Terrorism, try a little forgiveness
Jaya PrakashPublished: Oct 13, 2004 3:18 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
In case the lesson has been lost, the recent example of amnesty by Saudi authorities to jihadi terrorists offers yet a clue to weakening the morality of global terrorism.
A fatwa issued earlier this year by Saudi authorities urging terrorists to surrender, resulted in what was seen as a breakthrough in the long and draining battle to defeat terror. The edict proved not only pivotal as an instrument of soft power but also underscored for the Saudi authorities, their legitimacy as guardians of the true teachings of Islam.
Since Sept 11 2001, the war on terror has seen an intense debate about Islam and its interpretations.
The symbolic act of renouncing a perverted indoctrinated cause tells much about what else can be done to combat terrorism effectively.
By doing so, the guardians of the holy Islamic sites have not only steadfastly held onto their Islamic teachings, but drove home the message that even the beast in terrorism can be beaten if we understand it enough.
In case the lesson has been lost, the recent example of amnesty by Saudi authorities to jihadi terrorists offers yet a clue to weakening the morality of global terrorism.
A fatwa issued earlier this year by Saudi authorities urging terrorists to surrender, resulted in what was seen as a breakthrough in the long and draining battle to defeat terror. The edict proved not only pivotal as an instrument of soft power but also underscored for the Saudi authorities, their legitimacy as guardians of the true teachings of Islam.
Since Sept 11 2001, the war on terror has seen an intense debate about Islam and its interpretations.
The symbolic act of renouncing a perverted indoctrinated cause tells much about what else can be done to combat terrorism effectively.
By doing so, the guardians of the holy Islamic sites have not only steadfastly held onto their Islamic teachings, but drove home the message that even the beast in terrorism can be beaten if we understand it enough.
It even shows that forgiveness a commodity seldom exchanged can massage feelings of hurt and help reconcile opposing sides. What it also shows before Muslim and non-Muslim eyes is a spirit of largesse, not to mention strength of character on the part of an aggrieved party.
Moreover, it lends heavy credence to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad when he commanded, 'Allaah, subhaanahu wa-ta'aala,' which essentially means, 'turn unto Allah O believers, in order that you may succeed.'
That in its part is masterly, because by quoting from specific verses in the Quran. the Saudi action alerts its audience to the moral relativism of the terror campaign and where the legitimacy of the Islamic cause should rightly belong.
It also points out in clear terms - even to uninitiated Muslims - that the cause of terror is nothing but a perverted side-show, meant as a desperate attempt to give religion a meaning altogether ersatz.
Such were the clever tactics employed by the Saudis that within days of ceaseless attacks, the cause of Osama and his followers all but fizzled, as to leave the al-Qaeda's doctrine back in the trench. The act of forgiveness devalued the need to match indiscriminate force with one of its own.
The same however could also be said when the Irish republican movement was on; and how amnesty for surrendered rebels turned the campaign on its head.
An underrated virtue
However, in the prevailing climate of blind hatred since Sept 2001, urging forgiveness may seem tricky if not even downright dangerous. That's despite Christian America's much touted teaching of 'to err is to be human and forgive is divine'.
So for most of the calculations and contrived strategies forgiveness remains very much an elusive tactic or very least; something as best not to be mentioned at all. In being underrated, it suffers from what can be called 'institutional oversight'- a grave lapse because terrorist campaigns are usually about grievances related to some perceived or imagined injustice.
If Irish Republicans, Tamil Tiger guerrillas and possibly al-Qaeda terrorists are taken at face value; they are nothing more than bloodthirsty terrorists schooled in their perverse ideologies. They are bloodthirsty because we are ideologically programmed to call them as such; without realising in the least bit that some of our imperfect systems may just be contributing to their aberrant behaviour.
Just like how it is with the current yellow ribbon campaign now on in Singapore, where society is urged to reintegrate ex-convicts back into its community. The episode is a statement of a society's magnanimity, as it is about recognising faults in nations, too proud to call it to book.
Just as illustrative is the strength society collectively derives by the very magnanimity that made that recognition possible. Thus, if magnanimity is used as a tactic, it exerts an emotional appeal so very powerful that a human's first instinct is to respond to it.
