The more profound challenge facing the United States is the broad-based
Islamization of societies - ordinary Muslims searching for the path toward
religious purity. Islamization of these societies has spurred opposition to
their respective governments, and because the United States supports these
governments, it has indirectly fostered anti-American sentiment.
Islamization is in full bloom in Egypt, where it began about 30 years ago,
and in other countries and regions, such as Pakistan and the Gaza Strip. In
other states, the rise in Islamist sentiment remains in an early stage but will
undoubtedly grow. In Turkey, the grass-roots Islamic movement is groping for a
place in the background of the overpowering Kemalist state, which represses most
forms of public religious expression.
Similarly, the authoritarian government of Uzbekistan is trying to stem a
budding Islamic tide, as popular religious schools emerge from the shadows.
Millions of mainstream Muslim activists, embarrassed that Mr. bin Laden
unleashed his brutal war in the name of Islam, could nonetheless use this
conflict to their advantage. With governments in countries such as Saudi Arabia,
Egypt and Pakistan under more pressure to crack down on Islamic militancy,
moderate Islamists can be expected to seize upon this political opening.
For years, a fundamental dynamic has operated between nation-states in the
Islamic world and their citizens: When the state becomes more repressive in
response to religious extremism, moderate activists gain popularity by offering
themselves as a political alternative. Generally, the rebellious discourse of
the militant fringe resonates in the mainstream and revives the lists of
grievances among society as a whole.
The now-famous question of Sept. 11 - Why do they hate us? - was always
misplaced. The more pressing issue, from Casablanca to Karachi, is: Why do so
many Muslims, particularly middle-class professionals, see the attacks as an
understandable response to the frustration the Islamic world feels about U.S.
behavior?
Widespread demonstrations in many Islamic countries were misinterpreted as a
seal of approval for violence. Rather, bin Laden's attack was a wake-up call
that brought out the crowds.
Bin Laden's primary grievance is U.S. support for repressive governments,
such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He shares the belief with many mainstream
Islamic activists that if not for this U.S. support Muslims would be more in
control of their destinies.
In recent weeks, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has ordered the imprisonment
and trial of dozens of suspected Islamic militants to show the world his resolve
in fighting terrorism. The action has placed him again at the center of
criticism from Egypt's moderate Islamists, who, through the universities,
professional unions and Islamic welfare organizations, have gained substantial
political power in recent decades.
A related process is unfolding in the Gaza Strip. As Palestinian President
Yasser Arafat responds to U.S. government demands to reign in Hamas militants,
ordinary Palestinians are responding with a growing desire for a mainstream
Islamic movement.
In recent university student elections, Palestinian students for the first
time voted overwhelmingly for students aligned with Hamas. The vote was
interpreted as an expression of their religious zeal. In addition, a recent wave
of arrests prompted 2,500 Palestinians who were described as Islamic militants
to stage protests. Even if these demonstrations were organized by a few,
Palestinian society at large has shown its repeated support for the spirit of
such protests against Arafat. And during periods when Arafat's popularity has
plummeted, Hamas moderates have won big.
Growing Islamic activism in Saudi Arabia has also surprised the United
States. As the ruling family spends hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising
in major American and European publications to counter allegations that the
kingdom has been weak in its support for the war on terrorism, recent reports
tell a different story.
Young Saudi students, in fact, open their textbooks each day to be
indoctrinated in Wahhabi Islam, an austere interpretation of the faith that is
intolerant of competing schools of religious thought and contemptuous of
non-Muslims.
Since Sept. 11, the U.S. government has tried to reach out to mainstream
Muslims in unprecedented ways.
For the first time, a traditional dinner was held at the White House to break
the Ramadan fast; President Bush made a high-profile visit to a Muslim community
center; and Laura Bush delivered a radio address to point out the suffering of
Afghan women under Taliban rule.
Such attempts at bridge-building are being received with guarded optimism in
the Muslim world. If the rhetoric is not followed up with a change in policies,
Islamic societies will know that this campaign to bring harmony between East and
West was simply a calculated move in the heat of wartime to win support among
ordinary Muslims. It is these millions of Muslims seeking self-determination and
peaceful accommodation with the West - not Osama bin Laden - who will decide
whether the United States will ultimately be successful in the war on terrorism.
Geneive Abdo, a Nieman fellow at Harvard, has reported from
numerous Islamic countries over the past decade. She was the Tehran
correspondent for the The (London) Guardian from 1998 to 2001. She
is the author of 'No God But God: Egypt and the Triumph of Islam' (Oxford
University Press, 2000).