This presentation examines on extremism and act of terror committed at the global level. Since extremism is an age-old phenomenon that existed all throughout in the history of mankind, the presentation will focus on the many forms of extremism that happen during this modern age of globalization and telecommunication. The crux of the presentation will focus on the root causes of extremism and how to remedy the ever increasing rate of terror attacks that happens all over the world. The researchers have also highlighted that it is unfair to associate extremism carried out by people to their religions. This sort of an unfair judgment has been done in the case of a Muslim to Islam, while the non-Muslim is associated to mental illness. Last but not least, the researchers call for a concerted effort from all, regardless race and religion to join force to eradicate extremism and make this world a safe place for all to live.

2. Global Extremism: Causes & Remedy
By:
Dr. Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak
Dr. Maziah Bte. Mustapha (Usul al-Din & Comparative Religion)
Department of Inter-Disciplinary Studies
Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences
International Islamic University Malaysia
(maarji@iium.edu.my)
Presented to:
Academic Centre for Education, Culture & Research
Tehran, Iran
March, 2017
© ACECR & maarji

3. Abstract
Global Extremism: Causes & Remedy
This presentation examines on extremism and act of terror committed
at the global level. Since extremism is an age-old phenomenon that
existed all throughout in the history of mankind, the presentation will
focus on the many forms of extremism that happen during this
modern age of globalization and telecommunication. The crux of the
presentation will focus on the root causes of extremism and how to
remedy the ever increasing rate of terror attacks that happens all over
the world. The researchers have also highlighted that it is unfair to
associate extremism carried out by people to their religions. This sort
of an unfair judgment has been done in the case of a Muslim to Islam,
while the non-Muslim is associated to mental illness. Last but not
least, the researchers call for a concerted effort from all, regardless
race and religion to join force to eradicate extremism and make this
world a safe place for all to live.

4. My Research Works
1. Konsepsi Pendidikan Akhlaq Menurut Muhammad Iqbal,
1992, Banda Aceh, Indonesia
2. Human Nature: A Comparative Analysis between
Western and Islamic Psychology, 1997, IIUM
3. Contribution of Iqbal’s Dynamic Personality Theory
to Islamic Psychology: A Contrastive Analysis with
Freud and Selected Mainstream Western
Psychology, 2011, IIUM
4

5. My Book on Iqbal:
Iqbal’s Theory of Personality: A Contrastive Analysis with Freud,
Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany, 2013.
5

6. Extremism is a Global
Phenomenon
• Extremism has been there in the human history
• Extremism has many manifestation; action, words,
belief, political ideology, etc.
• There are regimes in the world which practice
extremism, brutality, oppression, suppression, etc.
• Extreme people believe in “My way or no way or
you take the highway”

7. Religious Extremism
• We have religious extremists in all faith groups
• It is unfair to implicate the shortcomings of
the Muslims to Islam. Likewise sexual
perversion in the West to Christianity
• Religious extremists don’t represent the true
teachings of their religions
• The reality is always very from the ideal. This
is true in all religions

8. Terrorists are Extreme People
• Terrorism is age-old problem. It has been there in
the history of mankind
• Terrorists are found in many communities of the
world
• It is unfair to blame the Muslims and Islam only
• Ever since 9/11 every Muslim is seen as a potential
terrorist in the West. This is wrong
• Good Muslims living in the West and USA
experience abuse and insult hurled against them by
non-Muslims, white supremacists, etc.

9. What is Extremism
• It is the furthest point from the center
• It can be to the point of being extreme or a state of
laxity
• It can be an action
• A psychological state of mind
• A character or behaviour
• Idea and Ideologies

10. What is Moderation
• the quality of doing something within
reasonable limits (Cambridge Dictionary)
• the avoidance of excessiveness or extremes,
especially in one's behavior, actions, or
political views
• Ideas promoted by the Malaysian
government. Under the Wasatiyyah concept, a
balance is maintained in all human actions &
reactions

11. Causes of Extremism
• Feeling superior above all others; it can be an
individual, race, ideology, regime, religious
denomination, cult, etc.
• Oppression can lead to violence, instability of the
mind
• Misinterpretation of religious texts
• Reading religious scriptures out of context
• Bigotry
• fanaticism
• Racism, etc.

12. Media Propaganda
• The world media is not owned by Muslims
• It is wrong on the part of yhe media to associate the
act of violence conducted by a Muslim to Islam
• When it is done by others, their religion is not
linked. At many times their act of violence is
attributed to mental illness
• In spite of the negative media reports, Islam is one
of the fastest grow religions of the world

13. Remedy
• Don’t Play God Almighty on Earth
• Don’t go to the domain of God
• Though one could be a godly person, but he or she
is not God
• Don’t be judgmental and impose punishment on
others
• A religion should be judged by its teachings and not
through the actions of its followers
• There should be a concerted effort from all
countries and religious groups to fight extremism

14. Follow the Role-Model
• Emulate the moderate way from the Malay world,
esp. Malaysia
• “Unity within Diversity”. People of diverse ethnicity,
religion, language & culture live together
• Every group has its right to practice its own religion,
participate in politics, etc.
• Election, dialogue, interfaith discussion can help to
reduce racial & religious tensions

