Countering Islamic Extremism

And even the very extreme forms of Islamism led to terrorism in the name of Islam which is actually a practice that I think is against Islam, but some, obviously, extremists did not think that way.

The name of the book is Islam Without Extremes A Muslim Case for Liberty.

The War with Radical Islam

But the fact that those dictators suppressed democracy in their country and suppressed Islamic groups in their country actually made the Islamists much more strident.

The Fact Sheet also uses the term violent extremism 21 times. How many times do terms like Islam, Islamic, or Muslim appear?

All 18 had been accused of having committed acts of terrorism or of organizing or participating in the activities of unlawful armed groups, or of being active in banned extremist and terrorist organizations (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Hizb ut Tahrir al Islami).

And it's not just Islamist extremists that did this.

But actually going out to propagate that view is associated with either neoconservativism or with Islamist extremism.

This exposes the illegitimacy of the extremist fatwas justifying terrorism, which contravene the traditional schools of Islamic religious law and are in clear violation of Islam's core principles.

Another reason that has been offered for not referring to Islamic radicalism or the Islamic State is that to do so concedes the terrorists' claims that they are acting in accordance with Islam's teachings. That might draw others, who regard themselves as pious Muslims, to join them.

Mr. Dolatyar (Islamic Republic of Iran) said that his country had played an active role in combating terrorism.

Why is it that extremist organizations, whether of the far right or of the Islamist extremism Islamism meaning those who wish to impose one version of Islam over the rest of society why is it that they are succeeding in organizing in a globalized way, whereas those who aspire to democratic culture are falling behind?

Yet, since 9 11, most victims of Islamist inspired terrorist extremism often in the vile form of suicide attacks have been Muslims, in Iraq, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Terrorist groups have to resort to organized crime to fund themselves.

In some parts of the world, radicalization of this sort did take place. Yet, since 9 11, most victims of Islamist inspired terrorist extremism often in the vile form of suicide attacks have been Muslims, in Iraq, Pakistan, and elsewhere.

And this is not only about Islamic extremism. There are extremist acts perpetrated against Muslims because of their religion, and today there are fanatical Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists who disfigure the true nature of their faith.

The tendency to equate Islam with fundamentalism and terrorism was dangerous and could give impetus to those with negative intentions towards Islamic nations, whose tradition and culture were totally alien to terrorism and extremism.

Engaging the Islamists

In its fight against extremism, Yemen depends on dialogue with the extremists in order to spread the culture of peace and to enlighten them in Islamic values that call for tolerance and brotherhood.

And on the flip side, we have transnational Islamist extremists doing the same thing across their own societies.

At direct stake today is Pakistan s future, but its future may determine the political fates of neighboring countries that are also struggling with violent Islamic fundamentalism. Will Pakistan be dragged along the path of Islamic extremism and emergency rule, or finally achieve modernity as a secular nation under civilian leadership?

Definite evidence was collected on the entry of enormous funds over the past few years for the purpose of financing the activities of networks belonging to this extremist Islamic movement.

A small number of ideological extremists has inflicted real violence in the name of Islam, and will continue to do so. But the popular resentment of Islam goes deeper and wider.

Jordan wants true, moderate, traditional Islam to replace fundamentalist, radical and militant Islam everywhere in the world for every single Muslim.

Islam u0027s Reformist Tradition

3. Islamist and Arab anti Semitism

Jordan has worked with the international Muslim community to oppose extremist interpretations of Islam.

More recently, however, three crucial developments have altered the environment in which Islamic extremists operate in Pakistan. For starters, in November 2013, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed General Raheel Sharif as Chief of Staff of the Pakistani army.

The State of Qatar is adamantly against religious bigotry and extremism and categorically rejects any identification or association of terrorism with Islam or any other religion.

Efforts by radicals to recruit and indoctrinate young European Muslims do not reflect the inexorable rise of Islamist or even Islamic influence in Europe. Rather, they highlight the radicals desperation to influence a region where the overwhelming majority of Muslims aspire to integrate into, rather than challenge, the established order.

Much like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, al Nahda and the PJD will have to marginalize Islamic extremists in their movements, such as the Salafis, and adopt a pragmatic approach. To succeed economically, they will need Western support and the West will not be eager to fund radical Islamist governments.

3. Islamist and Arab anti Semitism

Islam forbids the unjust killing of human beings.

The Maghreb s Modern Islamists

The distinction between anti Semitism and anti Zionism is frequently blurred in statements and articles by political and spiritual leaders of Iran and Middle Eastern organizations that inspire and finance extremist Islamic groups in Western Europe.

Libya s Defeated Islamists

Yet even mainstream politicians, sometimes for the best of reasons, are in danger of making the same kinds of mistakes as the members of the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly. British Prime Minister David Cameron, for example, is aiming to crack down on Islamist extremism by banning the expression of ideas that the government deems to be promoting or glorifying it.

Proposing secularism the historic approach of Western liberals is political suicide. Calling for the modernization of Islam by permitting clerics to reinterpret its laws in light of contemporary conditions is more acceptable.

Representing 57 Muslim countries and the Islamic world at large, the OIC rejects and condemns violence and terrorism.

Neither explanation is entirely wrong. Many young Muslims feel unwanted in their countries of birth, and extreme language, whether used by Islamists or their opponents, helps to create an atmosphere conducive to violence.

The Beslan tragedy had led the Commonwealth to take strong measures to stop international terrorism and other forms of extremism.

President Musharraf publicly condemned the tragic attack in Islamabad in August 2002, following which the police arrested 27 Islamic extremists.

In short, much of the Middle East and the Sahel are locked in a vicious cycle of environmental degradation, economic failure, and Islamist extremism. The question is how to break out of it.

I would like here to emphasize, in that regard, that the sanctity of life is one of the paramount values of Islam and that terrorism is a heretical deviation from our religion.

As with a secular dictatorship, Islamic dictatorship is ugly and destructive. Such a dictatorship would damage Islam by associating Islam with unjust rule and creating enemies for Islam.