TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE
We often talk of peace in the context of war. But this is a very narrow and restricted notion of peace. Peace is deeply linked with the entirety of human life. Peace is a complete ideology in itself. Peace is the only religion for both—man and the universe. It is the master-key that opens the doors to every success. Peace creates a favourable atmosphere for success in every endeavour. Without peace, no positive action—small or big—is possible.
THE CULTURE OF RADICALIZATION AND TERRORISM
IN previous ages, the culture of terrorism was not widespread and weapons were produced in limited numbers, generally only for monarchs who deployed them in battle. The terror culture is a recent phenomenon. It has become prevalent only since the major upswing in the armaments industry which has turned weapons into readily available commodities.
A recent survey reveals that those who produce deadly weapons for the purpose of killing people experience deep frustration towards the end of their lives. All of them question themselves as to why they engaged in an evil of such proportions. However, this question remains unanswered. The Russian arms designer, Mikhail Kalashnikov (1919- 2013) is a notable example of this. He was best known for having developed the AK-47 assault rifle which was named after him. The Kalashnikov, or AK-47, is one of the world’s most familiar and widely used weapons. It is thought that more than 100 million Kalashnikov rifles have been sold worldwide.
Terrorism is an unnatural act. Neither reason nor conscience can ever sanction it. But often a person, swept away by emotion, ends up perpetrating terrorist acts.
Six months before his death, Kalashnikov wrote a letter expressing his anxiety to the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. It was published by the Russian daily newspaper Izvestia in January 2014.
In it, Kalashnikov stated that he was suffering “unbearable spiritual pain” about whether he was responsible for the deaths caused by the weapons he created. “I keep having the same unsolved question: if my rifle claimed people’s lives, then can it be that I, a Christian and an Orthodox believer, was to blame for their deaths?” he asked. “The longer I live” he continued, “the more this question drills itself into my brain and the more I wonder why the Lord allowed man to have the devilish desires of envy, greed and aggression.”
This is true also of terrorists. Terrorism begins with hate and ends with repentance. If the suicide bombers were questioned after carrying out their attacks, they would acknowledge that they had committed a very heinous crime. But, unfortunately, we never have the chance to speak to them.
The terror culture is a recent phenomenon. It has become prevalent only since the major upswing in the armaments industry which has turned weapons into readily available commodities.
However, there are some examples of perpetrators of terrorist acts who were not themselves killed and who suffered pangs of remorse. One such example is that of Lee Boyd Malvo; a Jamaican-American convicted murderer who along with John Allen Muhammad, committed murders in connections with the Beltway sniper attacks in the Washington Metropolitan Area over a three-week period in October 2002. Malvo said in a letter to CNN that he was still ‘grappling with shame, guilt, remorse and my own healing, if that will ever be possible’. And a social worker who worked extensively with him said he drew self-portraits that often showed him with a tear running down his cheek.
Terrorism always ends in repentance. Terrorism thus has a selfdeterrent characteristic—that is, after engaging in a terrorist act, the extremist immediately realizes that he had erred. For this reason, terrorism should have come to an end. But not all would-be terrorists think in this way; very few of them desist from violence in order to lead a peaceful life.
Terrorism is still rife because extremists do not reflect on the act they are about to commit. If they realized beforehand what the result of their violent activities would be, they would never follow this course of action. Rather, they would throw away their guns and bombs and lead a peaceful life.
Terrorism is an unnatural act. Neither reason nor conscience can ever sanction it. But often a person, swept away by emotion, ends up perpetrating terrorist acts. In this regard, education both formal and informal—would serve as a deterrent factor. Even if there are terrorists who are educated, they are so only in the technical or professional sense; they are deficient in learning in the broader sense of the word.
Let us understand the phenomena of radicalization which is nurturing terrorists in Muslim society. Present-day Muslim militancy derives neither from the Quran nor from the Sunnah. It is basically a product of the Muslim media that has formed the mindset of present-day Muslims. Muslim militancy and suicide bombing are mainly the consequence of Muslim media. The Muslim press has developed into a kind of protesting type of journalism. Now the electronic media is being used by Muslims towards the same end. Muslim militancy is entirely the upshot of the Muslim community’s anger, disillusionment and negative thinking as portrayed and promoted by Muslim media.
It is said that the greatest menace of present times is the radicalization of Muslim youth. But the question is: What is the source of this radicalization? The source of this culture is the use by Muslims of the internet and social networking as an extended form of Muslim media. Muslims have easy access to an international network—the internet and are using it on a vast scale. Thus they have filled their websites on the internet with reports which show that Muslims are an imperiled community. This outreach of the social media is there in everyone’s pocket in the form of mobile devices.
Terrorism always ends in repentance. Terrorism thus has a self-deterrent characteristic—that is, after engaging in a terrorist act, the extremist immediately realizes that he had erred.
Muslims today have coined a new term, that is, Islamophobia. This refers to the danger wrongly perceived by the West that Islam presents to non-Muslims. However, this is not actually the case. Muslims have adopted the culture of violence in the name of Islam. In this sense, the West is right to consider Muslims to be dangerous. The right word would be “Muslimophobia”. Yet Islam, in itself, is a great blessing from God for the whole of humanity.
In view of the present situation, the question is, is there a silver lining? To save young Muslims from this negative culture, an extensive campaign is required to awaken Muslim minds in such a way that they may analyze information on websites on their own and develop the ability to differentiate between truth and falsehood.
Muslim reformers should focus on Muslim youth. In the early, formative years, a person is relatively free from conditioning and is thus in a position to view things objectively and examine events in an unbiased manner. Our efforts should begin by trying to inculcate positive thinking in Muslims while they are still very young.
The new generation of Muslims is our hope, especially those who are availing of modern education. Modern education helps in their deconditioning. They are able to see the world in a more objective way and are developing the ability to understand things in a more realistic manner. It is these Muslim youths who are our hope for the future.
It is important to have greater recourse to education than to guns if present-day terrorism is to be countered. It is a fact that peace in terms of its result is more effective than violence. ‘Peace through education’ is a solution to this problem. The most effective way of bringing about peace is only one—and that is, to educate people’s minds along peaceful lines. Education refers to both formal and informal and is the need of the hour on a mass scale.
Muslim militancy is entirely the upshot of the Muslim community's anger, disillusionment and negative thinking as portrayed and promoted by Muslim media.
Another solution is to establish a large institution with the name Universal Peace Centre on a global level. All the Muslim countries, organizations and Muslim individuals with resources should become members of this centre. The Universal Peace Centre should be set up with the common support of all Muslims. It should be structured in accordance with international standards and should be completely non-political, non-communal and noncommercial.
The sole purpose of this centre should be to promote peace and replace the culture of violence with the culture of peace all over the world. At present, Muslims number more than one billion and are spread out all over the world. All kinds of rich natural resources are available in Muslim countries. The best use of these resources would be to utilize them for the cause of peace.