For years, we’ve heard how the peaceful religion of Islam has been hijacked by extremists.This is an excellent question. And while the answer to the question may affect how we try to help the peaceful types defeat the jihadi types, it must not change how we frame the debate.
What if it’s the other way around? Worse, what if the peaceful hijackers are losing their bid to take over the religion?
But remember that Pakistan, the example in question, is not all of Islam. As Strategypage has noted in the past, Bangladesh does not have the same jihadi problem as Pakistan. Pakistan's jihadi problem stems from the decision by the government of Pakistan more than thirty years ago to use extreme Islam as a way to bolster the state. It hasn't worked out so well, of course, as our news shows us. But Pakistan shouldn't be used as the template for all of the Moslem world.
Even if the alternative to our current assumption of Islam being basically peace-oriented with jihadis hijacking the basic religion is the right way to go and Islam really is basically pro-jihad, we should not change our public framing of the issue. Indeed, if Islam is a basically pro-jihadi religion with pro-peaceful elements trying to change the religion, it is even more important that we continue to say that the peaceful types are the natural form of Islam. How would it help the peaceful types in the Islamic civil war persuade more Moslems to side with them if we tell the Moslem world we believe that the jihadis are the natural form of Islam?
The important part to understand that there is a civil war within Islam that we must help the peaceful types win before chemical, biological, and even nuclear weapons become more readily available to non-state and even individual actors. If there are too many of the jihadi types around--or if, God forbid, the jihadis win the civil war, one day the jihadis will use WMD against a Western city (or Hindu city, or Jewish city, or Buddhist city, or heck--maybe against a Moslem city of the "wrong" type of Moslems). If that happens, there really will be a war of civilizations between the dominant jihadi form of Islam and the rest of the world that fears that it, too, could become a victim of mass casualty attacks by jihadis.
Have a nice day.
UPDATE: While there is a civil war on within Islam, it is good to remember that Pakistan is hardly the typical Moslem state. In Egypt, which has problems of its own, a large number of Moslems demonstrated solidarity with their Christian neighbors under seige by jihadis:
Egypt’s majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night. What had been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside.
From the well-known to the unknown, Muslims had offered their bodies as “human shields” for last night’s mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife.
Now these are human shields I can respect. They went to targets likely to be hit by jihadis, unlike the faux brave human shields who went to Iraq before the Iraq War to "guard" orphanages and other locations that we'd never hit.
I don't care if these Moslems are insurgents or counter-insurgents. They fight for the right form of Islam and deserve our support.
