Terrorism: Pak to ISIS – A retrospective approach

The basis of any society or social culture is harmony and brotherhood. But, there is a brotherhood who doesn’t follow this trend; the Muslim Brotherhood.

Most of the middle eastern countries today are burning in the fire of terrorism and jihadism. Jihad, as misunderstood by mainstream Muslims, is a holy war to spread Islam by means of sword or power. This ideology made the whole Muslim world sick. Many outfits were born to spread the cause of Islam by the means of power or sword.

Jihad is a very holy term and is very much conditional as understood by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian. He said jihad means to fight with one’s self. He said if you really want to perform jihad then this is the time for Jihad of the pen. By pen, he means writing. He wrote more than 80 books to defend his stands on Islam and to promote harmony and brotherhood among others. Today, there are millions of his followers spreading the same teachings of Islam and taught to them by their prophet Ahmad and they are called Ahmadis or Ahmadiyya.

Due to their modern Islamic beliefs and practices of brotherhood and love, they are considered heretic to other mainstream Muslims. This is why they, today, are the most persecuted community in the world.

Considering the growth of Ahmadiyya sect in the world, many radical Islamists formed outfits to target Ahmadis around the world. The Khatm-e-Nabuwat movement, Majlis Ahrar, Jamat-e-Islami to name a few among those terror outfits. Some attacks sponsored by ISIS and other Islamist outfits including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood made them the front row victims of terror.

In Egypt, Syria, Iran, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia to name a few countries where Ahmadis are persecuted for their religious beliefs. The level of persecution is so severe that many Ahmadis are given life imprisonment and some are executed for their religious beliefs. There are numerous examples one may find on the internet too.

Pakistan remains the front runner in patronizing the terrorist groups. ISIS and Muslim Brotherhood may be born in the middle east but they are motivated by Jamaat-e-Islami, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Tahrik Khatm-e-Nabuwat of Pakistan.

Anti-Semitism and anti-Ahmadiyya is one of the common beliefs of all Islamist terror outfits around the world. Hamas is a group especially targeting Jews and Israeli citizens. Persecution, by any means, should never be tolerated.

In Pakistan, the Ahmadiyya Muslims are named Non-Muslims by the constitution of Pakistan. This was a big success of these Islamist outfits in Pakistan to get fame among other Muslims dominating countries. Same way Ahmadis are now being targeted in many other countries including secular countries like India and Bangladesh too. In Bangladesh, Khatm-e-Nabowat Andoln, and Hefazat-e-Islam are among some extremist Islamist pro-caliphate groups powered by ISIS and Hamas. Hefazat-e-Islam chief Shah Ahmed Shafi recently demanded Qadianis(a synonym for Ahmadi Muslims) be declared Non-Muslims as practiced in Pakistan, a report published in The Dhaka Tribune.

In the month of February 2019, there was a terror attack the Ahmadiyya establishments and ISIS claimed the responsibility. More than $3 million loss and More than 50 Ahmadis were injured in the attack. Just 4 days prior to this attack The Eastern Herald published a report on the instigation of this attack. Bangladesh government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina didn’t take it seriously. Media and news organizations should not be distrusted by the government.

On 14th February 2019, India was hit by a terror attack in Pulwama. Jaish-e-Mohammad of Pakistan claimed the responsibility. More than 70 soldiers are killed in this brutal bomb explosion as per the recent reports.

All these Islamist pro-caliphate groups want to make this world a war zone. The recent attack in Sri Lanka took too many lives. If the world governments would not understand the difference between religion and terror factories then the world may face more furious terror attacks. Every country must constitute committees to study what kind of religious material is being spread in terms of pamphlets and brochures.

Every religion is meant to spread humanity, brotherhood, and harmony among all. We should look into the bigger picture and find a realistic way to eradicate the threat of terror from the face of the earth.