Dr. Ali Ahmad Al-Kheshaiban
Al-Riyadh
When we talk about extremism, we should also ask what transformations we have gone through while fighting extremism? Why have our young men not been influenced by all the awareness campaigns which have been conducted over the past years?
Certainly, most of our young men have been confused by outside players who are trying to lure them into terrorism and by the campaigns that are trying to save them from terrorist groups. I have no doubt that government efforts exerted in this regard are aimed at saving these young men from ending up joining terrorist groups. However, young men are pulled apart by players abroad and also those within the Kingdom who want them to travel to fight in conflict-stricken areas. We desperately need to study and analyze the culture that has played a major role in shaping the ideas of these young men.
In the early 1980s, religious fanaticism took several forms and most people were surprised at how many young men started to become more and more religious due to the awakening that swept across all sections of society. This period brought with it a culture that was completely different from the one adopted by society. In fact, the new culture brought new ideas of religiosity and targeted young men.
This awakening period introduced strange ideas into society and contributed to building an ideology that heavily influenced young men’s religiosity. The new trend mixed together religious, political and economic concepts.
From that time on, the concept of religiosity was no longer limited to the local setting or environment in which a young man was raised; it transcended beyond the country’s borders. Over a period of three decades, this new culture grew in popularity and young men began to view themselves as protectors of Islam. During this period, the first confrontation with non-Muslims took place. In other words, the high-level of religiosity meant that the staunch supporters of the awakening period viewed non-Muslims as enemies who should be fought and their culture combated.
Extremism has replaced tolerance. Mosque imams who were influenced by the awakening period spread its principles and called upon people to hate non-Muslims and fight anyone supporting them. Civil institutions were affected by the awakening culture as well. It is this awakening culture that is responsible for the distorted and dangerous ideological ideas held by many young men today.
I have studied and discussed dozens of strategies calling for fighting extremism and fanaticism in society. Never once have these strategies dug deep into the real causes and motives of extremism. The historical background of the rise of this culture indicates that the future will be even more dangerous than the present. When the awakening culture emerged, one form of religiosity was imposed on society in the name of religion and many young men and institutions adopted it.
Then young men with high levels of religiosity started to clash with some members of the public in order to impose certain practices on society, and all of this was done in the name of the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice. The goal was to control society and eliminate threats to the awakening and to fight anyone who opposed the awakening culture.
The third phase started when the supporters of this thought adopted the idea of jihad and solidarity with Muslims everywhere. In this phase, things started to become more dangerous and the whole world saw a series of explosions, one of which took place in Riyadh in 1995.
In the fourth phase, the concept of extremism changed and suicide operations were introduced, causing destruction in society and the deaths of many innocent people. One suicide operation took place in 2003. The fifth phase combined suicide operations with attacks. Suicide bombers wore explosive belts around their waists and blew themselves up as a way to attack the security institutions of society. Security officers were targeted.
We do not know what terrorists have up their sleeves for the sixth phase, which may well be more dangerous than the preceding ones.
