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In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Muhammad Ali Khan

Religious Extremism:Phenomenon & Root

causes

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Phenomenon Religious extremism is a recurring historical

phenomenon. It is marked by intolerance towards dissenting and varying beliefs and is often manifested in bloody conflicts within and between Religions

Extremism is essentially a reactionary attitude resulting from socio-economic, political and religious causes

Religious extremism is distinct from orthodoxy or ‘fundamentalism’ because of its propensity to use violence

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Phenomenon Islam in its essence combines religion and politics

Western secularism, in contrast, believes in separation of church and state

When Muslims indulge in extremism, Islamic teachings are erroneously blamed. Secularism is prescribed as an remedy

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Extremism and world religions In Judaism, exclusiveness and racial focus generated

extremist behaviors within and towards Jews

In Christianity, intolerant Church, Inquisitions,

Catholic-Protestant conflict, and missionary activities have been responsible for extremism

In Hinduism, deep social inequality through the caste system and the concept of Bharat mata have fostered aggressive Hindu nationalism

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Extremism and world religions

As for Islam, its real message is inherently tolerant -- within and towards other faiths. However, misinterpretations, intellectual stagnation engender extremist attitudes

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Root Causes The general causes of religious extremism include:

Differing and at times contrasting value systems

Racial discrimination

Collusion of the clergy and the monarch to promote their vested interests

Aversion to scientific discoveries

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Root Causes of Extremism in the Muslim World

Internal divides: differing sects and schools of thought

Closing the door on rational thinking and Ijethad after the fall of Baghdad

Western Colonialism and occupation of Muslim lands

Revivalist movements and militant tendencies

Unresolved political disputes involving Muslims

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Creation of Israel and historic injustice towards the Palestinian people

Western support for dictatorial regimes in the Muslim world and resultant suppression of public sentiment

Imposition by elites of selected Western values and culture, creating class divides

Quest for Islamic identity

Afghan Jihad against Soviet occupation and patronage and promotion of Jihadi culture by the West

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Failure of Muslim governments to provide good governance, economic advancement, rule of law, and respect of human rights

Failure of UN to address Muslim grievances in Palestine, Bosnia, Chechnya, Kosovo and Kashmir

Adversarial perceptions of Islam in the West in the post-cold war era

New generation of Muslims in Europe and America in search of cultural and religious identity

War on Terror: focus on Islam and Muslims; resulting in atrocities and Muslim reaction

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Western role and perceptions:past and present

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Western role and perceptions

The current debate about religious extremism and terrorism is heavily burdened by the weight of the history between Islam and the West

Western role and perceptions have played a major part in shaping contemporary Muslim political attitudes and reactions to the challenges faced by the Islamic world

This interaction has not always been adversarial, but marked by episodes of cooperation as well

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While Europe went through its ‘dark ages’ the Muslims ushered in an age of enlightenment and knowledge in Spain

Commercial and intellectual links developed between the two sides as they fought each other in the Crusades

Arab/Islamic civilization also greatly influenced the Renaissance, but suffered a steady intellectual decline as the West entered the Age of Reason and Enlightenment

Muslims steadily lost sovereignty over their lands with growing European ascendancy during the age of Colonialism

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When they withdrew from Muslim lands, the Western powers ensured the retention of dependency relationships with their ex-colonies

During the Cold War, a majority of Muslim countries sided with the West against Soviet communism

The West consciously cultivated the Muslim right and nurtured Muslim militancy to help wage its war against the God-less enemy

As the Cold War ended, a triumphant West began to shift its focus towards the Muslim world – influenced by the Nixonian notion of the ‘real enemy’

Huntington fortified this shift with his theory of the ‘Clash of Civilizations’

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9/11 and its impact Muslim involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks

marks a watershed

Polarization has been growing between the Islamic and Western worlds in the wake of the war on terror

Muslims deeply resent Western tendency to equate Islam with terrorism

The Western media persists with its machinations in demonizing Islam and widening the gulf

Indo-Israeli collusion continues in smearing Islam and the Muslims and projecting themselves as the defenders of Western values

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Positive trends Yet, there are positive trends as well:

Muslim governments have not adopted the path confrontation in the war on terror

Certain influential members of the intelligentsia and civil society in the West are seeking to take a more balanced view of Islam and Muslims

Various initiatives for dialogue of civilizations have been initiated, e.g. Alliance of Civilizations (Spain/Turkey), Enlightened Moderation

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Challenges and issues facing theMuslim world and Pakistan

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The Muslim world currently faces a wide array of challenges – including socio-economic under-development, lack of stable political institutions, bad governance and corruption, and scientific and technological backwardness

These factors directly or indirectly contribute to a sense of deprivation and alienation amongst marginalized groups and make them susceptible to religious extremism and terrorism

Manifestations of these challenges are also prevalent in Pakistan, with an additional accent on sectarianism and Jihadi culture

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Key challenges

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Poverty, population explosion, illiteracy, unemployment and inequitable distribution of resources generally characterize the Muslim world

In most Afro-Asian Muslim countries, about half of the population lives below the poverty line

Of 57 OIC member states, more than one-third (22) are ‘least developed countries’ (LDCs)

