Understanding Islamic extremism.

In my previous post I wrote that question of ‘is Islam a violent religion?’ is erroneous and misleading. In any system or ideology violence is not the end. Violence and terrorism are just means to achieve ideological goals. Islam is very much a political ideology; Islam is expansionist in both the aspects, as belief and as political ideology. So the right question to be framed for perusal or understanding is ‘Is Islam tolerant towards non muslims?’ or ‘Can Islam co-exist peacefully with others?’ or ‘What does Islam say towards infidels?’

I will not be dwelling on questions I put up  but I will briefly analyze.

The Islamic ideological goal appears unambiguously in Koran, Hadith and Sharia law (Islamic law) and it is to impose Sharia law over the entire world. The effort put in to achieve or realize this goal is Jihad. Sharia defines jihad as an offensive war against non muslims with the aim of bringing them under Islamic rule i.e. Sharia and it further says it is a communal obligation on all muslims. But, in present day situation, jihad need not be violent all the time.

Moderate Muslims use peaceful means like political (influencing politicians through elections), cultural (getting special incentives like separate schools and universities), religious (proselytizing and construction of mosques) and intellectual (shutting down any discussion on Islam, past or present, which can alert the Non Muslim population by labeling honest discussion as hatred). These are also legal because most infidel nations extend these privileges to all citizens in the name of secularism and multiculturalism. On the other hand extremists use violence as their tool. But end state is same which includes utter destruction of every aspect of civilization of infidels.

Koran excoriates Non Muslims and dehumanizes them in every possible manner. One will find that the softest command issued to Muslims in Koran towards infidels is avoiding friendship. This intolerance present in Koran towards infidels is pretty well documented in this blog. The natural question that arises is whether this perspective manifests in to Islamic way of life. This we can find from Sharia law, manual based on Koran and Sunna, and present day constitutions of many Muslim majority nations. Every Muslim majority nation implements certain degree of sharia law in to their constitution. That is why population of non muslims in muslim majority nations is in free fall. But, in a religion obsessed with submission to Allah and his will in Koran, to expect kinder and gentle treatment from Muslims when Allah in Koran says opposite is not a sensible judgment.

Should Non Muslims be worried or concerned about Sharia law? Let’s construct a situational example. There is a country ‘a’ and it is non muslim majority nation having significant muslim population. Its constitution is secular and laws are based on equality of all people and laws give people freedom to choose and propagate their religious beliefs. It also has liberal immigration policy and many muslims from neighboring Islamic nations settle in this country and this migration continues unchecked. As the time progresses, because of high birth rates among muslims, proselytizing, immigration and other activities like love jihad, Muslim population increases drastically and Muslims take over reigns of power (Government) and impose Sharia law in place of secular law. How are non muslims treated? Find out from here. So, non muslims become second class citizens in their country. Scary scenario! But not impossible.

When ever some one presents evidence shedding light on Islamic teachings of hatred towards and discrimination against non muslims, ensuing reactions from muslim apologists involve mendacious explanations like ‘it is not true islam’ or ‘so and so misunderstood islam and koran’ or ‘so and so is an extremist’ or ‘verses are quoted out of context’ or 'there are also peaceful verses in koran’ or ‘so and so is not representative of all muslims’.

Those who have read what Sharia says on jihad and how non muslims be treated agree that Islam is intolerant towards non muslims. But some may doubt about authenticity of Sharia being representation of main line Islamic teachings and thought rather than being narrow views of Islamic extremists. Muslim obscurants say it is not and one should pose a question to these obscurants that if Islam teaches tolerance and peaceful co-existence, then how come OIC, umbrella organization of muslim majority nations has upheld Sharia as source of legislation and as ultimate authority (read from here). Now, are these muslim apologists going to say that each and every govt. of Muslim majority nation is an extremist organization because they are all supporting Sharia?

At its very root, Islam considers itself as only true faith before God, because Koran says so, and other faiths as false ones. Muslims believe that Koran is the final message and guidance from God and Mohammad is the last of Prophets sent by almighty. Islam abrogates all other religions thus, rejecting pluralism. That is precisely Muslim majority nations do not allow other faiths proselytizing in their countries while many Muslim countries donate money for the construction of mosques in infidel countries. When asked about this peculiar behavior of Muslim nations, Zakir Naik gives this answer (watch the first video). So, who is Zakir Naik? Some polls show him to be one of the most influential Muslims and said to be admired by more than 50 million Indian Muslims.