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MUSLIM
GOVERNMENTS
The
failure of governments to promote good governance and
economic advancement in Muslim countries is also one of the
sources of religious extremism. The struggle against
extremism will not be won until the countries in which
extremists thrive become truly democratic and offer hope of
economic improvement. Law and order approaches to the
problem of extremism generally are ineffectual because they
offer no positive alternative to the dissatisfied young who
swell the ranks of extremist groups. Many religious
extremist groups share common organizational features, but
the circumstances that give rise to them and motivate their
actions vary from one setting to another. In case of
Palestinian groups (a problem created by the West), Israeli
occupation is the cause while in Algeria problem is internal
governance.
Another factor in the rise of extremism is the failure of
many governments in the Muslim world to address the
overwhelming challenges of development arising from rapid
social, demographic and economic changes over the last
century.
Throughout the Muslim world, extremist religious groups tend
to be most influential in locations where local governments
are least effective in addressing developmental challenges.
Aggressive secular policies of certain governments and
depriving people of their political rights (Algeria) also
add to their fear that the secular establishment is
determined to wipe religion out. We have seen that
secularism/modernism has often been imposed very
aggressively in the Muslim world. Desperation and fear tend
to distort the religious tradition, and accentuate its more
aggressive aspects at the expense of those that preach
toleration and reconciliation. Thus they espouse a form of
Islam that distorts both the message of Quran and the
prophet’s life. Thus unjust economic, social and political
systems contribute to the birth of extremism.
CRISIS WITHIN ISLAM
The second factor in the rise of extremist groups relates to
a crisis within Islam. The decline of the established
tradition of ijtihad has led to narrow and rigid
interpretation of religious precepts. There has emerged a
faction in the Islamic world whose interpretations of Islam
are extremist in nature. Their handling of political, social
and cultural matters reflect the extremist trend in their
thinking. Moreover, this extremist class believes that Islam
abhors democracy and its every form is strictly forbidden.
Democracy is an anathema to them. Thus the interpretation of
Islam, dealing with political, democratic, cultural and
human rights, are reflective of the extremist mindset. The
same is their attitude with regard to the rights of women
and the minorities. Their interpretation of Islam represents
it as a medieval religion that has outlived its usefulness
in the 21st century. All their efforts are
directed towards the establishment of a caliphate which
would rule the whole world allowing no one to contradict.
These people aptly fit into the mould of extremism. They
present a horrifying picture of Islam in the western world.
These bigots provoke the religious sentiments of people for
their personal gain. What is more is that our youth have
come under their influence. The end result is that the young
generation has grown rebellious resulting in the erosion of
our social fiber. The western media maliciously dubs their
activities as being motivated by religion. The Muslim
societies must grapple with complicated questions of why
they have failed to build stable religious and other
institutions capable of helping their own people.
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