IS uses “jihad” to fulfill their agendas

A man holds a sign as he protests ISIS at New York’s Time Square, the United States, March 22, 2016. The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s terror attacks in Belgian capital of Brussels, which killed at least 34 people and injured more than 100. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

Even though the civil war in Syria is regarded by many people as an internal conflict, it involves the intervention of two big powers in support of the two parties in the power struggle.

The Islamic State (IS) has taken advantage of the war in Syria and managed to use the political instability in the Arab region as a platform to offer chances of doing “jihad”, the consequences of which have attracted attention of various countries in the world.

Besides that, the existence of IS and its threat to the world today is also due to the failure of the Islamic states and Muslims as a whole to put effort and concentration in the understanding and the practices of Islam that are considered not clear or vague.

The word “jihad’ for example was misunderstood and has enabled the IS to manipulate and use it according to their interests, needs and agendas.

Opinions laid by Prof. Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and Dr. Ibrahim Najm, advisors to the Egyptian Mufti, apart from many statements released by other Muslim ulamas, have rejected the struggle of IS but all the efforts have failed to stop the IS movements.

The failure is due to the fact that the Muslim communities, governments and also the Islamic states do not emphasize on the vague segments of the Islamic teachings as a whole, thus giving way for it to be misunderstood.

The other aspect is that the Muslim world has failed to be united to suppress the IS and the impact is that Islamic states remain in turmoil, facing many problems and threatening issues which will later weaken them.

Malaysian efforts to promote moderation in Islam is a perfect idea to make it as an asset in fighting against the IS. This is because to fight the IS does not only need the military and the enforcement but it also needs to have a non military approach.

The question is whether other Islamic countries are giving any attention or seriously implementing what Malaysia is doing? Most Islamic countries and governments fail to give any attention to the IS threats. With over 30,000 members, IS influence has spread not only in the Arab region but also to Europe.

Organizations like the OIC, NAM, ASEAN and so forth should take the threats of IS as an important aspect in their discussions on international safety. Bilateral efforts between governments should be made as a channel to ensure the IS as a threat can be eliminated.

The recent incident in Brussels, Belgium where 34 people were killed due to three bombs blasted in two strategic areas namely the Zaventem International Airport and the Maelbeek Metro Station on Tuesday was allegedly done by the IS militant group.

Some experts defined this incident as a new phase of IS attacks in Europe, due to the preceding Paris attack which happened in November 2015.

While the French government still investigates the persons responsible behind the attack, another attack occurred in Brussels, just a few days after the main Paris attack suspect, Salah Abdeslam,26, was caught in an apartment in a police ambush near Brussels.