Islam and Extremism: A Layman's Analysis

Today I happened to meet one of the supporters of Maudany. To all your surprise (and mine too), the supporter is a Hindu woman staying near Anvarssery in Kollam. Unlike others, she insists that Maudany is an innocent man being falsely accused of crimes he did not even know about. She admits that his speeches might have contributed to the growth of extremism in Kerala but argues that they were 'reactions' to the Babri Masjid demolition.

So, the question is: Who is to be blamed for the unexpected rise of Islamic extremism in Kerala? The question needs to be answered because Kerala is a state known for communal harmony and has a prosperous Muslim community. Government provides reservation to them. To all outward appearances, they have no reasons to complain. Yet, extremism is on the rise in the state.

The reasons are manifold. In spite of their material prosperity, many Muslims remain educationally backward. Female literacy, in terms of both numbers and quality, is low when compared to other communities. There is a visible divide between the progressive and conservative sections. Conservative sections tend to live together in close, closed communities with little or no interaction with others. They migrate mainly to the Gullf region where the chances of getting into contact with extremists is probably higher. Persons migrating to other states may have to face discrimination - Kerala society is (or was) less discriminating because the minority community constitutes a good percentage of the total population. There was greater people-to-people contact, resulting in a better understanding of each other's religion and customs. That fostered an understanding which is difficult to find today. This need not necessarily be the condition of other states. This may have led a minority of the educated, young and modern Muslim youth to take solace in the teachings of extremist preachers. With no one else to guide them, they might have got involved in anti-national activities. The activities of this minority has created such a terror in the minds of the general public that currently Muslims in general and young Muslim men in particular have become objects of suspicion.

One cannot blame the public for this. During my entire school life, from class I to X, I did not have any Muslim student in my class. In classes XI and XII, when I was studying in a different school, the number of Muslim girl students was zero and the number of boys was below five. How can you then expect me to have any real understanding of Muslims? My sister, unlike me, did have a Muslim girl in her class. She was, however, from an extremely liberal family of engineers, and was as clueless about Islam as my sister was though my sister belonged to a different community.

That precisely is the root of the problem. The progressive sections tend to neglect the religion completely and hence move out of the larger Muslim community. They tend to have no voice in the community. The conservative sections, however, tend to become more assertive as more liberals move out. They impose their interpretation on others and prevent external interferences. This scares out the remaining liberals. Thus, paradoxically, the communities become more closed as its members move out. The remaining nucleus becomes too polarised to be amenable to reason and rationality and an easy breeding ground for extremists.

The problem is further compounded by the fact that a majority of the Muslims literally know nothing about their religion other than the customs they have to follow - believe in Allah, pray five times a day, observe fast during Ramzan and go to Mecca if possible. Quran is written in Arabic which a majority do not understand. Translations in local languages are not popular. People thus have to depend on preachers who are either not well-versed or who have a totally wrong idea of Islam. Their teachings and interpretations destroy the efforts of the real scholars to bring Islam in line with the modern times. The result? Alienation, confusion and chaos. The extremists' teachings also give a wrong impression to followers of other religions who lose the trust in Muslims that was built upon the efforts of many centuries.

The media too, acts as a facilitator in this process. They tend to portray these extremists as the representatives of the community and the real voice of its majority whereas the actual majority has nothing to do with them. A liberal Muslim thus is made a misnomer rather than a norm. This results in alienation which tends to support the rapid growth of extremism. Thus media actively constructs a nightmarish reality from nothing, thanks to its monstrous use of misrepresentations and misplaced priorities.

Other communities too are responsible for this menace of extremism. Any increase in the level of community-feeling in a group is bound to create fear in the minds of other communities. Unless the concerns are properly addressed, this fear will naturally lead to an increase in the community-feeling of other groups too. People will then to identify more with that aspect of their personality which they think is threatened and hence needs to be protected. This is just a manifestation of the basic human instinct of self-preservation. The point is that, the rise in extremism and the increasing assertiveness of Muslims when it comes to their religious identity are symptoms of their belief that Islam is being threatened by external forces. This is precisely the reason why bans on veil will lead only to further isolation and an explosive growth of extremism.

The reasons themselves suggest the remedies. The politicians and the leaders know what they have to do to prevent the clash of civilizations. What is lacking is the political will, which, surprisingly, may be attributed to the growing democratisation of the world which tends to follow the will of the majority that in many cases may be irrational and sometimes, even terribly destructive.