We cannot blame the entire Muslim community for the wrongdoing of a few radicals among Muslim community. It would be wrong to make any generalisation out of this crime.
by Dr SLM Rifai
What went wrong with Sri Lankan Muslim community? Why this brutal massacre took place in Sri Lanka? Who brainwashed these radicals? Why Sri Lankan government has been complicit on this issue of Muslim radicalism? What made these radicals to commit this brutal crime? Are there any external and internal forces that supported these radicals to commit this crime?
I can not imagine that any Sri Lankan will go to this extent to attack follow Sri Lankans like this. Today, in this modern digital world of technology and social network, people could be easily radicalised. Many studies about Brenton Tarrant who killed over 50 people New Zealand tells us he was extremely radicalised with the ideologies of far rights. Internet networks indoctrinate youths all over the world. In fact, it looks that these men have been radicalised locally and internationally with their connection with radical groups. It would be wrong to blame the entire Muslim community for the actions of a few radical groups. In fact, many religious and political leaders have been telling the
The Sri Lankan Muslim community must do some self-reflection about their role and duty in this country. Sri Lankan Muslim community must do something to de-radicalise Muslim youths. We all know well that many different ideological groups intrude into our community. Many of them are moderate groups and yet, some radical groups too influence our youths. So, it is a duty of each Muslim family to protect their children from this menace of Muslim extremism. Islam does not allow any kind of extremism. Islam is a religion of moderation and yet, some radical youths interpret Islamic dogmas and theological principles wrongly. Something went wrong in religious learning in the Muslim community all over the world. There is no point in denying this fact. Do not deny this historical truth. Qur’an and Hadith do not create radicals and yet, human minds create radicals.
Human minds wrongly get radical ideas from the primary sources of Islam. Unfortunately. there is no any condition or qualifications to read the primary sources of Islam. Anyone with or without knowledge could read the primary sources of Islam. Anyone could become experts in Islam without training and without learning. To speak for Islam, you do not need to have any qualifications. This has been a trend in Islamic history. People with different level of intelligence, skills and experiences approached the Qur’an and traditions. As a result of this today we See Muslim youths become radicals. I do not say they should not read the Qur’an and traditions, but they must be taught by moderate Islamic scholars. Today, Muslim world is full of radical clerics. They read the literal meanings of the text without any contextual understanding of the text. That is a big challenge that the Muslim community faces all over the world. Sometimes, these radicals came to some erroneous conclusions. These groups are radicalised with their wrong reading or wrong training. Until we sort out this issue, we will see more and more radicals in the Muslim world.
Saudi clerics played a big role on this issue. so, this is a fight between literal and rational schools of Islamic thought. We will not be able to wipe out radicalism overnights. It needs some solid planning in long terms. This is not merely a Sri Lankan problem. Sri Lankan government could do little to deradicalize youths in Sri Lanka. It is a global problem. Wrong foreign policies of some western countries made this matter worst by encouraging more radicalism in Muslim youths. In the name of war on terror, some western countries created more radicals in the world. So many factors contributed from growth of radicalism in the Muslim world. Deradicalization of Muslim youths need support and cooperation of many sectors. Governments alone cannot tackle this issue. All sections of the community must cooperate with governments to wipe out radicalism. Muslim community must take some steps to de-radicalise Muslim youths. Muslim youths must be educated on the arts of living in a non-Muslim polity and they must be educated to respect other people’s culture, religions and traditions. Sri Lankan Muslims are second minority community in Sri Lanka so, they must know how to respect and appreciate different culture and traditions. Generally speaking, 99% Muslims are getting on well and yet, these radicals got some odd concepts about different cultures, religions and cultures.
