“ The Ideology Behind Terrorism”

Hello, my name is Muhammad Usman Ali Butt. I am a student at the University

of Gujrat. When I first gained admission, I was overjoyed because I had heard
many things about college. I was excited by the prospect of learning new
things and making new friends. The idea of college life appealed greatly to me
because very few people are able to achieve higher levels of education in the
area where I am from. Being admitted to university was a source of pride for
me and my family. It felt like a good achievement. I could not wait to start
living the college life!

After my classes began, I noticed a worrying trend amongst my fellow

classmates. It made me a bit angry and depressed at first, and then later
perplexed me. This trend I had noticed was the constant sentiment against
religious Muslims. I wondered why in a country where almost 97% of the
population was Muslim, would there be such vehemence against religious
Muslims. Every day I would see practicing Muslims get taunted. As someone
who tries to be a devout Muslim myself, all of this worried me immensely. I
then decided that I had to learn more about my religion and learn why it was
that these things were happening at the university. I began doing lots of
reading and research on this issue. To get to the bottom of this conundrum, I
made sure that I heard opinions from all sides on this issue.
What I am presenting now is the result of my research. After studying Islam,
both Islamic law and history, and reading what past and present day critics
accuse Muslims of, it is clear that there is a large disconnect between peoples’
thoughts and reality. The people have been given a false image of Islam due to
false propaganda in the media. Western media especially tries to portray
Islam in a very negative light. Due to the radical extremists who claim to be
Muslims, many people have an idea that Islam preaches barbarity, suicide
bombings, and killing of innocents. Islam in general is thought to be
backwards, unscientific, and incompatible with the “modern” lifestyle.

The aforementioned negative perceptions could not be further from the truth.
If one studies Islam, they will understand this very clearly. Traditional Sunni
Muslims who follow the Ashari-Maturidi creed and practice one of the four
madhabs (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, Hanbali) form over 87% of those who claim
to be Muslims today. From Morocco to Egypt, from Mauritania to Chechnya,
from Pakistan to Malaysia, you can observe traditional Sunni Muslims. All of
these nations have produced Islamic scholars and great Sufis who have
propagated the religion. A cursory glance at their teachings would reveal that
they contradict what the media tries to tell us today.
If we look at science, we will find countless contributions to the fields of
mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, and medicine by Muslims during Islam’s
Golden Age. It is agreed upon by historians that the European Renaissance
would not have occurred without the translation of Arabic manuscripts into
Latin. If we look at how Islam spread, we will see that it was through great
Awliyah such as Moinuddin Chishti (Khawaja Gharib Nawaz) and other such
people. These were all Sunni scholars who followed the Qur’an and Sunnah
very strictly. You won’t see any of the modern day extremism in their
teachings. Just take a glance at the media today. When was the last time you
saw a Qadri suicide bomber? Or a Chishti terrorist? When have you seen
traditional Sunni scholars calling for the deaths of all non-Muslims?
To solve this problem of extremism, we must counter the negative
propaganda against Islam by learning its true teachings. We must get to the
root of the issue. Extremism and a takfeeri mentality originated from the
deviant teachings of Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab Najdi, who came in the
1700s. Many of his followers like to call themselves Salafis today. These
people fail to understand that the “Salaf” were the people who lived in the first
three centuries after the Hijrah. (Such as the imams of the 4 madhabs) Ibn
Abdul Wahhab came over one thousand years after them. He was refuted by
many scholars of his era, including his own brother and his own father. Many
of his teachings are indeed blasphemous and outside the pale of Islam.
Wahhabism was bought to the Indian subcontinent by Ismail Dehlvi. Ismail
Dehlvi is greatly admired by the Deobandi school of thought. It is the
Deobandi school of thought in the subcontinent that is associated with
extremism and terrorism. It is of great regret that the Pakistani government
itself is at fault for promoting this sect in the 1980s war against the Soviet
Union in Afghanistan. The majority of our madrassahs in Pakistan follow this
ideology. The Taliban follows this ideology. Many government scholars are
Deobandi.

It pains me to see that while the majority of Sunni Muslims in Pakistan

(Barelvis, who form around 75-80% of Pakistanis) and their scholars speaking
out against terrorism. Yet we do not see Deobandi scholars doing anything
about this issue. We do not see their umbrella groups like the Tablighi Jamaat
condemning the Taliban. Deobandi groups such as Lashkar e Jhangvi and the
TTP have committed some of the biggest atrocities in Pakistan. Yet our
government does nothing about their madrasahs and continues funding them
and continues to allow several banned Deobandi groups to keep operating on
the ground.

