NCRI, October 8 – In a conference on Islamic fundamentalism in London on October 5, Ayatollah Jalal Gangei, Chair of the Religious Tolerance Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran addressed the issue as an authority on Islam. He dealt with the issue from three angles as it follows:
1) I would like to elaborate on the phenomenon of fundamentalism and the struggle against it. One has to bear in mind two major elements in this discussion:
First: we must provide a precise and rigorous definition of Islamic fundamentalism; since this is not a religious phenomenon but rather it is merely a totalitarian political trend that has turned Islam into an instrument for consolidating “absolute power.” Islamic fundamentalists believe that the only guarantee to fulfill their so-called Islamic mandates – such as cruel and inhuman punishments and in particular their well-known misogyny – is the acquisition of unchallenged political power. Therefore, Islamic fundamentalism is not limited to a single branch of the Islamic faith and in fact this phenomenon has already surfaced among various branches of the faith. The Shiite mullahs in Iran and the Taliban in Afghanistan espouse the same desire for absolute political power, and diverge only in their Shiite and Sunni religious differences.
Second: Islamic Fundamentalism is an enemy and threat from within the Islamic faith itself, since power-hungry fundamentalists – be they Shiite or Sunni – corrupt the values of the Islamic system. I will elaborate on this. As we know, the Islamic faith preaches piety and good deeds. In the holy book of Quran, Surah Hujarat says: “The dearest of you before God, is the most pious of you.” But the Islamic fundamentalists advocate the notion that the best deeds are the ones which facilitate the acquisition of absolute power by the fundamentalists. By such a definition, the best people therefore are the most violent ones who resort to any means possible to materialize such ambitions. By such reasoning, indiscriminate killings of innocent and defenseless people is justifiable and unfairly labeled as “Jihad” or holy war. Therefore there is no demarcation between fundamentalism and terrorism which validates the most heinous terrorist acts.
By concentrating on this definition and on the non-religious nature of Islamic fundamentalism, we see that for the Islamic fundamentalists, gaining political power is the highest of all values, and therefore under such circumstances, no wrong-doing or sins have any importance, but rather such sins are a necessary means that justify the goal.
By such definition, anyone or any religious and human value, that poses an obstacle to power by the fundamentalists, must be trampled on.
This is why Islamic fundamentalism is a threat to all humanity and its values. Moreover, it threatens human liberty, and world peace and security in its quest for power.
In the same tradition, and during the Revolution of 1979 in Iran, Khomeini didn’t hesitate to utter all sorts of lies to pose as a freedom-lover. But in fact, Khomeini had almost two decades earlier, elaborated on the theory of “Velayate Faqih” or “Absolute rule of the jurisprudent.” Nevertheless, while he was in Paris just before the 1979 revolution, he said that should he return to Iran, he would leave Tehran to go to the holy city of Qom to attend to his religious studies and – in other words – shall not take any official position in the ruling system.
2) The Islamic fundamentalist threat is particularly more dangerous today because of two important political realities of our world:
Firstly: The existence of the Mullahs’ regime in Iran is the main factor that accentuates the danger of Islamic fundamentalism. It is not without reason that all Islamic terrorist groups have sprung up only after the Iranian revolution and the coming to power of the Mullahs in Iran. The ascendance of the mullahs’ regime in Iran has led to two major developments:
A. It has created an inspirational and living model for radical Islamic tendencies, for all extremist Muslims to learn and believe that a terrorist form of government can be imposed in this or that Muslim community, even in the modern world. Furthermore, the fundamentalist model in Iran, has taught that once you gain power, as with the regime in Tehran – regardless of the extent of extremism and fundamentalism that you practice – you can gain the appeasement of the international community.
B. When the mullahs in Iran gained power under Khomeini’s leadership, they espoused an “expansionist policy” which reiterates that the very survival of the regime is dependent on the creation of similar movements in as many parts of the world as possible. Otherwise, it would be likely that the world community would join in solidarity with the Iranian people to reject this regime in its totality. Therefore, scores of institutions and agencies were created for the express purpose of “exporting revolution” under the watch of the “velayat faghih,” and allocated enormous government budgets. For instance, the Qods Force which is an important section of the revolutionary Guards under Khamenei’s command, or the Organization of the Islamic Liaison and cultural attaches in all embassies of the Islamic Republic all over the world.
