Islamic Fundamentalism

The interplay of politics and religion can shape the minds of people. These two matters change how people think and behave. For one, religion teaches a man how to act according to its dogma. On the other hand, politics offers power and authority.

The ideological roots of the ISIS can be traced to the Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, which was established in Iraq in 2004 by the Salafi-jihadi Jordanian Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi. Al-Zarqawi soon pledged his allegiance to Al Qaeda’s founder Osama bin Laden, and changed the name of his organization to Tanzim Al Qaeda fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (Al Qaeda Organization in the Country of the Two Rivers). This organization became commonly known as Al Qaeda in Iraq. When this group merged with the other Muslim insurgents, it adopted the name Islamic State of Syria.

This terrorist group adheres to Islamic Fundamentalism. It is a broad term that refers to the philosophical or theological approach of certain groups within the Islamic tradition who hold that the Qur'an is the inerrant and literal word of God, and that Muslims are required to strictly adhere to the religious practices and moral codes found there.  They enforce their vision of Islam in belief and manifest action and endorse waging jihad against idolatrous regimes that do not govern according to God’s rules. Thus, terrorism is resorted as mean to eliminate those non-believers.

The United Nations Security Council and States, including the Philippines have taken steps to fight and prevent these terror attacks. A resolution was adopted by UN Security Council under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. It aimed to hinder terrorist groups in various ways. Under terms of the text, “all States should prevent and suppress the financing of terrorism, as well as criminalize the willful provision or collection of funds for such acts. The funds, financial assets and economic resources of those who commit or attempt to commit terrorist acts or participate in or facilitate the commission of terrorist acts and of persons and entities acting on behalf of terrorists should also be frozen without delay.”

In line of this, the Philippine Government had also taken initiatives and passed laws to help suppress these acts of terrorism as mandated by the constitution under Article II, section 2 which states that “The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations.”

The laws regarding the matter includes the following:

1. The Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.
2. Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity.
3. Human Security Act of 2007.

Terrorism is being condemned not only by non-Muslims and the Muslims themselves excluding of course the supporters. It is indeed inherently evil because resorting to violence will never settle anything but will only create never-ending suffering. Mahatma Ghandi once said, “non-violence is the article of faith.”