Many years ago, a Muslim family member had a life changing experience that resulted in him being closer to God. Witnessing his experience opened up my eyes to a hidden underground system of journalistic tabloids and targeted literature concerning Islam and radicalism I never thought existed. I discovered how easy it was to interpret the words of God and the instructions of his prophets in a sick radical perspective to brainwash young Muslim men and women.
Even though that “phase” has passed for my relative, I am positive many are still trapped in that twisted labyrinth of radicalism. My certainty has grown, stained with bitterness and heavy heartedness as I, and the entire Muslim world, witness the horrifying crimes of ISIS.
I have been witnessing this disease of ISISism silently grow over the years. The putrescent philosophy of exclusion, eradication and radicalism that has been taught to children in schools of the Islamic world for decades. The ideology of Ifta’ whose main goal has been reduced to try and diminish will power of millions and turn them into subservient masses for this grand Mufti. The result is that, like zombies, many consider it their duty to believe in every word their Mufti tells them.
ISIS is a manifestation of the same malignancy that inflicted us years and perhaps decades ago. It has now grown to become a huge monster and is challenging the Muslim way of life and our concepts of goodness and humanity. It is distorting the basic image of Islam as a religion of peace and humanity.
And now after letting it flourish for so many years with impunity, we want to kill this monster at once by bombing it. This approach at best, can be a temporary measure. Decades-old radical views that have ingrained deep inside the consciousness of these extremists and have turned into a belief system, can not be bombed out of existence like that.
The first step should not be fighting it with blood and fire, but to acknowledge its existence, axis, and roots. It has to be a long-term multi-pronged strategy to neutralize the extremist mindset and substitute them with true injunctions of Islam that are followed by the majority of the Muslim world.
The question “how did we get here?” should be insomniac and persistent and even painful for us. How has death become a thing we see every day in the news, in our own backyards, and mistakenly understand to be a part of our religion? Why did ISIS members reduce religion and evangelism to killing, maiming, raping, disfiguring and burning innocent human beings, most of whom are actually Muslim? What does the disguised approval of ISIS actions and ideology mean for us? Questions we need to answer as Muslim thinkers who long for peace.
