shia. Its the easiest and it is spelled how it is said mostly it is used as shi'a.

As you can see, not even the specialists agree.

What you do need to know, and what Obama and company do not tell you, is both sects have rather radical factions and as a result, they have been at war with each other for 1,400 years.  The consequence of the war is stunning.

Reliable estimates of the number of Muslims killed since 1948, is a staggering eleven million. In a 2007 research, Gunnar Heinsohn from the University of Bremen and Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, found out that some 11 million Muslims were violently killed since 1948, of which 35,000, (0.3 percent) died during the six years of Arab war against Israel, or one out of every 315 fatalities.

The truth is, fellow Muslims killed more than 90 percent of the Muslims who perished in Muslim countries from 1948 through 2007.

Remember this does not count 2008-2015, a time when ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were underway, when there were many deaths from the Arab Spring and aftermath (between 2010 to 2012), the civil wars still underway since the Arab spring, most notably in Syria, and violence throughout the other Arab countries.

During the Arab Spring, rulers were forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, while civil wars erupted in Bahrain and Syria.  There were major protests in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and Sudan and minor protests in Mauritania, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Western Sahara, and Palestine.

Tuareg fighters returning from the Libyan Civil War then joined the ongoing conflict in Mali, where just this past week a terrorist assault on a hotel killed 21.  In just the past month, there are over 300 deaths from terrorist attacks.

The death toll since 2007 could easily be more than one million meaning Muslims killed in conflicts in Arab nations since 1948 could easily be approaching twelve million, with about 10,800,000 killed by fellow Muslims.

Historically, if you look at the record for non-Muslims killed by Muslims over the 1,400 year history of Islam the number is nearly 270 million.  Source articles for the numbers mentioned follow in subsequent articles.

In the past two decades there have been two principal terrorist groups within the Islamic radicals, The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, ISIS or simply the Islamic State), and their predecessor Al-Qaeda, the extremist Islamic group established in 1989 by Osama Bin Laden and responsible for the World Trade Center destruction.

Muslims pledge loyalty to a Caliphate, a territory dominated by Muslims, in which Sharia Law is implemented, the Islamic code of conduct.  From this point on, the differences between terror groups varies.

Just know that both represent the Sunni sect.  From a terrorist point of view, the re-establishment of the Islam Caliphate is necessary and obliterating all other Muslim and non-Muslim people within the Caliphate is required.

With no national loyalty, the radical Muslim fighters are loyal only to the Caliphate and therein lies the core conclusion that accommodation is impossible, they are sworn to kill us as the Demonic force behind the Jewish state and behind the persecution of Islamic followers throughout the world.

What does this have to do with Syrian refugees to America?

It should be nothing but that is not the case.  Syrian refugees want to remain in their homeland which is part of the disputed territory of the Caliphate.  Right now they face death if they stay home.

However, there are two issues with the refugees.  First are they loyal to the core beliefs of the terrorists and most are not.  Second, will they assimilate into the American culture if they come here or do they expect to bring their Islamic culture to America as they did in Europe and other areas.

America is unique in terms of the assimilation of foreign national refugees into our nation.  We are a nation of immigrants, thus we have created a culture that welcomes people of all cultures as long as they become loyal Americans.  Here that also guarantees them the right to have their own religion and cultural ways, but they must respect our basic belief that ALL people are equal and guaranteed equal opportunity.

Where substantial concentrations of Muslim people have gathered over the years, not only do they have to assimilate into the American culture, they also have to deal with Islamic terrorists, and they must overcome the 1,400 year history of the Sunni and Shi'ite struggle for dominance.

That is the perplexing situation facing potential refugees to the USA that the Obama Administration must incorporate into the vetting process.  It must determine if the process is sufficient to protect the citizens of the United States who are more than willing to embrace immigrants.

These are the issues not discussed by the president or the media but only by Paul Ryan, new Speaker of the House, and concerned members of the House and Senate.  Slow down Obama or you will get it all wrong again.

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Why is the Middle East in Flames? What is behind the hatred between Islam sects the Sunni and Shi'a?

