Extremism on the WWW

By Aftab Ahmad MalikVisiting Fellow

CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF ETHNICITY AND CULTURE

Topics

• Filling the gap: The Internet’s Challenge to Authority• Defining Extremism• Extremism is Not New

– The Root of Muslim Extremism• Extremist Traits• Extremist websites identified

– Who do they represent?– What commonalities do they share, if any?

• What attracts young Muslims to their sites?• The Internet as the ideal Medium

Filling the Gap: The Internet’s Challenge to Authority

• A growing gap in communication between the old and the young • Young Muslims search for quick and immediate answers

– No need is there to travel to seek out or consult learned scholars when an individual can go directly and effortlessly to the World Wide-Web

• Ignore the complexities and nuances of Islamic scholarship– such nuances vanish as a simple and comforting worldview is constructed for

Muslims• While the vast majority of Muslims condemn extremism, many do

have grave concerns over the war on terrorism and it is here that confusion amongst the present generation of Muslims sets in:

– who speaks for Islam and by what authority? • The Internet has compounded this problem as ill-informed opinions

appear to be fatwas written by scholarly authorities.– In an attempt to project authority, most of the websites use the term “fatwa” to

indicate some authenticity to their claim. A fatwa is a juristic legal opinion that is not binding. The key word here is juristic. One needs to be a qualified expert (a Mufti) and grounded in all the necessary requisite sciences to be able to present one.

Defining Extremism

• Utilise the word carefully and as a Muslim looking at the state of the Muslim world from within his tradition.

• The Prophet Muhammad said: “Beware of extremism in the religion,” and the Qur’an in many instances warns:– “Commit not transgression therein, lest My anger should justly descend

upon you,” and – “Do not exceed the bounds in your religion.”

• Islamic terms often used to describe an imbalance in the believer are: – al‑ta‘assub (being zealous or a zealot in religion); – al‑ghuluw (excessiveness, extremism); – al‑tashdid (exceedingly restrictive) and – al‑tatarruf (moving to the farthest point).

• All these terms basically signifying a tendency that is away from what is deemed moderate and balanced, whether in belief or by action, and so, it is this understanding that I apply to the words “extremism” and “extremist.”

Extremism is not New

“Are men to arbitrate in the affairs of Allah? There can be no arbitration except by Allah.” "The prerogative of command rests with none but Allah. He declares the truth and He is the best of judges" (Qur’an 6:57)

Urwa ibn Udaiyya objecting to the pact that was agreed between ‘Ali and Muawiyyah at the Battle of Siffin who then seceded from the party of ‘Ali along with 12,000 others.

The Root of Muslim Extremism

• The prerogative of command rests with none but Allah. He declares the truth and He is the best of judges" – This statement read in its proper Kharijite context, is: “only we (with our swords) have the prerogative of command.”

• The Hadith of Hurqus ibn Zuhair (Distribution of booty after the battle of Hunain– Rebuking the Prophet: seem to know better than the Prophet Muhammad

• Hurqus confronted ‘Ali and said, "O son of Abi Talib, I fight you not except for the sake of Allah, and for my reward in the afterlife." ‘Ali retorted, "Your kind, Hurqus, is the kind that God Almighty refers to in the Qur’an where He states, 'Say: Shall We tell you of those who lose most in respect of their deeds? Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they imagined that they were acquiring good by their works' (18: 103). Amongst these - and I swear by this in the name of the Lord of the Ka’ba - are you Hurqus!"

• "There will come a time when a group of people will leave our ranks. They will recite the Qur’an with fervour and passion but its spirit will not go beyond their throats. They will leave our ranks in the manner of an arrow when it shoots from its bow."

• Abdullah ibn Wahb al-Rasibi was one of the Khawarij leaders. al-Rasibi was known for his fervour in reciting the Quran and was also nicknamed Dhu al-Thafanat (the one whose kneecaps appeared like two humps of a camel because of the intense and extended nature of his prostration in prayer)

• Numerous factions occurred within the Kharajite ranks, which created other sub-factions. These factions and sub-factions merely differed in the extent of their extremism (kufr Vs shirk)

• “They transfer the Qur’anic verses meant to refer to those of no faith to refer to Muslims.”

• "What I most fear in my community is a man who interprets verses of the Qur'an out of context."

• "They recite Qur’an and consider it in their favor but it is against them."

Three principles that set them apart from mainstream Muslims:

• That all perpetrators of major sins were permanently destined

for hell (Exception are the Ibadites).• The declaration of either kufr or shirk upon those who differ

with them.• It is obligatory to overthrow an oppressive ruler by force.

Extremist traits

Extremist Websites Identified

• In all the websites examined, three underlying “intellectual” orientations were apparent:

• Salafi• Political and • Jihadi

• The salafi approach itself falls into moderate and extreme factions, which often are at loggerheads with one another– “traditional” Vs “classical” Vs neo-/takfiri Salafi } “Next Generation”

• Political discourses on Islam focus on the need to re-instate the Caliphate and the prohibition and condemnation of those being involved in any democratic process

• The Jihadist discourse criticises the former two orientations for their lack of attention to the necessity of jihad. – “National” Vs Global Jihadists

• From reviewing their websites, these three orientations share a number of commonalities and over-lapping concerns …

Extremist Websites Identified

1. They all claimed to hold the belief of the “salaf” (“salafee aqeeda” sic)2. Condemnation and/or excommunication of fellow Muslims and

movements/groups that follow something other than their methodology. In particular, their contempt and rejection of any mystical aspect of Islam with particular condemnation of Sufism.

3. Espousal of the medieval Muslim view that the world is categorized in two domains: The domain of War (dar al-Islam) and the domain of Peace (dar al-Islam)

4. A narrow definition of “innovation” effectively allowing them to categorise many Muslim scholars, activities, celebrations, habits, customs and ideas as taking a Muslim “outside the pail of Islam.”

5. The reduction of issues into black and white and ignoring the feasibility that there may be a scholarly difference over any given issue

6. Most equate the war on terrorism with a war against Islam and make no distinction between the governments that sanction war and the civilians that are opposed to it

7. The extensive use of emotional blackmail. By highlighting Muslim suffering around the world as a crime perpetuated by Western governments, the surfer is urged to fulfil his or her religious duty to remove hardships on fellow Muslims

What Attracts Young Muslims to their Sites?

1. Discussing issues openly that are almost closed/prohibited from being addressed/discussed in mosques (even more so in Muslim countries)

• They appear to ask questions that many Muslims want asked about the “war on terrorism”

2. Keeping messages simple and written in an accessible language to all

3. Being almost always first to analyse current events and put forward their commentary and making quick use of e-mailing lists

4. Having articles (and small books) that are easily downloadable and printed off as fliers that can be circulated on the streets and particularly, after the Friday Sermon

5. Having the status of taboo websites provokes many to visit the website to find out exactly why they have been told not to go there

6. They don’t call for restraint: their message is one of emergency: Muslims are being killed and Islam itself is under siege. You have to do something or be complicit in the assault against Islam

The Internet as the Ideal Medium

The Internet itself is an ideal medium for the transportation of these ideas because it offers:

• easy access;• little or no regulation, censorship, or other forms of

government control;• anonymity of communication;• fast flow of information;• inexpensive development and maintenance of a web

presence;• a multimedia environment (the ability to combine text,

graphics, audio, and video and to allow users to download films, songs, books, posters, etc)