Dr. Tawfik Hamid's "...Just A View"
 
Also In This Issue
The Arab World Needs Revolutions in Thinking NOT Politics
ABC's Test for Radical Islam
Op-Eds by Dr. Hamid

 

  

The Arab World Needs Revolutions in Thinking NOT Politics

 

By Tawfik Hamid

www.tawfikhamid.com

 

Since September 11th, several intellectuals and political leaders in the West have advocated that 'democracy' represents the best solution for the problems that are brought upon by the Arab world, particularly Radical Islam. Unfortunately, democracy in Iraq was not incredibly successful and has thus resulted in discrimination against the Christian minority within the country. Similarly, the outcome of democracy in Gaza brought Hamas, a renowned terrorist group, to power. The so-called 'Arab Spring' is also likely to bring Islamist movements that will only end hopes for modernity amongst the Arab world.

 

Dreaming about democracy without setting its foundations is similar to dreaming about having a fruit without even implanting a tree.

 

In other words, it was better having the West use its influence in the Arab world to assist in establishing the foundations for democracy, such as respect for the rights of minorities and the acceptance of 'others', before focusing on establishing election-ballot systems. These foundations typically need educational and ideological reform before political reform can take place, as they are vital in making the process of democracy fruitful.  

 

The real problem in the Arab world is basically a widely spread, self-destructive ways of 'thinking' within the society.

 

For example, few days before 11/11/11 it became known that a number of global corporates were planning to have a celebration in front of the pyramids.  Some Egyptians created a rumor that these corporates are free masons and/or Zionists. A large number of people believed such a rumor without having any factual evidence and planned to go to the pyramidsto prevent the celebration by all means. Government officials bowed to the will of the people and stopped the celebration that could have helped revive the collapsing tourism industry within the country. In other words, the people created a rumor, believed in it, took actions that damaged their economy and at the end -instead of blaming themselves for weakening the economy- they are likely to blame Israel and the US, as usual, for all their economic problems.

 

Another example of the self-destructive thinking traits is through dedicating ones life to revenge against perceived enemies instead of focusing on improving productivity. This can be seen among the people in Gaza who focus on nothing but how to destroy Israel and ignore how they can build their own society. The revenge mentality paralyzes the process of productive thinking among people and diverts their power toward destruction rather than progression.  

 

This desire to destroy others instead of building oneself has also been elucidated recently when Ahmed Al-Meslamani, one of the most famous show hosts in Egypt, publicized the hope of an Egyptian man who desired all Egyptians to be cured of Virus C hepatitis -which is currently very prevalent among Egyptians- so that Egypt can declare war on Israel and defeat it.  In other words this man did not want the society to be cured from the virus so that they can build a nation with good health and education but ONLY to defeat the Jews in the next war. This distorted way of thinking that seeks destroying the 'other' instead of building 'oneself' impedes the ability of many Arab nations to focus on building their societies and thus improving their standards of living.

 

What makes such destructive thinking traits even more damaging is blaming others without being able to blame oneself. For example, it is common in the Arab streets to find many people who accuse the West of Islamophobia and of discrimination against Islam. Arab minds could not simply see a link between the barbaric behaviors that are practiced in the name of Islam and the negative views that are created about the religion. So instead of blaming themselves for teaching and practicing discriminatory and violent values of Sharia Laws that have resulted in creating negative views about Islam, they went on accusing others of being Islamophobes. The lack of self-criticism does not solve problems but has subsequently made them worse.  

 

To conclude, what the Arab world truly needs more than political reform is a change in their 'thinking process' that impedes the progress of and encourages of radicalism within several Arab societies. The Arab nations need to know that their real enemy is NOT Israel or the US or the West, but rather it is their own self-destructive process of thinking.  If the formerly mentioned traits of thinking are not addressed and treated accordingly, political reforms such as the so-called "Arab Spring" are likely to be fruitless or even counterproductive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
ABC's Test for Radical Islam
 
 
ABCs
The time has come to define Radical Islam. Please ask your local mosque, Islamic Shool, and Islamic organization to clearly, unambiguously and publically denounce the following concepts:

 
 
 
Apostates killing
Beating women and stoning them to death for adultery.
Calling Jews pigs and monkeys.
Declaring war on Non Muslims to spread Islam after offering Non Muslims three options - subjugate to Islam, pay Jizia (a humiliating tax), or be killed.
Enslavement of Other Human Beings.
Fighting and killing Jews before the "End of Days".
Gay Discrimination and Hostility.
 
A true moderate person or organization must be able to immediately denounce the above concepts and stand publicly and unambiguously against them.
 
The Muslim world can not expect the world to consider Islam peaceful as long as they teach and promote such tenets.
 
A clear stand is needed from leading Islamic Scholars all over the world against such teachings.
 
Op-Eds by Dr. Hamid
An op-ed, is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board. For links to some of Dr. Hamid articles, please click on the article name to be forwarded to the external page:
 
1. The Wall Street Journal:
2. New York Daily News:
 
3. Hudson Institute: 4. The Jerusalem Post:
Discliamer: The information represented in this newsletter represents only the personal views and opinions of Dr. Tawfik Hamid, and not the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.
Dr. Tawfik Hamid

Dr. Tawfik Hamid

Dr. Tawfik Hamid (aka Tarek Abdelhamid), is an Islamic thinker and reformer, and one time Islamic extremist from Egypt. He was a member of a terrorist Islamic organization JI with Dr. Ayman Al-Zawaherri who became later on the second in command of Al-Qaeda. Dr. Hamid is currently a Senior Fellow and Chair of the study of Islamic Radicalism at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.
Your support for Dr. Hamid work and efforts is greatly appreciated. Donations via this PayPal link will go to the Chair of Dr. Hamid at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies (a tax deductable (501) C3). Thank you kindly for your support.


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