Global Muslim Community In Crisis: Will Ulema Challenge Radical, Extremist, Traditional Narratives And Work Towards Evolving A New Theology Of Peace And Moderation?
By
Kaniz Fatma, New Age Islam
25 March
2024
Is There
Any Ray of Hope Amidst the Crisis of Global Muslim Community?
Main
Points:
1. The Muslim
world is facing significant turmoil and strife, with some people leaving the
religion due to the belief that Islam makes it impossible for them to survive.
2. The rise of
extremism in Muslim societies, fuelled by radical groups, is causing a
widespread dislike of Muslims among non-Muslims.
3. Muslims have
faced numerous crises, including radical groups forcing them to live as
refugees outside their home countries.
4. Extremist
and violent groups have created a global hatred of Muslims among non-Muslims,
and silenced even the voices of downtrodden Muslims when they speak out or
protest against injustice.
5. It is
imperative that Muslim leaders address these matters and educate the Muslim
people with constructive ideas to restore the positive perception of the Muslim
world back to its rightful place in the world.
-----
The Muslim
world is facing significant turmoil and strife, and some people have left the
religion because they believe that Islam makes it impossible for them to
survive in this world. Muslims require peaceful, coherent, and good guidelines
to function nicely in the world, which Islam provides through the moderate
path. The only problem is that they are not guided to follow those guidelines
completely. The issue stems from the rise of extremism in Muslim societies, fuelled
by various radical groups. Islamophobes further complicate matters by promoting
the idea that all Muslims are radical, leading to a widespread dislike of
Muslims among non-Muslims. In such a scenario, when Muslims are mistreated or
treated dishonestly due to their misunderstood faith, they suffer from
humiliation. They must possess patience and perseverance to overcome this
challenge.
Muslims
have faced numerous crises, including radical groups forcing them to live as
refugees outside their home countries. The governments and leaders of the
Muslim world do not support these oppressed Muslims. We currently feel a sense
of compassion for the oppressed Palestinians who are starving to death,
subjected to ongoing attacks and torture by Israel, and who are not even
allowed to receive the most basic forms of aid. Muslims express strong
disapproval of the governments and leaderships of all 57 Muslim countries,
citing their incompetence, dishonesty, and lack of inspiration.
The most
significant and alarming issue has to do with the rise in violent, intolerable,
and extremist incidents. The Muslim population of today is divided into
numerous sects. In certain Muslim nations, followers of these sects have taken
up arms and revolted against their own government; in other cases, they have
formed their own caliphate and attempted to win over other Muslims worldwide.
Many violent and extreme groups were founded in the name of Islam and Islamic
terminology, and they subsequently engaged in such violent acts in the name of
Sharia and Jihad that Muslims everywhere realised these groups were nothing
more than terrorist organisations with no connection to Islam.
While the
foundations of groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda have certainly weakened, they
continue to disseminate extremist content that calls for the murder of both
non-Muslims and Muslims of various sects. To murder innocent worshippers and
Namazis who are in the act of submitting to Allah, they dispatch their armed
men to mosques and imambargahs.
There may
have been a secret motive behind the ISIS attack in Moscow that directly
jeopardises Muslim and Islamic identity. Though ISIS is by far the biggest
threat to Muslims, this episode has, as usual, given those with ingrained
anti-Islamic sentiments a forum to criticise the religion and demand that
Muslims convert. ISIS is excellent for others, not for Muslims, but before it
can be said that Muslims are silent about ISIS, Muslims will have to cope with
public humiliation. This is a different
kind of crisis that Muslims face.
Oddly, the
targets of these savage, deadly, and self-destructive assaults are the servants
of the God who loves them more than their own families. How is it possible that
these assailants are so deaf, dumb, and blind that they neither fear God nor
consider Allah Ta'ala's decree that
"Killing a single innocent human being is
like killing the entire humanity" (Surah Maida 32)?
However,
these killers and terrorists have turned religion into a bizarre practical
joke. They believe that everyone else is either an unbeliever or a non-Muslim,
and once they have killed them all, they will go to heaven. They don't feel
embarrassed! Thank God, of the numerous terrorist groups that were founded in
the name of Islam, the majority of them failed spectacularly, and the few that
remain will, with luck, also fail in their nefarious schemes.
Extremist
and violent groups have created a global hatred of Muslims among non-Muslims so
great that even the voices of downtrodden Muslims are silenced when they speak
out or protest against injustice. After that, it is said that even these people
are radicals, and nobody steps up to stand up for them right away. Extremist
movements, even though they originated abroad, use social media to propagate their
ideology, provoke Muslims, and cause issues for them globally.
In the
Muslim world, we typically wait to address and take immediate action to resolve
a problem until it has caused significant harm. The governments, ruling
classes, intellectuals, journalists with sharp minds, and other knowledgeable
people in all Muslim countries should have considered the sensible solution to
the issues facing Muslims and protected them from serious harm. However,
nothing akin to this occurred. Instead, only the narrative that the dominant
Western nations and English imperialists were the source of all issues was
disseminated. Why do our people wind up being the puppets of that covert
agenda, if that is indeed the case?
We have
tended to place all the blame for our problems on other people rather than
considering the reasons and deficiencies that led to our current state of
affairs. And for that reason, we haven't changed, and as a result, troubles
seem to be part of our fate.
Allah
Azzawajal says in the Quran:
“Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of
a people until they change what is in themselves.” (13:11)
Despite the
severe situation that the Muslim world has faced, there is hope since Allah
Ta'ala has commanded us not to lose hope in His benevolence. The Holy Quran
instructs us to ignite the lamp of hope rather than despair to better and alter
our situation.
Thus, Ulama
and other Muslim leaders must pay attention to these matters. They must address
the issues facing Muslims today and educate the Muslim people with constructive
ideas rather than emotional, reactive and destructive ones. To restore the
positive perception of the Muslim world back to its rightful place in the
world, they must challenge the radical narratives and promote both the religion
and the decent way of life around the globe.
During this
auspicious month, we ask Allah Almighty to keep Muslims safe and to make their
lives better.
---
Kaniz
Fatma is a classic Islamic scholar and a regular columnist for New Age Islam.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/ulema-radical-extremist-theology-peace-moderation/d/131996
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