Daily Times

Despite repeated reports about the influx of ‘foreign’ fighters to its ranks, it is only a matter of time before Islamic State (IS) becomes irrelevant as a military force. But the extremist ideology and fanaticism that inspires its followers may prove far more difficult to eliminate. Historically, weird cults like IS have attracted adherents who live in a collective delirium. This acts as a sedative replacing thought and conscience. In this state, blind faith and folly obscure the superb God-given traits of logic, reason and intellect. This explains the mindless barbarism recently perpetrated on innocents in a concert hall, soccer game and developmental disability treatment centre.

The broader question is why religious intolerance, political decay and deadly actions are rife in the Muslim world. The youth are increasingly becoming prone to falling into the grip of murderous factions and the forces of darkness. The string of horrific attacks in the name of Islam should spur a vociferous debate among Muslims. It is no longer sufficient to merely dismiss extremists as an aberration. The continued violence points to a deeper malaise within the world of Islam. We must not detract from the debate — that the root cause of the violence is a medieval and literalist interpretation of Islam. IS is promoting a false image of Islam but it is wrong to conclude that it has nothing to do with Islam. Misused perhaps but the Islamic concepts of martyrdom and jihad provide the justifications for violence. They infect the contemporary understanding of Islam. They overshadow peaceful Islamic teachings, such as the belief that taking a single human life is equivalent to killing the whole of mankind, that Islam is a religion of peace and that it is not only for Muslims but for all humans.

Some analysts, though, insist that alienation and resentment, not religious beliefs, are the sources of this violence. They argue that the authoritarian rulers of Muslim states who have tried for decades to control Muslim teaching and application of sharia (Islamic law) have set off a violent reaction expressed in extremist religious ideas and language. Religion, they argue, was just a cover for anger at the dysfunctional Muslim states. They suggest that people who feel crushed or ignored pivot toward extremism, and they use religion because that is what they have readily at hand. It is true that many Muslim states have not delivered on promised economic benefits and political progress. This may account for a deep sense of resentment and frustration in Muslim societies. Also, irrational religious discourse flourishes as there is no room for reasoned debate in authoritarian Muslim states. The separation of mosque and state is required for political development to occur. Moreover, extremist religious leaders must be held accountable by the state for abetting radicalisation.

Many Muslims blame western forces for creating and encouraging extremist proxies like IS as part of a ‘grand’ plan to impoverish, corrupt, subjugate and destroy the Muslim world. The prime motive cited for western hostility toward Muslims is opposition to the teachings of Islam. Other motives mentioned are the capture of wealth, lust for power, cultural condescension and sheer malice and hatred for Muslims. Conspiracy theories are pervasive, serving as a means of coping with unpleasant facts. They are an effective tool for deflecting blame and have been so used. By doing so, Muslims find solace in shrugging off responsibility and blaming their problems on the evils of the west. There is little hard evidence that the west is responsible for the death cults, the barbarisms and political putrefaction across the Muslim world but its policies and interventions have made Muslim countries less democratic, more unstable and brutal. Furthermore, western leaders who seek to gain political mileage from ‘Islamic terrorism’ are doing a great disservice to mankind.

There is little doubt that defeating extremism and violence will require global effort. Western ‘agendas’ aside, terrorism and violent jihad will not end till Muslims start asserting their rational faculties. Keeping religion immune from criticism is both unwarranted and dangerous. Unless we are willing to expose religious irrationality whenever it arises, we will encourage irrational behaviour and promote ignorance over enlightenment for future generations. While condemning individuals we must also challenge the actions and ideas that drive them. The truth is that Islam is at conflict with itself. Muslims are divided as they try to reconcile the realities of the modern world with the fundamentals of the faith. Part of the solution is to sort out internal conflicts and figure out how to reconcile the literal exhortations of the faith with more objective ideas of reality, as established by reason, experimentation and common sense. Also, the predominance of narrow traditionalism over enlightened rationalism ought to end. It is hard to ignore the fact that myths, illusions, prejudice, ignorance and backwardness are part of Islam today. This requires that intellectual leadership in the Muslim world recover the ground lost to lethargy, dogmatism and backwardness. A new equilibrium between faith and reason, the spiritual and the temporal, between human and God is required.

The writer can be reached at shgcci@gmail.com