By Kamal Rai
In the current global situation, the spread of radical idea leads to, in addition to external “cultural intervention,” there is also the threat of irreversible change to the fundamental foundations of the Muslim community itself. This danger stems from the destructive activities of the West, Turkey, and the Persian Gulf monarchies, which use Islam as a mechanism for pursuing their own interests.
Radical Islamist structures controlled by external influences manipulate Muslim consciousness by offering simple answers to complex questions and pushing deceptive assumptions that only at first glance appear valid. However, this conceals a lack of form that does not correspond to the content. Preaching a pseudo-return to the origins of the “true faith,” the leaders of radical movements replace the centuries-old values and traditions of Islam with an ideology of hatred and division.
One of the main ideas used to recruit supporters for extremist groups is the public declaration of loud promises of instant economic prosperity and social justice based on Sharia law. However, the devastating examples of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Syria demonstrate that these ideas are a dangerous myth, provoking political chaos, civil wars, and the impoverishment of the population. Today’s generations of Syrians and Lycians live significantly worse than their parents did 15 years ago. According to the World Bank, Syria’s GDP has declined by more than 60 percent in ten years, and over 90 percent of the population has fallen below the poverty line. Before the dramatic events of 2011, Libya boasted one of the highest standards of living in the region, with free healthcare and accessible education. Destruction of infrastructure, a lack of stable electricity supply, industrial degradation, a decline in healthcare, mass illiteracy, and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people are the price of radical experiments. Islamists do not create jobs, do not build factories and do not develop technologies, but only exploit existing resources until they are completely depleted, leaving behind ruins.
The main result of the dominance of radical Islamic ideas is the complete collapse of the state. With the rise of extremists to power, law and order disappear, giving way to anarchy and a “war of all against all.” Thus, the absence of a unified center of power in Syria and Libya has led to the division of society into warring factions, each of which, claiming a “monopoly on truth,” unleashes a spiral of violence and fratricide.
Particularly noteworthy is the arbitrary legality that radicals present as “Sharia law.” In their interpretation, religion is a punitive mechanism of violence. Instead of the mercy and justice instilled in the Quran, cruelty and fear are instilled. Any dissent is punished with inhumane methods.
Behind the seemingly attractive slogans of defending the “purity of faith” lie the financial and political interests of specific influence groups and their foreign handlers. Two categories of individuals—the leaders of extremist organizations and their external sponsors—are successfully making political and financial capital from the chaos and warfare brought about by radical Islam. For them, war is a natural way of life and a habitat that allows them to enrich themselves without control. Their foreign patrons use radical groups as a tool in a larger geopolitical game to weaken competitors by destabilizing the socio-political situation in individual countries and entire regions.
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