[Hanbali]

(continued..)


This type of thinking promises to offer a final, definitive interpretation of events, but never does because it seeks to reach such an end through complete disregard for evidence or concrete laws. Just as the X-Files tells us, the truth is always out there, but is never completely known and can never be proved conclusively.


The conspirators are almost always seen as being monolithic, unified in purpose, unshaken in their determination to fulfill their nefarious objectives and almost omnipresent. For example, recall the Jordanian journalist who warned against the "great Jewish Zionist mastermind that controls the world's economy, media and politics". The conspiracy theorist oversimplifies and personalizes every event, ignoring the complexities of the situation. Do Jews control the media, or do they influence it? There is a subtle difference. The conspiracy theorist will affirm the former, whereas the latter is demonstrably true. Jews, like other social and political forces, exert pressure on the media through advertising expenditure, participation in the media industry, and so forth.
Anything that occurs which seems in any way related to the aims of the conspirators is attributed to them. For instance, Bali, quite unrelated to Middle Eastern politics on the face of it, was linked to Israel because it was argued that Israel benefited from the attack because it discredited Muslims and therefore strengthened Israeli arguments at the Palestinians.


Evidence or arguments that are actually contrary to the conspiracy theorists position get contorted to actually support the conspiracy. For example, one points out that the 4,000 Jews story is not credible because no reputable media source outside of the Hezbollah substantiated it. The conspiracy theorist may reply that the failure of the media to report the story confirms that it was indeed true. Jews, he will opine, own the media and so naturally they would cover up for their own.
As such, it is almost impossible to reason with a person who has adopted these thought processes. As Donna Kossy writing in Kooks:


A Guide to the Outer Limits of Human Belief noted:
Conspiracy theories are like black holes--they suck in everything that comes their way, regardless of content or origin...Everything you've ever known or experienced, no matter how 'meaningless', once it contacts the conspiratorial universe, is enveloped by and cloaked in sinister significance. Once inside, the vortex gains in size and strength, sucking in everything you touch.

The attractiveness of such theories is that they simplify complex issues and make them more comprehensible and palatable to our desires. We can easily rationalize our present problems, by blaming them on an almost omnipotent and omnipresent 'other' that has manipulated the world around us, leaving us powerless to change or stop it. In doing so, it assuages our sense of helplessness by personifying the source of our problems down to a set of identifiable individuals; whether it be the Jews, freemasons, Bilderberg Group or the Illuminati. Being able to blame someone is an integral part of maintaining the faux-victimhood that many Muslims today thrive on.

However, such approaches do severe damage to the cause of Islam and the Muslims.


Firstly, the propagation, however earnest, of such ideas has led to Muslims now facing a crisis of credibility. The association of Muslims with extremist groups and discredited material like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion or The International Jew provides our enemies with easy fodder to attack us.


Secondly, the adoption of these theories leads us to enter into alliances, whether overt or tacit, with organizations and individuals that we should be opposed to. For example, in the aftermath of September 11, the Arab News was running articles by American neo-nazi, David Duke, and other
Muslims were signing petitions for the right-wing Lyndon Larouche cult.


Thirdly, when we promote such baseless theories, we should know that such ideas are competing with reality for the attention and energies of the people. In many cases, the conspiracy will win over reality because conspiracies are often a lot more attractive to our desires than the truth. It leads to wasted time, wasted resources and a loss of focus for Muslims.


Fourthly, as Muslims we follow a religion whose Creator ordered us to rationalize our faith by observing the world around us and witnessing the miracle of God's creation. Ours is not a religion where reason and reality are pummeled into submission by blind faith. It therefore goes against everything we believe for our intellect to acquiesce to conspiracy theorizing and urban myths.


Lastly and most importantly, conspiracy theories have led Muslims to ignore the most fundamental cause of our problems, whilst focusing on the machinations of the Freemasons or the Zionists. Subscribing to many of the contemporary conspiracy theories can breed feelings of helplessness and despondency. We sit, drinking coffee, lamenting, in hushed tones, our powerlessness against a Masonic conspiracy hatched by the Knights Templar in Medieval Europe; a plan now being executed through backmasked Michael Jackson songs and Madonna videos. In doing so, we are distracting ourselves from our own failings as Muslims which have more genuinely contributed to our condition.