More than one and a half billion Muslims around the world are engulfed with frustration, fear and regret after every terror attack perpetrated in the name of Islam. After any such incident, we repeat our trademark statement that ‘Islam is a religion of peace and it does not support terrorism in any form’ but gradually, our words are also losing their effect. The situation shows that something is wrong somewhere. Either, we have not understood our religion or there are some flaws and leaks in our faith and social systems or something else but definitely, something is terribly wrong. The prominent Islamic scholar of the world, Fethullah Gulen has tried to show the true side of the picture in an op-ed article in a respected French daily ‘Le Monde’. The article was published on December 17 by the title ‘Muslims, we have to critically review our understanding of Islam!’

After expressing his sadness for the loss of lives in terror attacks, be it in Paris or Iraq or any other part of the world, he comes up with certain shocking but actual reasons responsible for extremism, violence and terrorism on the name of faith. I would like to summarize some of the important points of this article:

The habit of blaming others

It has become our habit to blame others for all our miseries and mistakes. In some cases, it might be true but mostly, this prevents us from seeing our own mistakes and shortcomings. In some cases, we resort to this habit deliberately as it makes our work easy while in some cases, it may not be deliberate as it has become a part of tradition to blame others. Due to this habit, we have developed the habit of ignoring the problems that stem from inside our societies and from our individual or collective behaviors and that might be cause of suffering that Muslims are enduring around the globe.

Humanity First

Gulen asserts that all the faiths put the humanity first and it becomes the responsibility of the followers of all the faiths to uphold the sanctity of life and respect the dignity of all humans. This is true for our religion as well as it also asserts emphasis on the worth of a human life and the death of a single human being has been termed equal to the death of humanity.

Equal Treatment for all

The acts of terror should be condemned wherever it is perpetrated and we must show our sympathy with all those who lose their lives in such terror acts, be it in Paris, or Beirut or Iraq. We need to treat and show sympathy with victims regardless of their geographic location, race, religion or color.

Problems in Islamic Societies

Some problems have been identified in Islamic societies that are directly or indirectly supporting extremism and providing with opportunities to the terror groups to hire from among us. These are domestic abuse, totalitarian behaviors, neglect of youth, lack of a balanced education, absence of absolute rule of law, and problems in provision of rights and freedoms to the citizens.

These problems are more or less valid as majority of the Islamic countries are only democratic by name, the youth are suppressed or neglected, the basic rights and freedoms are granted until they do not create problems for the rulers, and domestic physical abuse of women is a sad reality in majority of our rural areas. In majority of illiterate Muslims, there is almost no concept of rights of women.

The education system is based on theories to safeguard the status-quo and make the people obedient to their leaders. The historic facts are tempered and fabricated statements and details are included for specific purposes. Such a system of education mostly deprives the young minds of questioning and open thinking. This also makes room for those extremist or perilous thoughts or ideas that are accepted without any questioning.

Number of countries are ruled by totalitarian rulers and there are large number of people in our families with authoritarian approach, making others obey them without any questioning.

Decontextualized Interpretation of Islam

Many groups interpret the Islamic teachings according to their own wishes and use them for their heinous acts. Similarly, in the Middle Ages, religious verdicts were issued for political purposes. It falls as the responsibility of religious scholars to bring the actual teachings to people and also unveil how different groups have shown the distorted picture of Islam. Misleading interpretation of Quran and Sunnah are used by the leaders of terror groups to brainwash the suicide bombers and keep their militants motivated for fighting and committing crimes against humanity.

Clash of Civilizations

Usually, such acts are entitled as clash of civilizations but according to Fethullah Gulen, there is no clash of civilizations and it is a mislead theory. There is only one clash and that is of humanity and barbarism.

Disagreement within Democratic Practices

We must train our youth to show their disagreement or disapproval within democratic practices, keeping away from violence or extremism. For this, it is necessary that democratic values should be made an essential part of our school curricula to inculcate the culture of democracy in young minds.

No room for any terror organization

All the terror groups must be condemned and terror should not be tolerated at any cost and for any reason. There is no room for terrorism in our religion and it must be clearly understood by all. With this, we will end the mental divide found in our society where some people have soft-corners for terror organizations using the name of Islam.

Joining Hands Together

Religious scholars, government officials and members of civil society must join hands together to tackle this situation. They need to point out vulnerable youth, give them proper guidance, help their families and provide all the assistance to save them from falling prey to the terror groups. We need to tackle extremism in all its dimensions: political, economic, social or religious.

Character Speaks Louder than Words

We need to set virtuous examples through our lives. If we claim to be a good Muslim, we need to make this claim as part of our lives and prove by our character and action. Only claims and no action would disappoint others, especially our youth and a disappointed youth might soon turn into an angry youth.

Advice for European Muslims

Despite all their fear and complaints, European Muslims need to work with their local or national governments and try to be an active part of the society. This will keep their youth attached to the society and not let them fall into the hands of terror groups.

Duty of Muslims

As Muslims, we have two duties; first, to condemn terror in all its forms and secondly, to make efforts to help repair the image of our religion as it has badly been hurt by the acts of terrorists who use its name to commit their crimes.

Reviewing our understanding of Islam

Muslims need to review critically their understanding and practices of Islam, keeping in mind the conditions and requirements of our age. However, it does not mean that we should turn away from our Islamic teachings and traditions rather it should be an intelligent questioning to confirm the true teachings of Quran and guidelines of our Prophet (PBUH). This would be an effort to remove all those impurities that were later added to serve some political or personal needs.

Freedom of Thought within Religious Values

We need to promote freedom of thought while keeping attached to our religious values. It will promote dialogue and suggest solutions to the problems of incivility and extremism.

The article of Fethullah Gulen suggests a complete course of action to tackle extremism and address this problem at its roots.