A critical analysis by Dr Ignatius Gwanmesia into why Islamism continues to attract

more converts compared to other religions and despite Western media anti-Islamic
campaigns.

I was born into ‘orthodox’ Christianity, and grew up within a god-fearing environment
where your tongue was supposed to drop out if you received the Holy Communion
without having been to confession. Indeed, the images of my parish priests, the
reverend Sisters and Brothers in their religious regalia; including the statue of Christ
on the cross in the church were synonymous with purity and heavenliness. I
comprehensively perceived the Catholic ‘church’ as the iconography of rectitude.
Any other church was an abomination. Now, the current synomisation of the Catholic
Church with pedophilia amidst diminishing congregation compared to the ever-
increasing attraction to Islamism has clearly exposed my hitherto naivety. Indeed
compared to Christian religions with missionaries at every corner of the globe to
seek followers, Islam continues to outpace all other religions combined in attracting
new followers. So what in Islamism is so seductive that even sensationalised
Western media campaign is failing to reduce its ever-increasing attraction?

The spirituality, rationality, simplicity and clarity of Islamic ideologies

Critical literature review suggests that spirituality constitutes the primary pull factor
seducing disenchanted non-Muslims into Islamism; including Christian clerics who
openly profess their admiration for the moral doctrine of Islamism. For example,
Canon Taylor, a leader of the Anglican Church, expresses the beauty revealed by
the Islamic morality in one of his speeches as follows:

“Islam brought out the fundamental dogmas of religion – the unity and greatness of
God, that He is merciful and righteous, enforcing the duties of prayer, almsgiving,
fasting and benevolence. It gave hope to the slave, brotherhood to mankind, and
recognition to the fundamental facts of human nature” Arnorld, (2001, p. 71-72)

Some opinions suggest that millions of people from diverse backgrounds embraced
Islam, “not through organised missions, but through their contact with some Muslims
who impressed them with their integrity and sound principles.”
http://www.najaf.org/english/book/9/3.html. Within this context where logical
arguments will use radicalism to counter the integrity theory, feedbacks following
9/11 and the July bombing show that, not only do many Muslim religious leaders
around the world denounce Taliban Islamic policies as aberrant, but that, the
minority radicalists like Bin Laden have hijacked Islam, using Islamic doctrine and
laws to legitimised terrorism. Indeed, Yahya, (2002, P.9) says, “Islam is a religion
that preaches peace, compassion, justice, and frowns upon suicide.” In the case of
the 7/7 suicide bombing in London, he points out that in Islam, killing oneself and
killing other people are both prohibited in the words, "Do not kill yourselves, God is
Most Merciful to you.” Qur'an, (4:29). Other school of thoughts argue that, “the
realisation that some minority who are ill-informed on orthodox Islam have
reconstructed and erroneously interpreted the Islamic scriptures to suit their
perverted agendas will actually attract people to the true faith” Armstrong, (1988, p.
25); Yahya, (2002, p. 54). Additionally, some non-practising Muslims, feel attracted
back to practicing “to reclaim their faith from those who have so violently hijacked it.”
Yahya, (2002, p. 52).

The Simplicity and rationality of Islamic theology

Amongst the plethora of reasons why Islamism is attractive to people, are the
augments that compared to Christianity, “its creed and code are comparatively more
rational and simple to understand and practice.” Peter, (1987, p. 8). For example
“while Christianity believes in the seemingly incomprehensible dogmas of the trinity;
three person in one God, the incarnation and resurrection; Islam simply prescribes
the belief in a single, all-just, all-merciful, all-powerful God who created the world and
man” Peter, (1987, p. 8). Indeed the simplicity of Islam is said to be summed up in
the palindrome; ‘la illaha illa Allah! - There is no God but Allah”
http://www.islamfortoday.com/compareing-christainity.htm. Similarly, compared to
Christianity which posits that we are born into original sin; Islam asserts that we are
born pure and any sin is the result of either our actions or inactions.
Under the current global-techno society where the internet, mass media like the TV
station al-Jazeeera and ease of travel are bringing the simple and rational message
of Islam into previously alienated sitting rooms, an ever-increasing population is
being exposed and seduced by Islam’s rational doctrine.

