Front Page • International • Latest • Slide
Report reveals how extremists narrowly apply scripture, distort interpretations
A research report says, as Islamist extremist narrowly apply scripture, misrepresent the interpretation but to compete this misinterpret there is a huge shortage of counter-narrative literature. According to the report, Struggle Over Scripture: Charting the Rift Between Islamist Extremism and Mainstream Islam – released by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, there is a deficiency in evidence-based research into how the ideology that drives this violence warps mainstream religious principles.The political Islamism practiced by some group such as Muslim Brotherhood, their ideology is so far close to the ideology of ISIS, Al Qaeda than it is to the mainstream religious. To justify their theological arguments extremists mostly focus on Hadith more than the mainstream. In contrast, there is only a 16 percent and a 14 percent similarity when comparing mainstream content with Islamist texts, respectively. Violent and apocalyptic Hadith verses are often held up as examples of the Islamic origins of ISIS’ and al-Qaeda’s ideology. It is therefore significant that mainstream use of Hadith is statistically distinct from that of extremists, says the report.In his foreword, Dr Emman El-Badawy, Head of Research, Co-Existence, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, says through its analysis of the use and application of scripture, religious scholarship, and doctrinal concepts, this research traces the schisms and overlaps between mainstream and fringe interpretations of Islamic doctrine and dogma.“As the findings for scripture and scholarship also attest, Islamists’ attempts to present themselves as part of the religious mainstream are not borne out by our conceptual analysis”.