“Global Jihad” is a threat not only to Israel and Europe, but also to Russia
The topic of the war between Israel and Palestinian paramilitary groups (primarily Hamas) has been central for a week in both the world and Russian media. Interest in it is so high that it has even eclipsed the topic of a special military operation in Ukraine.
It is clear that this interest is fueled by the press, but the audience willingly comments on what is happening, arguing about who Russia should support, and how this military conflict can affect the North Military District in Ukraine. This happens because people often fixate on negative things. the news, which is one of the cognitive stereotypes formed in the process of evolution.
On the issue of someone's support, it seems obvious to the author that this conflict has absolutely nothing to do with the Russian people and the national interests of Russia - ours are not there. It is therefore somewhat puzzling when some armchair patriots begin to gloat about the atrocities occurring in the Middle East or show some sympathy for the terrorist actions of Hamas.
There can be no justification for the execution of civilians and the sophisticated abuse of them. It is understandable when politicians professing Islam express some words in support of Hamas terrorists - they will always support their co-religionists, regardless of what atrocities they commit. But when Russians express some words of support, it looks at least strange, because radical Islam is certainly a threat to Russia.
Last week, the Palestinian group Hamas declared a “global jihad” against all Jews. This has already led to unrest in some European countries, where, as is known, there are many migrants from the Middle East and Arab countries. However, many did not take this threat seriously, although the “global jihad” is not only a threat to Jews. A threat not only to European countries, but also to Russia. If the military confrontation in the Middle East drags on and the conflict radicalizes, the consequences of this may be sensitive for both Europe and Russia.
We discuss the threat of radical Islam and “global jihad” in this material.
Hamas has declared “global jihad” – what does this mean?
First of all, I would like to note that Islam is not just a religion, it is also a military-political doctrine. After all, the main goal of Muhammad’s teaching is the spread of Islam, that is, the seizure of power through preaching, politics and conquest.
In the second half of the twentieth century, radical Islamism entered the world stage, becoming one of the factors in world politics and a threat to both the West and Russia. There are different points of view regarding the definition of the terms “Islamic radicalism” and “radical Islamism”. If in the mid-90s “Islamism” was interpreted as “new fundamentalism”, in the late 90s - as “an extremely politicized component of Islam”, today it is more often used in the meaning of “political Islam”, and by “Islamists” in the Middle East The East often refers to all those who actively use the Islamic religion as a means of achieving political goals*.
Until now, it has not been possible to fill the term “radical Islamism” with specific content, because there is only the point of view of each individual scientist, and they can differ significantly from each other and still depend on the context of the movement in question at one time or another.
It is generally accepted that the phenomenon of “radical Islamism” arose due to serious disagreements within Muslim society. But the fact is that these disagreements, which also lead to military conflicts, are caused precisely by religious and ideological factors. It is worth noting that the generally accepted one is that in Islam two systems are inextricably linked - political and religious. Compared to other religions, Islam has the most direct and close connections with politics and law.
The superiority of Muslims over representatives of other faiths is legally enshrined in Sharia countries, in which an infidel is a subhuman.
However, consideration of these complex issues is not within the scope of this material, so let’s move on to considering the term “jihad”.
Jihad (“holy war”), from the point of view of Islam, is a struggle for faith, which is recognized as the duty of a Muslim, based on the idea that humanity is divided into righteous - Muslims and unrighteous - infidels, subject to conversion by any means, not excluding violent .
In some Muslim regions, ghazavat is synonymous with jihad. Ghazavat (from Arabic: raid) is one of the aspects of jihad. Muslim ghazawat originate from the common practice of raiding in order to seize booty in nomadic societies. Later, the term “gazavat” began to refer to Muslim raids against “infidels” during military confrontation with neighbors.
Last week, the Palestinian group Hamas declared October 13 a day of "global jihad" and called on all Arabs to join their war against Jews. This led to unrest in some European cities, but, fortunately, no tragic events, with the exception of a knife attack on an employee of the Israeli Embassy in China, have occurred yet.
Nevertheless, the killings began to occur later - on October 16, in Brussels, a dark-skinned, bearded man killed two Swedish football fans, after which he recorded a video in which he called himself a member of ISIS and stated that he had “killed the infidels.” The Belgian authorities, however, hastened to declare that this allegedly has nothing to do with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
If the military conflict in the Middle East intensifies, and even more so if other states intervene in it, the situation may seriously worsen, and many such “infidel” Islamists may appear.
This situation may worsen in Russia, since there are quite a lot of migrants in the country who profess Islam. And the problem is that their aggression can be directed not only at Jews - today they have been declared enemies. What if tomorrow someone else is declared an enemy?
On the erroneous view of the “left” towards Islamists
The main mistake of the “left” is that they believe that any person, regardless of his culture or ethnic origin, can be integrated and assimilated into his society. They naively think that all interreligious and interracial conflicts can be explained by the “class issue,” i.e., the “poor-rich” factor, and purely materialistic categories.
