Shift in Islamic mood - Lesson for the West

Context defines perspective. Rarely is this realized. And in reference to the current trends in the Islamic nations around the world, the truth of this statement is often lost. So while there is news of suicide bombings, honor killings, hostages and abductions in plenty from Iraq and other war-ravaged countries of the Middle East, positive developments are seldom highlighted.

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Yes, 'War on Terror' and associated events have made a dent on the psyche of Muslims all around the world and the relations between the Christians and Muslims are at nadir, yet, there is a belief that things might eventually smoothen out. Even though the political class in the Muslim-dominated countries might not have realized this, there is a trend brewing that signals a rejection of the fundamentalism with a view to bring Muslims back into the mainstream.

This fact has been highlighted in the latest survey by the Pew Research Centre in the US. The survey titled 'A Rising Tide Lifts Mood in the Developing World,' has reported that Muslims in various countries are rejecting suicide bombings and extremist ideology epitomized by bin Laden. The survey has reported a striking trend: the number of people who support suicide bombings against civilians is on a decrease. Here is a quick glance at some of the stats revealed in the survey:

• The support for bombings and terror tactics has declined since 2002, with Lebanon recording the highest fall in percentage of people supporting suicide bombings.

• al-Qaida and its charismatic leader's popularity is also on decline; the percentage of Jordanian Muslims who sided with Laden has fallen from 36 percent in '03 to 20 percent in '07.

• There is a broad concern amongst Muslims around the world that tensions between Shias and Sunnis isn't limited to Iraq and has ramifications for the religion as a whole.

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Cause for celebration

Hardly! The results of this survey must be taken with a pinch of salt. For me it is a great indication of how quickly the opinion changes when the hunter becomes the hunted. So as the Pakistanis, Egyptians and Muslims elsewhere become victims of these horrendous acts, they dismiss their worth in furthering political agenda. Not so in Palestine, for instance; the Mullahs - nearly 70 percent - there still support suicide bombings against the Jews.

A case can also be made that the Muslims have realized that the extremist organizations like al-Qaida are not the right way to go to achieve a Shari'a state, especially when they can do this in a democratic manner. Do recent elections in Turkey ring a bell? No. Maybe Hamas' election in Palestine? Sure enough the trend is evident, if only we can see it.

The economic state of affairs, too, can have a role to play in shaping up of this unexpected opinion. Maybe the Muslims are finally accepting the fact that extremism can only lead to poverty and resource loss. What has continuous strife in Iraq achieved? Shias, Sunnis and Kurds have gone at each other's throats and amidst all the mayhem populace has lost on all the petrodollars. So most of the Islamic nations (with little oil) continue to be dependent on foreign-aid, while other nations - where religion isn't that large a part of discourse - continue to improve lots of their people. Without doubt a lesson to be learnt for the Muslim societies there!

These factors might be dismissed as cynicism on my part, but they cannot be all attributed to an improvement in the 'personal circumstances' (as theorists would have it).

Hint for the West

Do remember that the survey points out that the support for bombings is on a decline but still a considerable number support the same. The irony is that the world cannot afford even one with such radical mindsets. Extend the percentages and apply them to the worldwide population of the Muslims and you will see 102,876,651 Muslims still justify suicide bombings as right mean to achieve wrong ends. Do we really need so many of them to make a blunt point? Not really!

No doubt, the faithful of Western ideology would like to interpret these findings as a victory of its notions and actions. But one could not be farther from the truth. I'm not ready to dismiss the American war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but at the same time I cannot approve of it either. The fact of the matter is, if (and that's a big if) West could for a moment be humble enough to accept that mistakes have been made in addressing the conflict of principles, there are valuable lessons to be learnt.

Thus, instead of sending troops to fight jihadists in every corner and nook, destroy support for them. Analyze in-depth causes for the decline in support for extremist ways and try and build on them. Do that and you might still mend the damage that 'war on terror' so readily inflicted.

Right context right perspective!