Who are the real extremists?

Extremism is the deviation of any ideology beyond the perceived ideological centre of a society; a violation of common moral or political standards. Moderation is the opposite. In  the recent history of the Maldives we have known ‘extremists’ as defined by Western stereotypes and agendas onto religious group of people, a slur often hurled at individuals dedicated to adhering to the fundamentals of the Islamic faith.

Groups self-identifying as “moderates” are quick to let the label stick onto such fundamentalist groups and individuals.

What is true or not, Allaah knows it best for us to be told at the Day of Judgment.

For now, we only know the obvious.

And, even looking past the thick haze of name-calling, it is quite obvious the extremists and the moderates really are, especially in here in Maldives.

It has become the norm in the Maldives to confuse a fundamentalist with an extremist. One, therefore, who would grow out a beard, perform prayers five times a day, strictly, and generally adhere to actions and practices found in the Sunnah would not be praised as a pious worshiper, or even as an practitioner of religious orthodoxy—but as a raving extremist. The ultra-Orthodox rabbis of the Zionist State get more respect from their laymen.

There do exist, we admit, real extremists in our midst who do deserve such labels.

There is a limit to everything in Islam as it preaches the best practices of becoming a balanced human being. But as for some, due to differing interpretations of the texts, Islam may be taken into practice in a radically different form.

These radical differences bring forth the extreme sects; one of which gets television air-time; others of which tend to follow their whims and desires and commit acts which border apostasy. The diversity of these extremist deviations is one which the average Maldivian has yet to appreciate.

In this country, it is only a very small fraction who could be in need of proper guidance towards righteousness.

Democracy would imply that every adult citizen will have have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Assuming this decision, it would be fanciful to describe the Maldives as a democracy; as the only opinions that matter, are taken into account, and are left unpersecuted are those that come from within the party in power.

We have witnessed the fall of a 30 year old regime lead by a dictator to some, a champion to others and a humanist to then some. And what we witnessed during was nothing but political extremism through the intense revolutionists, mostly of those representing the current ruling the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). Their ideology belongs in the extreme Capitalist Libertarian (right-wing) of the political spectrum.

We would witness constant protests that were labelled peaceful, yet would devolve into scuffles between protesters and the riot police; that would involve clashes and so forth. Had this been a more ethnically and religiously diverse country: there would have been bloodshed.

The MDP have, since their rise to power, shown very harsh resistance to dissenting and opposing voices. Fraternizing with a rival party-member had lead a State Minister into handing in his resignation this week, due to harassment and bullying by a mob associated with the MDP. Protests against government policy by Opposition members had been brutally crushed earlier this year, and their demands had not been taken into account. An Opposition protest last week week, one of the largest and most peaceful this country had seen, had been tainted with MDP propaganda as an “extremist plot” and the “abuse of religion as a political tool”.

Ibrahim “Buruma” Gasim, a wealthy businessman from Maamigili, participated in the December 23 Protest and had publicly spoken out against the MDP government. The following days saw a government crackdown on his businesses in the form of legal cases, shutdowns, and public accusations.

Criticism against the party remains unheard and unacknowledged, the only counter-arguments are fabrications, accusations, and unjust exercises of executive power. Yet, these methods seem to be only recognized as wrong and extreme when practiced by the Opposition.

Looking at ideological extremism in both politics and religious matters, it is more than obvious that extremism is extreme at the political side. It is not radical tough, because it is immature in its own nature of conscience.

Whoever argues extremism in Islam is not obviously right. Because true extremists stands at the podiums in the political arena, who pass all the limits and transgress Islamic Sharia.

So here we are left with the question to answer ourselves; who are the real extremists?