In a post-September 11 world, a consequential query that continues to be is: what’s the linkage between Islam and terrorism? This query has initiated a debate that seeks to look deeply into the political tradition of Muslim societies. Many within the West contemplate Jihad as a synonym for terrorism. They’re of the opinion that Islam doesn’t train its followers to dwell in peace and tranquility with folks of different faiths. Furthermore, many additionally imagine that it’s the divine responsibility of the Muslims to wage jihad towards the infidels, the place it’s the manifest future of Muslims to rule the earth. The West suspiciously sees militant Islamic teams as an amazing problem for its authority in international politics. The September 11 incident additionally confirmed the misperception of these within the West who contemplate that Islam is a violent faith which produces fanaticism.

Alternatively, a notion has developed within the Muslim world that Muslims are discriminated towards due to their religion, the place they’re all thought-about as a part of Al-Qaeda’s or ISIS’ international jihad, and are resolutely towards the West. Islamists additionally blame the West for biases, that are based mostly on irrational concern towards Muslims within the type of Islamophobia. They rightly query why the US and the West supported the identical teams in the course of the Chilly Struggle interval to comprise Soviet expansionism?

As an alternative of this reciprocal blame-game, one must objectively analyze the causes of the decline and decay of Muslim societies, which have been passing via deep-rooted twin crises of nation-building and state-building. Being postcolonial states, most Muslim societies have did not fulfil the necessities of the modern-day duties of nation-building and state-building. It’s a proven fact that out of fifty-seven Muslim states, none is a real democracy.

Furthermore, another excuse of the decline of Muslim societies is their aloofness to artistic and logical pondering, and adherence principally to spiritual information based mostly on their very own interpretations. This has led to their mental decline too.

As we imagine that Islam preaches a message of peace and tranquility, the Islamists, however, use faith as a counter-force to problem the hegemonic agenda of the West, in addition to towards West-oriented Muslim rulers. The rising radicalism and non secular extremism within the Muslim world is especially due to the rising affect of Islamists, who take the benefit of the hole between state and society, the place the previous has did not cater to the fundamental wants of the folks. This has offered a possibility to the Islamists to current themselves as an alternate.

The post-9/11 insurance policies of the US, as a substitute, fulfilled Al-Qaeda’s objective, the place it succeeded in gaining sympathies among the many Muslim plenty and fanning anti-Americanism. Consequently, these Muslim international locations which prolonged their unconditional assist to the US within the Struggle on Terror have now turn out to be extra weak to the terrorist actions inside their very own territories.

On this complete situation, the place the rivalry between the Islamic fundamentalists and the West is deep rooted, making efforts to start dialogue amongst civilizations is an uphill process. Folks on either side have been locked into their pigeon-holed identities. The Islamists imagine in Hobbes’ ‘battle of all towards all’ dictum after they name all Muslims to wage battle towards the West on the whole and america specifically; whereas the West thinks that Islam is bent on their destruction.

Wolfgang Giegerich appears on the civilizational battle between the West and the Muslim world another way. He claims that ‘the true battle is just not between two religions, Islam and Christianity, nor between a non secular civilization and a secular one, nor between two geographic areas (East and West). Quite it’s a battle between two civilizations separated by a temporal historic hole: the battle between ‘center ages’ and ‘modernity’, as two logical levels of consciousness.’

Walter Laqueur means that political repression and defeats in wars have all contributed to the severity of frustration and created a horny surroundings for terrorism within the Muslim world. He holds accountable the sentiments of frustration amongst Muslims as the reason for non secular extremism and terrorism, when he compares progress within the West and the Muslim World. In keeping with him, ‘non-Muslim areas have made appreciable financial progress, whereas the international locations of the Center East have typically stagnated or proven detrimental development. This stagnation has resulted in rising poverty and unemployment, an elevated variety of educated younger individuals who haven’t discovered jobs of their professions, and rising resentment towards those that have been extra profitable. It has additionally produced a want to blame foreigners for the distress—self-criticism being too painful and too harmful.’

Folks like Edward Stated, the late Palestinian literary scholar, argue that the conflict is extra pronounced inside civilizations than between them. There are numerous anti-globalization teams and organizations within the Western world, which oppose financial liberalization and free commerce. Equally, within the Muslim World, there are numerous who aspire for the Western kind of liberal democracy.

Afzal Mahmood identifies two important components which have performed a significant function in inflicting Muslim resentment towards the West, led by the US. This has additionally distorted Muslim consciousness and its worldview in fashionable instances. In keeping with him, the primary issue is the tradition of victimhood, the place as a substitute of questioning the place did they go mistaken, Muslims have been asking the mistaken query: who did this to them?

They’ve all the time blamed exterior components for his or her miseries. Initially blaming the Crusades, then the Mongols, then Western imperialism and now holding the American and Jewish conspiracy accountable for their crises. Second, the big disaster of the Muslim societies, in response to Mahmood, is neither political nor financial; reasonably it’s the disaster of a civilization. They’re too confused or fearful to undertake the trail of motive and introduce reforms which might be crucial to progress and improvement.

In keeping with Bassam Tibi, ‘the end result of the confrontation between Islam and the West will rely upon two components: first, the flexibility of Muslims to undertake a cultural lodging of Islamic non secular ideas and their moral underpinnings to the modified worldwide surroundings; and second, their skill to simply accept equality and mutual respect between themselves and people who don’t share their beliefs.’

Former President of Pakistan Basic Pervez Musharraf believed that unresolved political disputes and injustices, not Islam, has led to antagonism within the Muslim plenty vis-à-vis the West. His ‘enlightened moderation’ known as upon a two-pronged technique to successfully reply to the daunting challenges of worldwide peace and safety. He believed that each the Muslim Ummah and the West wanted to concurrently pursue this technique. In keeping with him, one prong of the technique wanted to be addressed by the Muslim world by renouncing militancy and extremism in addition to by adopting the trail of socioeconomic uplift. The opposite prong should be delivered by the West, and the US specifically, aiming at resolving the long-lasting political conflicts with justice.

One should say that the menaces of extremism and terrorism within the Muslim societies can solely be countered if Muslims notice that the success of the West is just not the trigger, however the consequence of their weak spot and decline, on account of their adherence to pre-modern views of the revival of their superb previous, whereas fully ignoring the notions of modern-day necessities of nation-building and state-building.

Alternatively, the long-term funding of the West, significantly america, within the Muslim societies is to assist resolving the previous political conflicts in addition to supporting and insisting on sluggish and gradual political reforms for democracy, and to advertise liberalism, protecting in view the very nature of that individual society.