1st Edition
Fallacy of Militant Ideology Competing Ideologies and Conflict among Militants, the Muslim World and the West
This book highlights the conflict between jihadist militants and the West as essentially ideological in character. It has serious implications internalized by Muslim societies, with the boundaries of faith changed by the interplay of socio-political variables.
Violence emerged in Muslim societies as a means of emancipation or identity when the state could not resolve the conflict situation. Although the militants were influenced by socio-political factors, they have always looked to religion to justify their acts of violence. This book, exposing the fallacy of the narrative evolved by the militants, offers a counter narrative. It reinterprets the primary sources, unravels the historical and socio-political constructs, unmasks the heroes and enemies, challenges the dichotomies between theory and practice, re-establishes the boundaries between heresy and faith, and attempts to transform the current ideological discourse. ~
This book will be of interest to students and scholars of the discourse between religion and security, political Islam, Islamic history, jihad, Middle Eastern studies, and South Asian studies.
Introduction
1. Nature of Conflict
2. Heresy of Ideas
3. Polemics Revisited
4. Codifications of Violence
5. Codes of War
6. Killing Fields
7. Fuel of Faith: Pakistan – A Case Study
8. Counter Narrative
Conclusion
Biography
Munir Masood Marath is a senior civil servant in Pakistan, currently serving as City Police Officer, Multan. Previously, he has served as Director General of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), Pakistan. He has also served in the Counter Terrorism Department in Punjab, and in different districts of Punjab, including Multan, Chakwal and Layyah, as head of the district police. He holds a PhD in Political Islam from Government College University in Lahore, Pakistan.
'Ideology is the centre of gravity of terrorism, extremism and exclusivism. Many in government and in the Muslim community do not understand the depth and dimensions of it. That is why the threat is elusive and has not been eliminated. Without understanding the belief system, no threat group can be fought efficiently and defeated effectively. Fallacy of Militant Ideology by Munir Masood Marath provides that comprehensive understanding for governments and partners to fight the current and emerging threat.'
Rohan Gunaratna, Founder of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research and Professor of Security Studies at Nanyang Technological University Singapore'Munir Masood Marath judiciously dissects the idea that Islamist militantism in Pakistan is a response to the ongoing impact of colonialism and postcolonialism, in particular in the Pakistani context. The abstraction of history causes Islamist extremists to act as pragmatists in the pursuit of ideological goals, not religionists in the pursuit of eschatology. Terrorism enacted in these ways is about politics, not religion. This book is a must-read for scholars, practitioners, and students exploring the framing of terrorism and radicalisation, and the misplaced roles played by those who seek to explain Islamist terrorism with allusions to the tenets of early Islam as the primary reason.'
Tahir Abbas, Professor of Critical Terrorism Studies at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University in The Hague, Netherlands, and author of Countering Violent Extremism (2021)
