Page 1 - The root cause of terrorism and its Solution
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countering                                                                                         against Saddam’s Iraq.

   terrorism                                                                                             I believe that terrorism will

There is no doubt that the terror attacks at different parts of the        ‘God grants to                persist in one form or another
                                                                        peace, what he does              until the ideology of violence is
world are highly condemnable. People the world over are trying         not grant to violence.’            countered with another
                                                                                                          ideology based on peace. The
to find a solution to this menace. The authorities are trying to           —The Prophet                  ideology behind present day
                                                                            Muhammad                     terrorism is that, Islam being a

crush the terror menace through legal action; while the reformers                                        political system, it is the duty of all

are trying to curb it by engaging in condemnation. However both                                    Muslims to establish Islamic rule in

of these methods are, apparently, proving                                              the world. This thinking was not prevalent

to be ineffective. Then what is the                                    during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. It is a later innovation

solution?                                                              which was developed in the last few centuries by a handful of

    According to my                  ‘A Muslim is one                  people. Having become wide spread in the Muslim world today, it
assessment, the present              from whose tongue
problem of terrorism is based         and hands people                 is leading to present-day violence. It has influenced many Muslims,
on an ideology and an ideology
cannot be countered through                are safe.’                  especially the easily influenced youth, and they have become
legal action or by mere                —The Prophet
condemnation. We have to                Muhammad                       obsessed with trying to establish the political rule of Islam, thinking

                                                                       it to be their ticket to paradise. Failing to achieve this objective by

                                                                       the peaceful method, they have started resorting to suicide

                                                                       bombing. The idea being that if we cannot eliminate the non-

develop a counter-ideology to                                          Islamic rule, then let us at least de-stabilize it and pave the way

overcome it.                                                           for Islamic rule.

According to the UNESCO, ‘Violence begins from the mind’,              peace

it has to, therefore, be uprooted from the mind itself. This I feel

succinctly captures the very root cause of terrorism. Therefore, in    is a pre-condition

order to eliminate this root cause we need to initiate our efforts by

beginning from the right starting point–of the re-engineering of       I have studied Islam through its original sources – the Quran and

minds of individuals by taking them away from the culture of           Hadith – and I can say that this political interpretation of Islam is

violence and bringing them closer to the culture of peace.             an innovation and the real Islam is

mistaken                                                               based upon peace, compassion

 belief                                                                and tolerance.

To explain the importance of the above, I would state two parallel         Peace is not prevalent                 ‘Good and evil
                                                                       in the world as people the          deeds are not equal. Repel
                    examples from history. One of the                  world over are acting             evil with what is better; then
                                                                       intolerantly and indulging        you will see that one who was
                        American campaign against                      in acts of violence,              once your enemy has become
                                                                       saying, “Give us justice
  ‘We will, surely,     Communist Russia and the other                 and peace will ensue.” But             your dearest friend.’
bear with patience all  of the American campaign against
                         Saddam-led Iraq. While the US                 when people, ostensibly           (The Quran, 41:34)

the harm you do us.’    was successful in curbing the                  seeking justice, stoop to

(The Quran, 14:12)      menace of Communist Russia,                    violence, peace can never

                        the same America failed to cope                prevail. Peace is always desirable for

                        with the menace of Saddam-led Iraq.            its own sake, and every other desirable state comes after peace,

              This is because America met the Russian                  not along with it. So, the maxim I follow is: “Ignore the problems,

challenge at an ideological level while it opted for military action   and avail of the opportunities.”
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