Daily Times

This age of advanced wireless technology has given birth to a generation that needs to understand the problems their world is going through. In a world of depleting resources, and a rapidly increasing population, regional issues, especially that of ISIS, are increasing, and a demand for their solution is inviting to adopt a different strategy. Today the world understands that the solution does not lie in arms and warfare. And so the time has come to say ‘Farewell to Arms’, and take up a discourse and counter discourse attitude to analyse the localised issues of the world, and put a full stop to wars of the world.

Masood Ashraf Raja’s book ISIS: Ideology, Symbolics and Counter Narratives provides ample scope and vision for that. The book is published in 2019 by Routledge, USA, and is divided into six parts, with an introduction and a reference section. Dr Raja has provided a comprehensive context to his book by basing it on the current war on terror by Pakistan, and has clarified that the purpose of the book is to establish a “consistent critique of such kind is absolutely necessary to strengthen the voice of reason and peace in my beloved Pakistan.”

The writer has suggested a practical and comprehensive approach to deal with the ever-increasing destructive power of regional organisations such as ISIS, especially when the outreach of any such organisation is rapidly taking on the mass media as well. His analysis of the issues created by regional forces in the name of religion is profoundly accurate, especially because of historical, philosophical, and socio-political perspectives. Dr Raja, instead of blaming any one party, suggests that a counter discourse should be developed by researchers, scholars and academia so that the states dealing with the issue resort less to fire power and more to seeking of socio-political solutions.

The writer has quoted Althusser and Fanon to discuss the working of ideology in the scenario, according to whom, working of terrorist groups is based on some ideological background without which such organisations and groups cannot exist. He has further explored these ideological bases by analyzsng the concept of Khilafa, as practised in the Muslim empire.

The book offers an analysis of the ways and means through which the ideology of a peculiar group is spread and maintained, and is used in order to attract as many youths within the country. The main tool is the filling of the gap in social services wherever the state fails to do its duty. In order to implement this ideology, according to Dr Raja, madrassas in Pakistan, with their traditional syllabus and gendered education system, become the main focus of such organisations. Dr Raja has suggested that reforms should be introduced within the non-formal educational system of Pakistan.

The writer has quoted Althusser and Fanon to discuss the working of ideology in the scenario, according to whom, working of terrorist groups is based on some ideological background without which such organisations and groups cannot exist

Dr Raja has also extensively dwelt on the concept of jihad and qital, and has interpreted both by quoting Naji and Maulana Moudodi in his discussion.

Dr Raja has developed a philosophical critique of the concept of identity, which he thinks comes under threat, and as a result, the individual under threat begins to feel at a loss, and so attempts to recover it at any cost. He uses Mark Bracher and his concepts on education to clarify the development of identity in a particular individual. Education and the way a person is brought into a society plays a big role in the formation of the psychology of identity in a person, and continues to influence the overall conduct and behaviour throughout his life.

The hallmark of book is that it suggests a way out to understand the core of the issue, and to deal with the same in the similar perspective. This is one of the best efforts that academia can put forward to stop or to, at least, minimise the death, destruction and migration caused because of the wars being fought in its name. Dr Raja believes that “we must attempt to shift its frame to that of love, peace and tolerance. This frame shift, however, cannot be accomplished by simply asserting that western values are better, and must, therefore, be accepted by the rest of the world.”

This book provides a deep insight of the issue related to regional wars and their impact on the global scenario. It is because of the gap in understanding of the issues and outcomes of these issues that wars and regional conflicts are going on as ever, and greatly impacting greatly the widening gulf between Islam and the West/America. Raja’s book is an effort to bridge that gap effectively.

Book Title: Isis: Ideology, Symbolics and Counter NarrativesAuthor: Masood Ashraf RajaPublisher: Routledge, USA; 2019