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.