The collective GDP of the Muslim world is just about 5% of the world GDP

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Socio-economic underdevelopment

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More than half of Muslim countries have less than 50% literacy rate

The expenditure on science and technology is abysmally low

Of the 146 countries surveyed by Transparency International (TI) on Corruption Index, 35 Muslim countries appear among the top 70

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Socio-economic underdevelopment

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Most Muslim countries are under autocratic/ dictatorial rule

There is general lack of democracy, political participation and representative institutions

Fundamental rights and freedoms are denied and there is hardly any recourse to independent judicial systems

Internal repression occurs through state apparatus There is growth of radicalism/militancy as a

consequence

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Political challenges

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There has been a steady growth of extremist movements/militant outfits across the Muslim world

Some are internally-directed against their rulers; others target the West. Some do both

In Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaa al Islamia seek Islamic rule and resort to violence

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Extremist Movements

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The Taliban established their ‘model’ of rigid Islamic rule and turned Afghanistan into a haven for Arab/ Islamic extremists affecting neighboring countries

Al-Qaeda has emerged as the focal terrorist network targeting Western interests and pro-Western countries

Cumulatively, the Afghan Jihad, Taliban rule and support for the Kashmiri struggle has led to the growth of Jehadi culture in Pakistan

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Extremist Movements

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The growth of sectarianism in Pakistan, particularly the Shia-Sunni violence, is the single most important cause and manifestation of extremism

The factors that have fuelled it include: Islamization drive, Iranian revolution, and Iranian and Gulf countries’ proxy war in Pakistan

It was accentuated by the creation of TNFJ and SSP and their terrorist outfits with funding and support from local and foreign patrons

Collusion of SSP/LJ with Taliban and Al-Qaeda24

Sectarianism

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The madrassahs have historically been seats of learning and noted symbol of Islamic heritage

They continue to perform a useful social function of providing free education with boarding and lodging to hundreds of thousands of poor students

There were 245 madrassahs in 1947; 10,000 in April 2002; and 11887 reported in 2005

Madaris mushroomed during the Afghan Jihad, with Western powers extending support and patronizing emphasis on jihad in syllabus

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Role of Madrassahs

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Majority of madaris are imparting religious education according to their fiqah and are not involved in militancy

However, the madrassahs generally lack modern education and instead focus on indoctrination

Some have been found to be actively involved in sectarianism and militancy

The government’s efforts for Madrassah reform continue to face resistance due to a strong perception that it is Western-induced

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Role of Madrassahs

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Misinterpretation of selective Quranic verses and Hadith by obscurantists, without reference to the context, promotes religious hatred/extremism against non-Muslims and rival Muslim sects

There is emphasis on militant/extremist interpretation of Jihad and justification for use of terrorism against civilian targets in its name

Quranic verses and Hadith preaching religious tolerance, peaceful coexistence with other religions or promoting the cause of humanity are ignored

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Misinterpretation of Islamic Injunctions

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Mis-treatment of ethnic and religious minorities

Lacunae in and misuse of the Blasphemy and Hudood laws

Denial of the rightful status to women as enshrined in Quran and Sunnah

Closing the door on Ijtehad A forum like Council of Islamic Ideology could offer true

interpretation and guidance in these matters

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Other issues

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Efforts through OIC

The OIC has been mobilized to promote Enlightened Moderation and also to undertake reform to do this

The President introduced the initiative at the 10th OIC Summit in Putrajaya, Malaysia in 2003

The OIC later endorsed the concept and constituted a Commission of Eminent Persons (CEP) to make recommendations

These recommendations have been adopted at the Makkah Summit, December 2005

Makkah Declaration and Ten-year Programme of Action incorporate the major themes of Enlightened Moderation -- including internal reform, education, poverty alleviation, socio-economic development and the true image of Islam

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Broad Conclusions

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Extremism is common to all religions and not associated exclusively with any one religion

Internally, poverty, illiteracy, lack of rule of law, democracy deficit, ethnic strife, imposition of selected Western values, and departure from true Islamic teachings are feeding extremism in the Muslim world

The US-led war on terror is generally perceived by the Muslims as a war on Islam

Unilateral use of force against Muslim countries in the war on terror (e.g. Iraq, Afghanistan, etc), threats of preemptive attacks (e.g. Iran, Syria, etc), massive loss of innocent civilian lives, violation of human rights, and negative portrayal of Islam are fueling extremism

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In Pakistan, sectarian strife — Shia-Sunni, Deobandi-Braelvi — provides the basic impetus for extremism and sectarian terrorism and needs firm and uncompromising handling

Madrassah reform is pivotal, as is the reform of the public education system.

The intellectual stagnation in Islam requires a new dynamism for reconstruction of Islamic thought and Ijtehad

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The unresolved Kashmir issue and mistreatment of Muslims in India generate a backlash in Pakistan

• Government has initiated various measures to tackle extremism and terrorism, but a mechanism to coordinate intelligence and enforcement has been lacking. Weak implementation, especially against proscribed outfits, remains a major problem

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• The extremist threat has the potential to destroy the very core of our society as well as shatter world peace

• Failure is, therefore, not an option

• President Musharraf’s concept of Enlightened Moderation offers a credible alternative to religious extremism but needs vigorous promotion

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THANK YOU

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