Samizdata

Editors note: On December 15, David Deutsch observed that the same people howling that the ‘Osama bin Laden Tape’ was a CIA produced fake designed to blame him for the September 11 atrocities, were the same people taking to the streets in his support because…he they believed he was behind the September 11th attrocities…presenting an interesting logical dilemma.

Dr. Deutsch, I believe, makes eminent sense. I had also been thinking about why there is such widespread scepticism in the Muslim world with regard to the authenticity of the tape, but now I think it’s a symptom of a thought process of exactly the type Dr. Deutsch suggests.

It’s a good question, because this is what I have been wondering about. The belief of the myth of the doctored bin Laden tape, for these people, is natural because it is part of a whole bigger outlook, a bigger myth, which includes the common elements of oppression and redemption. These kinds of superstitious notions tend to be produced quite commonly in history wherever people somehow perceive themselves, rightly or wrongly, as being oppressed. As far as I can tell in the case of the pan-Islamists, it seems to be a product of what they perceive to be “oppressive” behaviour from others. They have been led to believe – to the level of certainty – that they are subject to the oppression of the ‘west’, which has closed all doors for their progress, prosperity and even freedom to lead a life. You may have seen an article from memri.com entitled Why I Hate America, by a Palestinian journalist, and it includes these titbits:

America is the tormentor of my people. It is to me, as a Palestinian, what Nazi Germany was to the Jews. America is the all-powerful devil that spreads oppression and death in my neighborhood…”

America is the author of 53 years of suffering, death, bereavement, occupation, oppression, homelessness and victimization… the usurper of my people’s right to human rights, democracy, civil liberties, development and a dignified life…

You get the idea, he’s not exactly a happy bunny. He has a similar beef with the Jews, as well. (As you know, these rants are typical of beliefs that serve their leaders hidden agendas by deflecting popular frustration with such autocratic regimes, by feeding a mass frenzy by allowing, and even encouraging, clerics and the media circus to promote anti-Western, anti-modern and anti-Jewish propaganda.) So when social conditions include an oppression of people, then virtually all become vulnerable by seeking what they regard as reassuring certainties.

Oppression lends itself to credulity, and under such conditions the critical faculties of people break down, and adopt the first voice of dissent they hear. They seek a solution wherever they can find one. So when they are vulnerable and afraid, the leaders only have to offer the flimsiest of proofs, and human credulity does the rest. Through all of this, the masses suffer and end up pointing the fingers at the “west” or Israel, who then come to be regarded as the root of their problems. Not only that, the helplessness that comes with such long-term oppression lends itself to a myth of some sort of belief in a future rescue intervention.

This is why I agree with Dr. Deutsch when he says that there is a “psychological incentive” in these Muslim areas, which expresses a “deep admiration” for bin Laden. For bin Laden is widely considered by pan-Islamists to be an embodiment of redemption, through his unbelievably dramatic attacks on the U.S., and what he represents to many Muslims. They rejoice as what they come to see as a “slap in the face” of America, the crown of the west. Extremists especially, and virtually all pan-Islamists now see their messiah in the form of a universal caliphate, a common leadership for Muslims, which they see as rescuing them from what they perceive to be the injustice of the “west”. For them, this harkens back to the “glorious golden age” of their past, which they believe was cruelly taken from them by outsiders, notably the “West” and the Jews. This is why bin Laden makes extensive use of history, and generally speaking, pan-Islamists tend to be quite conscious about it and, even though the history that they preach is almost always inaccurate, they remain quite jealous of their version of events. Their belief in their ultimate redemption is extremely strong. They find it very difficult to condemn this man, thereby giving rise to excuses such as inadequate proof.

In my time, I have come face to face with a multitude of pan-Islamic protagonists, including the relatively zealous down to the somewhat milder breeds, and in all cases it becomes obvious that they share a particular outlook upon life. It’s a very emotional philosophy, and for them life is recast as a morality play, a tale of hubris and downfall. The attack on America was an unavoidable event for them, something that was effectively divinely sanctioned, and therefore deserved. The astonishing thing I found, was that these type of Muslims find it perversely seductive – not because it offers an easy way out, but because it doesn’t. Because for them it offers gratification, some kind of pleasure when it comes to dispensing painful “advice” with a clear conscience, safe and secure in the belief that they are not being heartless but merely practising tough love. This would explain the “far leftist” stance that many have adopted especially in the aftermath of September 11.

So, the West is hated a lot, and it is not surprising that the relatively extremist folk would go into denial over the authenticity of the tape. To admit shamefacedly that the West was right, and that their hero is guilty, would not be in their interests. Thus, they are not about to admit that they are wrong. However, some really do believe that bin Laden is innocent, as they are far more incredulous of the West’s honesty in any case. Indeed, their newspapers have peddled lie after lie, and focused so much upon exaggerated accounts of Muslims being brutally treated in the “West”, along with other unfavourable commentary on the war in Afghanistan, which supposedly vindicate such anti-western beliefs. Many of these people don’t have any issue with ascribing to morally relativistic beliefs, and therefore they will not even have an issue with the hypocrisy of their situation over the tape.

by Adil Farooq

Adil Farooq runs the highly recommended muslimpundit blogsite and is struggling to drive contemporary Muslim thought kicking and screaming back to Aristotelean traditions of rationality and intellectual enquiry in the spirit of ibn-Rushd.