Maryland Poll and Changing Political Trends in the Muslim World
22-10-2007
A number of striking findings came in an underreported poll
published in April 2007. The poll, commissioned by the University of Maryland
confirms previous research on the subject
http://www.css-jordan.org.The poll conducted across four majority Muslim
countries (Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco, and Indonesia) showed overwhelming support
for the following:
• Application of Shariah law in Muslim countries
• Unification with other countries in a Pan Islamic state ie. Caliphate
• Opposition to occupation and western foreign policy
• Opposition to the imposition of western values in Muslim lands
• Opposition to the use of violence against civilians
For some of these issues, the level of consensus is in excess of 75%.
WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM SUCH
POLLS?
1. It indicates the real views on the Muslim street
2. It blows the false myths about the political ideas of Islam and violence
3. It shows that the ideas underpinning the global war on terror are dangerous
for the whole world and are deceptive to Western audiences
4. It proves the need for a change in western foreign policy towards the Muslim
world
5. It proves that the Caliphate resonates in the Muslim world and that there is
a need for all to understand these ideas from their advocates
1. It indicates the real views
on the Muslim street
Tony Blair stated in many speeches that the Muslim world does not have to choose
between dictatorship and a ‘Taleban style theocracy’. Rather, he argued, that
the shared universal values of western democracy and liberty should be the
future for Muslims.
It is true people hate dictatorship, occupation and corruption. However, it is
false to think that the Muslim world feels the only way this can end is to
choose a system like the one Blair, Bush and others advocate.
Muslims see the Shariah in governance as a means of guaranteeing their authority
in appointing the ruler, and giving the checks and balances of accountability.
Islam, Shariah and the Caliphate are what Muslims see as their liberation from
dictatorship, occupation and corruption. It is a system that comes from their
beliefs and values and is in accordance with their history.
2. It blows the false myths
about the political ideas of Islam and violence
Right wing and hawkish commentators in the west argue that there is an inherent
link between the political ideas of Islam and violence as a means to see Islam
established. This survey has proved this is a lie and is false. People in the
Muslim world want Islam but do not see political violence as a means to achieve
it. In reality the overwhelming activism for the return of Islam and the
Caliphate in the Muslim world has been through a political method.
3. It shows that the ideas
underpinning the War on Terror are dangerous and are deceive the people in the
west.
Political leaders, such as Bush, Blair, Cheney, John Reid and others have all
attacked the principle of anyone working for a Caliphate and Shariah in the
Muslim world.
President Bush stated, when referring to people that share the ideology of Al
Qaeda “They hope to establish a violent political utopia across the Middle East,
which they call caliphate, where all would be ruled according to their hateful
ideology.”
Tony Blair also weighed in, when after the 7/7 attacks on London he stated that
Britain must confront - “an evil ideology”, defining this as “their barbaric
ideas.” These included: “the establishment of effectively Taliban States and
Shari’ah law in the Arab world en route to one Caliphate of all Muslim nations.”
Charles Clarke when Home Secretary in 2005 made a speech to the right wing
neo-conservative US think tank the Heritage Foundation stating in regards to the
Muslim world: “What drives these people on is ideas. And, unlike the liberation
movements of the post-World War II era, these are not political ideas like
national independence from colonial rule, or equality for all citizens without
regard for race or creed, or freedom of expression without totalitarian
repression. Such ambitions are, at least in principle, negotiable and in many
cases have actually been negotiated. However, there can be no negotiation about
the re-creation of the Caliphate; there can be no negotiation about the
imposition of Sharia law”.
They have led people in their own population to believe these are ideas of a
fringe group of Muslims and most Muslims disagree with the idea of Shariah,
Caliphate and any political manifestation of Islam. It is this thinking that
deludes people into believing that they can ‘solve’ the problems of the Muslim
world by bombing some groups, banning others and changing a couple of regimes.
The reality is that Islam, Shariah and Caliphate are the political ideas of the
majority. Therefore, the war that these politicians launched is one that is
against the ideas that are the majority mainstream ideas of the Muslim world –
the ideas that people see as their liberation from tyrannical oppression,
economic dependency and political slavery. They are fooling their own population
into a false idea that is a war that can be won. They say it is to be a ‘long’
war. If they are trying to fight the ideas of approximately 1 billion people
this is to be a never ending war.
4. It proves the need for a
change in western foreign policy towards the Muslim world
The late Robin Cook said, after the Iraq war was over, that the challenge for
the west is to reform its foreign policy with the Muslim world – meaning that he
recognised that a colonial relationship was no longer tenable. The sad reality
is that Bush and Blair interpreted the alternative to ruling through proxy
dictators as direct rule via occupation. The unfortunate reality is that the
likes of David Cameron and his small circle of neocon advisors agree with this
analysis. The Gordon Brown analysis is like that of the Iraq Study group in the
USA – that is that the policy of intervention to suppress the expression of
these political ideas of Islam is essential, but that the military option is a
last resort.
The hopeful sign is that the mainstream populations in Britain, Europe and
America were against the Iraq war, and do not support these politicians in their
desire to intervene, interfere and invade. They are sceptical about the
arguments about liberal interventionism – seeing it as a hypocritical excuse to
intervene for material gain. They are sceptical about the scare mongering about
terrorist threats. Even where they see the need to take security measures at
home they see this foreign policy as worsening the problem. They recognise that
heightening anger in the Muslim world and destroying civil society does not make
the world a safer place.
5. It proves that the Caliphate
today resonates in the Muslim world and that there is a need for all to
understand these ideas from their advocates
Above all this survey reflects the emergence of the return of the Caliphate as a
majority desire. It proves that the Muslim masses want to live by the Shari’ah.
It proves that the west has lost the battle of ideas. And it proves that Islam
has won the battle for hearts and minds.
Given that this is the case, this shows that there is an urgent need for people
to understand these ideas from those who carry them and believe in them. Many
ordinary people in western countries see past the lies and spin of politicians.
There is currently no effective voice that is countering these government
inspired lies with the real facts about what Muslims the world over want. There
is a huge burden on the Muslim community to advocate Islam as an alternative for
the Muslim world.