Eradicating antipathetic rhetoric [Cont]
May 7, 2008
terrorism is seen as a form of empowerment
I suggested yesterday that the reasons for the instigation of terrorism and radicalisation amongst people are mainly due to savage foreign policies, and economic and social instability.
Muhammad Sadik Khan, the suspected leader of the 7/7 atrocity left a video message stating that his reasons for the attack were the invasion of Iraq, and abuses in the war: “Your [the West’s] democratically elected governments continue to perpetuate atrocities against my people all over the world… your support for them makes you directly responsible… until we feel security, you will be our targets. Until you stop the bombing, gassing, imprisonment and torture of my people, we will not stop.”
A number 10 leaked dossier further confirmed that the invasion of Iraq was [is] a ‘recruiting sergeant’ for extremism and extremists. However, blaming external occurrences and ‘others’ is very easy.
History teaches that in all religions and civilisations there were people who went to extremes, and in Islam is no exception. The Prophet Muhammad informed us that there would be people who will misunderstand the scriptures and succumb to catastrophic ends. The Khawarij are prime examples of those who deviated and went to extremes due to their misunderstanding and misapplication of the scripture.
Readers should not misunderstand. I am not advocating the nonsense of the secular ‘Islamists’and neo-cons like Robert Spencer and Douglas Murray [Centre for Social Cohesion], who promote the perception that ‘Islamism’ is inherently violent and extreme. However, when one objectively recollects the rhetoric of the pre 9/11 scenario employed by not only Abu Hamza and others, but by many mainstream preachers in conferences and lectures, one will discern a clear narrative of hate and antipathy towards anything to do with the west and its culture.
It is quite clear the methodology employed by these people is not in accordance with Prophetic guidance. Living in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society, one needs to be careful not to give antipathetic messages to others. Of course this does not only apply to Muslims only but every other faith or culture - there will be always bad apples in the basket.
The government is naïve to assume that inhuman foreign policies will not encourage extremists to recruit in Britain. Conversely, Muslims should not believe that all extreme tendencies are due to the cruel foreign policies.
If the government is really sincere in its efforts to eradicate extremism it must stop instigating and supporting the United States in attacking sovereign nations, and work towards attaining mainstream Muslim support.
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