Extremism and fanaticism destoys nations

[alsunna]

Allah almighty says in Al-Quran:
(والذين يؤذون المؤمنين والمؤمنات بغير ما كتسبوا فقد احتملوا بهتانا وإثما مبين)

[And those who annoy Believing men and women Undeservedly bear on themselves a calumny and a glaring sin]


And Allah also says:

(وكذلك جعلناكم أمة وسطا)
[Thus have we made you An Ummat justly balanced]


If we look carefully into these noble Ayat, we will see that Allah does not approve of fanaticism, especially with regard to religion. He not only disapproves of it, but also urges us to be moderate and distance ourselves from fanaticism. His Prophet (the prayers and blessings of Allah be upon him) says:
"Rid yourselves of fanaticism for it has destroyed those who were before you in time."

Though terrorism is not a new phenomenon, the rise of extremism that we witness these days, whether under the guise of religion or not, along with the increasing danger it represents, and the diversity of slogans propagating it, as well as the widespread activity of its followers urged us to tackle this issue. We do it with our keenness to support the approach of moderation, which represents the key to peace and security, and with our keenness for the youth in order for them not to fall into the malicious net of terrorism. We hope that this paper will find its way to the listening ears and mindful hearts.

We must indicate first that there has to be a distinction between religious, which means compliance with the provisions of religion, and extremism, which means fanaticism and abandoning the true concepts of moderate Sharia. At the beginning of this paper, I will start with an overview over the history of extremism in what was linked to the Muslim nation.