Radicalism In Islam

Radicalism refers to extremely violent acts in the name of religion. Extremists are willing to undertake violent acts in the service of God and have little sympathy for their victims because these victims are the enemies of God. Just as importantly, religious radicalism inculcates the will to readily sacrifice one’s own life for the returns of ‘martyrdom’ that comes through the perceived service of God. However, religious radicalism or religious extremism is not defined by violent acts alone.

It is necessary to mention that radicalism is not intrinsic to Islam and radical interpretations of the religion or for that matter may occur within any way of life and religion (Saikal, 2003), and yet, the question remains as to why Muslims in certain

There are different reasons of radicalism seen in different measures in different parts of the world. For knowing the reason behind radicalization or radicals persons, one has to understand the causes. Tracing these causes is one of the ways to eliminate such behavior. The first step in the elimination of the radical sentiments in a person is to develop peace in his personality, (Fair, Malhotra, & Shapiro, 2010). The chapter, which has been addressed here, is going to shed light on the roots and symptoms of the radicalism. There will be a brief discussion on how the roots of radicalism can be traced and can be eliminated. The assessment and discussion will be conducted on the parameters of the economy, media, politics, and theology from social cultural point of view. According to the analysis of Ahrari, (2000), political factor is one of the major and direct factors which have resulted in causing of the radicalism. These factors however intertwine with one another. Radical actions cannot take place only because of the political factors. There are other factors also that should be given equal importance, in accordance with the work of Nasr

Huntington theory explains that Islam is the only religion of violence and Islam is originated from tribal conflict and even the birth of Islamic religion is violent. In the Holy Quran and other Islamic books use the authoritative language that convinces Muslims to use violence against non-Muslims. On the contrary, Lieven’s theory of religion and nationalism explain that the differences between different ethnic groups lead to violent conflict. In Pakistan many different ethnic groups are living together and the main cause of violent conflict and radicalism are ethnic