The Gulf Crisis and New World Order — Page 177
The Gulf Crisis & The New World Order reasons for Iraq's occupation of Kuwait could be, the world, particularly the world of Islam, should have collectively pondered over the rights and wrongs of the conflict and considered the whole episode against the general background of events. TIIE REASONS BEHIND TIIE L ABELLING OF POLITICAL WARS AS JIHAD Therefore, we can neither call this war which was an aggression against Kuwait, a Jihad, nor can we call the war in reprisal against Iraq, as a Jihad. Many Muslims misuse Islamic tenninology and therefore, become a source of defaming Islam. Islam is ridiculed throughout the world. The world mocks at Islam. Many Muslims do not realise their folly when they make such irresponsible utterances. Nevertheless, we should consider why ordinary people are repeatedly deceived by their leaders and suffer exceptional sacrifices in these wars which are not in fact, Jihad but are misnamed as Jihad. There is certainly some deep rooted cause for this. We must discover what it is. If we understand the secret we shall also discover that the Western nations are themselves largely responsible for the incorrect interpretation of Jihad. If we analyze this situation correctly we find that those who pour scorn on Islam are themselves responsible for this misinterpretation of Jihad. For many centuries, this wrong notion of Jihad has been imported into Islam and it has created a sense of unease in the world. This undercurrent of fear about a holy-war cannot be traced to any particular source, but is quite generalised. It could be due to fear of the unknown. Islam came into the world as a new and powerful influence. One tries to locate the source of such fear but one fails to do so. In human relations, any fear or phobia once aroused generally remains, and tends to spread over time to different parts of the world. ANTAGONISM BETWEEN TIIE EAST AND WEST The manner in which the West has treated Muslims for centuries has convinced Muslims that its hatred for Muslims is based on religious differences. Whether the name of Islam is used or not, the West cannot tolerate the progress of Muslim Nations. Due to the fear of Muslim advancement, Western nations always adopt measures 177