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Religion Must Be Part of the Solution in Afghanistan by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf

October 12, 2009

We have a moral responsibility to the people of Afghanistan. It is a responsibility to help them use the basic moral underpinnings of Islam to promote a free and democratic society.

In his assessment of the war, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal makes clear that simply winning battles and killing insurgents will not produce the results we want. His number one recommendation is to "Change the operational culture to connect with the people." The vast majority of Afghans do not want the insurgents to win, he said, and they do not see us as invaders. "Our strategy cannot be focused on seizing terrain and destroying insurgent forces," he wrote. "Our objective must be the population."

Nearly all of the Afghan population believes in the basic tenets of Islam. It is the central focus of their lives.

So how can religion be part of the solution?

We must understand that Islam itself is not the enemy - only the misguided interpretation of Islam on one hand and the incomplete application of its principles that has led to corruption and insecurity on the other.

Six objectives underlie Islamic law. It must protect life and provide security. It must promote personal dignity and justice. It must protect religion, including the freedom to choose religion. It must protect property and to help people economically by providing a safety net. It must preserve the family. And it must protect and enhance the mind through intellect and sobriety, which is counter to the narcotics trade, now Afghanistan's major income producer.

As Gen. McChrystal points out, the people of Afghanistan do not trust their own government to provide their essential needs of security, justice and basic services, which are part of the six objectives. This has created fertile ground for the insurgency. When McChrystal says he wants to change the operational culture to reach the people, this means we must engage the people at their core, which is Islam.

Our message to the Afghan people should be that we understand these six objectives of their own law, and our focus will be to help them build their government around these principles. This would win their hearts and minds. And other Muslim countries should be brought in as part of the alliance that will develop an overall political, economic, military and religious strategy.

We do have a moral responsibility - not to mention a strategic interest - in not abandoning the Afghan people. Now we must engage religion to be part of the solution.

feisal

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, an independent, non-partisan and multi-national project that seeks to use religion to improve Muslim-West relations.
(www.cordobainitiative.org) He is the author of "What's Right with Islam is What's Right With America."

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Thank you for this excellent article by Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf!
written by Bruce Fenton, October 13, 2009

It really is amazing that it has taken this long for someone to state the blindingly obvious truth. To stabilise a Muslim nation you really could do with the help of other Muslim nations. Every non-Muslim trespasser nation in Afghanistan has lived to regret their visit. Let's have no more famous paintings of one white man on a horse fleeing defeat. The only difficulty is getting the correct intelligent Imans and moderate Islamic politicians engaged with the Afghani leadership in a way that they can appreciate.

My old school friend Captain Leo Docherty was a senior aide to the leader of the original UK Afghan mission. He described the overview very well back in a 2006 interview.

-"The military is just one side of the triangle," he said. "Where were the Department for International Development and the Foreign Office?" As forces sat back with little to offer, the Taliban hit back and British troops there were bunkered up and under daily attack, he wrote. "Now the ground has been lost and all we're doing in places like Sangin is surviving," said Docherty. "It's completely barking mad."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HI30Df02.html

We have largely lost our dubious moral position (which citizen cares whether they are killed by the Taliban or NATO?) and desperately need others with unbloodied hands and new perspectives to wade into the mess we have made. Is there hope for a nation that gave us the greatest Buddhists icons in the world and also blew them to pieces centuries later. Perhaps.

Good luck to all involved I say.

hearts and minds
written by joe t, October 18, 2009

hello

i concur completely....it must include the SPIRITUAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC areas in ALL countries.....
the general is correct....they must be sensitive to the culture they war in....we did not do that in Vietnam...but that war was primarily for profit only... this war is more important and not for profit but for our culture and western civilization.....
they will NOT be able to impose Christianity on the Muslems...they know how corrupt Christianity and Catholicism is.... they are equalliy courrupt and evil
love and light ...is the answer..

joe

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