The Caged Virgin - Ayaan Hirsi Ali [23]
As a Muslim I recognize these descriptions. All over the world Muslims are brought up with similar beliefs in the supernatural. Everything in day-to-day life is geared toward the existence of a hereafter. It’s a short step from these beliefs to the belief that we earn a place in paradise through martyrdom, a mind-set far removed from reason. It would be very interesting to examine to what extent superstition and the lack of common sense in the practice of Islam is linked to the wide appeal of Bin Laden’s ideology among Muslims. He appeals to the colorful fantasies and dreams of Muslims who do not want to take responsibility for their own state and for their own deeds, those who shift blame for their country’s and their own problems onto outside “authorities”—onto the West, onto the United States.
Many madrassas imbue their pupils with an irrational hatred of Jews and an aversion to nonbelievers, a message that is also frequently repeated in the mosques. Jews are consistently portrayed as the instigators of evil in books, on cassette tapes, and by the media. I myself experienced how insidious the effects of years of this indoctrination can be: the first time I saw a Jew with my own eyes, I was surprised to find a human being of flesh and blood.
De Winter writes that the current anger felt by many Muslims—which has given rise to strong anti-American sentiments and speculations about plots—does not merely have its roots in the socioeconomic poverty of Muslims relative to Christians and Jews. “The anger also comes from an irrational and conservative religious experience, in which Satan is alive.” I would like to take de Winter’s argument further and emphasize that this kind of religious experience is common not only among radical Muslims and fundamentalists, but also among ordinary Muslims. The difference is that the fanatics do not stop at hatred and are prepared to commit acts of terror.
All Muslims learn to regard our life on earth as an investment in the hereafter by obeying God’s will and His laws. The values of the community—honor and submission—are of much greater importance than the individual’s autonomy. Religion is not considered a tool with which the individual can add meaning to his life or not use at all. It is an absolute. The individual is expected to accept his religion and to devote himself to God in accordance with the literal meaning of the word Islam: submission to God’s will.
Many who grow up and live with Islamic traditions, and who are susceptible to fundamentalism and radicalism, tend to be passive in life and to be guided by a sense of fatalism. A practicing Muslim who tries to become an integrated member of Western society is in a difficult position. A Muslim immigrant in the West is confronted with a world turned upside down.
Unlike Islamic society, the West places much emphasis on the individual’s independence and personal responsibility, and on the necessity of investing in this life. Education and employment, rather than piety, are a measure of success. Western societies are not dominated by one single ideology, but have several ideologies that exist alongside one another. In a well-functioning democracy, the state constitution is considered more important than God’s holy book, whichever holy book that may be, and God matters only in your private life. Relationships between people and their interactions are governed by laws and rules, which were drawn up by people, not divine forces, and can be changed, adapted, or replaced