15. In Malaysia
• The economic pie is shared by all races living in the
country
• No racial discrimination is tolerated
• Oppressive regimes in the world can learn good
lessons from Malaysia. Palestinians and Rohingya
problems can be easily resolved by following
Malaysia’s formula in dealing with race related
issues
• The ‘Open-House’ concept practiced in Malaysia
brings people of different race and religion
together. In a way, this prevents racial polarization

16. Follow Prophet Muhammad’s Way
•The best role-model for the whole of mankind
•The way he dealt with the non-Muslims (Jews &
Christians)
•The way he dealt with the prisoners of war
•The mercy and kindness shown towards the
Mushrikeen during the Victory of Mecca
•He advised his followers from going into extreme in
the practice of their religion
•In a war situation, he advised his followers not to
kill women, children, the priestly, not to destroy
food and water resources. Non-combatants lives
should be spared
• Advised the Muslims to fight war when it has been
imposed on the Muslims. Otherwise dialogue is the best

17. War in the Muslim world should stop
• Stop all the uncalled wars and sectarian violence.
Learn from those nations that were into war in the
past. After two World Wars Europeans started to
respect human lives. The Japanese too stopped
going into war. At the moment, all these countries
are into science and technology and their countries
are developing at a rapid pace
• Eradication of poverty, fight against illiteracy, equal
rights for women, pursuing higher education,
research and scientific investigation should all be
seen as a form of Jihad(striving for excellence)

18. New Approach
• Politics in the Muslim world should not be
confrontational but should be an engaging one.
Open to discussion and diplomacy
• The West should stop its interference in the
domestic politics in the Muslim countries
• Minority Muslims living in non-Muslim countries
should be treated fairly and given their rights as
citizens
• The west can be good in science & technology, but
can learn from the Muslims & eastern culture on
spirituality

19.  Started with the fall of Baghdad in 1258
 One after another the empires started to fall
 Muslim scholars were caught in their own polemics
in the areas of Islamic jurisprudence
 Over politicking, tribalism, dispute over trivial
issues in their school of thought brought disunity
in the Ummah
 Muslim scholars did not contribute during the
European Industrial Revolution during the 18th
century
 European colonization also caused the knowledge
and technological gap in Muslim countries

20.  Colonization has created dependency on the West
 Politics dominates the hearts and minds of people
 Muslim countries are lagging behind others when it
comes to technology
 Critical & creative thinking, innovative and
progressive thinking are all missing in the Muslim
world
 Muslims have become one of the largest consumer
society in this planet. All branded items in science
& technology are produced by non-Muslim
countries
 Development in the Muslim countries are held back
due to over politicking

21.  Left behind compared to the rest of the world due
to war, sectarian violence, illiteracy, tribal culture,
etc.
 War has caused humanitarian crisis in many parts
of the Muslim world
 The conflict among different sects in Islam is a
never ending one. No permanent solution has been
found to put a stop to this age old problem
 Brain drain phenomenon. Muslim countries lose
talented scientists and scholars to the West
 Refugee and asylum seekers going to the West
 Muslim countries and organizations have passed
on the Muslims problems to the West to deal with

22.  Disunity among Muslim countries is a major issue
 Some try to change the world into Islamic by
violent means
 Expecting others to solve dispute among Muslim
countries (U.S., UN, EU, Nato, etc)
 Wealth generated from oil and gas is not put into
productive means to improve the pathetic
conditions of the Muslim Ummah

23.  Muhammad Iqbal, Jamaluddin Al-Afghani,
Muhammad Abduh believe that the Muslim Ummah
can be productive if they can make a marriage
between the Zikr(spirituality) and Fikr (knowledge &
scientific investigation) mentioned in the Qur’an
 All Muslim countries must allocate large amount of
their national budget for education, scientific
research, sustainable development and at the same
time reduce the percentage spent on the purchase
of armaments

24.  Prevent ‘brain drain’ by introducing ‘brain gain’
and ‘brain retention’
 After electing a new government, Muslim countries
must go on with their agenda on nation building
and stop over politicking, slander campaign,
character assassination, etc
 All conspiracies to overthrow a legitimately elected
government, undemocratic means of grabbing
power, coup d'état , should be avoided
 Invest and produce new technology of their own
 Muslims must be prepared to learn and co-exist
with others

25.  Following the path of moderation preached in the
Qur’an and Sunnah
 Promulgate Islam with beautiful preaching and
good character
 Muslims must be prepared to learn the good and
useful things that come from others

26. What makes the rainbow beautiful and
interesting are the different shades of
colours.
What makes humanity interesting is the
variation of our race, colour,
language, culture, etc. So, why fight and kill
one another
(Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak)
IIUM
Humanity

27. Clash of civilizations brings
disharmony. Co-existence of
civilizations inspires us to see
beauty and acceptance of one
another
(Mohd Abbas Abdul Razak)
IIUM
Civilization

28. Moteshakeram
Syukran Jazilan
Terima Kasih
ThankYou