extremism the bane of our society
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Extremism –The Bane of Our Society
Extremism has emerged as a challenge in Pakistan especially in the last decade. It is having
toll on the social fabric and is adversely impacting all spheres of life. The notion of co-
existence is challenged each day by religious extremists and radical groups who adopt violent
ways. Islamic extremism is the primary national security and human rights concern of the
world today. It is firstly the primary motivator of acts of terrorism worldwide. Secondly, as
Islamic extremists gain power and rule, human rights abuses – including oppression of
women, homosexuals and religious minorities as well as governmental tyranny, sectarian
warfare and bigotry inherent in sharia law – come to the fore. Throughout history, people
have perpetrated extreme violent acts in the name of religion – whether it is Christianity,
Islam, Judaism, Hinduism or another faith. A complex series of psychological, political,
historical and theological factors combine to trigger such behaviour.
One school of thought contends that Islamic extremism is bred by political and societal
grievances. Thus, this school believes that extremists are provoked by injustices committed
by the West and their governments and armies in Muslim countries.
According to this school, Islamic extremism should be countered by addressing these
“grievances” of angry Muslim populations through foreign policy changes, political
concessions where there are areas of disagreements, improved governance of Muslim
countries, income redistribution and dialogue.
The other school of thought holds that these grievances, bred by Islamic extremists, are just
excuses to justify antagonism towards the West. This side argues that the Islamic extremist
worldview leads to the adoption of these grievances. Advocates of this school of thought note
that the grievances cannot account for all elements of Islamic extremism, such as the abuse of
women and other human rights violations in sharia-based societies.
According to this school, Islamic extremism can only be countered by undermining the
ideology itself. Reformist Muslims that support an interpretation of Islam that is favorable to
modernity and Western democracy are viewed as critical to fighting Islamic extremists.
Extremism originally means to go beyond the proper limits, or to exceed them, or to overstep
all bounds. Accordingly, extremism in the religion is defined as the act of exceeding the
proper bounds or limits in the religion and showing harshness in its practices.
It is this meaning that the holy Qur'an pointed to when Allah the Almighty says:
"O people of the scripture (Christians)! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, nor say of
Allah aught but the truth" (Qur'an: 4, Verse: 171).”
As the prophet of mercy Muhammad (May Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him) also
emphasized the same meaning in His tradition which states: "Beware of extremism in the
religion" (An- Nasai and Ibn Majah).
“And fight in the way of Allah those who fight with you, and do not exceed the limits, surely
Allah does not love those who exceed the limits”. (Qur’an 2, Verse: 190)
In analyzing our societies today, we can no longer ignore the impact and influence of the
drastically changing religious picture on the geo-political situation of countries and regions.
Ecology, demography, rights, economy, personal life, international relations, all these
elements are in one way or another marked by the upheavals that have come about in the
religious sphere. The rise of religious extremism in many of our societies is one phenomenon
which not only poses a strong danger and threat to people’s lives and security and to the
consolidation of a more democratic and pluralistic political life but has also reached such an
amplitude where terror reigns and solutions have become even more difficult to achieve.
Extremism has many dimensions which makes society vulnerable. It persists at all levels of
society in many forms. Such as extremism related to the Creed, which means over stepping
the bounds of the correct and proper beliefs in a particular religion. Such as Christian
extremism about I'sa bin Maryam (Jesus) by giving him divine attributes, Shites extremism
about Ali bin Abi Ta'lib (May Allah be pleased with him), whereby part of them claimed him
to be God, while others believe that he is infallible. Extremism of ordinary Muslims about
some religious scholars, righteous leaders and Shaykhs by appealing to them and asking them
for help on things which no one can provide except Allah the Almighty.
Extremism is also related to deeds, it is any kind of extremist act that falls within the range of
the five legal rulings, namely: obligatory, recommended, prohibited, disapproved,
permissible. Therefore, whoever makes a recommended issue obligatory, or a disapproved
issue prohibited, or a permitted issue disapproved has held to extremism in his deeds.
Similarly, if a person makes the night prayer (tahjud) obligatory for himself, he has become
an extremist based on this action, because he placed a recommended matter in place of
obligatory one and he has exceeded the bounds of Sunnah in this aspect.