You will never see a fatwa to kill all Shia coming from a traditional Sunni
scholar. You will not see any Barelvi terrorist group. It is clear where
extremism is coming from. The purpose of this column is not to promote
sectarianism. I am only presenting the hard facts. Groups such as ISIS/Daesh
openly print the works of Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab Najdi. This should
make everyone ponder and ask questions.

I am not saying that all Wahhabis or Deobandis are extremists. I reiterate that
my goal is not to promote hatred of any individual person or to promote
violence against any sect. There are many Wahhabis and Deobandis who do
not have an extremist ideology. But the fact is that almost all the scholars who
promote extremism, come from this background.

If you just do some basic research into the different types of banned groups,
you will see the likes of Lashkar e Jhangvi, Lashkar e Tayyaba, Jaish e
Mohammad, Hizbul Mujahideen, Al Qaeda, Daesh. All of these groups follow
the teachings of Ibn Abdul Wahhab Najdi. The origin of many of these groups
is also extremely suspect. It is known that many Wahhabi groups received
British funding from the beginning. This was a classic tactic of divide and
conquer. This fact is admitted in Deobandi and Nadwi literature. The Wahhabi
leaning Jamaat E Islami originally was against the very founding of Pakistan,
along with the majority of Deobandis. They used to refer to Muhammad Ali
Jinnah as Kafir e Azam!

This is a very important point people must ponder over. These people are
very clever and conniving. They first do a lot of research before dividing up
their tasks. Their main objective is to defame Muslims. They can’t make every
single person a terrorist because all humans have a different nature. If they
see someone is inclined towards business and politics, they will turn him
towards the JUI.

Those who are passionate for reading and writing about ideology are turned
towards Jamaat E Islami. Those who are simple minded and focused on basic
things such as praying and fasting, become members of the TablighiJamaat.

The rest of the people who wish to become full time scholars of Islam are sent
to the Dar ulUlooms of the Deobands. Some amongst those wishing to become
scholars are more liberal minded and freethinking. This branch of people is
trained to follow the Nadwi school of thought.

Lastly, those who are more brutish and prone to the violence are sent to
become members of militias such as Lashar e Taiba, JamaatUlAhraar,
HizbulMujahideen and others.

The startling fact is that all of these groups are not entirely separate entities.
Rather they are all branches of the same tree. If you study the roots,
ideologies, and histories of these groups, you will see that all of them are
indeed followers of Muhammad ibn Abdul WahhabNajdi. That is why anyone
belonging to these groups is commonly known as a “Wahhabis.” It is the
umbrella term for all of these different groups.

Please note that I am not here to pass a fatwa against any individual. Nor I am
trying to fan the flames of sectarianism. I am not saying by any means that all
Wahhabis are terrorists. That would be disingenuous and dishonest..This Is
the reality howmany terrorist which caught they follow Wahabism. Most
Wahhabis today are living normal lives and participating in all fields of society
They are certainly not all extremists.

However, one thing is certain and it cannot be denied. Wahhabi literature

breeds extremism. Almost all terrorists and designated terrorist groups
believe in a form of Wahhabism. Almost all maulvis who are banned or
arrested for terror or hate speech, are Wahabis. There are no Sunni/Barelvi
terror groups. And amongst the Shia there are only 3 designated banned
groups in Pakistan. This is the unpleasant fact Wahhabis and their
sympathizers must understand. And this is why we must open this topic up
for discussion at the national level and have the Ulama of all sects come
together and try to put an end to extremist ideologies amongst people who
claim to be Muslims.

We must discuss these issues openly. To restore peace and put an end to
sectarianism and terrorism, our government must address this issue at its
roots. Indeed it is due to the extreme teachings and dangerous literature of
the aforementioned groups that Pakistan is in its current crisis. We have to
stand up and educate people about true Islam. We must ensure that Islam is
taught by the traditional scholars.

By addressing these issues openly, it is possible that the ulama of Pakistan

from all sects can come to a consensus and ban any dangerous literature. As
well as unanimously condemn actions such as suicide bombing. If the deviant
ideas and literature of the extremists continues to be propagated and their
madrasahs continue to receive aid, then this problem of extremism will never
end. Pakistan has suffered a lot. It is about time those who are responsible for
its suffering are brought to account. This includes not just those who commit
the acts of terror, but anyone who encourages them or inspires them.

The End…………..

M Usman Ali ButT

( Founder Awareness Group Of Network )
( Rising Star Of Pakistani Nation )
( Mission Spread True Colours Of Islam )
What differentiates him from others is that he presents from authentic
sources and scholars. He also gives practical ideas on how a Muslim should
live in today’s world. It is important to learn the true Islamic ideology, as this
will help us combat extremism, secularism, “liberalism” and other false ideas
which harm Pakistani society and the Muslim World in generate.
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