What do Muslims think of Osama bin Laden?
Ask Westerners and you'll hear how marginal he is. President Bush says bin Laden
represents a "fringe form of Islamic extremism . . . rejected by Muslim
scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics." American specialists on
Islam agree. "Osama bin Laden is to Islam like Timothy McVeigh is to
Christianity," says Mark Juergensmeyer of the University of California.
Karen Armstrong, author of a bestselling book about Islam, reports that the
"vast majority of Muslims . . . are horrified by the atrocity of Sept.
11."
Well, that "vast majority" is well hidden and awfully quiet, if it
even exists. With the exception of one government-staged anti-bin Laden
demonstration in Pakistan and very few prominent Islamic scholars, hardly anyone
publicly denounces him. The only Islamic scholar in Egypt who unreservedly
condemns the Sept. 11 suicide operations admits he is completely isolated.
American officials are still waiting for Muslim politicians to speak up.
"It'd be nice if some leaders came out and said that the idea the United
States is targeting Islam is absurd," notes one U.S. diplomat.They don't
because the Muslim world is bursting with adulation for the Saudi militant.
* "Long live bin Laden" shout 5,000 demonstrators in the southern
Philippines.
* In Pakistan, bin Laden's face sells merchandise and massive street rallies
have left two persons dead. Ten thousand march in the capitals of Bangladesh and
Indonesia.
* In northern Nigeria, bin Laden has (according to Reuters) "achieved
iconic status" and his partisans set off religious riots leading to 200
deaths.
* Pro-bin Laden demonstrations took place even in Mecca, where overt political
activism is unheard of.
Everywhere, The Washington Post reports, Muslims cheer bin Laden on "with
almost a single voice." The Internet buzzes with odes to him as a man
"of solid faith and power of will." A Saudi explains that "Osama
is a very, very, very, very good Muslim." A Kenyan adds: "Every Muslim
is Osama bin Laden." "Osama is not an individual, but a name of a holy
war," reads a banner in Kashmir. In perhaps the most extravagant statement,
one Pakistani declared that "Bin Laden is Islam. He represents Islam."
In France, Muslim youths chant bin Laden's name as they throw rocks at
non-Muslims.
Palestinians are especially enamoured. According to Hussam Khadir, a member of
Arafat's Fatah party, "Bin Laden today is the most popular figure in the
West Bank and Gaza, second only to Arafat." A 10-year-old girl announces
that she loves him like a father. Nor is she alone. "Everybody loves Osama
bin Laden at this time. He is the most righteous man in the whole world,"
declares a Palestinian woman. A Palestinian Authority policeman calls him
"the greatest man in the world & our Messiah" even as he
(reluctantly) disperses students who march in solidarity with the Saudi.
Survey research helps us understand these sentiments. In the Palestinian
Authority, a Bir Zeit poll found that 26 percent of Palestinians consider the
Sept. 11 attacks consistent with Islamic law. In Pakistan, a Gallup found a
nearly identical 24 percent reaching this conclusion.
Even those who consider the attacks an act of terrorism (64 percent of both
Palestinians and Pakistanis) show respect for these as acts of political
defiance and technical prowess. "Of course we're upset that so many died in
New York. But at the same time, we're in awe of what happened," said a
young Cairene woman.
An online survey of Indonesians found 50 percent seeing bin Laden as a
"justice fighter" and 35 percent a terrorist. More broadly, I estimate
that bin Laden enjoys the emotional support of half the Muslim world.
That America's politicans and experts on Islam insist on seeing bin Laden as an
isolated McVeigh-like figure is worrisome; they miss the danger that bin Laden's
militant Islam poses to existing governments - perhaps their greatest challenge
of recent times. Their fear of him goes far to explain why the authorities so
heavily discourage pro-bin Laden sentiments (forbidding posters of him,
arresting militant Islamic leaders, blocking street gatherings, closing schools
and universities, patrolling streets with loaded machine guns, and even shooting
demonstrators).
The wide and deep Muslim enthusiasm for bin Laden is an extremely important
development that needs to be understood, not ignored.
All material on this site ©1980-2001 Daniel
Pipes.