Secondly, it must be emphasized that the great powers and in particular the Western nations, have played a significant role in consolidating this threat. Appeasing the Iranian regime for political or commercial goals conveyed a clear signal to the terrorist fundamentalists. The message was this: Should you gain power, you will be tolerated.
During the hostage takings in Lebanon, or the wave of airplane hijackings which were perpetrated directly by the regime or its indigenous agents in various countries, it was abundantly clear to all, that the Western countries resorted to paying ransom in order to free their hostages. And so the ruling mullahs in Iran effectively used terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy and Western countries leniently closed their eyes, and in some cases escorted terrorist agents which had been caught, to waiting flights back to Tehran.
In order to justify the appeasement policy with the mullahs, the illusion of possible reform or moderation of the regime was hyped-up. And most disgraceful, western governments began to suppress supporters of the Iranian Resistance movement on behalf of the terrorist regime in Tehran. And as a good will gesture to that regime, they put the name of the main opposition force, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran on the terror list of the European countries as well as that of the United States.
3) The folly of appeasement of the Iranian regime has unfortunately been repeated in Iraq in the past two and a half years. The mullahs’ undeniable intervention in the internal affairs of Iraq has been ignored. And only recently do we learn of some of these bloody interventions in the Western press.
The mullahs not only dispatch terrorists and weapons to massacre Iraqis and foreigners such as the attacks on British soldiers in Basra, but now an increasing number of local Iraqi officials in various Iraqi provinces get their orders from Tehran and pictures of Khomeini and Khamenei are displayed in official institutions of Iraq.
Under the watch of the coalition forces in Iraq, the mullahs – in their unending provocations – are framing another religious theocracy in Iraq in the form of the current Iraqi constitution. The vision of a democratic Iraq is turning into an unofficial occupation of Iraq by the mullahs’ in Iran. Arab and Western press reports are numerous and regional leaders are indeed very much concerned by this.
International covenants and conventions are openly ignored in the constitution that the mullahs’ have influenced in Iraq. In particular, based on Article 21C, the future government of Iraq is mandated to destroy the main Iranian opposition force, the Mojahedin Khalq, on behalf of the regime in Iran, in clear circumvention of their recognized rights as political refugees whose status as such has been officially recognized under the Geneva Conventions.
Allow me to warn that a dangerous game is being played here. The West has to wake up to this situation and the particular article in the constitution has to come into conformance with international laws and the 1951 convention on the status of refugees and other relevant international conventions.
Enough is enough and the present experience in Iraq has to lead to an end in past mistakes. This must be a necessary starting point to end the terrorist atrocities occurring all over the world, from September in New York, to July in London, Madrid, Sharm al-Sheikh, Bali, Turkey, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Algeria, Egypt and others.
4. We now must ask ourselves, what is the solution vis-à-vis the terrorism emanating from Islamic fundamentalism?
Islamic fundamentalism is a dangerous political tendency with religious pretensions. When we are faced with an ideological deviation such as fundamentalism, strict security measures and suppression, although necessary in some cases, will not be an effective countermeasure. This is particularly so if the implementation of these measures is in the hands of security agencies that are not from the Muslim community.
The involvement of the Muslim community should be sought here; Muslims who espouse the basic tenets of the Islamic faith such as respect for humanity and human values, liberty, peace, cooperation and tolerance. The same values espoused in the Quran where in the Surah “Al Imran” it is said to followers of other faiths: “Let us cooperate for our shared values between Muslims and you.”
Again we return to Iran here, because:
A. Islam, as it is embodied in the Iranian resistance movement, is today a source of hope for all humanity. We base our defense of democracy, human rights, equal religious rights for all the faiths, separation of religion and state, comprehensive equality of men and women, equal rights for all minorities, on the Islamic faith. To know this resistance and to cooperate with this Islam is something all humanity needs today. All limitations placed on the Mojahedin Khalq movement, which is the main Iranian resistance force, should be removed. In particular, the West’s mistake in putting the Mojahedin on the terror list, which occurred as a goodwill gesture to the mullahs in Iran, should be corrected.
B. The Iranian electorate is today in the unique position of being the only Muslim nation in the world that will not bring radical religious elements to power in a democratic election process.
I thank you for your attention today and hope that “Together Against Fundamentalism” can provide a forum for cooperation and successful advocacy of these goals among intellectuals, journalists, politicians and the public, to bring to light the threat of terrorism emanating from Islamic fundamentalism and the correct way of countering this phenomenon.
