Readers are no doubt aware of the terrorist attacks that happened in Paris recently, and of that those attacks were committed by ISIS, one of many terrorist organizations that claims to kill in the name of Islam. Now, one of the college courses that I’m taking currently is about Islam. We had to read a book called, "The Great Theft," detailing why Muslim extremists are they way they are, and what can be done to stop them. I can’t recite every point off the top of my head, so I’ll give the shortened version.
Extremism started during the period of when the Ottoman Turks controlled the Arabian Peninsula. It stems from the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd Wahhab, an 18th century preacher whose teachings tried to bring what he considered the “Golden Era” of Islam, the time of Muhammad and the first five Caliphs, back to the masses. The problem is that he rejected most of Islamic history and did not try to reconcile other beliefs people had with his own. He just ignored them completely.
Now there was an aspect of Islamic society that dealt with people with extreme views like Wahhabism, these were the jurists. Jurists were the legal experts of various Islamic empires that would interpret the Quran and past laws to see how they could be applied in the modern world. When a group with extreme views comes up, especially with ideas that are considered “non-Muslim,” these jurists would convince the masses that these groups aren’t to be trusted, and are not Muslim. Eventually, these groups would fade from history.
But special circumstances occurred with Wahhabism that made it last. The first was that Wahhab found protection in the royal house of Saud, whom would eventually conquer most of the Arabian Peninsula and call it Saudi Arabia. This way of thinking became the Saud’s main philosophy, which he used to drive the Ottomans out of Arabia and later, harmfully equate Islamic culture solely with Arabian culture.
Second, when European power colonized the Middle East, all of the best students when to Europe for schooling, to study without the jurists. With weakening influence due to the imposing of European law in the Middle East, along with no pupils, the jurists lost their power to declare what was properly Muslim. Given that Saudi Arabia would eventually control the two holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, along with the massive oil reserves found within the country, Saudi Arabia became wealthy quickly and used it’s wealth to open schools of Wahhabism, to influence Muslims of lesser-developed countries. Because oil is still the world’s main energy supplier, there is no doubt there will be money constantly flowing to the Saudis.
The education of the masses is also an important issue to look at. All of the schools that trained jurists in the distant past became state-run schools. But because most of this occurred in countries run by dictators, they were told only what the government wanted them to know; just reciting facts over and over again without questioning why things are the way they are, as well as looking favorably to their dictator leader. It’s also not how they’re taught, but that they’re taught. Most schools in the Islamic world now devote most of their energy towards what we know as the STEM majors (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). There’s little room for courses that emphasize independent thought and learning about other cultures and issues. So if a student, who’s hasn’t been taught how to properly think for himself, doesn’t get the STEM job he’s always wanted and becomes disillusioned with the world he’s in, he is now a prime target for extremist group recruiters.
Wars will always involve groups that differ in ideology, but this instance of intolerance is becoming too big of a problem to ignore. If we want this to go away, we have to change the way people of this region think about the outside world, how there are plenty of good people, and how Islam is truly a religion of peace and community, not one of intolerance and warfare, and the acts committed by these other groups are not an accurate representation of the religion.
