Honton ko si kar dekhiye pachtaiye ga aap
Hangame jaag uthte hain aksar ghuttan ke baad
Any anodyne effect this sher might have had on me was lost forever when my neo-Trotskyite friend decided to give me his interpretation of it. I didn’t ask for it, but there it was. A multi-headed hydra called “having coffee” – where the conversation starts off polite, turns to prittle-prattle , turns to poetry, turns to politics, turns to polemics, turns to punches. Lucky for me, he hits like a girl.
“Religious extremism is the new communism,”
he hissed, spraying spittle in all directions. I laughed. He carried on, unperturbed but passionate:
“The poor man has found his outlet – the injustice, the exploitation, the degradation, the desperation he’s suffered has found its expression. Islam, like communism, is based on egalitarian principles and promises them justice and equality. You think religious extremism has got anything to do with religion? It is nothing but the collective voice of a people who’ve been wronged their whole lives.”
Somehow this gave me goose bumps and I quickly gulped down the latte in hope of thawing the chill his words left. It didn’t work and I got to thinking about Pakistan and Pakistanis everywhere.
Religious extremists in Pakistan can come from all walks of life but a sizeable chunk belongs to the poorer section of the society. Pakistani immigrants and expatriates living in the West also make up a significant portion. Why are these two groups more prone to religious extremism and terrorism? Was it that, time and again, they were discriminated against and shunted to silence? Did the exclusion leave such bitterness that it got bottled up inside for so long – so long that it is now, quite literally, exploding?
In Pakistan’s context, the implication that religious extremism is connected to poverty and disfranchisement has been made not with a bang but a whimper (pun unintended). I think this concept needs to be forced to the fore. Many in the corridors of power are finding it convenient to ignore the ‘real’ reasons leading to Islamic radicalism, as that may point the j’accuse finger in their direction. But let’s briefly look at why a 19 year old Pakistani boy picks up a Kalashnikov or why a 37 year old father of three straps explosives around his waist.
It’s no secret that democratic institutions in Pakistan are in a frail state, if at all alive.
And then there is no Left or not much left of it. (The Communist Party of India could arguably be a good example of the importance of such a “balance of power” – on the domestic front at least.) In Pakistan very few avenues are open to the poor in need of some succour or just in need of voicing their distress. So, what happens? Under a dictatorship, and with no diversity of political parties to choose from, the poor, frustrated man turns to the radical Right – the Mullahs and their might.
Pakistani religious extremists living in the West dance to a slightly different tune. Feeling discriminated, displaced, alienated or plain confused – they crave to cling to a core, something that will anchor their sense of identity. Often times this comes in the form of religion. Sometimes its taken to an extreme. So, the religious radical turns to radicalism not out of a love for religion, but a deep hatred for those elements that he felt were unjust towards him (or his brethren.) Anti-Western sentiments do not transpire from Koranic verses, instead they’re born of the experiences one had in/of the West and the bitter taste that can leave in one’s mouth… body and soul.
This is important. Scholars like Nichole Argo have accentuated the point: emotional and social ties precede the acquisition of ideology. Either our social situation has to be in the doldrums or our emotional condition so wounded that we take a religious ideology to an extreme. The media almost always portrays the religious extremist or terrorist as a gun-slinging gung-ho Islamist with a medieval mind and beard to boot. He is a dangerous, diehard jihadi on a mission to kill or be martyred trying. Such a description is like a donut-truth; the truth, the whole truth, with a hole in the truth (I forget what film this line is from). That hole is the real reasons people are pushed to accept a radicalised Islam, and these reason need to be better understood if we sincerely hope to curb extremism. Half-measures – like madrassa reformation – being implemented by our marginal-satisfiers might prove productive in that they’re broadening the narrow teachings of many religious seminaries. But they’re not preventing extremism. People, especially the poor and alienated, will continue to feel helpless in the face of a system they despise but can’t do anything to change. In fact, they may feel, and most do, that the measures being taken to tackle extremism are the spawn of the West, the very demon they wish to slay. So, they will continue feeling dejected and cheated. This inadvertently leads to the shift in their psyche that paves way for an extremist view.