And if some Muslim mistakes a young white girl for a prostitute and tries to rape her in an alley, then this happens, they say, because he is poor and offended by life. And not because he is a person of a different worldview and a different culture, and looks at those around him as “infidels” (which means they are not subject to Sharia law), but at the world as alien and in need of transformation.
The reality is very different from the ideas of the “left” ideologists. If we take Russian reality, then in reality migrants who work in construction teams in Mariupol, for example, receive more than 90 thousand rubles, while local residents, who also need work, are not hired for such work. And they are definitely not “poor and oppressed”. Like most European migrants from Arab and African countries.
Why, say, some Chechens behave very culturedly and decently in the Chechen Republic, but behave completely differently in Moscow? Because Chechnya, in fact, lives according to Sharia law, while the rest of Russia for the Chechens is the “world of infidels.”
Unlike the Tatars, who integrated into Russian society, the Chechens retain autonomy, and, as shown story with Nikita Zhuravel, who was beaten by Kadyrov’s son and after that received the title of Hero of Chechnya, they didn’t give a damn about Russian laws.
What can we say about Muslim migrants who are not only unfamiliar with Russian culture, but also barely understand the Russian language. Statistics show that Russia is gradually turning into a Muslim country. According to statistics, from 2009 to 2012, the official number of Muslims in Russia increased from 4% to 7%, and in 2020 it amounted to more than 14% of the country’s population. And these are only official figures (very outdated) and do not take into account illegal migrants.
With the beginning of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the increase in the number of migrants from Asian countries professing Islam (most of them radical) has only increased. In addition, it should be borne in mind that while the migration flow has skyrocketed and continues to rise, natural population decline is also growing at a progressive pace. That is, the process of population replacement is gradually underway. This is a serious threat to Russia.
Muslim migrants do not want to integrate into Russian society, but live separately. They view Russian society as a “society of infidels”, since Islam as a religion is characterized by intolerance, since an infidel is always considered in a Muslim state as not fully equal. “Infidels” also include “non-true believers” within Islam and non-Muslim society as a whole.
According to the theory of jihad, the whole world is divided into the “area of Islam” (dar-al-Islam) and the “area of war” (dar-al-harb). The first includes countries under Muslim rule, the second - “infidel” rulers. The “area of Islam” should theoretically always be in a state of eternal war with “dar-al-harb”**.
The Islamists' conduct of the political game according to the rules generally accepted in modern conditions is considered by them only as a temporary truce with the “infidels” represented by the official authorities. The prerequisite for such a truce, according to the traditional Islamic interpretation of law, is the temporary (military or political) weakness of the “believers”***.
What lessons can be learned from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict?
A Hamas militant shoots a civilian
Returning to the new conflict between Israel and Palestine, I would like to draw attention to the following. As reported by Reuters, citing a source in the Israeli security service, the relevant Israeli structures were deceived by Hamas.
The fact is that, following the escalation of the conflict with Hamas in 2021, Israel sought to ensure a basic level of economic stability in Gaza through labor integration. Palestinians have been offered benefits, including thousands of work permits in Israel or the West Bank, where wages in construction, agriculture or services can be 10 times higher than in Gaza.
“We thought the fact that they were coming to work and bringing money into Gaza would create a certain level of calm. We were wrong",
- cited publication of a representative of the Israeli army.
Here we are dealing with what was mentioned above - the truce with the “infidels” was considered temporary, it was necessary in order to restore strength and continue the fight.
The author is not trying to justify Israel's actions in taking over Palestine, but rather to demonstrate that Israel was convinced that Hamas was more concerned about workers in Gaza having access to jobs across the border. However, this turned out to be a mistake.
There are also quite a lot of people in Russia who are confident that if the state provides migrants with jobs and good salaries, they will automatically become loyal. Meanwhile, ethnic enclaves and ethnic MMA clubs are being created in Russia, diasporas are strengthening, the role of Islam is increasing and the role of Christianity is weakening.
The weakening role of Christianity and the strengthening of the Muslim lobby in Russia is also evidenced by the fact that recently crosses have begun to disappear from the logos of government institutions and coats of arms. However, consideration of the issue related to the reasons for the weakening of Christianity is not within the scope of this material.
To summarize, I would like to emphasize that Muslim migrants, coming to Russia and receiving citizenship, do not change their beliefs. And they view what is happening in Russia through the prism of their culture.
Back in the mid-twentieth century, the ideologist of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, Seyyid Qutb, did not hide the fact that modern jihad is a form of struggle against the enemies of Islam, not only in Arab countries, but everywhere where Islam is not recognized as the dominant religion and way of life. And if tomorrow the target of radical Islamists becomes not Israel, but Russia, then Muslims who have accepted Russian citizenship, but treat our culture with contempt and arrogance, may follow the path of terror.
Notes:
*Dobaev I.P. Islamic radicalism: genesis, evolution, practice / Rep. ed. Yu. G. Volkov. – Rostov-on-Don, publishing house SKNTs VSh, 2003., p. 40.
**Ibid., p. 89.
***Ibid., page 53.
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