Abstract
When Edward Said wrote Orientalism, he was defending the honor of the Western “other,” especially that of his fellow Arabs. Three years later, he published a book on Western media coverage of the Iranian revolution of 1979, in which he applied many of the principles he worked out in orientalism to Western journalists' coverage of events in 1979. It is probable that Said did not know that 1979 was 1400 in the Muslim calendar, and that it marked the dawn of modern global jihad and the drive for a global caliphate. It is also probable that Said had no idea that his attack on the West for their “racist” attitudes towards his fellow Arabs actually paralyzed the West's ability to deal with the cognitive war about to come. This chapter will analyze the way in which Said's honor-driven analysis worked to the benefit of those working towards a global caliphate, warriors whose values and goals were the exact opposite of what he espoused in his post-colonial work. The problems with the Western reception of Saïd continue to haunt democracies and progressive efforts.
TopBackground: The Intolerably Invidious Comparison
So crucial was this problem of alleged Western superiority to Saïd, that it became virtually the yardstick of what he used every rhetorical technique to condemn. More than once, this led to some reductive readings of the Western canon (Ibn Warraq 2007, p. 27f). And if those who admired Arabs and Islam like the romantics could get short-shrift from his pen, then certainly anyone who dwelled on the authoritarianism of Arab political culture, of the impact of misogyny, of the belligerence of shame-honor culture, religious triumphalism and intolerance towards minorities, the ruthless way in which Arab armies fight – all that came from racist Orientalists demeaning the objects of their study and an “incitement to anti-Arab and anti-Muslim violence” (Saïd, 1986).
Put simply, like so many other Arab intellectuals in the decades following the double-military defeat of combined Arab armies by Israel (1967-73), Saïd looked in the global mirror and, as an Arab, he felt humiliated. Khalil Hawi, three years before his suicide at the sight of Israelis coming into a civil-war devastated Lebanon in 1982, wrote “Wounded Thunder”:
How heavy is the shame,
do I bear it alone?
Am I the only one to cover my face with ashes?
The funerals that the morning announces
echo in the funerals at dusk.
There is nothing over the horizon,
save for the smoke of black embers (Ajamai, 1996, p. 97).
In 2003, an Arab journalist wrote a scathing indictment of the mentality among his fellow Arabs that illustrates precisely the way in which the dominating imperative (rule or be ruled) operates within a hierarchy of humiliation to lock dictatorship in as the single model of Arab political behavior (Smith, 2010):
I do not exaggerate by saying this [that Arab culture is addicted to tyranny], because within each one of us there is a little dictator who feels gratification when he is repressed by those stronger and more brutal than he, and who at the same time does not refrain from acting this same way, in his milieu, towards those weaker and inferior in status. And when that milieu expands, he gradually imposes this on more people, so that when this sphere grows and he is the one who decides first and last, and who gives the orders, dictatorship spreads and it is imposed on all the people. Thus, yesterday’s oppressed become today’s oppressor; yesterday’s subjugated become today’s subjugator; he that was wronged now becomes the wrongdoer; the humiliated becomes the arrogant (Rashid, 2003).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Dar al Harb “Realm of the Sword”: Countries where infidels rule, areas with which Islam is at war, areas to be conquered by the sword. Harbis: infidels destined to the sword.
Dar al Islam “Realm of Submission”: Countries where Islamic law (Sharia) governs.
Jihad (“Struggle”): The “great Jihad” inner struggle; the “little Jihad”: war against infidels. Soldiers in the kinetic war are called Mujahiddin.
Da’wa: “Summons” whether summoning infidels to convert, or lax Muslims to return to strict commitment. Among Caliphators, Da’wa is a form of cognitive/information warfare summoning infidels to either convert or behave like dhimmi.
Millennialism (“Thousand Years”): Belief that in the future, this world, permeated by evil, will be purified and a reign of peace, plenty, mutual love and justice will govern mankind for an extended period (a thousand years). Heaven on Earth.
Cognitive Warfare: Warfare undertaken by the weak side in an asymmetrical conflict, manipulation of information and ideas designed to convince the stronger side not to use its superior strength, to make patriots of one’s own and pacifists of the enemy, to redeploy in order to better fight the kinetic (military) war. Trojan Horse, Treaty of Hudaybiyya.
Shame-Honor: An emotional and existential orientation that places primary importance on avoiding shame and acquiring, maintaining and regaining honor. Other-directed concern for one’s reputation. In a shame-honor culture it is legitimate, expected, even required to shed blood for the sake of honor. Honor cultures find criticism, especially public, humiliating; they tend towards zero-sum interactions – one wins (honor) only if the other loses (shame), and towards social hierarchies.
Apocalyptic: Belief that the climax of history is imminent, that certainly within the lifetime of the believer there will be either the beginning of a millennial, messianic era or the End of the World entirely. Until now, this frequent belief has been disappointed. Before disappointment, though, apocalyptic time radically disinhibits believers, preparing for the final battle between good and evil. Active cataclysmic: believers play a major role in bringing about the apocalyptic cataclysm that destroys evil on earth.
Dignity Culture: The conviction that each individual at birth possesses an intrinsic value in principle equal to that of every other person. Inner-directed by a sense of integrity independent of what “others” think. Guilt-integrity vs. shame-honor. Because everyone has intrinsic dignity, such cultures tend towards positive-sum interactions, protect human rights, and favor democratic systems of government.
Dhimmi (“Blameworthy”): The status of infidels under Sharia law, protection from Muslim violence assured by submission to rules governing behavior, systemic degradation of status, legal humiliation. Perceived violation allows Muslims to attack dhimmi who have violated the rules.
Caliphators: A Muslim apocalyptic millennial movement believing that in this generation (apocalyptic), Dar al Harb will be eliminated and a global Caliphate will be established in which all surviving infidels become dhimmi (millennial goal).
Islamophobia: “An outlook or world-view involving an unfounded dread and dislike of Muslims, which results in practices of exclusion and discrimination” (Runnymede Trust). The key problem is defining “irrational” or “unfounded fear.” Islamophobia in current usage is often used to reject any criticism of Islam, to silence any rational or founded reason to fear it.
Triumphalist Religiosity: The need to have the public (especially members of other religions) visibly acknowledge the superiority of one’s own religion and its practitioners.