The Silent Majority: AND THE EXTREMISTS WITHIN

OPEN Floor

The Silent Majority AND THE EXTREMISTS WITHIN

by Farhan Noor, Editor Critic Magazine

 Pakistan is standing at crossroads. There is a freedom struggle going on in Balochistan, war in Northern and Tribal Areas between the Taliban forces and the Pak Army amidst all this energy crisis, water crisis, and political crisis. Some fear a repeat of ’71 is inevitable. U.S. is threatening a unilateral strike in the North which can easily escalate and spread across the country. The future remains uncertain. We—the Silent Majority—are the ones who are actually paying the price (with our lives, interest rates, inflation, fear of uncertainty etc). Perhaps it is about time we start thinking about matters other than just our families and our careers—after all, Pakistan is in need of help. But this begs the question: what exactly is or should be our role in this entire drama? Or should we just do what we do the best: be silent and spectate and wait for things to settle down and resolve by itself?

See Table A: Identifying the Extremists Within

 

Views on:	Muslim Extremists/Terrorists	Muslim Moderates (Silent Majority)	Constitution of Pakistan 1973	Muslim Secularists/Liberalists
Politics	Doesn’t care whether it’s a democratic or autocratic setup, as long as Shariah is established	Shariah-compliant Democracy	Shariah-compliant Democracy. “No Law shall be enacted repugnant of Quran & Sunnah”	Neo-liberalistic Democracy Shariah has no place in the political setup of the country. Enforcement of European or American secular socio-economic and political order instead
Economics	Elimination of Riba, poverty, gambling, cultivation of drugs, equitable distribution of wealth	Elimination of Riba, poverty, gambling, cultivation of drugs, equitable distribution of wealth	Supreme Court’s decision against Riba	Naked capitalism: Riba its hallmark Survival of the fittest mentality, therefore no real steps or intentions to eliminate poverty or equitably distribute wealth in the country
Society & Culture	Ban on the sale of Alcohol, on music, lavish lifestyle, singing, dancing, modeling, Basant destruction of all pornographic material Interference in personal lives of the people to force them keep beard No pursuit of scientific education	Sale of Alcohol should be limited to licensed outlets for non-Muslims only Enforcement of strict censorship on vulgar, obscene, and non-family media programs Believes there is room for music, singing, and dancing in Islam but not modeling and beauty pageantries Believes nobody has the right to interfere in private matters Pursues scientific education	Ban on the sale of Alcohol Ban on Basant Ban on food at weddings (wanton display of wealth) Music, singing, dancing should not be vulgar or obscene Nobody has the right to interfere in personal matters of the citizens	Sale of Alcohol should be allowed Music, singing, dancing, modeling and beauty pageantries considered morally acceptable forms of entertainment Pursues and promote scientific education
Legal Matters	Death Penalty to Adulterer, Rapist, Apostasy, for Blasphemy, Lashes to fornicator, Drunkards, lying witnesses Chopping of thief’s hands	Whatever-Shariah-Says mentality while grossly ignorant of what Shariah wants; susceptible to manipulation and exploitation of their ignorance by both religious and secular extremists	Death Penalty to Adulterer, Rapist, Apostasy, for Blasphemy Lashes to fornicator, Drunkards, lying witnesses Chopping of thief’s hands	Strict adherents to U.N. charter of human rights and women’s rights (CEDAW) Consider death penalty, lashing, and chopping of hands as “barbaric” and “prehistoric” laws
Women’s Rights	Burqah (complete veil), Purda (complete segregation), and char-dewari Ban on coeducation Roles: as wife and/or mother only Consider polygamy legal Distribution of inheritance on Quranic laws: women usually get half	Believes a woman should be modestly dressed. Hair and arms should be covered Rejects char-dewari: women have right to work if they want Divided on co-education Polygamy and Inheritance Laws as per what Shariah says	Women should be modest in clothing (Media Laws) Rejects char-dewari Polygamy and Inheritance Laws as sanctioned by Shariah	Considers Hijab (modest clothing), Polygamy, Quranic Inheritance Law as discriminatory of womenfolk Women must work. Family and children can take care for themselves
Focus of Life	Only on hereafter	Both on earthly life and hereafter	Both on earthly life and hereafter	Greatly on earthly life
Agenda	“Enforcement” of Shariah in Pakistan No personal interests involved	“Establishment” of Shariah in Pakistan	“Establishment” of Shariah in Pakistan	Sheer personal interests Blatant pursuit of power and wealth
Modus Operandi	Through force (hard revolution) Terrorizing people into submission to Islam through suicide bombings Concept of Jihad believed as waging a war against whoever rejects Shariah Create State within State and taking the Law into their own hands	Through preaching (soft revolution) Believes in participatory citizenship; that change can brought through competing in elections etc	Strict enforcement and adherence of the Constitution in toto	Through force (direct confrontation) Clashes with extremists in order to “root out” extremism Through manipulation and exploitation of moderates ignorance of Shariah
Professional Life	Suicide Bombers Militants	Family & Career		Politicians, NGO’s and women activists—by and large, but not all
Strength	2-4%	92%		2-4%

