Solutions for Terrorism in the Arab and Muslim World

Hasan A. Yahya, Professor of Sociology

 In all religions, sects and ethnicities there are advocates who disseminate extremely radical, as well as  extremely aggressive, ideas. (The crusades, the Zionists, the Nazis the Bolshevik and Jihadists are examples).  But the number of followers who adopt those ideas differs from one case to another. For example, some Jewish and Christian leaders advocate ideas that are totally at odds with common humanity, with tolerance and acceptance of Other people – indeed, sometimes calling for death to others. But each of these groups had encounters to such perception. For example, in the United States, you find all types of opinions and opposing schools cross religious boundaries come together and criticized extremism. Like ifamericansknew, stopthenato, stopnato, realjews internet webpages, they profess anti-violence and arm races. But the number of followers who espouse their cause is nowhere near as great as those which advocates of some extremist Islamic ideas succeed in winning over. Many political regimes (unfortunately supported by some members of the intelligentsia) lump the members of both groups – advocates and followers – together and deal with them through the state’s security apparatus, an approach that only compounds the problem. For although the advocates of violence are dangerous, I believe the security risk they represent is limited. Their message cannot in and of itself push any society to the point reached by a number of Muslim societies today. I also believe that using police methods against them will not produce positive results, instead these practices promote more violence and grouping among rejecters of the status quo government and its forces. You may see examples in Algeria, Yemen, Iran, Turkey and Egypt, etc.,

In the 1950s, Sayed Qutb, the famous Islamic thinker in Egypt, (executed in 1966.) 18 years after the assassination of Hasan al-Banna the initiator of Muslim Brothers in the country. Their ideas survived their death to become, after the merger with the Wahhabi doctrine, the primary ideological source on which most of the radical movements of political Islam draw today. As opposing Arabism led by Jamal Abdul-Nassir. The only way to curtail the influence wielded by the advocates of violence is through a concerted cultural and ideological campaign by enlightened members of the intelligentsia. In the final analysis, however, it is not the advocates of violence but their followers who constitute the cornerstone of the phenomenon known as Islamic terrorism, who mostly young uneducated other than Qur’anic teachings.

In Pakistan, Abul-Ala al-Maududi is similar in thought of the Muslim brothers in theory, while in practice followers of al-Maududi are different in aggression except in Kashmir where injustice prevail in all corners of the country.

 Thinkers and intellectuals from all the Arab sides tried to give solutions for the unrest and the phenomenon of violence. But the problem of failed solutions, is that the political violence is justified in the name of Islam. And governments continue its injustice policies facing violence with harsh violence. Governments may secure temporary calm times, but underneath the aches the movement of violence restart in a more bloody phase. So the question was,  what is it that draws people, particularly young people, in many Muslim societies into the web of advocates who teach radical ideas? Ideas justify violence and call on them to isolate themselves from the course of their own nation in particular, and the human civilization in general.

 In other words, many thinkers believe that justice practices have to be introduced, civil society institutions and organizations have to be supported by governments to create grassroots of justice and equality if such organizations lead to compassion, there is nothing wrong with that. From a humanistic and historical perspective, to understand and sympathize is not to condone, justify or accept but to deal rationally with by recognition that we are dealing with psychiatric patients suffering from a debilitating and dangerous disease, patients who need treatment, not security procedures, violence, coercion and torture in prisons halls.

Promoting understanding, the reactions to social injustice  among the public is the first ingredient in solving terrorism in the Muslim world. The failing governmental policies to serve the masses to help them to live in dignity, promote such violence, and the uncontrolled anarchy of wealth (in most oil producing countries) among the few on the top are some of the obstacles to understanding. Nepotism is another disease in most Arab countries which promote favoritism and absence of justice and equality. We might touch other sources of injustice as well among young people in many Muslim societies which compromise 60 percent of any nation with an unemployment rate reaches 30-45% in some countries, such as the absence of rational civil society institutions based on free well and harmony; the traditional political (irrational) systems of most Arab and Muslim countries; the dependency of most Arab and Muslim countries on foreign aid and consultations;  the absence of rule of law, which increase injustice by using the law to dominate the public; the failure of economic policies to provide everyday food and necessities; the absence of personalities with leadership qualities in most areas combined with ignorance of traditional leadership in combating violence; the enormous gap between the haves and have-nots; not so much the fact that there is a gap as its sheer magnitude; the high percentage of unemployment among the youth and disappearance of fairness from most fields of employment, where favoritism and nepotism count for more than merit. And finally, the divorce between free-thinking and media on one side, and the executive branch of government on the other.

 In conclusion, I think these are some of the problems which need focus which make people angry and lead to violence, rejection, hostility and finally “terrorism” against   political, cultural and strategic governmental plans serves parts and ignore other parts in each society. Such actions from a security perspective do a grave injustice to society and to all the parties involved, including the security institutions themselves. At the end, police methods are no match for phenomena with numerous political, economic, social and cultural dimensions. It is a common knowledge among learned and ignorant people that those who believe in lack of social justice can call loudly for justice through terrorist groups which  are not small in number. (1151 words) www.hasanyahya.com

(From the author’s  paper, presented at NATO and the Muslim World Conference, Kualampur, Malaysia, May 5, 2009 organized by wfol.tv)

Tags: Muslim, Solutions, political regimes, religious boundaries, Arab, world, Terrorism

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