The bear which killed its savior

Once upon a time there was a bear whose life was saved by a man. One day, the bear spotted a fly on the man’s nose while he was sleeping. Wanting to return the favor, the bear lifted a boulder to kill the fly with, but ended up killing both the fly and his friend when he threw it on his face.

This folktale describes many situations we experience but fail to learn from them. For example, AlQaeda members rushed to Syria to fight against the Ba’athist regime. After they were allowed to fight alongside rebel fighters, they soon turned their backs on the rebels, leaving them exposed to their enemy. Al-Qaeda fighters have now waged war against the Free Syria Army and another faction that shared their ideologies such as the Nusra Front. Rebel leaders were supposed to kick Al-Qaeda members out of Syria right from the start but instead allowed thousands of volunteers to join the fight against the rebels.

Unfortunately, the same scenario has been repeated quiet often in other places. Less than two years ago, Muslims in Mali rebelled against Al-Qaeda members and sought France’s help to free their lands from Al-Qaeda’s oppression. And in Somalia, people united to expel the Al-Shabab group out of their country after the Al-Qaeda subsidiary destroyed their land and caused the death of thousands of Somali civilians. Instead of making amends and rectifying their mistakes, Al-

Less than two years ago, Muslims in Mali rebelled against Al-Qaeda members and sought France’s help to free their lands from AlQaeda’s oppression. And in Somalia, people united to expel the Al-Shabab group out of their country after the Al-Qaeda subsidiary destroyed their land and caused the death of thousands of Somali civilians. Instead of making amends and rectifying their mistakes, Al-Shabab committed a new crime in Nairobi which helped Somalia free its lands from those criminals.

Shabab committed a new crime in Nairobi which helped Somalia free its lands from those criminals. They killed innocent civilians who had nothing to do with the situation in Somalia, and tried to justify their actions to Muslims by releasing the Muslim civilians from the mall while killing non-Muslims. A similar situation is also seen in Nigeria where the Boko Haram group commits heinous crimes, in addition to other countries with Al-Qaeda presence like Yemen, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Muslim countries have the duty to not only eliminate this destructive ideology within our societies, but also study the reasons behind its emergence and spread as well as why many Muslim youth end up adopting it. They are also required to study ways to curb its spread through religious awareness that explain the difference between Jihad and terrorist activity.

There is no doubt that countries which persecute moderate Islamic movements whenever those take part in the democratic process, have contributed to the spread of extremism in Arab and Muslim countries by giving the wrong message to groups whose efforts are based on spreading moderation; and instead making them believe that terrorism could be the best way to achieve their goals.

Meanwhile, moderate Muslim groups are required to play a great role in fighting extremism and spreading moderation within youngsters, which must happen in parallel with abandoning any kind of practice that leans towards violence. — Al-Rai