Shared by Tahir Mahmood
It is a great article and raises serious questions not just for people back home in Pakistan, but also for all the Muslims living in the West. It is like elephant in the room and no one wants to talk about it. In the West, every few months we hear news of some young Muslim apprehended for planning a terrorist act. We mostly dismiss such news as entrapment by law enforcement agency, act of some misguided disturbed individual or come up with some lame conspiratorial excuse. Are we, the Muslims in the West, shrugging off our responsibility to look deeply into this problem and find out why these young individual are prone to such entrapment in the first place? Should not we be having this discussion in the Islamic Centers as well as on dinner tables to prevent these horrible acts that are poisoning the future of our young generation? Even one such incidence is too many, and every one of us-every one of us -suffers the consequences and pays the price for such acts. Such acts do not advance any cause and hurt Muslims more than anyone else.( F. Sheikh )
The author writes about situation in Pakistan;
“This is not to suggest that average Pakistanis actively embrace or advocate violent extremism. However, average Pakistanis do often relate to, justify, and refuse to unconditionally condemn the ideologies driving violent extremism – even when it directly impacts their lives in the form of suicide bombings or militant attacks. This accommodation of the extremist mindset creates political space and a favourable environment for radical groups to thrive in.”
Click link below to read full article;
http://dawn.com/2012/12/17/extremism-and-mainstream-pakistan/
“Are we, the Muslims in the West, shrugging off our responsibility to look deeply into this problem and find out why these young individual are prone to such entrapment in the first place? Should not we be having this discussion in the Islamic Centers as well as on dinner tables to prevent these horrible acts that are poisoning the future of our young generation?” (Comment of Mr Tahir Mahmood )
I very much doubt if any mosque or Islamic Center in USA ever preaches any religious extremism, militancy, or hate mongering, or remotely recommends religious intolerance, due to fear of eaves-droppers of Homeland Security and FBI. That job is done by Wahabi/Salafi Fundamentalist clerics in Pakistan pushing their agenda of killing the Shias, Ahmedis, Masiheess, Hindus and even non-Wahabi sunnis. Their virulent tapes and Youtube video clippings are spread through internet to deliver the militant extremism among the Muslim youth in the Western world. Some over-zealous young men fall in their trap and cause trouble to themselves and the entire community.The recommendations of Mr Tahir Mahmood are very important that opinion mobilizing should be done with utmost sincerity, consistence and seriousness in the Mosques, Islamic Centers, and at family caucuses to help younger people choose what is the right thing to do and what to stay away from.
Correction! The comments on the article were written by me before posting the article forwarded by Tahir Mahmood. I should have made clear by my name after the comments.. Thanks Wequar Sahib for your comments. Further comments later.
Fayyaz
I agree with the comments by Wequar Sahib and it is important point to bring up. During a court hearing in NYC, it was revealed that NYC police did not find a single case to prosecute based on its surveillance of Mosques and Islamic Centers in the last few years.
Such indiscriminate surveillance has chilling effect. People are afraid that any talk related to” terrorism” can be misinterpreted and cause problems.
The Muslims in the West are between rock and hard place.We have to find a way to educate and warn our teenagers against falling into the trap of extreme ideology on the internet, and chose acquaintances carefully, especially on social media.
The Intelligence & Law Enforcement Agencies should also realize that they have to take steps to alleviate these fears, so that these important topics can be discussed in an open and fearless environment.
Fayyaz