Why is Islam in AfPak degrading with anarchy and radicalism, while Malaysia, Indonesia, and South East are evolving into civilized societies despite practicing Islam?
Not sure, but if one can speculate, economic regression and lack of education play a prominent role in keeping those anarchists (and their mullahs) at busy with the religious cause. Opportunities and education, conversely, will keep these elements in control.
Another cause, which has long been usurped, in AfPak including Kashmir, that their land is in trouble. Those from the middle east suffer from crusader syndrome (just created this word, so don’t say you knew it), which the followers from distant southeast Asia don’t align with.
Also, the shades of Wahhabism gradually fade and dilute, as you reach distant land. Only if Sufism or Ahmadias start taking over will we see a recession in radical Islam.
No one can deny having met absolutely superhuman beings from Islam. So, if Islam were to be bad, all these folks would too. The problem is not with Islam, the problem is with the brand of Islam. Islam has several flavors, and it is deeply subject to interpretation. The educated and elite know how to interpret Islam, the uneducated, deprived of economic opportunities and without a milieu to question or reflect, never get to know the real Islam. Added to that, economic regression, war and a constant barrage of the threat to their religion/region create a cauldron for a radical brand. More so, the Wahhabism school is a firebrand, whereas the Sufism and Ahmadis are more open and relatively evolved.
Generally, in any society, irrespective of religion, the sane are polite and modest in interaction, whereas, those who are less mature are aggressive and to some extent, go unscathed. This phenomenon also exists amongst the practitioners of Islam. Those educated and elite, take a nonaggressive modest humble approach and those irrational and uneducated take aggressive approaches. Consequently, the sane voice is diluted and the aggressive one heard.
Islam is good, those interpreting Islam (aggressive Mullah’s) are responsible for its defamation. That also means practitioners of any religion define its class and interpretations. No religion is barred from this, including Hindu radicals and fanatics.
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