'The Origin of Islam Is Peace'
An interview with Sheik Abdullah Nimr Darwish, founder of the Islamic Movement in Israel
BY JAMIL HAMAD
Friday, Oct. 5, 2001
Sheik Abdullah Nimr Darwish, 53, founded the Islamic Movement in Israel in 1971. Now he heads its High Guidance Committee. He was jailed by Israel from 1979 to 1984 for his Islamic and political activities. He spoke with TIME's Jamil Hamad two weeks ago.
TIME: What is your opinion of suicide attacks?
SHEIK ABDULLAH: First of all, I am against this because the letter of the shari'a [Islamic law] firmly prohibits suicide. So we should commit ourselves to the prohibition of this phenomenon and we shouldn't violate that, whatever the reasons. Some sheiks and scholars made fatwas in which they permitted committing suicide with a bomb by Palestinians inside Palestine, because the Palestinians suffer from circumstances not less terrible than death itself. I wrote about these fatwas and I showed proof and evidence that the origin and letter of the shari?a prohibits this kind of suicide.
TIME: Why are you saying this publicly now?
SHEIK ABDULLAH: I believe that our Islamic, universal project has no space for fear or hypocrisy or following those who are trying to sabotage the Islamic project. In my opinion, we Islamists can't hesitate in telling the truth publicly, honestly and frankly. I do not accept silence, though it may bring me applause. But I insist on speaking the Islamic truth as it is, even if this truth angers the extremists who claim falsely that they are protecting the Muslims.
TIME: What about those who say that this is part of jihad?
SHEIK ABDULLAH: There is a big difference between martyrdom and suicide. He who resists oppression and aggression and is killed in this battle is a martyr, whether he was part of the political or cultural or military resistance. Jihad does not mean just fighting, in all cases. The military battle is one of 13 pillars of jihad. Why do some people either from the enemies of Islam or from crazy, radical Muslims try to limit the jihad to its military side only? Martyrdom is bigger than being killed in war. For example, he who dies when he is far away from his home while he was seeking education is a martyr. He who defends his family and his house, his neighbor, the dignity of a human being, he too is a martyr. In brief, the ways of jihad are very wide and fighting is only one of them. The terrorist extremists who claim that they represent Islam, in fact represent only their dark minds and their bitter souls and their terrible psychology. Islam is a religion of love, cooperation for the good. The origin of Islam is peace, stability. Fighting in Islam is only an emergency measure when somebody is threatening the Muslims.
TIME: Is the attack on the World Trade Center based on Muslim hatred of America?
SHEIK ABDULLAH: I don't want for our American friends to forget that this ugly attack in New York targeted civilians from all races and religions. The ugly terror which hit those buildings in fact hit the efforts toward cooperation between different nations and religions. Those who were in those buildings were not Americans only and were not Christians only. There were Muslims, Jews and Buddhists among them. Therefore, we in Palestine can understand the anger in the American street. We understand it very well, because our people have suffered from this kind of destruction by the Israeli military machine, which to our sorrow is made in America. We feel the pain of the American mothers. We are angry exactly as they are angry against this kind of terror, although we Palestinians did not find many other people who got angry while we were suffering from this destruction.
TIME: Why do Muslims hate America?
SHEIK ABDULLAH: There is a misunderstanding. Muslims and Arabs do not hate America or the Americans. He who claims that is a liar. Arabs and Muslims hate the unfair policies of the American administrations. There is a big difference between those who hate a policy and those who hate a people. The American people is a friendly nation. The Americans resisted British occupation and want to live in peace, stability and in freedom. We have no enmity between us and the Americans. But the policy of the American administrations, especially foreign policy on the Palestinian problem, is not fair. While we are uniting the whole world against terror, the American administration should change its policy toward the Palestinians. If not, then the administration will cast this injustice on the shoulders of the American people, because I don't expect what happened on September 11 will be the last events, if Americans continue to take the side of Israel against all others.
TIME: Why do Muslims scholars differ on these issues?
SHEIK ABDULLAH: Unfortunately, until this very moment, there are some sheiks and scholars who come out with ideas and fatwas just to serve the interest of a particular movement or organization. The fatwa has become something that doesn't show the real face of Islam. The fatwa has become an instrument in the hands of certain movements to legalize their un-Islamic behavior. When you tell me about a sheik who speaks about a forbidden terror and terror as an Islamic duty, it is because he misinterprets verses of the Koran. The original base of Islam is that military preparations are only for deterring the enemy and preventing him from attacking and launching a war against the Muslims. This is a deterrent force and not a terrorist force.
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