Muslims Must Challenge the Misconceptions and Take Corrective Steps, Otherwise They Will Be Run down by Ideologies like ISIS and Al-Qaeda
By
Atir Khan, New Age Islam
23-08-2022
Numerous Verses In The Quran And Narrations Of
Hadith, Exhorted Muslims Never To Take To Extremes, Not Even In Matters Of
Fulfilling Religious Obligations Like Prayers And Fasting
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Scene
of devastation inside mosque in Kunduz after a blast
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What
happened in Kabul a few days ago is a bad omen. Islamists have now started
bombing mosques, and are killing innocent civilians. The alarming situation out
there needs serious introspection. A huge explosion ripped through a crowded
mosque in Afghanistan's capital Kabul killing 21 people and injuring more than
33 persons recently. All this happens when all alien forces have withdrawn from
the land and the Taliban are left to fend for them.
The Taliban
have been ruling Afghanistan for a year now. But they are still struggling to
run the government. They wish to run the government on principles, which are
not acceptable in today's world. But they are determined to have their way.
International
affairs experts believe, that Afghanistan is confronted with massive problems.
First, the
formation of an inclusive government: In the Doha Agreement with the US, the
Taliban leadership had assured that they would form a government in which all
communities and classes would be represented. But till now the rule is
dominated by Pashtuns and Talibs. Communities like Hazara, Tajik, and Uzbek are
still not getting proper representation.
Not only
this, the condition of minorities there is pathetic. Especially the people of
Sikh and Hindu communities have had to migrate from there. Human rights
violations are a big cause of concern. The women have also not gotten equal
participation.
The second
challenge is to control terrorism and extremism. The Taliban government seems
to be struggling on this front as well. How the US killed al-Qaeda chief
al-Zawahiri indicates that the Taliban has still not been able to control the
activities of terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS in Afghanistan.
The third
challenge is to overcome economic and financial difficulties. When the Taliban
took power, Afghanistan was plunged into economic difficulties. Within a year,
the financial condition has further deteriorated.
Along with
difficulties like drought and unemployment, the crippling banking system and
dwindling foreign exchange reserves are also keeping life difficult. The
international community is also not coming forward to help them, because the
Taliban have still not been able to win confidence in the governance system.
The exodus
of Afghans is happening very fast not only inside the country but also outside
it. The fourth challenge is to gain international recognition. Of course,
countries around the world are still looking at Afghanistan with hope and want
to advance the bilateral relationship according to their respective interests,
but no country other than the three countries has recognized the Taliban
government. The United Nations has not allotted a seat for him.
The biggest
problem of the Taliban is their approach. If the Taliban were practical, then
they would have realized that no country in the world runs completely according
to Islamic principles. Muslim-dominated countries have taken a practical
approach and have only adopted the spirit of Islam in their laws and governance
practices.
Unless the
Taliban change their mind set, terrorist organizations like ISIS and Al Qaeda
will make their lives more miserable. The latter believes in running the
country by the Islamist ideology. Therefore, they are eliminating all spiritual
leaders in Afghanistan one by one.
The sooner
the Taliban open up to the world, the better it is for Afghanistan. Today no
country can stay in isolation. All countries need assimilation of ideas and
their people need to respect the tradition and values of other people living in
the country. Only then progress is possible.
Even the
Taliban are considered to be fundamentalists, but their fundamentalism appears
to be much less in intensity when compared with the ideas of ISIS and Al Qaeda.
Unfortunately,
the Taliban have failed to understand a moderate approach is the only way out
for them unless they want their country to die of starvation or implosion by
inimical forces.
They must
delineate themselves, particularly from Al Qaeda. Their area of influence is limited
to Afghanistan, but ISIS and Al Qaeda have bigger plans, which expand even up
to India. Al Qaeda and ISIS have the desire to rule the world, they are
inspired and try to inspire youths by misplaced notions of Islam and believe in
re-establishing Caliphate. Such people are reportedly behind the bombing of the
mosque in Kabul recently.
There is no
place for this kind of ideology in the spirit of true Islam. Unfortunately,
this ideology is beginning to have some audience in India. The police claim to
have arrested Al-Qaeda operatives in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. More facts
will emerge as and when the charge sheets are filed and the trials are taken
up.
But one
thing is sure the people who are inspired by this kind of ideology like to be
identified as the flag bearers of Islam. The question is should they be trusted
with leading the community?
Over a decade this kind of ideology has assumed
menacing proportions. It will take at least a generation to mitigate the damage
it has done. A few years ago, Sultan Shahin, a Delhi-based Islamic scholar,
gave a relevant speech at the UNHRC. In his address, he said that terrorism is
increasing in the world because Muslim youth are inclined towards jihad.
He said
although Islam started as a peace-loving religion with elements of
spirituality, due to various reasons, several misconceptions had crept into the
theology largely between the 8th and 11th centuries. This caused great damage
and Islam was projected as a political, totalitarian, supremacist, intolerant,
oppressive, and xenophobic religion. The rationalists in Islam were subjugated
and their works were destroyed. The same works such as that of Averroes (Ibn
Rushd) brought about enlightenment in Europe, while it was in the Dark Ages.
Bomb blasts in a mosque in Kabul are another
wake-up call. Both Allah and His Prophet wanted Muslims to be a moderate,
justly balanced community. An Ummat-e-Wasta, Holy Quran 2:143, says.
Numerous verses in the Quran and narrations of Hadith, exhorted Muslims never
to take to extremes, not even in matters of fulfilling religious obligations
like prayers and fasting, says Sultan.
Countries
like Morocco and Saudi Arabia are doing a good job in understanding of the
religion. So is Turkey, which has also selected 1600 hadith out of 10,000
hadith after a decade-long exercise. Those have been distributed in every
mosque and religious institution for focused studies.
Several
Islamic scholars including US-based Javed Ahmed Ghamdi, are of the view that a
lot of misconceptions have made inroads into Islam and that the religion of
peace needs to be seen in the right perspective to mitigate the damage being
done to its image.
The Ottoman
Empire ruled a large part of the world. But even after reaching the zenith, its
leaders did not change with time. Their rule extended even to Europe. With the
advent of the industrial revolution, the printing press developed in Europe.
The Western world took full advantage of this discovery. But due to the
stubbornness of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire, the printing press was not
allowed to be adopted in the Muslim world for almost 400 years. A heavy price
was paid for this. Perhaps if the printing press had been adopted much earlier,
than today the condition of the Muslims would have been different.
By the time
Ottoman rulers realized they were lagging in development and tried to mend
their ways it was too late. European forces had defeated them by then. Since
then, the world order has changed many times.
The point
is that even the ulema who have studied from the best seats of education such
as Oxford believe in following the old established traditions of Islam, or at
least they consider it to be wise to follow them.
They fear
that if they deviate from the deeply-entrenched misconceptions, they will have
no acceptability and thus no respect within the community. The result is there
for everybody to see.
In India
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and Jamaat-i- Islami and some Ulema of South India and
Gujarat are creating an awakening with some good teachings. In countries like
Malaysia, we have highly inspiring examples. For example, Sisters in Islam is
an organization established in 1988. The members of this organization fought
for their rights and did a wonderful job of empowering Muslim women.
Until and
unless Muslims learn to challenge the misconceptions, which have crept into the
community and take corrective steps, establish good institutions, they will not
be seen as a progressive community, rather they will be run down by ideologies
like ISIS and Al-Qaeda, which are not doing any good to the community.
Source: Muslim World: Risks And Reforms
URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/muslims-misconceptions-ideologies-isis-qaeda/d/127779
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