It proved its worth in Sri Lanka, it proved its worth with the Akali Dal terrorists of India, as well as here in Malaya, when General Templar was fighting communist insurgents. If forgiveness has successfully been used as tactical weapon in shadowy causes, shouldn't it prove its worth again?
Maybe the Saudis will be better able to attest to that.
JAYA PRAKASH lectures in journalism at FIS Education Centre in Singapore. He can be reached at prakruby@pacific.net.sg
A fatwa issued earlier this year by Saudi authorities urging terrorists to surrender, resulted in what was seen as a breakthrough in the long and draining battle to defeat terror. The edict proved not only pivotal as an instrument of soft power but also underscored for the Saudi authorities, their legitimacy as guardians of the true teachings of Islam.
Since Sept 11 2001, the war on terror has seen an intense debate about Islam and its interpretations.
The symbolic act of renouncing a perverted indoctrinated cause tells much about what else can be done to combat terrorism effectively.
By doing so, the guardians of the holy Islamic sites have not only steadfastly held onto their Islamic teachings, but drove home the message that even the beast in terrorism can be beaten if we understand it enough.
It even shows that forgiveness a commodity seldom exchanged can massage feelings of hurt and help reconcile opposing sides. What it also shows before Muslim and non-Muslim eyes is a spirit of largesse, not to mention strength of character on the part of an aggrieved party.
Moreover, it lends heavy credence to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad when he commanded, 'Allaah, subhaanahu wa-ta'aala,' which essentially means, 'turn unto Allah O believers, in order that you may succeed.'
That in its part is masterly, because by quoting from specific verses in the Quran. the Saudi action alerts its audience to the moral relativism of the terror campaign and where the legitimacy of the Islamic cause should rightly belong.
It also points out in clear terms - even to uninitiated Muslims - that the cause of terror is nothing but a perverted side-show, meant as a desperate attempt to give religion a meaning altogether ersatz.
Such were the clever tactics employed by the Saudis that within days of ceaseless attacks, the cause of Osama and his followers all but fizzled, as to leave the al-Qaeda's doctrine back in the trench. The act of forgiveness devalued the need to match indiscriminate force with one of its own.
The same however could also be said when the Irish republican movement was on; and how amnesty for surrendered rebels turned the campaign on its head.
An underrated virtue
However, in the prevailing climate of blind hatred since Sept 2001, urging forgiveness may seem tricky if not even downright dangerous. That's despite Christian America's much touted teaching of 'to err is to be human and forgive is divine'.
So for most of the calculations and contrived strategies forgiveness remains very much an elusive tactic or very least; something as best not to be mentioned at all. In being underrated, it suffers from what can be called 'institutional oversight'- a grave lapse because terrorist campaigns are usually about grievances related to some perceived or imagined injustice.
If Irish Republicans, Tamil Tiger guerrillas and possibly al-Qaeda terrorists are taken at face value; they are nothing more than bloodthirsty terrorists schooled in their perverse ideologies. They are bloodthirsty because we are ideologically programmed to call them as such; without realising in the least bit that some of our imperfect systems may just be contributing to their aberrant behaviour.
Just like how it is with the current yellow ribbon campaign now on in Singapore, where society is urged to reintegrate ex-convicts back into its community. The episode is a statement of a society's magnanimity, as it is about recognising faults in nations, too proud to call it to book.
Just as illustrative is the strength society collectively derives by the very magnanimity that made that recognition possible. Thus, if magnanimity is used as a tactic, it exerts an emotional appeal so very powerful that a human's first instinct is to respond to it.
It proved its worth in Sri Lanka, it proved its worth with the Akali Dal terrorists of India, as well as here in Malaya, when General Templar was fighting communist insurgents. If forgiveness has successfully been used as tactical weapon in shadowy causes, shouldn't it prove its worth again?
Maybe the Saudis will be better able to attest to that.
JAYA PRAKASH lectures in journalism at FIS Education Centre in Singapore. He can be reached at prakruby@pacific.net.sg
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