At the Sovereignty Youth seminar, Middle East expert Dr. Herrera explained why steps such as concessions and withdrawals will not stop Islamic Jihad. It all begins back in the days of Mohammed.
At the Sovereignty Youth Seminar that was held at the Oz veGaon Preserve, Middle East expert Dr. Ephraim Herrera spoke to the youths on the meaning of jihad and about Muslim thought. Dr. Herrera began his talk with a survey of the phenomenon of jihad and the axioms of the Muslim religion throughout the world and their monumentally tragic results.
Dr. Herrera presented the foundations of Islam since the days of Mohammed and the principles of Muslim law according to which, Mohammed is the model of Islamic behavior for those who believe in Islam, and that his deeds are the source for determining what is permitted and what is forbidden by religious law.
Regarding the ongoing connection between the times of Mohammed and our times, Dr. Herrera noted that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State, was always sure to point out that he belonged to the tribe of Quraish, which is Mohammed’s tribe. This is to point out the connection between himself and the previous leader. Islamic State also draws a direct connection between the hijra of Mohammed’s times and the goals of Islamic State.
“In Islam, there is no separation between religion and politics”, stated Dr. Herrera, noting the early days of Islam, when moral justification was needed for the newly established religion’s acts of murder, plunder and robbery. This is the reason that the people of Mecca and Medina were defined as idolaters, for Allah had decreed that their property should belong to his believers anyway.
The Hadith, which transmits Mohammed’s legacy through his close associates and relatives, states that the goal of Islam is legal and political control over the entire world, and it is for this purpose that the believers set out in jihad, religious war. The principle that guides the Muslims is that any land that was ever under Muslim control is considered to be Dar al Islam (the domain of Islam) and therefore, it belongs to the Muslim nation and the land must be restored to its possessor.
“The way of jihad throughout the generations was violent and bloody, killing Jews and Christians who were defined as infidels”, says Dr. Herrera, who emphasizes that in the eyes of Muslims, terror attacks, even the most murderous of them, are considered to be only “defensive jihad”, since there can only be offensive jihad when there is a Khalif. This is why the establishment of Islamic State is important.
In his lecture, Dr. Herrera presented research data on attitudes held by Palestinians, as well as Arabs of the State of Israel, and these data show sweeping support for establishing Sharia law as the law of the land, support for corporal punishment and capital punishment for those who convert from the Muslim religion. Herrera cited the words of Sheikh Qaradawi, arbiter of what is permitted and forbidden in Islam, who stated that after Islam’s two failures to conquer the world by force, it must begin to strive for victory in peaceful ways, including, among other things, treaties and emigration to European countries.
On the struggle with the Jewish People, Dr. Herrera told of the beginnings of the prophet Mohammed, whose deeds, as noted, inspire and serve as a guide to his believers to this day. A direct connection is drawn between the murder that Mohammed carried out on the Jewish tribes who refused to accept him as appointed by Allah. In the eyes of Islam, the Jews distorted the word of G-d, erased Mohammed from the Torah, worship idols and murdered Mohammed, even if indirectly.
The State of Israel is considered a foreign power controlling part of Dar al Islam, controlling Muslims and harming the principle that the Jews must be humiliated, Dhimmis without civil rights. Therefore, it is right to act against Israel with defensive jihad”, explains Herrera, adding that “The West is seen as a culture based on moral distortion in every aspect and therefore they must fight and be victorious”.
Dr. Herrera also related to ways of dealing with jihad over the years, firstly mentioning the steps that have proved ineffective. According to him, the first step in the solution is to recognize the problem and be aware of it and not to hide it, as is often done.
“The idea that the solution will come through the Sufis, the mystical sect in Islam, is misplaced because the Sufi principle is that real practical-belligerent jihad will combine with intellectual jihad. To count on a moderate Muslim leadership is a vain hope since there is no reform in Islam. Reform is considered as diverging from Islam. The economic solution does not lead to results either. The facts prove that senior terror figures such as the Bin Laden family were very rich, but they committed suicide terror acts anyway. The source of jihad is ideology and not a low socio-economic status”, stated Herrera.
Regarding the “solution of concessions”, he said that it was, in fact, “the Bismarck method, which was to defeat the enemy but leave him as a basis for dialog later on. Concessions are interpreted as weakness. Sheikh Qaradawi decreed that there should not be an agreement with Israel, because the very fact that she is interested in concessions shows that she is weak and if she is weak, she can be defeated, therefore there is no reason for talking to her”.
In Dr. Herrera’s opinion, the short-term solutions are divided into several sections: elimination of no-go zones by serious enforcement of the law, forbidding the teaching of hate, acting harshly against violence, a joint international struggle against the ideology that strives to eliminate the West in general and Israel in particular, exposing the basic motives of the Muslim struggle and becoming familiar with the Muslim way to stop jihad. “The more harshly they are dealt with, the weaker the believer becomes, and when he is weak he is no longer obligated to wage religious war”, said Herrera, who notes that this harsh treatment can be carried out by denying civil rights, exile, and so forth.