In Part II, we considered examples from various parts of the world and found that purdah as an instrument of radicalization is but a part of the prevailing Islamic theology. Now, we focus on what global PCVE efforts should focus on in order to address the root of this continuing radicalization.
Implications for Global PCVE Efforts
The discriminatory purdah or the so-called hijab—as opposed to the Islamically enjoined modesty for both sexes—is only a part of the dominant literalist Islamic theology being taught worldwide. This theology strips Qur’anic verses of their proper contexts, translates the holy text patriarchally, and relies even on fabricated narrations attributed to the Prophet. It forms the basis of the problematic Shari’ah versions whose enforcement is the goal of all Islamist organizations across the globe. Moreover, this unreformed theology, since the 13th-century scholar Ibn Taymiyyah, has contributed to producing the moral disease of Islamism and its embodiments in the form of militant and non-militant Islamist organizations internationally.
The fact that a lethal terrorist group like JeM is utilizing the sexist and xenophobic tenet of purdah, or Muslim women’s seclusion and differentiation, to radicalize them, should send alarm signals to those institutes worldwide that are working for preventing and countering violent extremism (PCVE). Until the Islamism-facilitating theology that views even God and the Prophet from the wrong lens hegemonizes the teaching and learning of Islam in the world, true and complete prevention of Islamist radicalization will be impossible, since a building cannot be set upright without first correcting the foundation.
This is why many well-intentioned Muslims—including those new to Islam—who are seeking to know their faith better, end up becoming radicalized and even join terrorist groups assuming they are serving the “cause of God.” Even worse, terrorist chiefs themselves like the late Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of Daesh and Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) graduated with a doctorate in Islamic studies and a legal authority to issue religious rulings, respectively.
Thus, the JeM women’s radicalization case that builds on such mainstream theology should be viewed only as the tip of the iceberg. Indoctrination that might lead to violent extremism and terrorism is by no means an elite problem applying only to a few “radicals” sitting inside madrasas or militant training camps. Rather this process is going on worldwide and perennially especially considering all the digital tools that are available today, such as Zoom, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Facebook.
Although global PCVE efforts have correctly recognized the need for a preventive model instead of a reactive approach, the work is deeply wanting. As opposed to surface “counter-narratives,” a complete reformist theology, including a redeveloped Shari’ah that matches the modern era and emphasizes rationality, critical thinking, and equal human rights, is the real PCVE solution that will address the root of the global Islamic crisis. All serious PCVE institutes need to work toward gradually mainstreaming and institutionalizing such a theology worldwide, through the engagement of reformist Islamic scholars and promotion of rigorous teaching and learning in physical and online spaces.
A failure to do so would mean that countless Muslims internationally remain at risk of radicalization from groups like JeM that benefit in various ways from the prevailing mix of truth and falsehood all of which is generally believed to be “Islam” and “Shari’ah.”