Roots of Political Islam: Exploring Religious Extremism

Fanaticism is not unheard of in Islam. Neither is it restricted to Islam. Fanaticism appears in many forms, political, economic and religious. A fanatic is a lunatic. A lunatic is placed in lunatic asylum. But what does one do with a fanatic? Is re-education the answer? Is re-education possible? Manifestations of fanaticism encompass extreme creeds, for example egalitarianism, Nazism and Islamism. Religious fanatics encompass ISIS, Boko Haram and related movements. Fanaticism emanates from a profound animosity to reason. Anti-rationalism is based on the assumption of an irreconcilable antagonism between reason and revelation. Fanatics share the rejection of reason. They are propelled by rage and emotion. They are motivated by whim and are past reason. They perceive persons that disagree with them as enemies. They are a threat to the community and should be treated as such. Fanaticism may transform a religion into a cult. Religious fanatics focus on persons rather than God. The spectre of extremism emerges periodically in the course of time. Extremism is propelled by fanaticism. It is driven by ethnocentrism, racial supremacy, as for example in Nazism and fascism. Islam is a monotheistic faith. It is an extension of the Judeo-Christian faith. It teaches trust in Allah, kindness to parents and orphans, fair treatment of females and captives, acceptable financial transactions, as well as peace and reconciliation. But the knowledge of Islam was deformed by a range of factors. These encompass political pressures. After the death of the prophet there was a power struggle. A sequence of internecine wars followed. The division between the shias and the sunnis emerged in the struggle for succession.Political Islam emerged with the craving of Muslim rulers to embark on wars of expansion, propelled by a craving for booty and presented as "spreading Islam." Accommodating ulema were ready to furnish the required reinterpretation of revelation to transform Islam as a religion of peace into a religion of war. The reinterpretation of revelation required a corruption of exegesis and with it a corruption and deformation of the teaching of revelation. The corruption of the methodology took the form of the adoption of the teaching of abrogation. The result was political Islam. Traditional Islam emerged from the desire of the ruling elites to protect themselves from rebellion by their subjects. Hence, traditional Islam - that preserves the status quo - was stripped of the teachings on justice, ethics and reason. This was reflected in Bukhari. Eventually, Bukhari supplanted revelation as chief reference and guidance. The result was a fatalistic outlook and the acceptance of the teaching of predestination, which cemented the Muslims' acceptance of rulers no matter what the rulers perpetrated. Fanaticism is the coin on whose reverse side is anti-rationalism and anti-intellectualism. Anti-rationalism possesses an extended past in Islam. Fanaticism reflects anti-rationalism, a part of fanaticism. Ibn Taymiyyah wrote a book against reason. There is evidence of irrationalism in jurisprudence. An example is the replacement of revealed rulings on adultery and apostasy by rulings based on traditions. Was this in harmony with the teaching of tauhid? Does revelation permit replacing the rulings of Allah with the rulings of men? What does the Quran say about "judging" by what Allah did not reveal? Additional evidence of irrationalism or the breakdown of reason is apparent in exegesis, both political and traditional. Examples of a breakdown of reasoning include the assertion that tradition is "revelation." But there is no support in the Quran for the teaching of "dual revelation." Further examples of a breakdown of reason encompass the perceptions that tradition "judges," "abrogates," and even "supersedes" parts of revelation.