We cannot blame the entire Muslim community for the wrongdoing of a few radicals among Muslim community. It would be wrong to make any generalisation out of this crime. 99.99% of Sri Lankan Muslim public condemn this crime and they deplore this massacre. This is a crime that no person will accept it. We did not see these kinds of fanatics among Muslim community in the past and yet, today, modern information technology and social networks have been used to spread this viral of radical ideas in this world. So, I think that these Muslim youths who committed this brutal crime, have been radicalised. They have been radicalised either by local groups or international groups. Otherwise, by social networks. To do this kind of crime, they must be deeply radicalised.It is through education we could change it not through reactionary steps. Islam has been hijacked by these radicals. It could damage the goodwill of Muslims and Islam across the globe. These radicals have damaged the good image of Islam
First, Sri Lankan Muslims should know how to live in this country. They must understand that they live in a country that shares 4 main religious groups. So, they ought to know how to respect people of different cultures, religions and faiths. They must know Sri Lanka is not Saudi Arabia or Pakistan to apply all aspects of Islamic law in this country. Muslims must know their limits and limitation in application of Islamic concepts in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan constitution has given us a full religious freedom and right to practice our religion freely. For centuries, Sri Lankan kings protected Muslim community in Sri Lanka. During the Portuguese onslaught on Sri Lankan Muslim communities during the colonial period, it was Sinhalese kings who protected Muslim communities in Sri Lanka. Portuguese colonisers chased them out from Colombo and costal areas. It was kind Sinhalese kings who sheltered the Muslim community in many parts of Sri Lanka. That is why we still see Sri Lankan Muslim community is scattered across the Island. We, the Muslim community owe a lot to Sinhalese community for their kindness and for kings’ protection of Muslim community. I think that our political leaders understood this well in the past. That is why they always stood with Sinhalese political leaders. We, Muslim community must be thankful to Sinhalese community for this historical generosity.
These attacks are barbaric attacks in Sri Lankan history. I condemn these brutal attacks from the bottom of my heart. Innocent devotees are brutally killed in this manner in some of holiest places in Sri Lanka. These fanatics have brought shame upon the entire Muslim community in the world. No true Muslim will accept this kind of barbarism at all. It is against basic Islamic teaching to kill any human soul. No Muslim cleric with a sound mind will approve this brutality. No divine text supports this action. These fanatics should be punished in this world and the next life as well. They do not have any moral value to do this barbaric act. They do not have any licence to kill people like this in this brutal manner. Islam totally prohibits these kinds of suicide attack on the sacred places of any other religious faiths. It is a duty of Sri Lankan government to find out these people who have committed this atrocity and punish them in accordance with the law of land. The perpetrators of these attacks must be punished at any cost. We have been living peacefully over 1000 years in Sri Lanka yet, no Muslim dared to do this kind of crime in the past. No Muslim dared to damage a good name of Sri Lanka in this way. No Muslim dared to harm Sri Lankan economy in this way. Yet, these fanatics have done something unpresented inhistoryof Muslims in this country. They have indeed, tarnished a good name of our community. 99% of Sri Lankan Muslim community are innocent. They love to live in peace with other communities. We, any generalisation would be wrong on this issue.
These fanatics got some wrong understanding of their religion. These fanatics have been brain washed by some alien ideologies. It is true that these fanatics have been indoctrinated by some Safali, ISIS, and Al-Qaida type ideologies. Yet, for a long time, Sri Lankan authorities have been complicit on this issue. I do not know if it is some thing to do with intelligence failure or Sri Lankan government has belittled these groups. Many Muslim politicians and moderate religious leaders called upon government to take actions against these fanatics and yet, Sri Lankan government did not know anything about them. some of these fanatic groups get a huge amount money from some Gulf countries. That is why Sri Lankan government has failed to act against these fanatics. Moreover, Sri Lankan military officials, intelligence officials and politicians do not know how to distinguish radical groups from moderate Islamic groups, the mystical Muslim groups from violent groups, the ordinary Muslims from extremist Muslims groups. Moreover, these radical groups have been breeding in Sri Lanka for some time and yet, no action was taken by the authorities. Now, Sri Lanka has paid a big price. Government needs some expert’s advice to make a distinction between moderate and radical groups. It must hire some good academics to do this. Otherwise, radicalism will breed in Sri Lanka like many other parts of Middle East. So, it is a duty of Sri Lankan government to act swiftly on this issue.
