Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Islamic extremism

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Islamic extremism has been defined by the British government as any form of Islam that opposes "democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs." Related terms include the ideology of Islamism (Political Islam).

Contents

On the other hand, many oppose the use of term arguing it could "de-legitimize" the faith of Islam or suggest there is something wrong with some aspect of Islam.

Definition

The UK High Courts have ruled in two cases on Islamic extremism, and provided definitions.

Aside from those, two major definitions have been offered for Islamic extremism, sometimes using overlapping but also distinct aspects of extreme interpretations and pursuits of Islamic ideology:

  • The use of violent tactics such as bombing and assassinations for achieving perceived Islamic goals (see Jihadism [ Zeyno Baran, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Eurasian Policy at the Hudson Institute, prefers the term Islamist extremism])
  • An extremely conservative view of Islam, which does not necessarily entail violence (see also Islamic fundamentalism [Baran again prefers the term Islamism]).

    • UK High Court rulings

    There are two UK High Court cases that explicitly address the issue of Islamic extremism.

  • May 2016: An Appeal from the Crown Court and Central Criminal Court:several individual's cases considered together:
  • October 2016: In which the Judge concluded that Imam Shakeel Begg is an Islamic Extremist, and does not uphold Begg's claim that the BBC had libelled him by saying so.

    • May 2016 Appeal case

    The judge refers to several grounds: section 20 of the 2006 Act; the definition of “terrorism” in section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and the decision of the Supreme Court in R v Gul.

    October 2016 Shakeel Begg case

    Begg, a prominent Muslim public figure and Imam at Lewisham Islamic Centre since 1998 lost his 2016 court case of Libel against the BBC. This case is noteworthy because the judge lists a 10-point definition of Islamic Extremism that he used to determine the case:

    In Charles Haddon-Cave's findings he wrote:

    Extremist Islamic positions

    118. In my view, the following constitute “extremist” Islamic positions (or indicia thereof).

  • First, a ‘Manichean’ view of the world. A total, eternal ‘Manichean’ worldview is a central tenet of violent Islamic extremism. It divides the world strictly into ‘Us’ versus ‘Them’: those who are blessed or saved (i.e. the “right kind” of Muslim) on the one hand and those who are to be damned for eternity (i.e. the “wrong kind” of Muslim and everyone else) on the other. For violent Islamic extremists, the “wrong kind” of Muslim includes moderate Sunni Muslims, all Shia Muslims, and many others who are “mete for the sword” and can be killed, and anyone who associates or collaborates” with them...
  • Second, the reduction of jihad (striving in God's cause) to qital (armed combat) (‘the Lesser Jihad’)...
  • Third, the ignoring or flouting of the conditions for the declaration of armed jihad (qital), i.e. the established Islamic doctrinal conditions for the declaration of armed combat (qital) set out above...
  • Fourth, the ignoring or flouting of the strict regulations governing the conduct of armed jihad, i.e. the stipulations in the Qur'an and the Sunna for the ethics of conducting qital set out above. Thus, the use of excessive violence, attacks on civilians, indiscriminate ‘suicide’ violence and the torture or the murder of prisoners would constitute violation of these regulations of jihad...
  • Fifth, advocating armed fighting in defence of Islam (qital) as a universal individual religious obligation (fard al ‘ayn)...
  • Sixth, any interpretation of Shari’a (i.e. religious law laid down by the Qur’an and the Sunna) that required breaking the ‘law of the land’...
  • Seventh, the classification of all non-Muslims as unbelievers (kuffar)...
  • Eighth, the extreme Salafist Islamism doctrine that the precepts of the Muslim faith negate and supersede all other natural ties, such as those of family, kinship and nation...
  • Ninth, the citing with approval the fatwa (legal opinions) of Islamic scholars who espouse extremist view...
  • Tenth, any teaching which, expressly or implicitly, encourages Muslims to engage in, or support, terrorism or violence in the name of Allah.

    • Connection to Kharijites

    According to some contemporary Muslim commentators, extremism within Islam goes back to the 7th century to the Kharijites. From their essentially political position, they developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from both mainstream Sunni and Shiʿa Muslims. The Kharijites were particularly noted for adopting a radical approach to Takfir, whereby they declared other Muslims to be unbelievers and therefore deemed them worthy of death.

    Active Islamic extremist groups

    Some of the proponents of Islam emphasise peaceful political processes, whereas Sayyid Qutb in particular called for violence, and those followers are generally considered Islamic extremists and their stated goal is Islamic revolution with the intent to force implementation of Sharia law and/or an Islamic State Caliphate.

    There are over 120 such groups active today. Below is a list of major groups active.

    References

    Islamic extremism Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA