Islamic militancy: Is it a new paradigm?

Islamic militancy: Is it a new paradigm?

By Riaz Hassan

ADELAIDE, Australia (JP): In the heartlands of the Islamic
world from Indonesia to Egypt a spiritual and religious
renaissance is taking place. A recently concluded study shows
that men and women from the elite of society as well as the
masses, are embracing religion with greater devotion. In this
study over 3,400 people were interviewed in Indonesia, Pakistan,
and Egypt, about religious practice and social and political
attitudes.

The religious devotion is most pronounced in Indonesia and
Egypt where over ninety percent of respondents regularly
performed their daily prayers. Sixty percent of the respondents
in Pakistan did the same. In all three countries over 50 percent
of the interviewees read the Koran every day and claimed to be
following its teachings in conducting their daily lives.

The religious practice is accompanied by deeply held beliefs
about the sanctity of sacred texts, universalism of Islam and
strong support for Islamic social and economic values. If the
term religious fundamentalism is defined to mean high degree of
devotional religiosity then these heartlands of Islam are
becoming fundamentalist.

The anecdotal evidence from other Islamic countries indicates
that they are also experiencing a religious revival. What are the
implications of this for Islamic radicalism? Does this mean
increasing support for the militant Islamic movements that are
agitating to establish their versions of the Islamic state by
discrediting and overthrowing the existing political structures?
Would this increase militancy against those groups or countries
they regarded as the enemies of Islam?

The evidence shows that devotional religiosity interestingly
appears to be associated with a marked decline in the support for
militant and radical Islamic movements. A large majority of those
interviewed were not members of any radical Islamic group or
offering any support to the activities of such groups in the
society. In fact, most of the people who were interviewed
approved of moderate political leaders who were leading
political and social movements for democratic, fair and tolerant
societies and political cultures.

A large majority of the respondents support multi-party
democratic political structures. The attitudes towards major
Western countries such as the United States, Great Britain,
France and Germany are formed on the basis of their assessment of
their policies towards the Moslem communities and countries such
as the Palestine, Bosnia-Herzegovenia and Chechnya. In general,
the attitudes towards the Western countries are based on rational
political and social calculations and not on the intensity of
religiosity.

The lack of support for the militant Islamic movements among
the religiously active is having a consequential impact on the
shape and structure of these movements. The declining support of
Islamic radical and militant movements is paradoxically further
radicalizing these movements and transforming them into more
violent and secretive entities. The nature and ruthlessness of
violence reflect their desire to gain public attention and was
often described by the respondents as symptomatic of their
desperation. There is little or no evidence that the religious
and spiritual renaissance, now occurring in the heartlands of
Islam, was supportive of Islamic radicalism and militancy.

The new form of violence is different from the earlier form
that was carried out by organizations often with some type of
tacit support from the political structures. The new militancy
appears to be fueled by a sense of desperation and humiliation
caused by globalization and increasing economic, cultural,
technological and military hegemony of the West.

This new pattern represents a kind of paradigm shift in the
nature, causes and targets of terrorism carried out by the new
militant groups. The old form of militancy was aimed at
establishing legitimacy of the political goals. The new form is
guided by religious fanaticism, destruction and revenge. The old
form of militancy had identified enemies. The new enemies are
ephemeral global conspiracies.

These developments require a reassessment of how to deal with
that new militancy. This is a new challenge which governments of
the Islamic countries as well as the larger international
community must address. The old policies, aimed at punishing and
destroying them by military actions, may not work because of the
secretive nature of the new militant organizations and also
because of the massive logistical problems. Military action may
ensue as demonstrated by recent American response to the attacks
on American embassies in East Africa. Perhaps the most important
reason for not adopting such policies is that they will mobilize
public opinion in Moslem countries against such attacks if they
are seem to be killing innocent people.

The evidence from the study shows that a majority of the
people in the heartlands of the Islamic world regard major
Western countries as anti-Islam. The primary reasons for the
presence of these attitudes are not religious but the perceived
indifference and inaction of the Western countries to protect the
Moslem populations of Bosnia-Herzegovnia, Palestine and Chechnya
from random destruction, which is being perpetrated against them.
Such views are widely held among the elites.

The findings of the study show that those who trust the
religious institutions also tend to trust the government. This
means that the governments of the Moslem countries need to be
aware that if they are seen as attacking Islam this may undermine
their own legitimacy in the public mind. Similarly military
attacks on targets that kill innocent people will further
reinforce the widely held views that Western countries are anti-
Islam. This may galvanize support for the new militant groups
among the masses once again and create new political problems and
instabilities.

The study provides new insights into the dynamics of new
Islamic militancy. It shows that, contrary to the general belief,
increasing religiosity in Moslem countries is associated with
political liberalization and diminishing support for militant
Islamic groups. The impact of these developments is paradoxically
making the militant movements highly secretive and more violent.

The economic and cultural globalization trends are further
accentuating these trends. The globalization process, in
particular, is creating a social and cultural hiatus, which is
affecting the nature and organization of Islamic militancy. The
new militancy is not motivated by attitudes towards colonialism
and struggles to win the hearts and minds of Moslem populations.
It is fueled by a sense of powerlessness, revenge and religious
fanaticism.

The enemy is ephemeral global conspiracies. How Moslem
countries and the international community respond to these new
developments will have a profound impact on the nature and
activities of the new militancy. Given these attitudes towards
the Western countries, a military attack resulting in deaths of
the innocent will once again galvanize support for the new
militancy among the masses in the Moslem countries, thus creating
new political and social problems.

The solution would require more open and stronger political
structures in Moslem countries to legally and politically pursue
the solutions to the problem of new militancy. It will also need
a change in the mind-set that increasing religiosity does not
increase support for militancy but in fact does the opposite; it
diminishes support for it. Similarly, the larger international
community would also need to handle the new militancy through
international institutions such as International Tribunals and
the newly proposed International Criminal Court for crimes
against humanity.

The old style militaristic response may indeed galvanize
support among the public for the militant groups, which would
create more political and social volatility in Moslem countries,
which they can ill afford. I think the time has come to abandon
the conventional strategy of countering individual acts of
terrorism by the state-sponsored terrorism.

The writer is professor of sociology, the Flinders University
of South Australia and Visiting Professor, Department of
Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles.

Window: The lack of support for the militant Islamic movements
among the religiously active is having a consequential impact on
the shape and structure of these movements.