When Truth Becomes Terror
Truth is an idea that corresponds to reality. It simply tells the truth, which is exactly what it is. Truth is not how we know; truth is what we know. The truth is not what the majority claims to be true. It can be what an individual says and acknowledges. The question arises whether there is any reality in the truth that is being formulated nowadays by the people themselves. Isn’t the truth a source of implementing or imposing power upon others? Truth, when falsely interpreted to maintain power, is actually a form of terror.
In a little while after the horrific incidents of 9/11, the Muslim world and particularly Middle Eastern Arabic Muslims were criticised, and a lot of controversies and stereotypes were generated amongst the people worldwide. It took a moment to change the world narrative, either in print or electronic media, entirely. Europeans started to blame Muslims, and we saw that the whole world used Western spectacles to judge the truth. Truth, regarding the Muslim world, was a form of terror for them, the truth that was rather generated by European media. I shall draw upon David G Kibble’s article The Attacks of 9/11: Evidence of a Clash of Religions? And I shall also draw upon Foucault’s theory of genealogy.
Foucault’s concept of genealogy is concerned with ‘the history of systems of thought.’ The history of societal structures that have produced and shaped the boundaries of knowledge, ideas, truths, representations, and discursive formations in different historical periods.
Muslims believe their religion promotes peace and harmony, and they consider anyone involved in violence or terrorism as not truly part of their faith. However, the reality is that terrorism has been largely influenced by the West, often through false and premeditated circumstances.
“You should pray; you should fast. You should ask God for guidance and help. Continue to recite the [Koran]. Purify your heart and clean it from all earthly matters.” So read the handwritten instructions to the hijackers who carried out their suicide missions by flying into the World Trade Center and into the Pentagon on 11 September 2001. Their task was perceived as a religious one. The instructions continued: “The time of fun and waste has gone. The time of judgment has arrived. You will be entering paradise. You will be entering the happiest life, everlasting life.”
These instructions demonstrate how, for the writer and the hijackers themselves, the suicide mission was seen as a religious one. The first four pages of the hijackers’ instructions recalled incidents in Islamic history, particularly incidents of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) triumphing against adversaries. On the fifth and final page, guidance was provided on what to do upon entering the plane. The hijacker was asked to pray, “Oh Allah, open all doors for me. Oh Allah, who answers prayers and hears those who ask, I am asking for your help. Allah, I trust in you. Allah, I lay myself in your hands…. There is no God but Allah, I being a sinner. We are of Allah and to Allah we return” (Kibble, 2002).
Islam is labelled as a “religion of peace,” but some extremists appear to be “misinterpreting” the teachings of Islam. For instance, Allah says in the Qur’an for Jihad “Fi Sabeel lilah”, people would construe it according to their personal indulgence. But soon after the instances of 9/11, people around the world began to question the truth. They started to view Muslims as “Radical”; most of them labelled Muslims as “Rigid”.
After 9/11, there was much detestation and hatred witnessed towards Muslims in the West. People in the West had begun to generalise the concept that all Muslims are radicals and the teachings of Islam are totally based upon the concept of slaying without mercy. It typically occurs when one relies on sources without verifying the truth. The truth that lies behind all these facts is that Islam advertises harmony and peace. The Qur’an has universality in it. The teachings of Islam encompass every aspect of life. But if we seek the truth, read the Qur’an, and follow its teachings without misinterpreting the teachings of Islam, we will then be able to understand the splendours of Islam.
The concept of a “clash of civilisations” was put forward by Samuel Huntington, professor of government at Harvard University, in a seminal essay in 1993. He argued that in the modern post-Cold War world, clashes and conflicts would be between the world’s different cultures. The cultures he identified were Western, Confucian, Japanese, Muslim, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American, and possibly African. He suggested that the “fault lines between civilisations are replacing the political and ideological boundaries of the Cold War as the flash points for crisis and bloodshed.” He went on to argue that many Western concepts and values differ fundamentally from those in most other civilisations—the concepts of individualism, liberalism, constitutionalism, human rights, equality, democracy, free markets, and the separation of religion and state. Such fundamental differences might lead to conflicts predominantly between the West and other civilisations.
Primarily, these were a form of truth as a terror commonly perceived about Muslims in the West. Even, to some extent, in our society, following a religious code of conduct is looked upon as a rigid and radical practice. Despite being the followers of Islam, our society tends to follow the Western code of conduct and feel honoured, civilised, and elite while adopting their lifestyle just because our mindsets have been totally under the idea of terror regarding our religion’s truth, which has been constructed. We have set our standards of living, and we look upon the people who follow a religious code of conduct as radicals.
Lastly, according to Foucault, we practice ‘self-surveillance’. Here, the society is performing the role of a central guard, much like in a panopticon —a circular prison with cells arranged around a central well, from which prisoners could be observed at all times. Foucault argues that the conceptual construction and operation of this concept reveal a lot about the use of space and the nature of social control in modern Western society. Our society makes the same checks and balances to become modern. We are like the prisoners in a panopticon, entangled in the fear of being called uncivilised.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Opinion Desk.
