How Radical islamist groups politically affected the Muslim world

 

How Radical islamist groups politically affected the Muslim world

Wednesday March 20th 2024

(This is a paper I have wrote in my political science class last year)

Introduction

These extreme radical groups have affected muslims way more than non muslims. Although many assume Muslims are not affected by radical Islam, Just the non muslims are, but that's simply further from the truth. I'm gonna be talking about how badly they affect the muslim world in political matters. Now first let me introduce you to this group called radical Islamists. 

People often think that radical islam only affects the non muslims, which is very incorrect. Rather it affects muslims in a worse way, especially in a political matter such as oppressing them in many ways than one, Examples would be killing them because of their extreme interpretation among religious texts like the Quran, they apply strict laws for the people to follow and make political decisions where the Muslim citizens are getting affected by. Let me prove this.

Historical background 

Radical islam is an extremist version of the regular abrahamic religion called islam. Scholars have defined them as a deviant sect of Islam (Ahmed bin Abdul Razzaq Al Dawish, 2003.), Where these extremists were dated back even way before the 1900s. As we see they first popped up, “back in The time of the 4th rightly guided caliph Ali bin abi talib” (Ahmed bin Abdul Razzaq Al Dawish, 2003, p. 368), when Ali was the ruler among the Muslims in Islamic history. These extremists were called the Khawarij. These types of people are known for their extreme interpretation among religious texts, whether it be the Quran, the Hadith and even the explanation also known as the sharh of books by scholars , where they take the quotes out of context and apply their own understanding. This isn't about taking modern interpretations over early ones. Because the early mufassireen also known as the commentators like Ibn Kathir, Al Tabari and others that do explanations of the quranic verses using different types of methods, does not support their claims. These extremes are also known to be mass takfiris. This means that they declare muslims as non muslims over sins muslims commit even though those little sins don't take you out of the fold of Islam, and because they are considered non believers, they go kill these muslims as ISIS did to Syria and Lebanon and other countries in the Middle east.

Radical groups killing Muslims using their own extreme interpretations 

An example of radical Islamist groups affecting Muslims would be how they misinterpreted    verses of the Quran and use them against Muslims themselves,  A verse they take out of context to support their claim of killing whoever is a non Muslim, The verse goes by saying: “ But when the sacred months expire, slay those who associate others with Allah in His Divinity wherever you find them; seize them, and besiege them” (Quran, 9:5).

This verse is a war verse that happened between the muslims and polytheists back in Prophet Muhammed’s time. They interpreted it as wherever you see a non Muslim you go kill them even if they did nothing wrong. Ibn Arabi is a great early islamic scholar, he said regarding this verse: 

“What is meant by this verse (ayah) is: Fight the polytheists who are fighting against you.” (Ibn Al Arabi, 2012, vol 2, p. 456).  As you see in chapter 9:5, it's a war verse that took place over a thousand years ago. The polytheists broke their peace treaty. As said in another commentary by an early scholar , imam Al Baghwi says: ”But they(polytheists) were not upright and they violated the treaty” (Al Baghwi, 1988, Vol 4, p.14). These extremists don't look at the context of the story and just kill anyone they deem that's not a Muslim in their own eyes.

Radical groups applying extreme religious laws onto the public 

In some Muslim nations, radical Islamist groups aim to take over the country and set severe regulations for the way of life, hence they seek to overthrow the government and implement Sharia law. But not the proper Shariah,  but their own radical interpretation. Groups such as the Taliban in Afghanistan have done this. Furthermore, as soon as the United States left, they took over Country. We saw those videos that got shared quickly across various social media platforms. The citizens wanted to flee and jump on an already moving plane. This affected the Muslims living in function in a political manner because They don't want to live under these extreme rules. They are not killing them as other groups like ISIS would but they put severe restrictions on civil liberties and human rights, particularly for women and minorities. Under Taliban rule, political dissent, freedom of speech, they banned women to drive, also closed schools for females that are above the 6th grade and freedom of association have been severely curtailed (Naheed Farid & Rangita de Silva de Alwis, 2023, p. 19-22). This leads to a climate of fear and repression, just like the people living under communist laws in the soviet union, they establish their own extreme Sharia which isn't Islam. And the result of that would be that they wouldn't have their own relations with other countries, an example would be , Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, has expressed concerns about the Taliban's treatment of women and minorities. Indonesian officials have called for the protection of human rights and the inclusion of all Afghan factions in the governance process. Indonesia has also offered humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. Another example was Hezbollah, because several countries, including the United States and some Arab states, have led to international isolation for Lebanon. This isolation has had negative consequences for the country's economy and has limited its ability to engage in diplomacy and international cooperation. 

Radical groups interfering with other countries’s political conflicts 

Radical groups such as Hezbollah have had a political impact on Muslims, as Hezbollah currently controls the country. They initiate or participate in several armed engagements, including those with Israel and involvement in the Syrian civil war, which have led to civilian losses, particularly Muslim civilians. This has prompted criticism of Hezbollah's actions and highlighted concerns about the organization's disdain for civilian lives. Because Hezbollah interfered with Israel's occupation of Palestinian land, Hezbollah shot rockets at Israel, and now Israel is shooting rockets at the south of Lebanon, killing/injuring many people and destroying houses, (Al Jazeera. 2023).  One of the towns that's being hit is my dad’s town is named “hibeyahih”, The town did nothing, and Hezbollah is not even located in the town's current location in southern Lebanon near the Palestinian border. This is not limited to Lebanon; in Yemen, an extremist organization known as the Houthis is fighting Saudi Arabia. Innocent Muslim people are being shot and killed as a result of extreme groups attempting to intervene in political processes in which they have no business. They believe they are doing good, such as Hezbollah assisting Palestine, but they are actually harming Lebanon itself, as I have stated. Muslims have been impacted politically by radical organizations like Hezbollah, which presently holds power in the nation. 

Conclusion 

Radical groups have had a significant impact on the Muslim world, torturing and killing members and imposing severe restrictions. Or they do nothing to the people and instead become involved in the politics of other countries, leaving the cities to bear the consequences of their activities. These groups have had a political impact on Muslims by promoting extreme versions of the ideology in which many of us believe, and experts and professionals in this ideology denounce them. 

References

Ahmed bin Abdul Razzaq Al Dawish, A. R. (2003). Fatawa Al Aqidah. Riyad Saudi Arabia.

  

Al Jazeera. (2023, October 10). Israeli attack in southern Lebanon kills journalist, wounds several others. Al Jazeera.  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/13/israeli-strike-in-southern-lebanon-kills-journalist-wounds-several

Ibn Al-Arabi, I. A. (2012). Ahkam Al-Qurani, Dar ibn Hazm.

Muḥammad al-Farrā' al-Baghawī, M. B. (1988). Tafsir Al Baghawi. Dar Tayyibah. 

Naheed Farid, N. F. & Rangita de Silva de Alwis, R. A.  (2023). AFGHANISTAN UNDER THE TALIBAN: A STATE OF “GENDER APARTHEID”?. Princeton Afghanistan Policy lab. 19-21. 

https://spia.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/2023-02/SPIA_NaheedRangita_PolicyBrief_07.pdf

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