Some extremists may genuinely be harbouring a twisted interpretation of religion, and others may just be twisted by nature. But I believe that for most the acquisition of a radical religious ideology is triggered from a more fundamental feeling of victimisation, of feeling wronged, and/or being part of a harshly unjust system. In such cases religion offers unction, and a bandwagon-effect ensues whereby millions of disempowered and discriminated find a mouthpiece and meaning in the Right. Ironically, the factors thrusting them to the extreme right is born of leftist logic; an anti-establishment egalitarian cry for equal rights for the common citizen.
(How corrupt leaders exploit this feeling in the masses to further their own political interests is another matter. Also I would like to advise everyone to not turn this into a debate about Islam. It is about how the basic wrongs in society which cause an individual to adopt an extremist view, and how it is these wrongs that need to be focused if we wish to break free from the vicious cycle of militancy and dictatorship.)
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Ms. Shaam
great article. I think some confusion arises when you try to paint all the religious movements with one brush. In my opinion, many fanatics in Pakistan are pro-status-quo, at-least in the socio-economic sense. Take for instance the Tablighi-jamaat. Despite the general impression that they promote extremism, if you look at their literature, they rarely if ever talk about revolutionary ideas. Instead they have a fixation with a change from-within, a sort of trickle-up phenomenon. Thus the crux of their teachings is about personal piety, not economic parity between the haves and have-nots etc.
Another interesting example is Jamaat-e-islami. During Afghan war, Jamaati intellectuals would mock the ideals of egalitarianism and redistribution of wealth etc. as too romantic and put their weight behind a more pragmatic, pseudo-capitalistic/feudal system that has plagued Pakistan ever since our ‘independence’. They knew that even a hint of support for socialistic ideals would confuse their followers. This is exactly why Jamaat has never appeared a real threat to the feudal establishment of Pakistan. In fact they are quite open about their general approach of changing the establishment from within.
In my opinion, our mainstream islamic ideals and socialism don’t mix that easily. The reason being that majority of our ummah has been a protector of the status quo for the most part. You just don’t see the equivalent of Bastille in islamic history. Why? because muslims were empire builders, even the early ones - not revolutionaries. Of course Ali Shariati will beg to differ: he got his Red Shiism theory all worked out, replete with historical precedents. But Pakistanis are hardly interested in Red Shiism..
What about some members of the cricket team, the media, the Al-Huda movement, the tableeghi jamaat etc.
Thanks Raza to elaborate what was meant by “extremist” and “radicals” by you or by Qandeel. I don’t know about Al-Huda much but all I know they don’t get exploded anywhere if you equate extremism with suicide bombing. Yes, I would like to put Pakistan “former” team and Tableegh in a single slot and media in other since Pakistani former team had tableeghi influence.
I am sure you don’t have clear idea about Tableeghist. For many Pakistanis they are people who force to quit World and just do “Allah Allah”. While this perception has been proved wrong by people like Inzy,Afridi and former Singer Junaid Jamshed etc The other misconception is tableeghis means students of madrassahs while in reality this is not true. Most of members of tableeghi parties belong to various field of life. from Engineer to Architect, all are free to join. madrassah students are rather busy in their schools and they can’t participate tableegh due to its mobility since most of their members are in journey most of the time. By keeping above mentioned things in mind, I don’t understand what kinda extremism you found in them? if by extremism mean shalwar above ankles and doing miswak,having beared etc etc which you might take as excuse of “showing off” then I would like to share several kind of such “Extremism” by various Islamic sects in KARACHI.
There is a agha khani (Ismaili) Jamat KHana near my office. When i go back, I am often asked to stop by Ismaili volunteers so that their members could cross the road. By keeping your definition of extremism, I consider this act a form of extremism since those few agha khanis creating troubles for several people on the road by blocking all the traffic. I also see pictures of Prince Karim in every single shop of Agha Khani. By your definition , I consider agha khanis extremist too. Tableeghis don’t put images of Molana Ilyas in their shops.
