Thread🧵: Islam, secularism, and the proneness to extremism.
Are religious Muslims more prone to extremism than secularists? To make this Q more specific: are religious Pakistanis more prone to violence than secularists in general?
news.gallup.com
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Are religious Muslims more prone to extremism than secularists? To make this Q more specific: are religious Pakistanis more prone to violence than secularists in general?
news.gallup.com
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The below photos show how many % of people from a country are likely to think that killing innocents is justified.
People from North-western Europe and the US (secular countries) with secular upbringing are more likely to justify killing innocents than (Islamic) countries.
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People from North-western Europe and the US (secular countries) with secular upbringing are more likely to justify killing innocents than (Islamic) countries.
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Here is the comparison in short:
49% of Americans
43% of Israelis
33% of British
25% Australia
France 15% etc
think it is justified to kill innocents in war. While Muslim countries the rates are:
Egypt 3%
Palestine 10%
Saudi Arabia 10%
Iran 12%
Afghanistan 23% etc
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49% of Americans
43% of Israelis
33% of British
25% Australia
France 15% etc
think it is justified to kill innocents in war. While Muslim countries the rates are:
Egypt 3%
Palestine 10%
Saudi Arabia 10%
Iran 12%
Afghanistan 23% etc
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Here is a statistics from Pakistan on whether people think it is justified to kill innocents in the name of Islam. In 2013 89% of Pakistan said killing of the innocents is NEVER justified.
This is from the book "Pakistan Under Seige" by @MadihaAfzal
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This is from the book "Pakistan Under Seige" by @MadihaAfzal
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But take a look at this. Nearly half of Americans and Canadians think that attacks on civilians are sometimes justified.
Americans are more likely than people from any country to justify the killing of innocents.
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Americans are more likely than people from any country to justify the killing of innocents.
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Here is a comprehensive list of Muslims and their attitude towards suicide bombing. Take a look at Pakistan. 83% believe that suicide bombing on innocent civilians is never justified:
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This stat shows the support for suicide bombing over the years in the Muslim world. As you can see, the support increases when Muslim countries get invaded, sanctioned or suffer from terrorism. Take a look at Pakistan and you can see it for yourself.
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"Overall, views of extremist groups are negative across the Muslim publics surveyed A median of about a third or fewer have a positive view of Al-Qaeeda, the Taliban, Hamas, or Hezbollah. And in no country polled do any of these orgs. received any majority Muslim support."
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And this:
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On the general attitude towards terrorist groups like Al-Qaeeda in the Muslim world:
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59% of Pakistanis consider TTP as unfavourable.
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Let's talk about liberal/secular societies for a moment.
As you can already see from the above study "Views of Violence" by PEW, secular countries tend to justify violence against civilians in wars more than Islamic ones.
The Q: should this be considered (secular) extremism?
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As you can already see from the above study "Views of Violence" by PEW, secular countries tend to justify violence against civilians in wars more than Islamic ones.
The Q: should this be considered (secular) extremism?
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Why is it so that countries like Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, the US and the UK are more likely to justify the innocents than Muslim countries which have suffered decades of wars and invasions and terrorism?
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This was the general public. Let's take a look at what the top intellectuals from the liberal countries on this topic have to say:
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Barry Buzan, Prof. of International Relations at the London School of Economics, talks about how mass destruction of cities was justified by the common people in the West & the states have made less effort to differentiate b/w citizens and soldiers.
prospectmagazine.co.uk
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prospectmagazine.co.uk
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Philosopher Burleigh T. Wilkins from the University of California talks about how terrorism can be justified in some instances, including the killing of innocent people in wars.
-Burleigh Taylor Wilkins (1992) Terrorism and Collective Responsibility, [p. 20 & 91]
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-Burleigh Taylor Wilkins (1992) Terrorism and Collective Responsibility, [p. 20 & 91]
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The American Political Theorist, Michael Walzer also justifies the killing of innocents in warfare, if necessary.
-Walzer (1977) Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument With Historical Illustrations, [p. 254]
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-Walzer (1977) Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument With Historical Illustrations, [p. 254]
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Can you imagine if a mullah had said such words? How would the liberal brigade of our country have considered them?
Note that these individuals I just cited are not some lonely figures who are on govt watch. They are professors and academics in liberal countries.
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Note that these individuals I just cited are not some lonely figures who are on govt watch. They are professors and academics in liberal countries.
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@SyedMuzammilOFL was implying that it is religion (Islam to be specific, though he won't admit this) that is the reason why we are facing extremism.
To counter this point, let me quote an academic on the subject of terrorism, extremism and suicide bombings, Anne Speckhard.
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To counter this point, let me quote an academic on the subject of terrorism, extremism and suicide bombings, Anne Speckhard.
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Anne Speckhard says that she does not find the motive to get paradise as central/important to the terrorism ideology.
"I did not find the promise of 72 virgins in the afterlife to be a motivating factor for militant jihadis...desire for revenge was much more powerful.."
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"I did not find the promise of 72 virgins in the afterlife to be a motivating factor for militant jihadis...desire for revenge was much more powerful.."
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In the end, she concludes, "I can emphatically state that Islam itself is not the problem."
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If you look at the general trend, terrorism, extremism, violence and mob lynching only increases when the country suffers from invasions, sanctions, economic troubles etc.
Take a look at this:
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Take a look at this:
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Terrorist attacks increased when Afghanistan was invaded;
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Take a look at the sharp increases in terrorist attacks right after the invasion on Afghanistan and Iraq:
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Even when you have the Taliban in power, you can see how terrorist attacks have seen a sharp fall after the takeover.
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This explains that extremism only emerges when the country is going through tough times. To attribute this to religion is just nonsense. We know for sure secularists are more prone to violence and extremism than Muslims despite Muslims being under invasion.
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In the end, I just want to thank Brother Asadullah Andalusi. JazakAllah, brother, for putting the hard work and making the ijihad series. (See Ijihad series Sargon of Akkad).
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Complementary to this thread is this thread on the US aggression worldwide:
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