Fast Food For Thoughts:

1. The demands of religious extremists are not only religiously correct but also constitutionally legal! What makes it even more interesting is the fact that these people are not after power or for money but are instead only fighting for the establishment of Shariah in Pakistan, something which is hardly objectionable. Their demands for elimination of Riba, Gambling, Drugs, shutting down of Brothels and end to Prostitution, ban on sale of Alcohol, and destruction of all Pornographic Material is again NOT ONLY religiously correct, constitutionally legal, but also socio-economically beneficial. However, their actions—of militancy and suicide bombing—are greatly condemnable and outright abhorrent which cannot be justified under any pretext or pretension. Little is wonder why they find no public support even though their demands are valid.

 

2. On the other hand, the secular extremists feel that the European and American secular laws must replace the now “outdated” Shariah. For them, Islam is just not good enough. Therefore, even though these people claim to be moderates and loyal to Islam, they have no intentions on eliminating Riba, Gambling, Drugs, to shut down Brothels and end Prostitution, ban sale of Alcohol, and censor the prevailing Vulgarity and Obscenity in electronic media today let alone porn! Little is wonder why the Hudood Ordinance was abolished but the Heera Mandi continues to thrive on. Both their demands (secularization of Pakistan) and their actions (see Table A) are clearly unconstitutional and illegal. They are bent on changing the ideology of Pakistan and on adulterating the essence of Islam in the name of “modernization” while in blatant pursuit of power and wealth—and this to me is really the greatest and the worst form of extremism.

 

3. Clearly—both extremist factions (religious and secular)—are detrimental to the health of our country. One (religious extremists) are terrorizing innocent people and disturbing the peace of the society while the other (secular extremists) are systematically and categorically secularizing Pakistan from the top to the bottom through the tools of Education and Media. Both must be condemned and rejected. This leaves us—the silent majority—to do something now for the country to save it from spiraling down into a civil war or becoming another victim of war of terrorism by the U.S. But first we must clearly understand how the International Media have grouped the extremists and the moderates into one category and declared the secularists as the moderates. This can easily be done if we only differentiate between people based on what they believe in and not with what label or construct (Talibanization, Mullahism, etc) they have been stereotyped with. For e.g.: what we see secularism as something ‘modern’ and ‘enlightened’ and ‘progressive’ is but another form of extremism and nothing else, and this what we must see through now.

 

4. The most important thing that we—the Silent Majority—should do is to take a stance and stop being hypocritically neutral. This continuing silence and passivity and more annoyingly, this gross ignorance of current affairs, and lack of passion and interest in the desire for change is harmful not only to ourselves but also for the country. Unless we citizens participate or at least seek to participate in decision-making activities of the socio-economic and political policies of the country, the country will forever remain weak and unstable and a soft target for our enemies both from within and from the without.

 

 

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