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According to The New American Encyclopedic Dictionary, "An Exhaustive Dictionary of The English Language Practical and Comprehensive published by J. A. Hill & Company of New York in 1906, "bias" of things not material is defined as: "The state of mentally or morally inclining to one side; inclination of the mind, heart or will; that which causes such an inclination, leaning or tendency."

In Crabb: English Synonyms, Crabb thus distinguishes between bias, prepossession, and prejudice: "Bias marks the state of the mind; prepossession applies either to the general or particular state of the feelings, prejudice is employed only for opinions. Children may receive an early bias that influences their future character and destiny. Prepossessions spring from casualties; they do not exist in young minds. Prejudices are the fruits of a contracted education. A bias may be overpowered, a prepossession overcome, and a prejudice corrected or removed. We may be biased for or against; we are always prepossessed in favor, and mostly prejudiced against.

Is there is a bias in America based on suspicion of the intent of the Muslim people's of the world and is it based on the history and modern actions of the Muslim world, in particular the actions of the mainstream Muslim factions. The majority of Muslims belong to one of two denominations, the Sunni and the Shi'a.

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, in Muslim tradition, Muhammad is viewed as the last and the greatest in a series of prophets—as the man closest to perfection, the possessor of all virtues. For the last 22 years of his life, in 610 AD, beginning at age 40, Muhammad started receiving revelations from God. The content of these revelations, known as the Qur'an, was memorized and recorded by his companions. It has been 1400 years since Muhammad started receiving revelations from God.

Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam, comprising up to 90% or nine-tenths of the total Muslim population in the world. They are often referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h or Ahl as-Sunnah.

The word Sunni comes from the word sunnah, which means the teachings and actions or examples of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Therefore, the term "Sunni" refers to those who follow or maintain the sunnah of the prophet Muhammad.

The Sunni believe that Muhammad did not specifically appoint a successor to lead the Muslim ummah (community) before his death, and after an initial period of confusion, a group of his most prominent companions gathered and elected Abu Bakr Siddique—Muhammad's close friend and a father-in-law—as the first caliph of Islam. Sunni Muslims regard the first four caliphs—Abu Bakr, `Umar ibn al-Khattāb, Uthman Ibn Affan and Ali ibn Abu Talib—as "al-Khulafā’ur-Rāshidūn" or "The Rightly Guided Caliphs." Sunnis also believe that the position of caliph may be democratically chosen, but after the Rashidun, the position turned into a hereditary dynastic rule. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, there has never been another caliph as widely recognized in the Muslim world.

Shia Islam (sometimes Shi'a or Shi'ite), is the second-largest denomination of Islam, comprising anywhere between 10% or one-tenth to 13% of the total Muslim population in the world. Shi'a Muslims—though a minority in the Muslim world—constitute the majority of the populations in Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iran, and Iraq, as well as a plurality in Lebanon and Yemen.

In addition to believing in the authority of the Qur'an and teachings of the Muhammad, Shi'a believe that his family—the Ahl al-Bayt (the People of the House), including his descendants known as Imams—have special spiritual and political rule over the community and believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was the first of these Imams and was the rightful successor to Muhammad, and thus reject the legitimacy of the first three Rashidun caliphs.

The Shi'a Islamic faith is vast and inclusive of many different groups. There are various Shi'a theological beliefs, schools of jurisprudence, philosophical beliefs, and spiritual movements. The Shi'a identity emerged soon after the death of 'Umar Ibnil-Khattab—the second caliph—and Shi'a theology was formulated in the second century and the first Shi'a governments and societies were established by the end of the ninth century.

Kharijite (lit. "those who seceded") is a general term embracing a variety of Muslim sects which, while originally supporting the Caliphate of Ali, eventually seceded after his son Imam Hasan negotiated with Mu'awiya during the 7th Century Islamic civil war (First Fitna). Their complaint was that the Imam must be spiritually pure, and that Hasan's compromise with Mu'awiya was a compromise of his spiritual purity, and therefore of his legitimacy as Imam or Caliph. While there are few remaining Kharijite or Kharijite-related groups, the term is sometimes used to denote Muslims who refuse to compromise with those with whom they disagree.