I live in Norrh Nazimabad where Bohris are in majority. I see bohris wear their special cap all the time and have image fo Burhan uddin in their shops. By “enlightened” defnition of extremism, i would call Bohris religious fanatics too because they keep showing off their religious affiliation during their business. I know no one would condemn such “extremist” act of Bohris and Agha Khanis but if one sees someone having beard and shalwar above ankles, he’s labeled as “extremist”.
You talked about media, right now two names comes in mind. Shoaib Mansoor, who got pissed so much after Junaid’s personal decision to follow Islam that he made a movie against Him. This is called Extremism that is lack of tolerance. Even Shoaib himself told the reason to make movie on his website. Other name is Nadeem.F.Paracha. I don’t know what F means in his name but the way he writes, I think he likes to call himelf “Nadeem Frowns Paracha” since he frowns all the time about Zia and keep missing those lovely days.
Though all of his articles exposes his extremist mindset, I would like to mention one of his article which was based on Osma Laden. Nadeem’s friend had Osama’s pic as Screen Saver, Nadeem got pissed so much that he forced his friend to remove that screen saver from computer because nadeem didn’t like his “mole”. At one side Nadeem whines all time about rights’ extremism while he himself was getting exposed as leftist extremist. Next week several mails published in Dawn in which Nadeem was condemned for his stupidity and extremism. Even there re mails in last sunday mag of dawn in which people criticized his ignorant rants about certain ideology. If These two guys do such act, its called an “educated” move, if it’s done by someone else, its called extremism. Wah!
If Spielberg makes a movie based on Bible chapters, he’s called a genius. If Tom Hanks works in Da Vinci code, he’s labeled as Superb Artist but if Junaid Jamshed comes on TV and talks about Islam, he’s labeled as Extremist and confused minded person. I think liberals are more confused than anyone else since they are not able to figure out why do they condemn something.
if Ekta Kapoor of Starplus keep preaching about “Ramain” and Bhagwat Geeta in her drams then she’s called a successful woman while if some of our lady read Naat on TV with hijab around her face then she’s called OPPRESSED and BACKWARD woman by other ladies.
you guys don’t know that you people become laughing stock for others. You guys think that you’re doing something remarkable while you’re not. Just because one doesn’t belongs to your sect than it doesn’t mean he or she is extremist. If you can’t bring tolerance in yourself then why do you expect such thing in others? Something which I don’t understand at all. May you or Bhai Sabahat can tell me later on facebook or email or even here?
Thank you everyone for your comments, and a special gratitude for those who stuck to the point.
For the gentleman who praised this article for being the work of a 15 year old: without realizing it you expounded on all my points and left this kid with little room for a rebuttal. We are in complete agreement, you and I. You just made the jejune mistake of thinking I would use Left in the most narrowest sense of the word.
Reza Rumi, I see your point, but, unless someone here agrees to fund my PhD on the subject, its difficult to not make ‘generalisations’. Most of what I’ve said is based on a bit of research however, as well as observation. The re-born Muslim cricketers/musicians etc wouldn’t fall under the rubric of ‘extremists’, as per my definition. (Not even the Lal Masjid crowd for that matter.) They’re not learning how to become a fedayeen in militant training camps or hurling grenades in to open markets or mosques under the banner of Deobandi Islam etc. I was referring to suicide-bombers or those who embrace the violent side of ‘jihad’.
Omar Sheikh, the LSE-graduate, apparantly was moved by the plight of Muslims in Bosnia, Chechnya etc and that paved way for his radical religious approach. I think that that kind of emotional residue, left by experiencing injustice around you, is the potent ingredient that can lead to extremism. Islam can offer a way to vent that anger, or to explode even. (Of course it isn’t just Islam, people have killed and gotten killed in the name of other religions too.)
Couple this with a threat of a spreading neoliberal world order, and no Soviet Union to bipolarise your interests, I can almost empathise with the man who turns to radical Islam as a means of resistance against this ‘westernization’. So, whoever thought I was parrotting a western viewpoint in this article needs to read it more carefully. If anything I’m trying to understand the terrorist within a social context, which I doubt the western media is interested in doing at this stage.
