Abdullah bin Hamid Ali debunks this claim in an old Facebook post and I felt the need to post it here.
"Eliminate Wabbism/Salafism, you'll eliminate ISIS." Though I strongly disagree with this assertion, it is the sentiment of a many Muslims today. The underlying assumptions of the above statement are the following: 1) ideology "alone" radicalizes; 2) any person or group endorsing /justifying violence will "inevitably" act violently; 3) Wahhabis/Salafis are the "only" Muslims who justify violence against others; and 4) if we eliminate the ideology, we will eradicate senseless violence from the planet. Muslims who promote such ideas overlook/omit the following: 1) it was Sufis who endorsed suicide bombings against Israelis and others, while Wahhabis were largely against them; 2) non-Wahhabi Muslims who say Islam means "peace" (even though it really means "submission") were often the first to put their support behind the Arab spring, the "violent" overthrow of their governors, and called for armed Western intervention; 3) prior to the Arab Spring, Wahhabis were largely apolitical and focused all of their attention on trying to "correct" the understanding of Muslims in general; 4) it was the Sufis and other Muslims calling for the overthrow of Arab governors with fatwas justifying spilling their blood on the basis of them being "apostates" or "unbelievers" i.e. the same principle (takfir = anathematization) often identified as being the root of the Wahhabi threat; 5) if the existence of an ideology is what makes it a threat, this would corroborate the claims of Islamophobes that "Islam" is the real threat to world peace, not simply ISIS, Qaeda, or Wahhabis. In other words, Muslims who live in this imaginary world without nuance indirectly endorse an ideology which can potentially undo Islam completely; 6) Not every Wahhabi/Salafi is the same. While Muslims are constantly asking the non-Muslim public not to overgeneralize about us and Islam, we turn around and do the same thing to Wahhabis/Salafis; 7) an endorsement of this assertion is to fundamentally paint non-Wahhabis as the "good" Muslims and them as the "evil-doers." So non-Muslims need not worry about us as long as they use all of their military might to rid the world of them; and 8) to insist that Wahhabi ideology is the root of the emergence of ISIS is to absolve western governments from the major role they played in making it possible for ISIS to rise to power, starting with the dismantling of the Iraqi regime. There are more things I could list. But, this list of contentions should hopefully highlight the contradictions and inconsistencies in this form of reasoning. Some of us are so blinded and obsessed with championing our own ideology, they overlook how they dehumanize their opponents and threaten the lives of so many innocent souls. Think. Reflect. Repent.
"Eliminate Wabbism/Salafism, you'll eliminate ISIS." Though I strongly disagree with this assertion, it is the sentiment of a many Muslims today. The underlying assumptions of the above statement are the following: 1) ideology "alone" radicalizes; 2) any person or group endorsing /justifying violence will "inevitably" act violently; 3) Wahhabis/Salafis are the "only" Muslims who justify violence against others; and 4) if we eliminate the ideology, we will eradicate senseless violence from the planet. Muslims who promote such ideas overlook/omit the following: 1) it was Sufis who endorsed suicide bombings against Israelis and others, while Wahhabis were largely against them; 2) non-Wahhabi Muslims who say Islam means "peace" (even though it really means "submission") were often the first to put their support behind the Arab spring, the "violent" overthrow of their governors, and called for armed Western intervention; 3) prior to the Arab Spring, Wahhabis were largely apolitical and focused all of their attention on trying to "correct" the understanding of Muslims in general; 4) it was the Sufis and other Muslims calling for the overthrow of Arab governors with fatwas justifying spilling their blood on the basis of them being "apostates" or "unbelievers" i.e. the same principle (takfir = anathematization) often identified as being the root of the Wahhabi threat; 5) if the existence of an ideology is what makes it a threat, this would corroborate the claims of Islamophobes that "Islam" is the real threat to world peace, not simply ISIS, Qaeda, or Wahhabis. In other words, Muslims who live in this imaginary world without nuance indirectly endorse an ideology which can potentially undo Islam completely; 6) Not every Wahhabi/Salafi is the same. While Muslims are constantly asking the non-Muslim public not to overgeneralize about us and Islam, we turn around and do the same thing to Wahhabis/Salafis; 7) an endorsement of this assertion is to fundamentally paint non-Wahhabis as the "good" Muslims and them as the "evil-doers." So non-Muslims need not worry about us as long as they use all of their military might to rid the world of them; and 8) to insist that Wahhabi ideology is the root of the emergence of ISIS is to absolve western governments from the major role they played in making it possible for ISIS to rise to power, starting with the dismantling of the Iraqi regime. There are more things I could list. But, this list of contentions should hopefully highlight the contradictions and inconsistencies in this form of reasoning. Some of us are so blinded and obsessed with championing our own ideology, they overlook how they dehumanize their opponents and threaten the lives of so many innocent souls. Think. Reflect. Repent.
