Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi Meshari Al-Zaydi was a young Islamist activist in Buraidah, Qassim. He was jailed with some of his comrades after they burned shops selling videos of movies. In prison, he had the chance to revisit all his convictions. Extensive reading in religion and politics led him to reconsider. “My sheikhs never mentioned these books,” he tells me. “They only provided certain references that narrowly explain Islam. I remember when I'd be holding myself up in my room fighting temptation to watch football games on TV. Almost every entertainment was a sin “haram” in their interpretation. I regret now the many tournament finals I missed!” he quipped. Meshari today is fighting extremism in TV programs and newspapers' editorials. He warns of more Daesh following if we don't cut the roots. Like him are a number of ex-Islamists who fought the atheist Marxists in Afghanistan, like Mansoor Alnugaidan and Abdullah Bin Bijad. Going through a tough transition from extreme Islamism to extreme anti-Islamism, they made and lost many friends and allies down the road. Known today as new-born “liberals,” they don't shy away from their past experience. Regarding their generation as victims of “Al-Sahwa” (awakening) movement, they vowed to expose and fight it. Using satellite TVs, like Al-Arabiya, pan-Arab dailies, like Al-Hayat and Asharq Alawsat, and publishing houses in anti-Islamists countries, like UAE and Egypt, as well as the social media, they have been waging war on political Islam. The other camp, too, is not sitting still. A super star sheikh has called them Westernized liberals, and accused their media of leading a war on Islam. His followers on Twitter are in the millions. He calls for Jihad, in general, but specifies certain areas, like Syria. While he does not ask Muslims to join Daesh (so-called IS), Al-Qaeda or similar terrorist groups, such calls are influencing the conscious of so many and leading some to answer Jihad invitations, which only come from terrorist organizations. Like him, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of preachers spreading hate, sectarianism and divisive messages. Interestingly, they never do the dirty work themselves, or allow their children to answer such calls. A former extremist, Solaiman Al-Jubaila, relates “I was on my way to burn a video store, but decided to warn the shop owner first. He inquired about the fatwa source, and I told him it came from the imam of our mosque. The shop owner's next question awakened me: “If it was the right thing to do,” he asked, “why the imam hadn't done it himself?” True, I thought to myself, the sheikh should have led the way and given us an example to follow. Instead, he put us in harm's way and stayed out of trouble. That is not fair!” Decades later, Solaiman is now firmly and proudly in the opposite camp. A pro-women rights and anti political Islam, he wrote his life story as TV series, and is fighting on social media what he regards as the ills of an orthodox world. Our society is torn between extremes. The ultra religious and ultra liberal camps are taking us apart. Vocal, energetic and persistent, they use every means in their arsenal to convince us that the other is the devil. Our youth are particularly affected. Increasing numbers are becoming atheist, as a result. Areej is one of them. She felt that neither camp satisfied her thirst for knowledge. The religious camp didn't like her philosophical questions. They pushed her out of their camps before she corrupted their members' heads. The liberal only had political answers for her. Their agendas are too realistic for her philosophical mind. Others are becoming too materialists, self-centered and uninvolved. “Who cares?” says Adel. “We should live our lives the way we like it. It is too short to confuse it with ideologies. My motto is simple: Enjoy every minute to the limit. Since money is an essential mean, I'd earn it anyway I can. In their lexicon, me comes first, then my beloved. The rest is God's business!” Extremism is a mindset. When we let it rule, it produces extremists on all sides. They shout and fight for attention and conviction. Instead of productive cooperation, we get destructive competition. The likes of Al-Qaeda, Daesh Hezbollah and Al-Houthis grow and prosper in such environment. Regional powers, ambitious power-seekers, terrorist and criminal organizations are feeding on extremism and recruiting extremists. To win back our youth, we need to study the phenomenon in depth. Our scholars in all related fields — such as sociology, psychology, religion, politics and criminology — should find us answers and solutions. Then we all must work together to spread the true Islamic culture of tolerance, earth-building, cooperation and moderation. Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him at Twitter:@kbatarfi