Its a vast topic and could be debated endlessly. I just think it is important not to forget other, perhaps more accurate, explanations for religious extremism. Especially at a time when terrorists, imaginary or otherwise, are being rooted out as bad seeds in an otherwise harmonious system. It could be that the system itself has sown these seeds. Be it Mush’s despotism, or Bush’s imperialism.
Ms. Qandeel Shaam:
I find your article very interesting and thought provoking. I blame Pakistani Middle classes and particularly the Upper Middle class for much of our problems. This class, in its present form, comprises of self-absorbed and self-preserving individuals that have failed to meet their social obligations and responsibilities. Instead of helping out our less fortunate and poor, and demanding for their rights, this class is busy safeguarding only its own interests. The result is a growing economic gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ which ultimately leads to social unrest and lawlessness. Extremism, religious or otherwise, is a manifestation of this economic disparity between the classes. When did the members of our Middle classes step out of their own circle and try to find out what ails the society. Look at the present ‘throw Musharraf out’ campaign. Other than shouting ‘go Musharraf go’, what little else is that our Upper Middle class is demanding? Where are the voices speaking for social justice, clean drinking water, universal health care, and, free and compulsory uniform education for all. As long as we are able to send our own kids to LSE & LUMS who cares what happens to the kids of the poor cart puller. With attitudes like that do we have right to complain about the extremism in our society?
reminds me of that old rhyme we used to sing as kids:
left right left right
paijama dheela topi tight
btw chirand, you may be right about buddhist monks not blowing themselves up in burma, but they routinely do so in sri lanka. and last i checked, the large majority of l.t.t.e. (tamil tiger) suicide bombers have been non-muslim.
@rafay kashmiri: let the ants out of your pants, my friend. my objective was to compare the lure of communism (or the *traditional* left) in pakistan with the much much stronger pull of islam. not to complain about the sound of the azaan which, despite the fact that i don’t pray, can be one of the most uplifting sounds (when performed by a mellifluous voice).
Correction
Two in the second line should be read few.
I think it would be very interesting to explore and understand this phenomenon of religious extremism. Two events of recent past might explain this
. Disorientation of Left following the disintegration of USSR and so called Globalization.
Emergence of multi-national corporations in third world markets, and explosion of mass media which were perceived as insensitive to the sensibilities of local culture.
Vast majority of people were not equipped with the tools to participate in globalization for being poor and illiterate.
Tiny minority of urban educated middle class benefited from these new trends, This created a huge disparity between haves and have-nots.
“Left”, being already disoriented and demoralized watched it from sideline, with nothing to offer in the market place of ideas .And, thus left this for the Right and free marketers to dictate the rules of the game, so to speak.
The privatization and downsizing gave a strong sense of alienation and deprivation.
In the unipolar world, dominated by American military, economic and cultural powers and in absence of any competing and counter-balancing force and idea, A huge vacuum was created which had to be filled by something and that “something” was religious radicalism
Pardon me for my incoherent ideas. I am sure more articulate readers will shed some light on this important issue of our time.
Ms. Shaam alludes that this extremism business is caused by “the basic wrongs in society” and that we should “not turn this into a debate about Islam.” Clearly, Islam as a religion came to show us the Middle Path - free of such wanderings of the Left or the Right or the East or the West.
Further Ms Shaam draws on the “donut-truth” analogy and quoting Nichole Argo: “emotional and social ties precede the acquisition of ideology.” I am still wandering around this one! But if her line is that real life is not one-dimensional and that we find ourselves being pulled in so many directions by myriad internal and external forces. And that we find ourselves caught up in the vicious web and complex multidimensional maze, and confused and unable to find the correct path???
Anyway, instead of wandering around, we need Divine Guidance and yes, no one is more conscious of this than the Believer who turns to Allah “35 times a week” with this supplication: “Show us the Straight Path.” The path that avoids the extremes of ifraat (excess) and tafreet (deficiency).
And while we are at it, what about the extremism of misplaced liberalism – i.e. “SIN-IS-IN” liberalism of today? Heck! I am still trying to grapple with your “72 virgins” in your “Lost Pakistaniat”!