The same thing applies to whoever prohibits what Allah Has permitted such as marriage,
having desire that he is worshiping Allah with such act.
Shaykhul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
"Extremism manifests, at times, by making what is neither obligatory nor recommended in
worship obligatory or recommended. And at times by placing what is neither prohibited nor
disapproved (out of good things permitted by Allah) in the position of prohibited and
disapproved things".
It is necessary to clarify that extremism related to the creed is more dangerous and more
harmful than extremism related to the deeds. Extremism related to the creed is the one that
causes a religion to split and consequently the emergence of different sects that go beyond the
straight path.
The most popular Islamic extremist group is the Muslim Brotherhood, an international
organization that believes in waging jihad through various means in order to establish
worldwide shariah rule. One of those means is through a process of “cultural or civilization”
jihad, which follows the Brotherhood’s strategy of gradualism.
Most popular extremists groups are al Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Taliban, Jamaat-e-Islami,
Jamaat ul-Fuqra, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Nation of Islam and various Salafist groups.
Now-a-days Pakistan is facing consequences of Isamic extremism. A specific group of people
want to implement Islam on gun points. After the creation of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) in the aftermath of the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) operations in 2007, causing a spiral
of violence that now threatens the very existence of the country. Pakistan’s undiminished
tolerance for religious extremists has not just destroyed lives and alienated entire
communities; it is destroying Pakistani society and the very idea and edifice of the nation.
According to Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) report, militant, nationalist insurgent and
violent sectarian groups carried out a total of 1,717 terrorist attacks across Pakistan in 2013,
claiming the lives of 2,451 people and causing injuries to another 5,438.
Compared to 2012, the number of reported terrorist attacks in Pakistan posted a nine per cent
increase while the number of people killed and injured in these attacks increased by 19 per
cent and 42 per cent, respectively.
Despite the killing of its top brass in drone attacks and military operations by Pakistani
security forces, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remained the major actor of instability
in the country in 2013 through its alliance with numerous militant groups. It carried out 645
terrorist attacks in 50 districts, claiming the lives of 732 civilians and 425 security forces
personnel.
Religious extremism is a growing threat and danger to human society. Its causes go beyond
religions as such: religions have been abused as a means to achieve political goals.
This is the picture at national level and major forces involving in it which is causing mess in
the society. But extremism at individual level is most dangerous for families and ultimately
for whole society. Basically we have forgotten our values systems in which our forefathers
were living. Modern life style, race of status and money are our priorities. Our education
system is all British which makes citizen a machine not a good individual. We cannot tolerate
our blood relations in this era. Everyday we come across with heartbreaking news like killing
of mother by son because of property, sister stoned to death because of love marriage, father
rapped her daughter, girl shot by boy on the rejection of marriage proposal etc. killing of
lawyer Rashid Rehman in Multan is another example of vacuum of tolerance and patience in
our society. Few months back poverty-stricken mother, Bisma, strangulates her two kids in
Lahore. Chronic poverty may not be the cause of this tragic incident, but Bisma’s extreme
behaviour clearly indicates chronic depression and mental health issues, especially when she
had a history of suicide attempts and her mother had also committed suicide a few years ago.
Earlier last month of Bisma’s incident, a cancer patient allegedly killed seven members of his
family before committing suicide. Media reports are full of instances of such extreme
behaviour. One wonders where we are heading towards as a society. Are we a mob of
psychopaths, sadistic and violent individuals, or our sheer helplessness pushes us towards
extreme behaviour? Perhaps, there is no easy answer to this question, but one can certainly
assume that societal behaviour would have been quite normal if there had been attempts by
our successive governments to implement Article 38 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which
states:
“The State shall provide basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing, housing, education
and medical relief.”
True that ours is a resource-starved country, but even if our state had abundant resources, it
would only be able to provide basic necessities even if it knew the number of deprived
people. Mapping the demand side reflects the political will to act; however, our policymakers
are clearly living in a state of denial. They do not want to read their lab results as it may
diagnose their chronic ailments.
