Mainstreaming extremism

What happens to the human body when cells grow unchecked? What would a human face look like if symmetry in the two sides is lacking? Isn’t it important for opposite forces to exist in equal proportion to keep something in balance? If the universe requires order and balance to remain intact, isn’t it even more necessary for society to maintain order and balance to survive?
Islam, as a social system, abhors extremism and stands firmly for peace and moderation. It accords due importance to the prevailing socio-economic context in which one lives and recognises human limitations too. It believes in evolutionary change as a means of enabling man to realise his full potential.
But we, as Muslims, have yet to internalise the spirit of Islam. A general tendency is to make Islam subservient to our personal desires and situational contingencies. One such tendency is to swing between far left and far right – extremism – in interpreting and practising Islam.
To know where Islam stands vis-à-vis extremism will certainly require a detached study of the Holy Quran and Sirah. At its very first chapter, the Quran rejects extremism by exhorting the believers to follow those who were ‘blessed’ and avoid those who were ‘cursed’ or went astray because of their ignorance and/or arrogance. There is consensus among Muslim scholars that the ‘cursed’ are the people who run after wealth, power, and luxury at the cost of losing sight of their spiritual development.
On the other extreme are those who retire to a worship centre permanently and do not take active part in social and community services as a less-charted path to attaining the pleasure of God. They themselves become free riders over time and often resist change.
These extreme tendencies have no place in Islam. Imam Ghazali has explained the Islamic perspective of how a Muslim should engage in various affairs in this world. He says, “Man’s relationship with the world we live in is like a ship sailing in the sea. A ship needs deep water to navigate smoothly towards its destination. But if, for any reason, water starts flowing inside the ship, the very water that facilitates its journey would cause it to sink”.
Extremism in worship is also anathema to Islamic teachings. Three companions of the Prophet (pbuh) came to him with three noble but extreme intensions about worship. One of them said he would fast everyday forever; the second revealed he would pray the whole night throughout his life, and the third expressed his resolve to never get married in order to have full freedom for worship. The Prophet (pbuh) warned them against transgressing limits drawn by him through personal example in private and public affairs.
The most dangerous aspect of extremism is the failure to understand Islam in totality and/or quote verses of the Quran and Hadith out of context. During the Ummayed rule, two different camps of scholars emerged with one camp – the rationalists – trying to interpret the Word of God through pure reason. They were impressed by Greek philosophy so much so that they often denied or rationalised many commonly held beliefs.
The other camp – the literalists – relied mostly on tradition to make sense of the Quran. They rejected Greek philosophy as nothing more than mere conjecture and intellectual perversion. This polarisation in thinking still pervades the Muslim world.
The so-called modernists/secularists try to look for verses and Hadith which in some way give legitimacy to all Western ideologies and theories. The conservatives, on the other hand, regard Islam as a static religion with few rituals to perform on selected occasions.
The Muslim Ummah can play a pivotal role in the comity of nations if it rediscovers itself in the light of the Holy Quran which says, “Thus, have We made of you an Ummah (Community) justly balanced (wasatan), that ye might be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over yourselves”.
The writer teaches at FAST-NU, Peshawar.
Email: zeb.khan@nu.edu.pk