Shared life experience, heritage and social values

Within the context where studies locate a concentration of conversion to Islam

essentially within marginalised and discriminated communities, converts say, they
are “attracted by Islam's emphasis on equality, discipline and family.”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-10-30-black-muslims-N.htm. Where a
counter argument would posit that, “Judaism’s emphasis on equality, discipline and
family would be equally attractive”, Yahya (1998, p. 22); Sekou Jackson; analyst at
the Washington Academy of science uses a sense of history and common heritage
to account for the preference for Islamism. For example, he asserts that "The unique
history African-Americans have faced, were primed for accepting Islam: when
someone comes to you with a message that everyone is equal, that the only
difference is the deeds that they do, of course people who have been oppressed will
embrace that message," http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-10-30-black-
muslims-N.htm. In consensus, Amy Green; Contributor to The Christian Science
Monitor observed that Blacks and Hispanics “have found common ground in a faith
and culture bearing surprising similarities to their own heritage; history, ancestry,
marriage and curiosity” Green (2008) http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0928/p03s02-
ussc.html.n. The inference here is that to those Black African and other oppressed
sub-groups who still “see aspects of slavery, institutional racism and various aspects
of ethnic social exclusion as rooted in ideologies of Western politics; Islamism
signifies fairness and pride in the face of dehumanizing prejudice.” Right, (2009, p.
2). Ranging from personalities like Martin Luther King, Mohamed Ali and Malcom X,
the shared awareness of oppression seem to serve as a push factor into Islamism
whose dogmas and philosophies clearly denounce discrimination. As such, any
attempt to dissuade Blacks from being drawn to Islamism is bound to be futile since
they see Islamism as part of their African heritage; “a tradition that moves them away
from the Christianity which they see as a slave religion, as the religion that
legitimized their slavery." Washington, (2009, p. 23).

The moral perspective.

To those who support Islam’s denunciation of the West’s “immoralities; adultery,

homosexuality, drug addiction while acknowledging that Muslims share the same
virtues: Honour, chastity, humility, self-sacrifice, honesty, compassion, mercy and
unconditional love” Yahya, (2002, p.89), Islamic values must serve as pull factors to
the religion. For example, while there is yet no empirical study to implicitly point to a
drift from Christianity to Islamism based on moral factors, if trends in Germany where
previously devout Catholics are abandoning the faith due to clerical paedophilia were
to be replicated globally then, then this occurrence could herald and reinforce the
moral arguments.

From a feminist perspective and specifically on the moral of wearing of hijaab,

Muslim women perceive Western dress code as “commodifying women who become
objects of consumerism as opposed to the sanctity of womanhood shielded or
reserved under the Islamic dress or hijaab.” http://www.zawaj.com/articles/women-
coming.html. Such conservative values are attractive to moralists who see Western
society as becoming increasingly amoral. Indeed in explaining her attraction to
Islamism a female catholic convert to Islamism asserted that wearing the hijaab
reminded her of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Similarly, to people who rather maintain the
status quo, while “family fragmentation in changing family life in the West is leading
to myriads of social problems” Corak and Chen, (2005), seductively, family bonds
are among the aspects of Islamic societies that Muslims say they must admire.

Islam as a responsive religion

Within the context where being in tune with human needs attracts people to
Islamism, the spirit of brotherhood in Islamism is seen as creating a more egalitarian
society. For example, in a world where “poverty and diverse aspects of social
exclusions have alienated and deprived many from attaining their full potentials”
Bradshaw, (2006, p 13), Islam, unlike many other religions is said to seductively
cater for both the spiritual and material aspects of human life by providing practical
way of mitigating poverty-induced problems. Indeed where Western capitalism has
disadvantage the majority, Islamic law in its system of zakaat prescribes that “every
person who has a saving that exceeds the nisaab level (more than 85 grams of gold,
should give 2.5% of that saving every lunar year in charity). Yahya, (2002, p32). With
statistics showing that “Britain has the highest rate of child poverty in the developed
world”; Corak and Chen, (2005, p. 4); Bradshaw and Mayhew (2006), Orthodox
Islamics argue that “if every rich person in the world gave Zakaat sincerely, poverty
will be eradicated from this world. Not a single human being would die of hunger.”
Such policy of wealth sharing rather than redistribution must serve as a pull factor for
society’s poor as well as those with the affinity for communism. As evidence in
Maslow hierarchy of needs, where the achievement of higher aspiration is a factor of
first satisfying basics needs, Islamism acknowledges the necessity for food, warmth,
and shelter as a path to spiritual wellbeing. It can therefore be argued that to victims
or the marginalised of the Western social, political and economic systems, this
Kantian ethics must be seductive music to their ears.

