In recent months, much ink has been spilt
exploring why some young British Muslims abandon a comfortable life
in the UK to join one of the most brutal and blood-thirsty terrorist
groups in recent history, namely the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
(ISIS). Sadly, much of this commentary has struggled to move beyond
clichés that revolve around hate preachers and extremist websites.
In order to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of why a group like
ISIS is able to attract hundreds of young British Muslims, we must
examine a wide range of factors that contribute towards creating a
ISIS narrative that has resonance and appeal.
This involves facing up to some uncomfortable truths about
contemporary Muslim political discourse and coming to terms with the
negative impact of the recent lurch towards vacuous literalism within
British Muslim communities.
There is a fundamental cognitive dissonance in the
minds of many young Muslims in Britain today. On
one hand a conservative religious upbringing informs
individuals that they alone have the true holy book, the
true God and, of course, the true religion. This gives
rise to lofty expectations for Muslim societies globally.
However, the reality of contemporary Muslim
societies, mired in poverty, illiteracy, violence and
corruption as they are, stands in stark contrast to such
grand expectations.
This perturbing juxtaposition requires an explanation that neither denies
the perceived reality nor challenges Muslim exclusivist tendencies.
Such an explanation or narrative needs to take into account the sense of
victimhood and humiliation some Muslims feel and seek to externalize.
It also needs to offer a program for restoring much-needed collective
pride.
In essence, groups like ISIS are filling this gaping void, a void other
post-colonial nationalist movements have failed to fill. In the eyes of
the jihadists, Muslim societies around the world are struggling today
because they have been systemically undermined by western neo-
colonialism and strayed from the true Islam. The solution, therefore, is
to expel any semblance of western influence, along with their local
stooges and puppets, and introduce a strict and harsh interpretation of
Islam.
The attraction for some is then obvious since by this
narrative a struggle to understand complex geo-
politics is replaced with a simplistic "one size fits all"
framework. It does not require one to expend energy in
difficult and searching introspection since all blame
can be shifted to the perceived enemy and sinister
anti-Muslim conspiracy theories.
It replaces the quest for a firm sense of identity in an
increasingly globalized and, at times, disorientating
world with a militant and aggressive Muslim identity
that seeks conflict rather than co-existence in order to
distinguish itself, be relevant and create tribal
cohesion.
Some Muslims who don't subscribe to the tactics and
ideological world-view of groups like ISIS still buy
into the broad narrative such jihadist and Islamist
groups purvey. The adoption of this broader narrative
has become the default anti-establishment politics of
today. It is a means of expressing solidarity and
asserting a bold new identity while being a vehicle for
seeking the restoration of pride and self-dignity.
Of course, for most British Muslims the ISIS
narrative has no resonance whatsoever and alternative
narratives to ease the cognitive dissonance are sought. However, the
steady increase in ultra-conservative Islamic mores in recent years,
backed by petro-dollars from Gulf Arab States, has meant the number
of young Muslims that do sympathize with the ISIS narrative is
alarmingly high. After all, the ISIS reading of scripture deviates very
little from the Wahabism aggressively promoted by certain Gulf States.
The hundreds of British nationals did not abandon their families in the
UK to join ISIS in a vacuum. The proliferation of literalist and austere
strands of Islam combined with the inability of mainstream Muslim
commentators to articulate a political narrative that does not reinforce
the victimhood status and perceptions of grand anti-Muslim
conspiracies have paved the way for ISIS propagandists. In the
meantime, the over-reliance of Western states on law and war as a
means of combating what is ultimately an ideological threat has meant
extremist recruiters have yet to encounter a direct ideological challenge.
As things stand, British and other Western-born Muslims will continue
being recruited to groups like ISIS as long as we fail to diagnose the
problem correctly. A correct diagnosis needs to be followed by a
direct and robust ideological challenge that is accompanied by
alternative models and narratives for explaining the decrepit state of
Muslim societies. Of course, positive political models that young
Muslims can aspire to also need to be articulated in a fashion that
does not alienate or patronize.
In the absence of this, dark forces that rely on unprecedented levels of
brutality will continue to rise and fill a void we failed to identify.
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