Sufism is a mystical-ascetic form of Islam. By focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use. Sufis usually considered Sufism to be complementary to orthodox Islam.

Once Muhammad lived and provided the Qur'an by 632 AD the various factions fought a 7th century civil war before undertaking 500 years of war against the Christians for control of the Western World. The initial Muslim conquest of Syria in the 7th century under the Rashidun Caliphs began the battle between the Christians and Muslims. After the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Christians and Muslims the wars ended with Muslims in control of most Middle East nations and Christianity split between the Latin and Greek sects.

By the time Christianity reached about 1400 years of age the factions within Christianity forced the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries and the break up of Christianity into many independent denominations.

Ironically, the Muslim factions have now existed for 1400 years and in country after country they have turned on each other in brutal wars, suppression of competing sects, and acts of genocide that have left a sense of fear, distrust and anxiety in the Christian and Jewish worlds. Is it not surprising? If the Muslim sects can justify Holy Wars against each other in this modern age what is to stop wars with us? Just look at the tens of thousands of civilian Muslim deaths at the hands of radical Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is in the news every day.

History is a brutal lesson in fact over fiction. The origins of terrorism within the Muslim factions is no surprise as radical extremists with a religious foundation have been around for centuries. There is no single voice for the Muslim world and no central control of order to that world. Until those elements of the Muslim world can overcome their own hatred for each other and then their hatred for the Christian and Jewish so called infidels, bias will exist and caution is warranted.

Just as the Christians had to overcome the violence and bloodshed of the ill advised Crusades and the Protestant Reformation in order for Christianity to evolve, so to must the Muslim world overcome the bitter wars and rivalry of secular and non-secular violence and the offshoots of terrorism that attempt to destroy any perceived effort to threaten the single domination of one religious sect over any government in a multi-cultural and religiously diverse world.

Any bias of unease or misunderstanding on the part of Americans toward the Muslim world can be changed, if the Muslim world evolves as other religions have evolved. When radicalism and terrorism are set aside, and they exist in all cultures and religions, there are far more similarities between Christians and Muslims than differences and both share the same God or Allah.  Finally, within every culture or religion are good people.

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Will Holy Week be another wasted opportunity in the evolution of mankind?

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Many religions of the world have Holy Days during April and May as the following calendar indicates.  One wonders how the people of the world can be so absorbed in religious activities yet still have time to hate, judge, condemn and envy those who do not share their beliefs but have one of their own.

The history of the world is filled with tragic examples of religious warfare in which murder, deceit and persecution have all been undertaken in the name of God, Allah or YHVH.  In fact, so no one feels left out here are a number of names for God from various religions and disciplines.

* Absolute Spirit or Absolute Consciousness

* Absolute Inclusiveness

* Allah

* Anima Mundi (World Soul, Gaia, Universal Soul)

* Atman

* Brahma

* Causal

* Christ

* Cosmic Christ

* Consciousness

* Divine

* Divine Feminine, Kali, Oya, Pele, Mary, Shakti, Black Madonna or any of the other many names for Goddess embodying Absolute Divinity in a female manifestation.)

* Divine Mother

* Divine Mystery

* Divine Presence

* Ein Sof

* Ever Present Origin

* God

* Godde

* Goddess

* God/Buddha

* Great Interconnectedness

* Great Mother

* Great Mystery

* Great Spirit

* Great Union

* Great Radiance

* Great Relationship

* Great Unity

* Higher Power

* Highest Essence

* Highest Self

* Holy Spirit

* I am Who am (a non qualitative personal Divinity)

* Infinite Consciousness

* Infinite Essence

* Infinite Mystery

* Infinite o­ne

* Infinite o­neness

* Infinite Source

* Infinite Spirit

* Infinite Wholeness

* Integrative Consciousness

* Integrative Spirit

* Jehovah

* Kosmos

* Krishna

* Larger Self

* Love

* Nondual Awareness

* Original Essence

* Original Organizing Principle

* Pre Big Bang Reality

* Post Big Bang Reality

* Shakti

* Shiva

* The Cosmos

* The Source

* The Evolutionary Absolute

* The Infinite

* The Great O­neness

* The Great Radiance 

* The Great Spirit

* The Tao

* The Great Unified Field

* The Great Unity

* The Force

* The Tripartite Absolute, (a term (R)evolutionary Spirituality uses for the combined Personal, Evolutionary and Impersonal absolutes of God.)