Coercion perspective

While preceding debates might give the impression that all conversion into Islamism
is based on informed consent, media headlines in Britain suggest a culture of force
recruitment especially of students and inmates into radical Islamism. Similar policies
are documented in Christian writings that the Muslims, wherever they went forced
people to accept Islam at the point of the sword. While isolated incidences of
radicalism may become amplified and villified by the media “whose representation by
virtue of their vested interest will always be partial, motivated, conventional and
biased” Allen, (1994, p. 38); the accusations of forced recruitment and mal-treatment
conflicts with researches and history that describe “how Jews and Christians who
came under the administration of Muslim states met with enormous tolerance:
Esposito, (1998, p. 33-34). The reasoning here is that, while Islam may not be as
bad as it is repulsively painted, the “hypnotic power of the mass media deprives us of
the capacity for critical thought.” Marcuse, (1972) judge the attractiveness concept
more objectively. As the most fundamental tenets of Islam, this seductive dogma of
forgiveness and tolerance is clearly prescribed in the words “make allowance for
people” Qur’an, P. 7. 199)

Appraisal

Whether the prevalent antagonism between Islamism is presumed on “the Clash of

Civilisations” as in Samuel Huntington's well-known thesis or on the "The Clash of
Ignorance” as counter-argued by Edward W. Said, the synthesis of preceding
analysis show that the orthodox concept of Islamism has been grossly reconstructed,
misinterpreted, misrepresented and at time hijacked by a minority to legitimised
actions not in compliance with Islamic theology. Today, in a world where orthodox
Islamic denounce the West’s “immoralities as adultery, homosexuality, drug
addiction and a model of egoism; of ‘the people of the Book, (non-Muslims); Muslims
share the same virtues: Honour, chastity, humility, self-sacrifice, honesty,
compassion, mercy and unconditional love” Yahya, (2002, p.89). This being the
case, the attractiveness of Islamism would not seem as irrational. Indeed, Islamism
and most Western religions vehemently reject the atheist philosophies of Darwinism
that living beings have evolved as a result of coincidences and by means of a
struggle for life. While it is inconceivable that any peace-loving persons would be
attractive to Islamism solely by the misconstrue actions of those who rather
manipulate the Islamic doctrine to achieve their personal selfish agendas through
terrorism; misrepresented as Jihad. the realities is that there are many reasons as
there are individuals for either being attracted or repulsed by Islamism. Just as it is
problematic to explicitly qualify or quantify human thought process, so also is it to
consensually determine why Islamism should attract people. These are my
arguments what is yours.

Contact Dr Ignatius Gwanmesia on 07951 622137

Email: antichildtraffic@yahoo.co.uk
 Bibliography

Allen, R. (1994) Channels of Discourse, Reassembled: television and contemporary

criticism 2nd edn. London: Routledge.

Arnorld, T. (2001) The Spread of Islam in the World: A History of Peaceful

Preaching.... Goodword Books.

Armstrong, K. (1988) Holy Way. London: MacMillan

Bradshaw, J. and Mayhew, e. (2006) Child benefit packages, in j. Bradshaw and A

Hatland (eds) Welfare to work in practice: social security and participation in
economic and social life, International Studies in Social security, Volume 10.
Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.
Cohen, S. (1993) Human rights and crimes of the states: the culture of denial,
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, vol. 26, no.1, pp. 87-115.

Corak, M. And Chen, W. H. (2005) Income distribution and poverty in OECD

countries in the second half of the 1990s. Innocent Working Paper 2005-02,
Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre.
Esposito, J. L. (1998) Islam: The straight path. Oxford: Oxford University press.

Green, A. (2006) Why Americans are increasingly drawn to Islamism. Orlando: The
Christian Science Monitor

Marcuse, H. (1972) The One Dimensional Man. London: Abacus.

Peter, K. (1987) Comparing Christianity and Islam. Boston: National Catholic

Register.

Right, G. (2009) Why are American blacks drawn to Islam. Washington: Free
Republic

Washington, J. (2009) Blacks still drawn to Islam despite FBI raids. Washington: The
Associated Press

Yahya, H. (2002) Islam denounces Terrorism. Bristol: Amal Press

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0928/p03s02-ussc.html.n. Accessed: 20/10/2010

http://gayandright.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-are-american-blacks-drawn-to-
islam.html. Accessed: 18/10/2010

http://www.islamfortoday.com/compareing-christainity.htm Accessed: 16/11/2010

http://www.islamfortoday.com/keller06.htm. Accessed: 16/11/2010

http://www.najaf.org/english/book/9/3.html. Accessed: 20/10/2010

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-10-30-black-muslims-N.htm.
Accessed: 16/11/2010

http://www.zawaj.com/articles/women-coming.html. Accessed: 20/10/2010