Pakistan has not released poverty figures for the last many years. The National Nutritional
Survey result was released after a lapse of two years as someone in the bureaucracy was not
comfortable with the fact that 58 per cent of the population in Pakistan is malnourished. The
World Food Programme-SDPI-FAO-Unicef-led “State of food (in)security in Pakistan 2013”
report, suggesting (on the basis of government data) that almost 50 per cent of the people
have a chronic caloric insecurity, has been awaiting clearance and shuttling between the
Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and the Ministry of Food Security and Research for
the last six months. In a country where physical health requirements remain unmet, we
simply do not believe that mental ailments exist; thus, most media reports term Bisma a
‘ruthless mother’ and a ‘monster mom’.
I wonder how many more deaths are required to convince ourselves that helplessness leads to
extreme behaviours. We need to acknowledge the multidimensionality of poverty and need to
recognize that poverty, in any form, is a non-traditional security threat, which can erode the
basic societal fabric.
Extremism is a critical problem in Pakistani society, today, leading to social, economic,
cultural, political turmoil and humanitarian crises. It has nurtured due to internal and external
factors. Internal factors are the prevalence of social injustice, inequality, illiteracy and
exploitation in the society. External factors are the involvement of Pakistan in the regional
and international power game and proxy wars.
Pakistan needs collective efforts and shared response from Pakistani media, civilian society,
political parties and security forces to combat radicalism and extremism. Pakistan needs
possible solutions to prevent this plague from further spreading. Media and civil society
should join hands together and launch a vigorous campaign against violence and also publish
human interest stories about the victims of indiscriminate terrorist violence.
There is vital need for a grand strategy for covering terrorism and extremism based on
inculcating justice in society. Unfortunately, we don’t have an independent state, which is
under debt of International Monitoring Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
Real problem is not terrorism, it is extremism and unfortunately, we are full of religion, but
devoid of culture. There is monopoly of violence. Monopoly of violence does not mean that
the state should have the power to do anything with the masses but it states that this power
should be legitimized through specific rules and laws. Common strand among diverse
religious extremists in Pakistan is that they all have “supra-state mindset” — they want to
subvert and override the state. A “strategy of dislocation” that isolates the terrorists from the
context that strengthens them is needed. But at the moment, the opportunity cost of stopping
their killing spree is too low for terrorists to engage in meaningful negotiations with the
government.
Youth can be the best way to bring peace in world by nurturing their minds through providing
them with soul energizing activities. There is need for creating a legacy that would inspire
youth and engage them with one another in meaningful ways.
Where there is justice, radicalism and extremism will cease to exist. It is the state’s basic
responsibility to provide justice.
Government should implement a strict law for all the organizations and religious institutes.
Any organizations which will be found involved in promoting or blurring the wrong Islamic
concepts should be dealt severely. The vigorous enforcement of laws is desired in every
respect. Most of the children getting education in madrassas are from the rural areas of
Pakistan. Rural areas of Pakistan are the hub of feudalism. Feudals mostly believe in violence
and consider it a best ‘Retention Policy’. The government must act against such families who
have been busy in curbing other individually through violence. The spread of education is
another aspect which can create awareness among the people. The religious organizations
usually target those people who are illiterate so the technique of brainwashing can be applied
on them simply. Therefore education is an impotent tool which the government can use to
ward off any presence of evil mindedness from the society. Different peace projects should
be started between the people of different sects to reduce sectarian differences. If a peace
project like “Aman ki Asha” could be started between the two rival states to reduce the
differences. Why cannot we start peace projects between different sects and religions living
in our society? In this way confusions and delusions regarding different concepts of Islam
and other religions can be reduced. Other possible solutions can be following:
Civil society organisations (CSOs) should continue to fight for peace, security, human
rights, social justice, equality and poverty alleviation.
The State should provide enabling environment and institutions to ensure equal access
to the resources of life and freedom of expression.
Religion-based approach of political and social engagement should transcend
differences and focus more on common human-centered values.
Religion should not be hijacked by religious leaders with personal agendas.
Special emphasis should be put on the role of education in the fight against religious
extremism.
Special emphasis should also be put on the inter-and-intra convictional dialogues at
local, national, regional as well as international levels
When using dialogue as a mean of reaching better understanding and living together,
one should address all the dimensions of the person, and not only the religious
dimension.
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