“ISIL a response to US, Israel presence in Mideast’

TEHRAN, Sep. 10 – A Georgetown University professor has said that creation of ISIL terrorist group was a response to US, Israel presence in the ME. Dr Yvonne Haddad is Professor of the History of Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations at the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. In an exclusive interview with MNA, Dr Haddad said that ISIL is a response to US, Israeli presence in the Middle East. In response to a question about the origin of ISIL ideology Dr Haddad said that “ISIL is a response to modern challenges. For example, when the Buwayhids conquered Baghdad, Sunni Muslims developed the political theory of the necessity to have a Caliph ruling the Ummah. When the Mongols used their laws to govern the conquered territories, Ibn Taymiyyah proclaimed that only the Sharia can govern society.” "In the modern period, when foreign colonial powers promoted secularism, Muslims insisted on the sanctity of the Sharia. While these ideas can be noted at various times and in different parts of the Muslim world, they became more prominent as a result of colonial occupation when the ummah felt threatened," she added. Further she expressed her idea about the future of ISIL and said that "if the American government and its allies can garner international support to go after ISIL, they may be able to curtail its spread, but its teachings will not be eradicated because its advocates can argue that the American attacks are the proof that the West has declared itself as the enemy of Islam and that defending Islam is the duty of every Muslim." Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (born in Syria) is Professor of the History of Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations at the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. Her interests and focus include contemporary Islam; intellectual, social and political history in the Arab world; Islam in the West; Quranic Exegesis; and gender and Islam. Haddad's current research focuses on Muslims in the West and on Islamic Revolutionary Movements. She has published extensively in the field of Islamic studies. Haddad has been described as "at the top of her field in the study of Muslims in America" and "the foremost interpreter of the Islamic experience in the United States." She is the leading figure in a school of thought that sees the key issue for Muslims in the USA as being the conflict between traditional Islamic values and integration into mainstream US society Interview Javad Heiran-Nia