Agora

I had a post about this earlier, but that has been deleted. It was only the English excerpt from aftenposten.no. Here I bring the full interview from dagbladet.no. This is a rough translation, but I need some sleep. If there are any errors, they will be corrected tomorrow.

(I would also like to thank sveitserosten for bringing to my attention that this interview had been made.)

Dagbladet.no February 13, 2006

Islam will be Victorious against the West

There can be no lasting peace between the West and Islam before the Islamic Caliphate has been reborn. So says Mullah Krekar. In this interview he shares a peek at Radical Islamists’ thoughts in the aftermath of the Caricature affair.

Carsten Thomassen

Mullah Krekar is wearing a bright white tunic as he welcomes us to his home at Tøyen in Oslo. In a corner sits the computer which Mullah Krekar uses to publish his articles and communicate with co-religionists from all over the world.

“They may take away our freedom to walk the streets and the mosques, but our freedom hasn’t been taken from us on the internet”, he says, smiling.

Krekar doesn’t represent the Moslem majority in Norway, Europe or in the Moslem world. But he is the representative of an ideologi, a world view and a historical interpretation which is central to the militant Islamist movement from which Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and other groups have sprung.

The War goes on
The background of this first interview in the aftermath of the Muhammed affair is an article Krekar has published on a radical Islamist website about what he thinks is an ongoing war between the mindset of the West and that of Islam.

“The Western Mindset” he loosely defines as the values which the powerholders of the West are guided by.

“On the one side is the Western Mindset. It is a mindset which has gotten its materialism, egocentrism and savagery from the Greeks and the Romans of the ancient world. It’s a mindset which subverted and changed Christianity. An example of that is that the Christianity of the West accepts homophilia. Jesus never accepted that. On the other side is Islam and now the West is trying to subvert and change Islam in the same way Christianity was desecrated.

“Do you think this is a clash of civilizations?”

“No, there is but one civilization. But different mindsets exist within this civilization and our mindset in Islam is facing that of the West. Today our way of thinking is penetrating and manifesting itself stronger than theirs is. Islam is safely based on a God, a Prophet, a Quran and a tradition. This is what creates hate in the Western mindset and being the losing side, it turns to violence. And that violence and war is against Islam.”

“What basis have you for saying that a war is in progress against Islam?”

“The Spread of Democracy is only a front. In the same way the hunt for Osama bin Laden is only a front. It’s Islam that the mindset of the West cannot bear and it is with these glasses events must be viewed. The attack on Islam is like a hand: One finger is the warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. The second finger is the incarceration of Moslems in Guantanamo Bay. The third finger is the publication of the drawings of the Prophet Muhammed. We must see things for what they are and the drawings are a part of the militant fight the West is bringing to Islam.”

We will be victorious
“What do you mean when you say the mindset of Islam is stronger than the mindset of the West?”

“We have no fear of the Western mindset. It can never be victorious. In Iraq the two sides are facing each other. On the side of Islam are men who love death and are willing to become martyrs for their beliefs. On the other side are soldiers who fight for a 1000 dollars a day. The number of dead American soldiers are proof of defeats. In Afghanistan the same thing is happening. From 2001 to 2004 five suicide attacks occured. In 2005 it was 17. While the US and their allies are becoming smaller, Islam is expanding the front. And the reports from Guantanamo tell the same story. There they try to rip the faith our of the Moslems’ hearts. They fail. In Denmark they printed those cartoons, but the result is that the backing for Islam increases. I and all Moslems are proof of this. You haven’t managed to change us. We are the ones who will change you.”

“How?”

“Look at the development of the populations in Europe where Moslems are breeding like Mosquitoes. Every western woman produces on average 1.4 children. Every Moslem woman in the same countries produce 3.5 children. In the year 2050, 30 percent of the population of Europe will be Moslems.”

An Honour to Fight
“Is it the right choice to bring the militant part of the war to Europe?”

“No, I can’t support that. But Moslems who travel to Afghanistan and Iraq to fight, are honourable. It’s honourable even though it goes against the laws of Europe.”

“Even though it means fighting with Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups?”

“Those who call Osama bin Laden a terrorist are the ones killing our women and civilians. We see this, we know this. We aren’t affected by the United States’ words against Osama bin Laden because they are talking of one whom we know. We are fighting for the same goal under different circumstances. The goal is Islamic power in an Islamic state. The Shi’ites have reached their goal in Iran and they are so strong that the West dare not attack. Only so can we maintain the balance of power and gain lasting peace.”

“Is the goal the rebirth of the Caliphate - the Islamic rule established by the Prophet?”

“Yes. Our Caliph is dead and we are orphans. Therefore we fight, as the Jews did with David Ben Gurion, for our own state, a state controlled by a true Islamic ruler.

Muhammed with lines of descent going to the last Sultan of the Osmannic Empire - where the religious and political leadership is one and the same?”
[The above appears thus in the article from dagbladet.no - typo, I think]

“What borders should the Caliphate have?”

“That does not matter. Things are born small and grow big. It’s the Islamic rule it’s about. That is why the West destroyed the Talibans in Afghanistan. They feared the Islamic state.”

“Who should lead the new Caliphate?”

“It needn’t be a scholar. A good man will do.”

“Is bin Laden a such a man?”

“Osama bin Laden, Ayman Zawahiri (the number two of al-Qaeda) are among many good men. Weren’t Jewish leaders terrorists too before they got their own state?”

Without a Country
“The majority of Moslems in the West have made their adopted countries their home. What is your message to them?”

“Moslems in the West and in Norway understand that this is not their country. It’s the Moslem state that will be their home, no matter where it may be. Moslems of the West are like the Jews before them. We are homeless and weak and will be so till we create our own country. Life here has no value for Moslems.”

“What do you say to Moslems in the West who participate fully in both their communities and in the political debate?”

“They are free to participate in elections and elect Carl I. Hagen or Kristin Halvorsen, but they aren’t innately valuable to the society at large. When we get our own country as the Shi’ites of Iran have, then the Moslems will be in full political and economic control.”

“What role do you see for the Moslems of Europe?”

“We have no role right now. Our position is to defend our numbers. But you’re seeing us as the accused. It’s you and the West who should be telling us what you can do for us. The West should protect Islam, not the opposite.”

“Isn’t the Freedom of Speech and the Freedom of Religion which allowed the caricatures of Muhammed exactly your best protection for your utterances and your faith?”

“I am protected by the law of this country, but it is not a law made to protect Moslems specifically. It couldn’t protect Moslems against the attack the cartoons represented. The West are not the Victims here.”