So many conspiracy theories are coming up around these attacks. whatever has been assumed about these attacks, these are well coordinated attacks. It is a common sense that these fanatics can not do these attacks without the support of some external or internal people. Who supported them? why did they support them? why did they target Churches?Why did they target the hotels? Why did not government act if CID knew about it. Are there any political motives behind it? These are some of the basic questions about these attacks. Extremism has no race, no religion, no ethnicity and no language. So, we as human beings must condemn these attacks and we hope Sri Lankan government will do all what it could to find the culprits and bring them into book. I trust Sri Lankan government has had enough experience and skills to handle this issue. So, we hope that government will take some concrete measures to prevent any further attack like this. It will take some time to get the truth about this incident. All religious leaders are united that no innocent people should be punished for the action of a few radicals. Yet, Muslim community is adamant that this group must be wiped out from Sri Lanka. These radicals should not have any place in Sri Lanka. Muslim community has a duty too in this respect. They must act swiftly to stop radical teaching in Muslim community. No point in hiding the truth about it. There are some radical elements among us. They fight for many trivial issues. Who are fighting for some minor jurisprudential issues in Sri Lanka? Who divided Muslim villages in Sri Lanka? It is a duty of Muslim community to decide who speak for Muslims and who speak for Islam? It is a duty of Muslim community to encourage a moderate Islam in Sri Lanka. When youths go away from a moderate path, they end up in this extremism. So, we should think how to guide next generation. We should monitor all Arabic colleges and we should monitor the religious education in Sri Lanka. It is a duty of parent to guide their children on this matter.
We must learn a lesson from Roman catholic community of Sri Lanka. Their religious leaders acted with patience and kindness even in this difficult situation. They did not generalise this issue. They did not blame the entire Muslim community for this brutal action of some radical Muslim youths. They set a good example in this time of carnage. They have demonstrated their ethical and moral conduct in the best possible way. Of course, all are emotionally charged in this difficult situation and yet, they used their wisdom in this issue. They did not incite violence or any attacks on Muslim community for the action of some radical Muslim youths. We must learn from them too.Ipersonally feel that the religious competitiveness among Islamic groups has indeed, paved the way for this carnage. It is a duty of all Islamic groups to think and consider about their religious activities. I may be wrong, but I do not like this unwanted competition among Muslim religious groups, be honest, do not we fight in the name of different groups. All this resentment among different Islamic groups may have created these kinds of radical youths. Each group claims that they are in a right path as if Allah has given them the keys of paradise in their hands. This internal fight among Muslim communities may have misguided these groups. Until we wipe out radicalism among us, we do not have any hope in Sri Lanka. We must create a moderate Muslim community in Sri Lanka. It needs a good planning and good teaching methods. Arabic colleges are not good enough to do this yet, all Arabic colleges must update their teaching and learning methods in Sri Lanka to meet the needs of Sri Lankan communities. The Sri Lankan Muslim community must put its house in order. No point in blaming Sri Lankan government or Sinhalese community. Yes, we have seen some radical elements among Sinhalese community for the last 8 years and yet, we have failed to represent some Islamic rituals in Sri Lankan contexts in a right way.
So far, Sri Lankan government has been maintaining law and order without any riot. The government has taken some extra care and some swift action to keep law and order in this critical condition. It imposed curfew for the last three days and given holidays for schools and universities to avoid any backlashes. Sri Lankan government has experience and skills to control riots, and it has learned a lot from 30 years of war. We, Muslim be thankful to Sri Lankan government and the forces of Sri Lanka for protecting Muslim community in this volatile situation. In return, Sri Lankan Muslim community must do something to wipe out radicalism from Sri Lankan Muslim community. This needs some long-term strategies. Sri Lankan government has so far handled with problem with wisdom. It has showed the world that Sri Lankan government has skills and capability to deal with this problem. In fact, Sri Lankan people are educated enough to know all regional and international geopolitics of modern world. So, Sri Lankan authorities have handled this local problem locally without asking any external support to resolve this local issue.
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