* The Absolute Trinity or TriUnity

* The Supreme

* The Ultimate

* The Universe

* Total Reality

* Total Pre and Post Big Bang Reality

* Ultimate Concern

* Ultimate Reality

* Ultimate Truth

* Ultimate Unity or O­neness

* Ultimate Wholeness

* Universal O­ne

* Yahweh

* Wakan Taka

Do we really believe that any of these Gods actually sanctions the sins of earth being used to promote war, murder, genocide, unethical morality or even abject indifference toward the suffering of others?

Of course there will always be extremists and zealots who justify such actions as the intent of God but I suspect the real culprit in their world is their egomania in thinking only they know what is right for everyone else, or they are simply mentally nuts.

So I wonder what the various Gods think of their rabid followers and I wonder if such fanatics represent any more of a threat to mankind and human morality than those obsessed by greed and the many other cardinal sins that seem to be gaining more favor all the time.

During this Holy Week we should all pray that no one should suffer or die in the name of God and that those in the clutches of evil or mental instability be awaken from their toxic world of darkness and become a force for good.

Is that too much to ask of our Gods?  Or are you too weak to want an answer?

APRIL 2014

• 8
• Ramanavami ** - Hindu
• 12
• Lazarus Saturday - Orthodox Christian
• 13
• Palm Sunday - All Christians
• Mahavir Jayanti ** - Jain
• 14
• Baisakhi New Year - Sikh
• 15
• Lord's Evening Meal - Jehovah's Witness Christian
• Hanuman Jayanti ** - Hindu
• 15-22 *
• Pesach (Passover) - Jewish
• 17
• Maundy Thursday - Christian
• 18
• Good (Holy) Friday - All Christian
• 20
• Easter - All Christians
• 21
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First Day of Ridvan * - Baha'i

• 23
• St. George Day - Christian
• 27
• Yom HaShoah * - Jewish
• 29
• Ninth Day of Ridvan * - Baha'i

MAY 2014

• 1
• National Day of Prayer - Interfaith USA
• Beltane - Samhain * - Wicca/Pagan  Northern and Southern hemispheres
• 2
• Twelfth Day of Ridvan * - Baha'i
• 5
• Yom Ha'Atzmaut* - Jewish
• 15-18
• Theravadin New Year ** - Buddhist
• 18
• Lag B'Omer* - Jewish
• 14
• Visakha Puja - Buddha Day ** - Buddhist
• 23
• Declaration of the Bab * - Baha'i
• 27
• Lailat al Miraj * ** - Islam
• 29
• Ascension of Jesus - All Christians
• Ascension of Baha'u'llah * - Baha'i

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Obamaville July 24, 2013 - Does the Term Molasses Mean Anything to You?

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About the only time we hear from the president now is when he attends another fund raiser, has rock, pop and blues stars for personal concerts in the White House, or has to apologize for something someone in his vast administration did or said.

 

Why does the White House cost keep going up, now $1.4 billion a year, when very little is being done by our elected officials?  I bet things would happen a lot faster if we stopped Beyonce from playing for the first family in the White House or withheld checks to Congressmen until they passed a budget and some meaningful laws.

 

When it comes to the performance of our elected officials including the president, his cabinet, and both the House and Senate, molasses would be the odds on favorite to beat them all in a sprint to the finish line.  Nothing gets finished in Washington, D.C. and it doesn't matter if you are Democrat, Republican, Catholic or Prostitute or any other ingredient of our vast melting pot.

 

I, for one, favor turning over the government to different groups and give them a chance to mess it up for a while.  Could they do any worse than what we have?  Our new set of political standards in America have reached such a new low that it really should not matter what background our temporary government members bring to their office.

