Islam and Islamic Extremism

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Table of Contents

History and Emergence
Radical Religious Extremism
Conclusion
References

Islam is an ancient religion that encompasses close to 2 billion people and a quarter of the world’s population. It is a sacred, peaceful, and kind religion, despite being more conservative than many others. Islamic extremism represents a minority of Muslims who have used a perverted or manipulated version of the religion’s beliefs as both the basis and justification for nefarious socio-political activities including violence, terrorism, waging war, and at times establishing enclaves of a society guided by an extremist approach to Islam.

History and Emergence

Islam is an ancient religion stemming from the Prophet Muhammad, originated in Mecca and Medina around the 7th century CE. Islam is both a religion and code of conduct in many ways of life. At one-point Islam was the primary religion of Middle Eastern empires which encompassed large areas and resources, with Islam experiencing a “golden age.”. The modern form of Islamic extremism began with Usama Bin Laden in the late 1990s. He and his followers published an opinion suggesting that America had declared war on God and the Prophet. Therefore, it was the sacred duty of Muslims to kill Americans everywhere. Although Bin Laden was not a scholar of Islamic history or law, his doctrine grew, based on the idea that Islam was suppressed by Western influence and invasion, and he is seeking to restore the golden age of the religion. The extremist and violent ideas were inherently rooted in the unstable socio-political environment as well as anti-Western sentiments of many Middle Eastern countries at the time, allowing for various extremist terrorist organizations to emerge and flourish (White et al., 2010).

Radical Religious Extremism

A prominent definition of extremism as the justification for terrorism is that it encompasses ideological beliefs that the political system should be brought to religious standards through violence. Labels of extremism are applied to groups fighting for political agendas based in these religious beliefs, against the established mainstream systems of government such as ISIS against Syria and Taliban in Afghanistan. Religious extremism follows a model which has been observed numerous times which culminates a trajectory of religious identity leading to violence. First, there is openness to new thoughts in a religion, leading to worldview change. Afterward, a loss of meaning and connection with original identity is lost (shifting away from religious moderate), usually due to some sort of tragedy or trauma, both individually or as a group of people. Fueled by the tragedy, adoption of extreme beliefs and norms occurs which is enhanced by an indoctrination process led by extreme organizations or religious fundamentalists. The end outcome of religious extremism most always ends with the expression of violence and terror by the actor (Wibisono et al., 2019).

The political motivations of leaders of Islamic extremist and jihadist-type groups are unquestionable, commonly flourishing in areas of political and military encounters with the West. This has been ongoing for centuries. However, the moral justification and elements of power for such movements are not based in political ideology, but rather Islamic religious authority and principles. Islamic extremists appeal to deeply ingrained religious beliefs and leverage in creating a ultra-religious environment which provides moral and legal sanctions to violence, and motivates terrorist activities. It is important to note that the majority of extremist and terrorist incidents occur in Muslim countries, by a small minority of radical Muslims seeking power in their areas of operation and whose victims are primarily fellow Muslims. Both the Muslim majority and most governments are actively combatting extremism and terrorism and are allies of Western states while condemning violence (Cordesman, 2017).

Conclusion

The radical Islam faction represents a small minority which uses extreme and violent methods of terrorism to establish their presence and beliefs, largely for political purposes rather than religious. While religion is a major ideological force in shaping the patterns of extremism, it is one of many, and perhaps not even the root factor to extremism. Rather, instability, social immobility, poverty, and political divides among many other factors contribute to the status quo.

References

Cordesman, A. (2017). Islam and the patterns in terrorism and violent extremism. Web.

White, R., Markowski, T., & Collins, K. (2010). The United States Department of Homeland Security: An overview (2nd ed.). Pearson Learning Solutions.

Wibisono, S., Louis, W. R., & Jetten, J. (2019). A multidimensional analysis of religious extremism.Frontiers in Psychology, 10. Web.

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Islam and Islamic Extremism

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