It is imperative however that serious and committed Muslim
scholars and activists critique and condemn the politics of extremism in
the name of Islam. What is the best way for them to do so, especially
since these radical groups claim to base their ideology, politics and
practice on the Islamic scriptures?
No ideology or movement based on it can survive long if it
is founded on extremism because extremism is an unnatural method of
seeking to achieve one’s goals. If extremism is the very basis of a
movement, the movement is bound to fail in the long run, as extremism
inevitably leads to chaos, disruption and strife. In other words,
extremism is its own negation and nemesis.
Islam places great stress on morality. In a Hadith report
recorded in the Muwatta of Imam Malik, Prophet Muhammad is said to
have declared: “I have been sent to the world to establish the pinnacle of
morality.” Accordingly, the Koran places great stress on social ethics
which includes perseverance, mercy, forgiveness, avoidance of conflict,
justice and benevolence. The Koran exhorts Muslims to be patient and
steadfast and not to unnecessarily enter into conflict with others. It
repeatedly calls upon Muslims to tolerate difficulties and things that
they may dislike and speaks of heaven as reward for those who remain
steadfast.
The bases of non-violence are patience, steadfastness and
tolerance. If steadfastness and patience are abandoned, violence takes
over. That is why, according to a Hadith report, the prophet is said to
have commented that when faced with oppression and injustice, to wait for
succour is the best form of worship. The prophet was ordered by god to
seek to avoid conflict as far as possible with his enemies.
The Koran and the Hadith are replete with exhortations
addressed to the Muslims to abide by justice and goodness in relations
with others. Thus, for instance, the Koran says: “Nor can goodness and
evil be equal. Repel [evil] with what is better: then will he between whom
and you was hatred become as it were your friend and intimate. And no one
will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and
self-restraint – none but persons of the greatest good fortune”
(41:34-35).
The Koran instructs the prophet to be soft and kind
towards others thus: “It is part of the mercy of God that you deal gently
with them. Were you severe or harsh-hearted, they would have broken away
from about you: so pass over [their faults] and ask for [God’s]
forgiveness for them” (3:159).
The prophet always chose gentleness over harshness, as is
apparent from numerous references in the books of Hadith and history. For
instance, instead of wishing him “peace be unto you (assalaam aleikum)”,
many Jews would say to him “death be unto you (as-samu aleikum)”.
Once, angered by this, the prophet’s wife Ayesha said to them, “The curse
and anger of God be upon you.” At once the prophet corrected his wife and
said, “O Ayesha! God is gentle and loves gentleness, and He gives to
gentleness what He does not to harshness.”
The prophet always sought to avoid confrontation, if that
were at all possible, no matter how crucial the issue, even if it
concerned the basic foundations of Islam. Thus, for instance, in his time
the Kaaba was not structured on the same pattern as Abraham had originally
set it but, in order to avoid confrontation, the prophet did not rectify
it. Likewise, the prophet had to suffer immense persecution in Mecca in
the first 13 years of his prophethood but yet he never raised a finger
against his opponents. Then after he migrated to Mecca, he entered into a
peace treaty with the Jews and pagans of that town.
Compared to medieval Europe, relations between different
communities were far less strained in several parts of the medieval Muslim
world. The influence of Islamic teachings was undoubtedly a major factor
for this. Thus in Muslim Spain, the Jews prospered, economically as well
as intellectually. When the Muslims lost control of Spain in the late 15th
century, both the Spanish Muslims and Jews were subjected to horrendous
persecution by the church and the Christians. At this time it was the
Muslim Ottoman empire that came to the rescue of the Spanish Jews, who
sought refuge in different parts of that empire. Even such a brazen
advocate of American imperialism as the Jewish scholar Bernard Lewis has
acknowledged this fact.
However, and despite this tradition of which Muslims can
justly be proud, the fact of extremist thinking in some influential Muslim
circles today cannot be denied. Certain local factors as well as
international political developments have given this tendency a great
fillip but this should not be used as an excuse to deny the existence of
this tendency or to deny the role of Muslims themselves in fomenting
strife and conflict or to place the blame for this lamentable state of
affairs entirely on others.
