Islamic Terrorism - Finding a Way Out

Ajmal Kasab on his tour in Mumbai - Mumbai Terror Attack

Islamic terrorism is a reality and anyone denying it is living in denial. It is also a known fact that the terror activities are largely inspired by faith. Of course, when I asked a mufti he said it was entirely due to politics and there may have been some religious justification but that the casus belli was politics.

So this quesiton has been posed many times by academics, scholars, intellectuals, right wing lunatics, conservatives, bleeding heart liberals and so on. Everyone has their own point of view. Of course there are plenty of verses that can be used to justify the acts of terrorism. I can say that there is plenty of justification present in other Abrahamic religions. But hey, Jews are not blowing up a bus of school children in Iran. Christian extremists are considered extreme even when they only shout against abortion. But Islamists have been engaging in acts of terror long before 9/11.

This post is not about finding the Islamic reasoning that justifies acts of terror. This is about finding a way out. Of course, some people would give up faith altogether. Many have already done that, as the Council of ex Muslims would suggest. But many are not comfortable with the idea of leaving faith and becoming an unbeliever. Some kind of reform is what they are looking forward to. Unfortunately Islam discourages reform as the words are for eternity. So everyone waits for someone to have the guts to bring it out of the seventh century. Centuries have gone by and the people have kept on waiting.

In my humble opinion, most of the present greviance that leads to justification of such terror is the idea of being victimized. Self pity is a big uniter. But Muslims are not the only people on this planet. The people they are killing are also – people! In many cases I have found the idea of being degraded is also subjective. For you it may be a humiliating interview, for someone else it may be a rejected proposal in public. But for many men in the Muslim world, the very existence of the non Muslim world is enough reason. Seems hard to believe? Grab a backpack and go out on a tour in some country that has a substantial Muslim population.

I would like to go back to the mufti who told me that religion has always played a minor role. I often wondered if it was true. But deep down I had a question of my own. A question that I did not give much importance. I said to him, “If politics is the only major reason, why are the Tibetans not blowing up the Chinese, or the Kashmiri pandits are not attacking Muslims?” He never answered. I have been waiting for an answer since then.