EDUCATION ALONE WILL NOT WORK — Renouncing Muslim Militancy

EDUCATION ALONE WILL NOT WORK Renouncing Muslim Militancy MALALA Yousafzai, is the youngest ever Nobel Prize recipient. Her mission is to educate the modern Muslim generation. It is said that Muslim militancy is one of the greatest problem of modern times, and this problem can be solved only through education. This appears to be a good idea. But, the question is why are the ranks of Muslim militants filled with the well-educated, especially those who have studied in Europe and America. The fact is that modern militancy is based entirely on modern technology, and modern technology can be handled only by those who have modern education. Results show that solving the problem of Muslim militancy through education has not been successful. Events like 9/11 were the handiwork of educated Muslims, and not that of the uneducated. The fact is that, modern Muslim militancy is based on the modern concept of Islamic jihad. It is this ideology of jihad which is the main reason behind militancy. The real Islamic Jihad is based on peace and spirituality. The problem is that some Muslim minds have developed an Islamic ideology that is based on the so-called khilafat, or Caliphate. According to this ideology, they believe that the mission of Islam is to establish the Caliphate. It is the duty of Muslims to establish Islamic rule all over the world. They believe that the western world is an obstacle in achieving this goal, and so they consider it an enemy of Islam. Thus, they wish to destabilize the western world, even if their method of choice is through suicide bombing. It is this self-styled ideology of jihad that is the real problem. In such a situation, modern education cannot yield the required result. More modern education would give rise to greater militancy, because modern education increases the militants’ access to modern technology. It helps them further equip their jihad machinery. Therefore, the thought of rooting out militancy by educating Muslims is not a novel idea.