Today certain radical groups who call themselves ‘Islamic’
are playing havoc with the lives of innocent people, non-Muslims as well
as Muslims. They are engaged in thoroughly uncalled-for violent acts in
the name of Islam while considering themselves ‘lovers of Islam’. They
seek justification for their actions in Islam itself. It is thus very
natural that many non-Muslims, and even some Muslims as well, should
develop negative feelings, even revulsion, for Islam based on the wrong
claims and heinous acts of these radical self-styled ‘Islamic’ groups.
Among the various factors for the emergence of violence in
the name of Islam is what I consider the very serious carelessness of the
Muslims themselves. Here I wish to deal with two aspects of this question,
the first of which relates to the matters internal to the Muslims while
the second relates to relations between Muslims and others.
Muslims have always been divided on the basis of sectarian
affiliation. This is not a new phenomenon. These various sects, which
number in their dozens, are divided on the basis of some minor issues but
mostly their differences relate to different claims about the past. These
latter have become a major source of heated contestation and strife among
Muslims today. Sometimes this even leads to killings on a massive scale,
as happens occasionally in countries like Pakistan. We must admit that
many Muslims simply have no tolerance for Muslims of other sects, let
alone for people of other religions. Lamentably, Muslim religious leaders
have made no serious efforts to unite Muslims, who are miserably divided
against each other on the basis of sect and jamaat. They have done
precious little to end sectarian hatred and strife, which are causing such
damage to Muslims in general.
The generally pathetic status of Muslims at the global
level has led to pervasive and widespread despondency and the perception
of being oppressed by others. In turn, this has led to emotionally charged
feelings of revenge which underlie the appeal of what is called ‘Islamic
awakening’ among large sections of the Muslim youth. In fact, it would not
be wrong to say that much of what passes off as such ‘Islamic awakening’
is simply an expression of this desire for revenge for the oppression that
Muslims in different parts of the world have suffered or perceive
themselves as having suffered.
In a very simplistic manner, its advocates have sought to
convince other Muslims that this ‘Islamic awakening’ is tantamount to, or
synonymous with, reviving the ‘golden age’ of Islam and the revolutionary
traditions of the pious predecessors. Muslim scholars and others who dare
to critique their claims are branded as ignorant about Islam and even as
agents of the West.
Consuming even a little alcohol is prohibited in Islam
because this might well lead to addiction. Likewise, Islam forbids even
the slightest form of extremism because it can lead to people becoming
addicted to it. Prophet Muhammad is said to have declared that if even a
bit of something is addictive, it is forbidden, or haram, in Islam. This
is a very meaningful statement. Relating it to the present-day phenomenon
of extremism and violence, one can confidently assert that all forms of
extremism and uncalled-for violence, no matter how slight, are sternly
forbidden in Islam.
This issue can be further understood in the light of
another instance. Some ulema have issued fatwas and statements allowing
for Muslims to engage in suicide bombings in the particular context of
occupied Palestine although suicide is considered wholly forbidden, or
haram, in Islam. However, allowing for suicide bombings in the case of
Palestine rapidly led to some Muslim groups taking to, and considering,
suicide bombings to be the most effective means of taking on their
opponents. Some radical so-called Islamists now boast that while the West
has atom bombs, they have an even more deadly weapon in their arsenal –
human bombs. And so this phenomenon of suicide bombings has rapidly spread
from the narrow confines of Palestine, where they were deployed to target
the Zionist oppressors, to various other parts of the world, including
Muslim countries where, such as in Pakistan, they have now become an
almost daily occurrence, causing the death of thousands of innocent
Muslims themselves and enormous destruction, including of schools and even
of Islamic institutions.
Extremism is a bottled-up genie which, once allowed out of
the bottle, refuses to go back again. It has now become imperative for
Muslim religious and political leaders and activists to seek to push back
this genie into its bottle. They must openly and explicitly condemn the
chaos and strife that is being caused in various parts of the world in the
name of jihad. It is not enough, as is today generally the case, for our
leaders to simply claim that Islam is a religion of peace and that it is
opposed to terrorism. These sort of abstract and general statements are
clearly insufficient to make any dent whatsoever in the prevailing
situation.
For this to happen, our leaders must readily denounce, in
very clear and explicit terms and by specifically mentioning their names,
the organisations, movements and individuals that are promoting, in the
name of jihad, what the Koran condemns as ‘strife in the world’ (fasad
fil-arz). They must clearly declare that such elements are not the
mujahids they claim to be but that in fact they are rebels. In this way,
one hopes, the popular support for such elements that spread chaos in the
name of jihad will decline and they can be socially ostracised.