NO EXTREMISM

PEACE IN ISLAM ~ 122 ~ Ghulu means extremism. The way of extremism is wrong, whatever the circumstances, for it goes against the spirit of religion. Indeed, it is proneness to extremism which at times culminates in war and violence. Those who suffer from extremist tendencies remain dissatisfied with the path of moderation, since this strikes them as being far from the ideal. That is why they so easily incline towards violence, and are ever ready to open hostilities in the name of achieving their objectives. Moderation, which is the opposite of extremism, is closely interlinked with peace. When people possess the virtue of moderation, they necessarily think in terms of peace and will engage in their struggle in a peaceful manner. Where there is moderation there is peace, and vice versa. In stark contrast to this, an extremist attitude very soon leads to confrontation and violence. Extremism and violence are obviously interconnected. That is why extremism is held in religion to be abhorrent. It would not be wrong to say that violence is another name for extremism and that moderation is to refrain from extremism.