Islamic Extremism and The Muslim World
Hiba Ahmed Rizvi
Currently Islam is considered as a violent religion because of the terrorism and extremism linked with it, hence the plethora of Islamophobia that has emerged in the West and other parts of the World where the generalizations are made that all Muslims are terrorists. Despite this, Muslims are said to be more likely to be victims of terrorism in the name of Islamic extremism. The overall stigma regarding religious extremism has been revolving on how the West has been a target of terrorism instigated by Islamic Extremism. The fatalities that occur within the Muslim World are not as evident in the media. The number of attacks that take place in the Muslim World are far greater than that in any other part of the world. As a result of this, Muslims are the victims of this Islamic Extremism as seen in the rise of terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda, ISIS (Daesh) and the Taliban. The United States of America had launched its War on Terror after the September 11 attacks in 2001. This led to a war being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan but nearly 20 years later we have seen that the situation has not been improved. States such as Pakistan also have been victims of Islamic Extremism which has also spread to neighboring states like India and Bangladesh.
The rise of Islamic radical thought can be attributed to the teachings of Sheikh Muhammad ibn-Abd-al-Wahab (1703-1791), Jamal-ud-Din Afghani (1839-1897) who called for Pan-Islamism, Ali Shariati (1933-1977) and Maulana Syed Abul Ala Mawdudi (1903-1979) of Pakistan - the first Amir of the Jamaat-i-Islami. The teachings of these men, called for jihad and the restoration of Shariah Law and reverting back to the traditional way of life as directed by Islam. These beliefs have been on the rise in the Muslim World as we have seen they are evident in states such as Saudi Arabia with the teachings of Sheikh Muhammad ibn-Abd-al-Wahab. The most radical of the movements, however, is the Salafist Movement, the scholars of this movement support radical activity and Wahhabism is considered as a branch of the Salafist Movement.
The Salafist movement draws its roots from Egypt; however, the spread of radical Islamic ideology is evident all over the Muslim World. The Salafist movement was a retaliatory ideology to Western Imperialism. Such as the attacks that have been carried out against the West for example, the 9/11 attacks which were carried by Al-Qaeda and the recent ISIS attacks that have been scattered around all of Europe and North America. The culprits of these attacks are often motivated by Daesh or carried by self-radicalized Muslim youth. The same is the case with the Muslim World, however, terrorist attacks are more common in Muslim States for example, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The targets are Muslims and these attacks have increased post 9/11 attacks in New York, America. It can be said that victims of terrorism and Islamic extremism are mostly Muslims.
Pakistan has faced a lot of controversy as the Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found hiding in Pakistan before his death. Much like Afghanistan, Pakistan has had to deal with similar issues and has also faced terrorism in the name of Islamic Extremism and the rise to various extremist political parties such as the Jamat-i-Islami with many civilian deaths in the country. Pakistan has seen several military dictatorships and unstable governments in the past.
These unstable governments and problematic pasts lead to citizens of these states more prone to self-radicalization, and as a result supporting radical movements. It can be said that when the situation is volatile in states, it immediately provokes extremist ideas, as was the situation in poverty-stricken Russia before it turned into the Soviet Union. What these Muslim states have in common is a volatile past full of wars. Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union and Iraq was invaded by the United States of America.
It has been established that Muslim states have had problematic status quos, we can understand that the Islamic extremism in these states has been targeting Muslims and citizens within these countries with only some instances where the terrorism is exported to other countries in the West.
In conclusion, Muslims are much more likely to suffer at the hands of Islamic Extremism with millions of Muslims falling victim to this violence. This has been the case in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The pattern that emerges from this is that Muslim states are already unstable and did not have the means to counter the terrorism as effectively but, states like Pakistan have seen a decline in terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan has been bettering. The worldview that terrorism emerges from the Muslim World because Islam is a problematic religion is an unsubstantiated argument as there have been similar cases with other religions with the Christian extremist groups such as KKK and the BJP party in India. It can be said that every religion has a far extreme right, and Islam has been used as a pawn for manipulation in order to keep the Muslim World from uniting and becoming a powerful force. There are various causes of Islamic extremism emerging from the Muslim World such as the internal politics and the outside influence. There has been conflict amongst the Muslim World and the emerging of terrorist organizations has led to a coalition of Muslim States which are opposed to the ideologies of groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS. The idea that Muslims support these movements is debatable. The Muslim World is threatened by the spread of these movements and want to take measures to prevent that from happening. This proves that on the outside it may seem easier to blame the phenomenon at hand on Islam, but the mechanisms of this phenomenon are much more complex.
