Weaponizing Religion: The Ways In Which Fitna-Ul-Khawarij TTP Twists – OpEd
In current times, some hardline groups with the emblem of “religious militancy” have amplified their propaganda efforts against Pakistan. In one such propaganda, disseminated over social media by Abu Muawiya Mehsud, it is claimed: “The Pakistani government has NO REAL LINK WITH ISLAM,” that it is “foreign slaves,” and it is more “hostile to Islam than non-Muslims.” This is completely false, with a definite intention to distort ideology to churn out ‘tomorrow’s jihadis.’
Pakistan’s fight against terrorism is not the fight against Islam; this is the fight to safeguard Islam from those who seek to appropriate and corrupt it by operating beyond its ethical, legal, and theological bounds. The ideology advocated by those characterized as Fitna-ul-Khawarij in Pakistan traces historical roots from the Khawarij of the early period of Islam; those who were known for proclaiming other Muslims as apostates, usurping authority, and justifying the spilling of blood in the name of holiness and purity.
Today, one of the few countries in the Muslim world is actually founded on the basis of the political, social, and religious rights of the Muslims themselves. This is because Islam is actually enshrined as the state religion within the Constitution of Pakistan, which states that no law shall be made which violates the Quran and Sunnah. Perhaps the Council of Islamic Ideology is created with the purpose of aligning the state with the Quran and Sunnah.
Depicting the Pakistani state as an ‘anti-Islam’ state forgets all of it and discounts its religious freedom practiced by its millions of citizens. Mosques, madrasas, Islamic Courts, Islamic banking, zakat accounts, and following Islamic practices in its daily lives are all running quite independently and freely. That Pakistan is more hostile to Islam than non-Muslim states is sheer nonsense and fails all basic tests of scrutiny.
“Fitna ul Khawarij” propaganda is based on this misdirection the idea that Islam is, in itself, at odds with Pakistan as a state. This is not only non-Islamic ideology but is also nonsensical. The tradition of Islamic jurisprudence values order, rule of law, and life in itself. Killing one innocent person is as bad as killing humanity as a whole, as stated in the Holy Quran. “The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not appreciate rebellion in his name if it results in fitnah or destruction and division within the Muslim ummah.”
On the other hand, extremist ideology has targeted mosques, markets, schools,polio vaccination teams, and religious scholars who opposed their ideology. Thousands of civilians and members of Pakistan’s armed forces, overwhelmingly Muslim, have lost their lives at the hand of terrorism. An ideology declaring it is acceptable to murder one’s own kind can hardly claim moral and religious superiority.
A very important aspect of the radical vision is being driven from the outside, especially within the territory of its neighboring state, Afghanistan, that has provided leeway to terrorists to re-emerge and re-configure. As long as Pakistan continues to officially express its vision of peaceful coexistence and an exemplary stable region, it continues to have concerns regarding external terror incidents.
Declaring the effort of the Pakistani government against these terrorists “anti-Islam” has its own purpose. This acts as camouflage for the political and criminal activities of these terrorists, and they present their losses in the guise of religious persecution. This is not an act of resistance; rather, it is information war veiled in the language of religiosity.
Pakistan’s Counterterrorism Policy: Shield, Rather Terrorist groups with arms are the targets of Pakistan’s counter-terror operation, and not religious affiliation. The Pakistan Army and LEAs have shown restraint and adherence to protecting civilians in operations against terror groups. Religious scholars from all schools of thought in Pakistan support the government’s position against terrorism with clarifications that terrorism has no link to Islam.
Notably, Pakistan’s strategy has moved on from kinetic operations to encompass rehabilitation, de-radicalization, as well as reintegration efforts a recognition that extremism is as much a thought-based problem as it is a security concern.
Rather, the greatest peril facing Islam is now not the Muslim state that is seeking order, but radical sectors that seek, through coercion and violence, to transform a religion of grace, justice, and compassion into a means of coercion and violence. Islam does not endorse anarchy, self-appointed justice, or the proclamation of jihad.
Through its rejection of “Fitna ul-Khawarij” stories, Pakistan is not moving away from Islam it is actually protecting the true spirit of Islam.
Regarding the propaganda spread by the likes of Abu Muawiya Mehsud: This propaganda is not an argument on religious or moral grounds; it’s an attempt to impair the country from the inside through the element of religion itself. Pakistan is still a Muslim country trying to strike the same balance other Muslim nations face. Disproving these kinds of stories is more than an issue of national security; it is an issue of religion. Islam means justice, life, and unity not chaos in the name of piety. The struggle the Pakistani government faces in dealing with Fitna-ul-Khawarij is, in the long run, the struggle for the safety of its people and the safety of Islam itself.
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