 

If we rotated our political leaders every six months or so they wouldn't have time to arrange for kickbacks, payoffs, and all the other forms of corruption and ethics violations currently found in government.

 

Since these temporary politicians did not come up through the election process but were appointed, then they haven't sold their souls to the financial demons that control the economy, government, wars, health care, energy, education and international relations, meaning international trade and the flow of cash it represents.

It would be the first government administration in a very long time that came with "no strings attached."  Campaign financing is one of the top three most corrupt of all ways to manipulate and leverage money, along with health care, wars, energy resources, frivolous lawsuits, alienation and discrimination.  Oh my, that is seven not three ways.

Obama Kills Osama declares Al-Qaeda on the run.

 

Too bad our president didn't get Man of the Year from the National Rifle Association after he led the Navy Seal raid in Pakistan that killed Osama Bin Laden, mastermind of the World Trade Center terrorist attack.

 

At the time the news media was aglow with praise for our commander-in-chief for dealing a devastating blow to Al Qaeda, the terrorist network founded by Osama.  It was only a matter of time before they would become extinct.

 

That NRA plaque would look great next to Obama's Nobel Peace prize awarded before he even had a chance to brush the confetti off his tux from his first inauguration.

 

Here is a timeline for the few things that actually happened since Barack Obama became president.

 Barack Obama Presidential Timetable

 

January 20, 2009 -  Obama first inauguration

 

January 20, 2009 - Beyonce performs at President's Inauguration

 

October 9, 2009 - Obama wins Nobel Peace prize

 

August 2010 - Obama completes troop buildup in Afghanistan

 

May 2, 2011 - Obama kills Osama

 

December 18, 2011 - Last US troops leave Iraq

 

September 11, 2012 - American diplomatic mission at Benghazi, Libya, attacked by Al Qaeda - US Ambassador one of four Americans murdered.

 

July 22, 2013 - Al Qaeda attacks Iraq prisons, frees 500 terrorists.

 

You get the idea.  Not much for prosperity or the history books.

 

Sunni and Shiite Islam Muslims continue their war of extermination against each other.  With the Shiite in control of Iraq and Iran while the Sunni and Al Qaeda represent most of the Arab world, there is no end in sight for the sectarian bloodshed.

 

The following is the NBC News report on the prison attack.

 

By Richard Engel, Chief Foreign Correspondent, NBC News

 

Al Qaeda-linked militants have claimed responsibility for Monday’s assault on Iraq’s Abu Ghraib jail, which freed some of the terror network's top leaders amid U.S. fears that the country is back in civil war.

 

Checkpoints were set up Tuesday as the search continued for up to 500 militants freed by the attack, which followed the deaths of 250 Iraqis in 10 days of violence. 

 

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which was formed earlier this year through a merger between al Qaeda's affiliates in Syria and Iraq, said in a statement that it was behind the storming of the jail late on Sunday night.

 

The attack began when suicide bombers smashed explosives-laden cars into the prison’s front gate, while gunmen attacked guards with rocket-propelled grenades.

 

As fighters held off reinforcements outside, other militants, some wearing suicide vests, stormed into the prison and freed the convicts.

 

“Most of them were convicted senior members of al Qaeda and had received death sentences," Hakim Al-Zamili, a senior member of the security and defense committee in parliament, told Reuters.

 

"The security forces arrested some of them, but the rest are still free," Hakim Al-Zamili said.

 

The group also said it was behind a second, almost simultaneous assault on Taji Jail, to the north of city. But Iraqi authorities said those attackers had been fought off with a couple of helicopters.

 

They added that checkpoints had been set up around Abu Ghraib, as the search for the escapees continued.

 

 Both attacks took place exactly a year after The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's most senior leader, Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, launched a campaign dubbed "Breaking the Walls" to make freeing imprisoned members a top priority. 

 

“The mujahideen brigades set off after months of preparation and planning to target two of the biggest prisons of the Safavid government," the group said in the statement, Tuesday.

 

Safavid is used by hardline Sunnis as a derogatory term for Shiite Muslims and refers to the dynasty that ruled Iran from the 16th to 18th centuries.

