For a good number of years now it has been clear that the Sunni groups of political Islam and the Sunni organizations of religious violence are almost entirely subordinate to Iran, from the Muslim Brotherhood to the Sururis, to al-Qaeda and ISIS. The cowardly terrorist attack that targeted a church in the Jordanian city of Karak cannot be removed from this context.
Three strongly built men, heavily armed, consciously chose to target a peaceful church and Christian citizens among whom were old men, old women, and children, all of them unsuspecting civilians unprepared to face an assault of such violence and bloodshed. Here the traits of treachery and cowardice show themselves with complete clarity. The true believer does not betray, and the brave man does not target weak civilians; he seeks out his peers among brave armed men. But these are treacherous cowards.
Whoever recalls the past decades and the terrorist operations that spread through them, at different times and in scattered places and countries, each in its own fashion, will find clearly that what unites many of the operations of modern terrorism is that they combine two traits condemned in every religion, culture, and philosophy, two traits abhorrent to everyone of sound nature, honor, and decency: treachery and cowardice.
In all their shameful terrorist operations and crimes, you find that these terrorists, for the most part, do not set out to confront the world's great powers. Instead, they hijack civilian aircraft and their civilian passengers, as on September 11 and elsewhere, and they flee from confronting American forces, as they did in Afghanistan and elsewhere. More than that, they confront the states and security forces in their own countries; indeed they always look for the weakest in societies, the old men, the old women, and the children. Their cowardice and feebleness have reached the point of firing on coffins and making war on the dead in their shrouds, and the news reported bullets striking a coffin in the Karak church.
Worse than this treacherous and cowardly act is its attribution to Islam or to jihad in any form. The truth is that targeting the weak and avoiding the strong was the way of the unbelievers of Quraysh at the time of the Prophet's mission. Unable to confront Hamza bin Abd al-Muttalib or Omar bin al-Khattab, they set about torturing Bilal bin Rabah, Ammar bin Yasir, and their like. This, by God, is a disgrace and an everlasting shame, if only they understood.
Who has stirred the scene afresh, and now urges his followers in every Arab country to ugly terrorist escalation, whether in Iraq, Yemen, or Jordan? One who does not hesitate to target Jordan with his missiles and drones is not incapable of moving his followers on the ground, they and their muftis and their handlers everywhere.
Islamist movements began veering in this direction with the Muslim Brotherhood and its "secret apparatus," or "special organization," whose task was bombings and assassinations among peaceful and weak citizens. It later passed to the Shiite version of political Islam through Ayatollah Kashani and Sayyid Qutb, and through Khomeini and his disciples at a later stage.
When a state is unable to confront America militarily, it chooses to target its neighbors, whom it supposes weaker than America. And when a group or organization is unable to confront the security forces, it targets the peaceful and weak in houses of worship, such as churches and mosques, because it gives no weight to the sanctities of God or to the prohibitions of Islam.
For years, Islamist parties repeatedly mobilized all their followers, organized demonstrations, composed sermons and lectures, and convened conferences and seminars whenever some European prankster drew a cartoon insulting the noble Prophet. That act is condemnable by every measure, since it targets and mocks the greatest sanctities of Islam and the noble Prophet, and the protest is right in principle.
What is striking today, and invites comparison, is that the Houthi militia's aggression against the Two Holy Mosques with ballistic or cruise missiles and with drones has become as plain as the sun at midday. This is an attack on the holiest sanctities of Muslims, who number more than a billion and a half around the world. Yet not a single demonstration came out, not a single statement was issued denouncing this shameful targeting, and these groups and organizations and their muftis fell as silent as the grave about this flagrant aggression on the Two Holy Mosques.
On another note, some Islamic sects historically denounced the bombardment of the Kaaba with catapults in the time of Abdullah bin al-Zubayr. Why do they not denounce the targeting of the Kaaba and the Prophet's Mosque with missiles and drones? This question must be asked, to understand the logic of history through comparison and inquiry.
Finally, talk of endings, when it concerns ideologies, always seems hasty, and takes no account of the logic of history, the evolution of societies, and the changes in human beings.
