Daily Times

Every time some Muslim extremist blows up and kills many people in the west, every Muslim in the world is expected to loudly condemn such action. Personally, I feel extremely horrified every time any act of terrorism happens anywhere in the world. Be it in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, or in some European country. I also feel equally saddened by any act of war perpetrated by any country that involves the killing of non-combatants as ‘collateral damage’. But I do not in any way feel responsible for what is done in the name of Islam. There are more than a billion Muslims in this world and when a few of them do bad things, the rest of us are not collectively responsible. That is in spite of what the western and non-Muslim press wants all Muslims to believe.

I do have some sense of responsibility for the actions of those that I can influence directly or even indirectly. My immediate family, my circle of close friends and acquaintances and even the people in the community I live in are, to some degree, my responsibility. By writing for this newspaper and by being a part of an extended community I do try and influence people to some extent. I have always opposed extremism and I have always opposed non-defensive war. And I can say with some satisfaction that my children have grown up to believe in the same sort of things I believe in and that as far as I know most of my immediate family members are also opposed to all forms of terrorism. That is the best I can do. But I do not under any circumstances try to justify the sort of terrorist activity that happened in Brussels a few days ago.

When confronting the rise of Muslim terrorism in the west the question is whether the Muslim communities in those countries bear responsibility for it. Recent political trends in Europe as well as in the United States (U.S.) suggest that a significant percentage of ‘non-Muslim’ population in these countries do blame the entire Muslim community, locally and globally for such terrorist activities. That Donald Trump might become the Republican nominee for the presidential election to be held in the U.S. in November this year is indeed a frightening thought. But for many American Muslims the fact that most Republican as well as Democratic politicians oppose Trump’s rabid anti-Muslim statements is somewhat reassuring. However, the response in the European countries that are facing increased terrorism by Muslim supporters of the Islamic State (IS) can lead to considerable problems. The influx of a large number of Muslim refugees into Europe is definitely aggravating the situation.

For much of Europe and, to some degree, for the United Kingdom the problem of religious terrorism is quite different from the problem in the U.S. Europe has a large number of Muslim immigrants from previous colonies that are now local citizens and have been for more than a couple of generations. The social, economic, and political problems confronted by this immigrant population does contribute to disaffection and, possibly, to religious radicalisation. For the U.S. much of the Muslim anguish about the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan has subsided considerably. Also, Muslim immigrants in the U.S. are generally much better integrated and financially better off than their European counterparts. All the problems faced by Muslim youth in the U.S. or in Europe do not in any way justify their decision to embark upon extremist actions including terrorism. However, religious radicalisation of Muslim youth is happening and the Muslim ‘elders’ that control and run local ‘Islamic’ centres and mosques do bear some responsibility for this change.

Frankly, a Muslim sitting in a small town in Indonesia or even in Pakistan does not have any complicity in what happened in Brussels. Much of this terrorist activity is a product of political decisions made by the U.S., European countries, and by Middle Eastern countries over the last few decades. The destruction of Iraq and Syria as coherent nations produced the cancer called IS. Who is responsible for the present political situation is pretty well known and where the extremist Muslim ideology came from is also quite obvious. That said the problem now for the millions of peaceful Muslim American and Europeans is what to do to protect their communities from retribution or restrictions placed upon them by fearful governments. The past is done with and there is no point for American or European Muslims to dwell upon the ‘remote’ causes of what is happening.

Many in the west keep harping about condemnation from Muslims. Obviously, almost all Muslim countries at an official level condemn all terrorist activity including that perpetrated by Muslim extremists. That some individuals or groups within these countries sympathise with the jihadist extremists is possible but of little direct consequence. There are, however, two important problems that do need to be addressed by Muslims living in the west and by Muslim majority countries. First is the continued recruitment of jihadist supporters from Europe as well as from Muslim countries. And second is the increasing radicalisation of Muslim youth in Europe as well as in the U.S.

As far as recruitment by IS is concerned that is primarily a ‘law and order’ problem and every country from where such recruits come has a legal responsibility to prevent its citizens from crossing international borders to join IS in the Middle East. Of course, all such recruitment cannot be stopped but it can be considerably restricted. The second problem is of the radicalisation of Muslim youth in western countries. That is a complicated problem and Muslims living in these countries will have to tackle it effectively or else the governments of these countries will be forced to step in and that will not be nice at all. Finally, the horror that is the IS has to be confronted and defeated militarily.

The author is a former editor of the Journal of Association of Pakistani descent Physicians of North America (APPNA)