By TARIQ ALI BAKHIET
Ambassador Tariq Ali Bakhiet is the Director General of Political Affairs for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the second-largest intergovernmental trunk inward the world; he was previously a diplomat at the Sudanese Mission to the UN in addition to at the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At last week’s NATO Summit, basis leaders discussed the province inward which the alliance has had its longest-running armed forces operation: Afghanistan. In Brussels, the province was seen every bit a global safety challenge; United Kingdom of Great Britain in addition to Northern Ireland of Britain in addition to Northern Republic of Ireland announced it would double its troops there. But away from the cameras, 4,000 miles away, inward Mecca, a town that unites Muslims across the world, something unprecedented was happening inward Afghanistan’s 4 decades of near-constant war. One hundred religious scholars, or ulema, from across political parties, sects in addition to ethnicities — from those hailing from the hinterlands oft controlled yesteryear the Taliban to non-Pashtu minorities — met inward a rubber place to hash out 1 thing: peace. For to a greater extent than than a decade in addition to a half, Western powers bring sent their militaries to struggle the Taliban in addition to solve the plight of Afghanistan. But it is clear that soldiers cannot create a civil society. Peace in addition to nation-building piece of employment hand-in-hand. Without immature Afghans having an inclusive in addition to collective cultural context or access to schooling, labor prospects in addition to resources alongside which to wed in addition to construct their ain life, it becomes easier for guild to intermission downwardly in addition to those on the fringes to piece of employment slow pickings for radicalization.
The West’s attempts at fostering social progress bring oft been to utilize unusual models of edifice civil guild through the funding of nongovernmental organizations. While this no dubiousness offers roughly benefits, civil guild engagement cannot really live successful without factoring inward the unique stuff of Afghan society. For example, inward the aftermath of armed forces engagement inward Afghanistan. British graduates were flown to Kabul to deliver classes inward conceptual fine art to Afghan women. The utter incredulity on the faces of these women, roughly of them state of war widows, spoke for itself inward footage uncovered yesteryear the BBC. On the other hand, exterior powers’ bring also acted based on overly pragmatic policies alongside existing non-state actors, including warlords. While this tin Pb to short-term results similar an immediate drib inward violence, it fails to bargain alongside the systemic in addition to structural causes of conflict.
Too often, what has been ignored inward this procedure is the nation’s indigenous in addition to authentic non-governmental leadership. This has consequently prevented alter from existence led yesteryear in addition to for Afghans — the really people who volition bring to hold peace. It has also lost sight of those determining the purpose of Islam inward our society.
Religious leadership is, afterward all, a crucial battleground inward the efforts to counter the spread in addition to influence of extremist groups similar the Taliban. And the Taliban know it: Not long earlier the conference began, the grouping denounced the coming together every bit an “anti-Islamic the US process,” fifty-fifty though the conference was hosted yesteryear the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in addition to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in addition to moderated yesteryear the Imam of the Grand Mosque inward Mecca in addition to the Grand Mufti of Egypt.
Although abhorred yesteryear the vast bulk of Muslims, groups similar the Taliban feed off their perceived religious legitimacy. In countries similar Afghanistan, extremists bring long exploited a acre alongside widespread illiteracy yesteryear presenting themselves every bit the authentic vocalism of Islam in addition to perverting non exactly the stuff of Afghan society, but the business office of religious belief itself. They usage Islam every bit a weapon of war. Western powers in addition to the Afghani people bring failed to wrest it from their grasp.
With such deep-rooted issues, those looking at Afghanistan, the second-poorest acre inward the world, believed it was unfixable — that the best nosotros could promise for was to confine the ongoing violence, rather than pose an cease to it. This was seldom (if ever) explicitly stated, but it has been the de facto seat of many influential exterior decision-makers for roughly time.
This was apparent inward the foreign armed forces presences’ focus on allowing the Afghan regime to law its ain people alongside Western backing. Up to now, it seemed that the well-nigh Afghans could expect forrad to was an ongoing current of armed forces sticking plasters to create a semblance of safety within major cities, rather than a lasting peace stretching to the country’s borders.
The purpose of religious scholarship exactly cannot live ignored, because it is they, the religious leaders, who volition live fundamental to swaying the opinions of ordinary Afghans that powerfulness yet harbor sympathy for the Taliban under the misguided belief that the grouping is a defender of Islam against secular regime forces. Building civil guild agency these scholars tin leverage Afghan society’s commitment to traditional Islamic values to growth its commitment to peace-making, every bit good every bit principled in addition to permanent — rather than tacit in addition to tactical — opposition to violence in addition to terrorism. At the OIC Ulema Conference, they flora consensus on the Islamic impermissibility of taking civilian life. The exertion represented component of a larger tendency of scholars to straight off human activity every bit peace activists — instead of becoming mired inward reactive posturing.
Indeed, nosotros bring seen what abide by for religious tradition tin do afterward the momentous breakthrough during the Eid festival inward June. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 grassroots-led ceasefire captured the imagination of the Afghan people and, exactly every bit importantly, the Afghan regime in addition to their opponents: the Taliban. Hugs in addition to fifty-fifty selfies followed betwixt the militants in addition to the regime inward the get ceasefire inward 17 years of war, a sight unimaginable upwards to that point.
But something deeper changed for the good. Ordinary Afghans stood upwards for their traditional values of respect, dignity in addition to coexistence.
The clerical shape of truthful Islamic scholars is on their side. And they are fighting back. They are reclaiming Islam from the extremists in addition to taking their message dorsum to their communities — non entirely inward the areas of fundamental Kabul frequented yesteryear expats in addition to unusual consultants but inward villages, towns in addition to mosques across the country. In their terminal proclamation of the meeting, they called for a renewed pan-Islamic commitment to the sanctity of life, the demand for national reconciliation in addition to a condemnation of terrorism. The exertion cannot halt here. Once these ideas are pose into practise at the grass-roots level, the alter volition spread through guild — correct to the top.
The give-and-take Islam agency peace. We volition straight off reckon that it tin also create peace.
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