Whenever a Muslim in any part of the world, wishes to assert his religious identity into his politics then he is seen as extremist. If a Muslim is practicing all the laws of Islam in his personal life then he is mostly not seen as extremist in western perspectives. But as soon as a practicing Muslim introduces Islam in his political life then the tag of extremism comes his way in no time. The question is why there is so much fear of political Muslim when he comes with his religious identity.
The problem is not with the practicing Muslim, the problem is with the Muslim who will start practicing right politics using Islam as political philosophy. This is why all the people starts cornering a Muslim from mainstream. They fear not his religion but his religion that comes through politics. This is the point, where most heroic philosophies of the world fails, that’s where all the political ideology gets a new replacement of them in form of Islam, that talks about equality and justice to common people which they had tried to abolish in every way possible. This idea of a Political Muslim threatens everyone who enjoys exploitations of the poor and less privilege without getting challenged for their corrupt work so far. This idea of political Muslim makes them uncomfortable for who they are. So the sudden fear in the political chambers comes from a Muslim who is political but also practicing.
A practicing but not political Muslim is not a threat to anyone. You pray Tahajjud, no one minds, you do fasting, go to Hajj, no one minds actually. Because as long as you are doing meditation in your own home at 3.30 AM in the form of Tahajjud, and no corrupt policy is being challenged through your existence, then there is no reason to worry about for any practicing Muslim whatsoever. This is why all great maulana’s with great Ibadah on their name, mostly is seen as innocent and harmless creature in political circles. The tag of extremism comes to only those who can’t un-see the injustice in the entire political system of the state and try to eradicate it using political means.
However, there is other side of extremism too. There are people who really misuse the religious texts to manipulate in their favour, thy try to gain power by threatening common masses using terrorism as means, that extremism should be called out for sure. There are people who misinterpreted the religious texts and unnecessarily starts bothering other communities in the name of religion is nothing short of terrorism. So the challenge for right politically thinking person comes from both ends, first to remove all sort of extremism that lies within the community which aims to hurt other human beings in the name of terrorism, and second, to challenge the larger system where poor and underprivilege is not being entertained for their basic rights.
Also when you are a political person, there are common tags that comes your way. Among them is the extremist tags. In recent times, everyone who doesn’t agree to your thoughts gives a label of extremist, which is okay considering their own level of thinking, where everyone who differ from their opinion is a villain for sure. As politics is first and last basic thing in the life of a Muslim, so one has to accept the challenge of politics. but as soon as you enter into activism with the religious identity, the label of extremism is going to come your way without delay.
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