JUSTIFIED MILITANCY — Political Islam

JUSTIFIED MILITANCY Political Islam Militancy in Pakistan and other Muslim regions is not a simple kind of militancy. It is an ideologically justified militancy. Therefore, it is not enough to condemn it in human rights terms or any other terms. A condemnation of this kind will not work in this case. Those who are engaged in militancy will brush aside such condemnation by saying that it is from the enemies of Islam who do not want to see Islam gain political power. The genesis of this militancy goes back to those Muslim ideologues of the twentieth century who formulated the idea that Islam is a complete system and that political power is a necessary part of it, because without it Islam cannot be implemented as a complete system of life. Those who were impressed by the political interpretation of Islam tried to implement it as a political system in society. But, they saw that the political seat was already occupied by certain other people. So, they realized that in order to establish an Islamic state it was necessary to overthrow the present rulers. Thus, unseating the current political occupants became a prerequisite for them to establish an Islamic political system in society. However, when the people who already possessed political power refused to step down, those who believed in political Islam engaged in violence and militancy to overthrow them. Therefore, the ideologues of political Islam are truly responsible for militancy. The present militants or non-state actors are only trying to materialize the ideology they have received from their leaders. The genesis of Muslim militancy goes back to the ideology that political power is a necessary part of an Islamic system. The worst aspect of this militancy is that it is associated with Paradise by its ideologues. These ideologues made Muslims believe that if they succeed in their violent struggle and become shahid or martyred, they would go to Jannah or Paradise. Muslims thus became obsessed with this beautiful notion. For them worldly success or failure does not matter. If they succeed in the struggle, they will receive the title of ghazi, or victorious. Or, if they die in this struggle, even if it be through suicide bombing, then they would be regarded as shahid (martyr), who is guaranteed Paradise in the world Hereafter.