By S. Arshad, New Age
Islam
14 October
2020
Recently
the Secretary General of Muslim World League Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdul Karim al
Issa criticised the extremist Muslim organisations as enemies of Islam who have
harmed the image of Islam due to their radical and extremist ideas that result
in violence and terrorism. He said that they do not represent Islam and the
Muslims who defend them directly and indirectly were exactly like them.
Flag
used by various al-Qaeda factions
----
Al Issa's
is one of the few sane voices in the Arab world from where the extremist and
radical ideology originated and spread in most part of the world. Al Qaida and
ISIS and their affiliates and off shoots like the Taliban, Al Nusrah, Al Shabab
and a host of others spread in most Muslim and European countries. They
preached violence as a means of eradicating injustice and oppression against
the Muslims. But in reality they harmed Muslim communities in Muslim majority
and minority countries by giving the governments to crackdown on them to flush
out terrorists and extremist and in the process thousands of Muslims were
killed and displaced.
Al Qaida
claimed that it planned to destroy th US and for that purpose it attacked
American citizens and embassies and finally attacked the twin towers in New
York giving the US and the NATO forces to start operations against the Taliban
and Al Qaida in Afghanistan. During the 20-year long operations, Afghanistan
was destroyed and its economy was shattered.
Yemeni
extremist preacher Anwar al Awlaqi formed his extremist group in Yemen and
threatened to destroy the US inviting US military action in Yemen and killing
him subsequently.
The
terrorist activities of Pakistani Taliban invited drone attacks by the US
forces in the tribal areas of Pakistan killing hundreds of civilians there.
In 2014,
the ISIS emerged and took over a big part of Iraq and Syria and established its
so-called Khilafat there. The entire area, the size of Britain became a
battlefield where bloody clashes between the forces of Syria and the ISIS raged
for almost five years. As a result of the war, a large part of Iraq and Syria
was ravaged; many Muslims were killed and millions of people had to take refue
in European countries. They are still living in refugee camps there.
After being
subdued by the US forces, the ISIS took to terrorist activities in Sri Lanka,
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sweden and Philippines and launched their online
magazine in India and other countries. In Sri Lanka they attacked civilians
both Muslims and non-Muslims and contributed not only to the growth of
Islamophobia but also made Muslims in Muslim minority countries doubtful in the
eyes of non-Muslim majority.
These
extremist organisations claimed to fight for the rights of the Muslims or to
end oppression of the Muslims, but in fact, they caused them more harm and
bigger rather irreparable damage to them. For example Al Qaida claimed that it
wanted to destroy the US but in the end it led to the destruction of
Afghanistan.
The ISIS
claimed that it wanted to establish caliphate but caused the destruction of
Iraq and Syria and death and displacement of millions of the Muslims of the
Middle East. These militant organisations of a handful of fugitives and
Kalashnikov wielding religious fanatics try to make the Muslims believe that
they will defeat the mighty armies of powerful nations or will make them
surrender with some suicide attacks or mortar attacks on the 'enemy posts'. In
reality, they give the armies of the powerful nations to take military action
resulting in the civilian casualty. In this way, they have caused more damage
to the Muslims than to the US and the European countries.
The most
recent case of these extremists causing huge damage and harm to Muslims is the
crackdown of the Myanmarese army on the Rohingya Muslims. In 2013, a man called
Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi formed a militant organisation called Harkah al
Yaqeen or Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and recruited villagers from
the Muslim majority province Rakhine. He tried to organise the Rohingya Muslims
against the Myanmarese Army.
The group
was poorly equipped. All the members had in the name of weapons was sharpened
bamboo sticks, machetes, swords, iron rods and other improvised tools. They
also held bomb-making workshops. In one of the training camps, a bomb exploded
and it came to light that the trainer was a Pakistani. They started attacking
security forces.
This caused
a reaction not only in the Myanmarese military but also among the Buddhists of
the Rakhine state and they formed their own militia to combat the threat posed
by ARSA in 2016. On 25 August 2017, the ARSA planned an organised attack on 30
army posts in Rakhine state.
According
to the reports, Ataullah Abu Ammar circulated his instructions for attacks
through WhatsApp messages, which were conveyed to the villagers by some mullahs
or village preachers. The plan of the attack got leaked and the attacks on 30
posts resulted in the death of only 12 security men. The emergence of ARSA had
already hardened the national sentiment against the Rohingyas
The attacks
justified the apprehensions of the military and Buddhist militia. The army
started its crackdown under "Clearance Operation" and simultaneously
there were large-scale anti-Rohingya riots. The crackdown resulted in the mass
exodus of about 7 lakh Rohingyas and the riots resulted in the death of more
than 24000 Rohingyas.
Thus the
immature and childish ambition of Ataullah Jununi of becoming the saviour of
Rohingyas by taking on the powerful Myanmarese army with iron rods, bamboo
sticks and swords caused one of the biggest tragedies of the 21st century.
About 10 lakh Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh and are living in the refugee
camps in Bangladesh since 2017 and before that. Though injustice to the
Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar has a long history and riots against them have
taken place even before but the misadventure of the ARSA was the main trigger
behind the large-scale crackdown, riots and exodus.
Now the
ARSA has penetrated into the refugee camps of Bangladesh where it is involved
in drug trade. Its members often clash with rival drug mafia in the camps
resulting in firing, explosion and arson in the camps. The group also recruits
youth from the camps for terrorist activities. The Rohingya Muslims living in
the camps are terror stricken due to their presence. They say that a handful of
these men have made their life hell and they would live in peace without them.
This is the
reality of the mass base and strength of these militant organisations. The ARSA
killed only 12 security personnel of the Myanmarese army but provided the
Myanmarese army the excuse to kill 24000 Rohingyas and drive out 10 lakh of
them from Myanmar. The ARSA, the self-proclaimed friends of the Muslims caused
them the harm an enemy could not have done.
The
political problems of the Muslims should be resolved by the Muslim countries on
political and diplomatic level. In the absence of political initiatives at
diplomatic level, the vacuum is filled by militant organisations, which proves
suicidal and detrimental to the Muslims.
Under the
current situation, it is heartening to hear the voices of people like Al Issa.
It is hoped that he and other activists like him willl work towards creating
awareness about the dangers of extremist ideology and the need to unite the
Muslim countries on the issue of the persecution of Rohingyas, Uighurs and
other persecuted Muslim communities of the world and find a peaceful and viable
solution to their problems. Until it is done, militant groups will continue to
push the Muslims towards death and destruction.
URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/how-islamist-militant-organisations-harmed/d/123142
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