Islamic Extremism in Kuwait: From the Muslim Brotherhood to Al-Qaeda and Other Islamic Political Groups by Falah Abdullah al-Mdaires

Author:Falah Abdullah al-Mdaires [al-Mdaires, Falah Abdullah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Political Science, Terrorism, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781136989551
Google: PifGBQAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 17585950
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2010-04-29T00:00:00+00:00

These groups claim moderation so as to give themselves political cover and then try to simplify the terrorist operations carried out by the extremist wing within these groups: for instance, the demand of 13 members of the National Assembly who represented the Islamist political groups not to publish the pictures of those who are convicted in cases of a terrorist nature in local newspapers and magazines,46 only for it to be discovered later that some of them belong to al-Qaeda.47 In addition, some of these members attempt to intervene and put pressure on the executive and judiciary authorities to release those involved in terrorist operations. They took advantage of being representatives in the National Assembly, as was the case when one of the religious symbols of one of the Islamist political groups was arrested and then accused of the terrorist attacks in Kuwait in early January 2005.48

Religious violence can take several forms. First, verbal violence and the incitement against differing opinions through religious speeches in mosques and in the media are both excellent examples of extremism. Another example involves issuing religious Fatwa and hisba (enforcement of religious laws) and calling people Murtadd (apostate) before the courts in order to create fear in people with liberal views. The second type is physical violence, which is represented with political assassinations, armed clashes with security forces and attacking government institutions and Western interests by a show of force with arms. Kuwaiti society has witnessed waves of religious violence, both verbal and physical, as follows:

First, literature releases, statements and publications issued by the leaders of the Islamist political groups in Kuwait encouraged and called Muslims to fight the Americans and the infidel regimes, as well as fatwas accusing the artists, intellectuals, and men of letters as being infidels. Threats of death were received by writers and thinkers, as happened to Dr. Ahmad al-Baghdadi, the professor of Islamic political thought at Kuwait University, Dr. Shamlan al-’Isa and the singer, ‘Abdullah Rwaishid, accusing all of them of apostasy, prejudicing the fundamentals of the nation and assaulting God. In addition to the threats by Ansaer Qaedat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (supporters of al-Qaeda for Jihad in the land of the Two Rivers), they targeted the cast of the play A Kuwaiti in Fallujah, which they claimed spoiled the image of jihad in Iraq, as well as the image of the free and honest Kuwaiti Mujahideen in Fallujah. They said:

We warn strongly all those who contributed to the production of this play from the director, actor, or photographer, and swear to Almighty God that if you do not stop showing such plays, which make a mockery of mujahideen, then we will attack every one who took part in this play impurely, and we will contact the mujahideen brothers in Iraq to attack the headquarters of the Kuwaiti channel and kill its correspondents in Iraq, as well as the al-Arabiya television channel which was struck.

Under this threat, the administration of the theater was forced to change the name of the play to Love in Fallujah.

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