Understanding Al Qaeda and the Talibani brand of cruelty: Escape From the Grand Inquisitor- Part 2
By Aiman Reyaz, New Age Islam
“No, please no”, were the words spoken by the man on the other side of the table (hidden from view)
180 volts delivered: “He can’t stand it! I am not going to kill that man in there! You hear him hollering? He’s hollering. He can’t stand it. What if something happens to him?... I mean, who is going to take the responsibility if anything happens to that gentleman?” (The experimenter accepts the responsibility) “All right”
195 volts delivered: “You see he’s hollering. Hear that. Gee, I don’t know.” (The experimenter says, “The experiment requires that you go on.”) “I know it does, sir, but I mean- huh- he don’t know what he’s in for. He’s up to 195 volts” (Milgram, 1965, p.67) “
Human beings are the best of creatures yet they perform the worst of acts. All this makes me wonder and ask ‘Are we really fit to be called human?’ Our actions certainly belie our stature. Seldom do we hear about brothers uniting, but the news about brothers fighting and killing are overflowing. (On a side note allow me to write that in Pakistan if there is no bomb blast then it is news!)
The above quotation tells us about human nature and how mean and selfish we can be. Stanley Milgram’s experiment on aggression presents to us the most vile (and revolutionary) ideas about human nature. The crux of the experiment is this: if an authoritative person tells us to do something, most of us would, most of the time, follow his orders and submit under his authority. Milgram wanted to know how could ordinary Germans support and take part in the killing of the Jews, during the Second World War.
In the experiment Milgram found that although people would resist giving punishment to others, but under authority and sentences in increasing order of ‘power’ like “please continue” then “it is absolutely essential that you continue” and then “ you have no choice, you must go on” made the people give in.
The question that will come to our minds is that why would normal civilians do such a thing. Their reply is “I was only carrying out orders”. This is their defence many offer after obeying such harsh and cruel commands. Secondly, people in authority often possess visible badges or signs of their status. These serve to remind many individuals of the social norm “Obey the people in charge and all will be well”.
Compare this with the way in wihch the Al Qaeda and the Talibanis use sentences like “It is our duty to spread Islam” (Osama), “the word of God is immutable, God does not engage in discussion” (Antar Zouabri), “Six million descendants of monkeys [i.e., Jews] now rule in all the nations of the world, but their day, too, will come. Allah! Kill them all, do not leave even one” (Ibrahim Yassin) to demonstrate authority and also their way of dressing also symbolise their authority. In this case, the length their beard symbolises their power. They try “to carry out the orders of Allah” who tells them to kill the non-Muslims! They actually think that the killings are morally good and acceptable in the sight of Allah.
According to the psychodynamic interpretation, we feel security under authority. Fyodor Dostoevsky in his ‘The Brothers Karamazov’, Book 5, Chapter 5 ‘The Grand Inquisitor’ says people do not want freedom because although it seduces us but ultimately it is the most horrifying kind of torture. The setting of the chapter is based on timing of the Spanish Inquisition and in that period Christ (pbuh) has returned. People sense through the aura that he is indeed the Christ and they flock around him. Feeling that his authority may be undermined, the Inquisitor locks Christ up in a jail. One night, the Inquisitor goes up to Christ (pbuh) and presents to him his ideas. This is the most amazing part. Even Freud considered it to be the best piece of literature. Christ’s (pbuh) idea of freedom, (just like Muhammad’s (pbuh) is that people should not be coerced (‘there is no compulsion in religion, Truth stands out clear from error’).
Christ said ‘Truth shall set you free’. This is the idea of Christ (pbuh) that freedom is spiritual liberation that comes from the knowledge of God. But the understanding of the Grand Inquisitor about ‘freedom’ is quite different: “Man is tormented by no greater anxiety than to find someone to whom he can hand over quickly that gift of freedom of choice in the knowledge of good and evil? Nothing is more seductive for man than his freedom of conscience, but at the same time nothing is a greater torture” (p 129) People want to be told what to do. They need a charismatic leader who can deliver them to “the promise land”. They will, the Grand Inquisitor continues, “marvel at us and will be awe stricken before us, and will be proud at our being so powerful and clever” (p 134)
In his book ‘Escape from Freedom’, Eric Fromm analyses the views of freedom and authority expressed by the Grand Inquisitor and related them to modern political movements, especially the phenomenon of Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Fromm says that when, in contemporary society, the individual experiences freedom in John Stuart Mill’s sense of the term, and then he or she is afraid, “alone with his self and confronting an alienated, hostile world.”
Fromm says that “the frightened individual seeks for somebody or something to tie his self to; he cannot bear to be his own individual self any longer, and he tries frantically to get rid of it and to feel security again” by eliminating free choice (P. 173). Fromm analyses this idea to Hitler’s understanding of how to (mis)use or utilise the masses, emphasising that the Nazi movement provided security and safety for people who feared the terrible uncertainty in Germany after World War 1.
Compare this with the rise of terror outfits and forced conversion. These terror outfits give these people a sense of security. Alone, they cannot do much; but by becoming part of this type of group and blindly following the orders these people get a sense of satisfaction and pleasure. To serve under the group becomes their purpose of life. They coerce others to accept their way of life, i.e., their version of Islam. They want to become like the charismatic leaders which protects the common people and deliver them to safety i.e., in heaven.
They are not afraid to die and certainly not afraid to kill. They, literally live in another world. Their consciousness have been altered, hence they cannot distinguish between true ‘right’ and wrong (I use “true” because their morality has been altered or‘re-educated’).
They truly think that the hand of Allah helps them in their tasks”. Ustaad Sayyaaf says: “I invite all those who deny [these miracles] to visit the lands of Jihad, so that they may see with their own eyes that it is Allah Ta’ala who is steering the battle”.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-terrorism-jihad/understanding-al-qaeda-talibani-brand/d/11284