 

Abu Ghraib gained notoriety because of abuses carried out by U.S. personnel while the country was under occupation following the removal of Saddam Hussein. 

 

The prison assaults followed a violent 10 days in the country, which has seen 250 killed by car bombs, ambushes and gun fights, according to violence monitoring group Iraq Body Count. 

 

The spiral of violence has led U.S. officials to warn that the country is sliding back into civil war, undoing the work achieved by the 'surge' of U.S. troops.

 

NBC News' Henry Austin and Reuters contributed to this report.

 

So what exactly is the difference between the Shiite and Sunni Moslems?  Here is what the staff at the History Channel had to say about the difference.

 

The Islam religion was founded by Mohammed in the seventh century. In 622 he founded the first Islamic state, a theocracy in Medina, a city in western Saudi Arabia located north of Mecca. There are two branches of the religion he founded.

 

The Sunni branch believes that the first four caliphs--Mohammed's successors--rightfully took his place as the leaders of Muslims. They recognize the heirs of the four caliphs as legitimate religious leaders. These heirs ruled continuously in the Arab world until the break-up of the Ottoman Empire following the end of the First World War.

 

Shiites, in contrast, believe that only the heirs of the fourth caliph, Ali, are the legitimate successors of Mohammed. In 931 the Twelfth Imam disappeared. This was a seminal event in the history of Shiite Muslims. According to R. Scott Appleby, a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, "Shiite Muslims, who are concentrated in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, [believe they] had suffered the loss of divinely guided political leadership" at the time of the Imam's disappearance. Not "until the ascendancy of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1978" did they believe that they had once again begun to live under the authority of a legitimate religious figure.

 

 Another difference between Sunnis and Shiites has to do with the Mahdi, “the rightly-guided one” whose role is to bring a just global caliphate into being. As historian Timothy Furnish has written,  "The major difference is that for Shi`is he has already been here, and will return from hiding; for Sunnis he has yet to emerge into history: a comeback v. a coming out, if you will."

 

In a special 9-11 edition of the Journal of American History, Appleby explained that the Shiite outlook is far different from the Sunni's, a difference that is highly significant:

 

... for Sunni Muslims, approximately 90 percent of the Muslim world, the loss of the caliphate after World War I was devastating in light of the hitherto continuous historic presence of the caliph, the guardian of Islamic law and the Islamic state. Sunni fundamentalist leaders thereafter emerged in nations such as Egypt and India, where contact with Western political structures provided them with a model awkwardly to imitate ... as they struggled after 1924 to provide a viable alternative to the caliphate.

 

In 1928, four years after the abolishment of the caliphate, the Egyptian schoolteacher Hasan al-Banna founded the first Islamic fundamentalist movement in the Sunni world, the Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun). Al-Banna was appalled by"the wave of atheism and lewdness [that] engulfed Egypt" following World War I. The victorious Europeans had "imported their half-naked women into these regions, together with their liquors, their theatres, their dance halls, their amusements, their stories, their newspapers, their novels, their whims, their silly games, and their vices." Suddenly the very heart of the Islamic world was penetrated by European"schools and scientific and cultural institutes" that" cast doubt and heresy into the souls of its sons and taught them how to demean themselves, disparage their religion and their fatherland, divest themselves of their traditions and beliefs, and to regard as sacred anything Western."14 Most distressing to al-Banna and his followers was what they saw as the rapid moral decline of the religious establishment, including the leading sheikhs, or religious scholars, at Al-Azhar, the grand mosque and center of Islamic learning in Cairo. The clerical leaders had become compromised and corrupted by their alliance with the indigenous ruling elites who had succeeded the European colonial masters.

Osama bin Laden is a Sunni Muslim. To him the end of the reign of the caliphs in the 1920s was catastrophic, as he made clear in a videotape made after 9-11. On the tape, broadcast by Al-Jazeera on October 7, 2001, he proclaimed: "What America is tasting now is only a copy of what we have tasted. ... Our Islamic nation has been tasting the same for more [than] eighty years, of humiliation and disgrace, its sons killed and their blood spilled, its sanctities desecrated."

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