The Role of Moderate Muslims in Combating Violent Jihad
Abstract
There is a widespread belief that moderate Muslims can help fight against the Jihadis in the Global War on Terrorism. This belief is based on the idea that the ideology of terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda attracts a steady stream of recruits, and this ideology can only be fought by moderate Muslims. This thesis discusses three questions: (1) Do moderate Muslims have a role to play in combating Jihad? (if yes, then to what extent and under what circumstances?); (2) Under what conditions might radicals be induced to become more moderate?; and (3) Under what conditions might moderates be made firmer in their stance toward radicals? The author answers these questions by analyzing the role played by moderates vis-a-vis radicals in conflicts having religious overtones. Specifically, he examines three case studies: (1) the militancy in Punjab, where Sikhs fought for the separate state of Khalistan; (2) the Algerian civil war of the 1990s, in which the Islamists waged a bitter war for implementation of Sharia law; and (3) the creation of Pakistan in 1947, which was based on the belief that Muslims could not live with Hindus, and the subsequent rise of Islamic fundamentalism in that country. The thesis demonstrates that in a situation of conflict, particularly one having religious overtones, moderates have a limited role to play because the violence perpetrated by radicals becomes too dominating a feature. Moderates can play their most useful role only after the state is able to contain the radicals, and secure conditions that are amenable to the expression of views that are different from those of the radicals.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA475873
Entities
People
- Tanveer Ahmed
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School