Wake-Up Call for Islamic World

Terrorist attacks on two important symbols of U.S. military and economic power--the World Trade Center and the Pentagon--along with the heavy loss of life are a great tragedy for the United States. But they are also a blow to Islam, the Muslim peoples and their governments.

The attackers represent only a tiny minority among Muslims, but their actions seemed to give credence to the worst perceptions of Islam as a rigid, aggressive, reactionary and xenophobic creed. They also risk making all Muslims targets of strong resentment and loathing.

Such natural but misplaced feelings can only be dealt with if Muslim countries--jointly, strongly and unequivocally--condemn these acts of terror and offer their condolences to the American people and their leaders. This collective condemnation could take the form of a resolution issued by the Organization of Islamic Conference.

The terrorist attacks also are a wake-up call for all Muslim governments and societies to look carefully into what is happening in their midst, especially the phenomenon of extremist Islam and its latest incarnation in the jihadist trend. They need to act eliminate extremist groups and to prevent the emergence of new ones.

Honest self-criticism and follow-up actions should be undertaken not just to please the U.S. or other major powers. Such steps are also in the self-interest of Muslims, individually and collectively. Indeed, the principal victims of Islamic extremism have been Muslims.

Iran first experienced the paroxysm of the Islamic revolution and then the extremist policies of the early 1980s. These mired the country in an eight-year war with Iraq that cost the lives of a million of its youth and hundreds of billions of dollars in damage, subjected it to international isolation and sanctions and set it back 20 years in economic and social development.

Islamic extremism also played a major part in plunging Lebanon into a horrendous civil war and making it the target of military attacks. Meanwhile, since 1992, Algeria has been mired in civil strife that has claimed more than 40,000 lives. Activities of various extremist groups in Pakistan have engulfed that country in internecine fighting, pitting Shiites against other Muslims. Militant jihadist groups have become so bold that even Pakistan’s military government cannot subdue them.

And then there is Afghanistan, which for all practical purposes has ceased to be a real country. When I visited Kabul nearly 30 years ago, it was a clean, peaceful and pleasant city, where at noontime school girls freely strolled in the streets. Today, Kabul is a heap of rubble, and many of Afghanistan’s people--a people of noble traditions and humane values--are living in exile or in subhuman conditions in refugee camps.

This is not what Islam, in any of its legitimate guises, wants for its followers. Most acts of violence carried out in the name of Islam and in its defense have been a shameless abuse of religion to advance the ambitions of extremist groups, elites, governments, sects and individuals.

Because of the activities of extremists, the Muslim world is weaker, more divided and less capable of advancing its legitimate interests than ever before. To reverse this situation, Muslim countries must do the following:

* Eliminate extremist groups in their midst, while sincerely addressing the root causes of their militancy and responding to their legitimate needs and grievances.

* Stop using Islam as an instrument of foreign policy and a tool for expanding their influence.

* Realize that they cannot isolate themselves. Instead, Muslim countries must equip themselves with the tools to deal with the challenges of the globalizing world.

* Abandon outdated utopian or expansionist schemes and concentrate on realistic and fruitful cooperation among themselves.

A more cohesive Islamic world should enter into constructive dialogue with the rest of the world to generate a more hospitable environment for raising Muslim concerns. A first step would be for the Muslim states to join in international efforts to root out extremism of all kinds and its monstrous offspring, terrorism.