Islam and the Internet

Nowadays, it is unthinkable to imagine oneself without such a “technological toy” as the Internet. The time of textual media is gradually turning into an anachronism in the eyes of young people. Let me note, it is not very deserved. Few people agree that the aesthetics of reading a book is equivalent to reading from a computer or from the Internet. As usual, this new product was tested by those for whom another means of influencing people’s minds is the essence of their existence. I mean various kinds of sectarians and extremists who, under different flags, position and promote their ideas as modern.

But evil is as old as the world... Whether it is so modern is clear to everyone from history. It used to be that a herald or charismatic figure used to gather people together. Nowadays it is a matter of social networking tools and the experience of virtual heralds. I would like to dwell on such an area as the Islamic virtual network. It includes both educational sites and openly propaganda sites. If the first mostly strive to combat obscurantism in the religious sphere among Muslims, then the sites of the second type are not always positive. Sites like vdagestan.com or salaf-forum.com are initially aimed at creating a split in Muslim society. “Ulema” have settled on their pages, calling for illegal actions.

What can the local clergy in the North Caucasus, or, so to speak, the moderately inclined, oppose? In answering this question, we should note the inherent inertia of this clergy. Perhaps some activity has been felt in recent years in the sphere of countering religious extremism in Dagestan and Chechnya. And this is the result of interaction primarily between the authorities and the clergy. Regarding Chechnya, this is the result of a dialogue in which the Head of the Republic R. Kadyrov, who has taken a course towards popularizing Sufism, is an active participant. Sufism - as a response to the rabid advertising of Kharijism, which has flourished in Chechnya since 1996. To say that everything is ideal in Chechnya with regard to countering religious extremism means lying. Yes, thanks to the joint actions of federal and local pro-Russian forces, it was possible to break the resistance of the Kharijites. But their propaganda did not die: it went from mosques to the Internet. They feel complete impunity, conducting propaganda and recruitment into the “Mujahideen army.” At the same time, killing the same Muslim is not a sin for them if it is consistent with their political goals. If their opponent works in the public administration system, it doesn’t matter even if he is a teacher, a postman – this is already a reason. Perverted concepts and cynical substitution of the essence of some verses from the Koran allow them to conduct their propaganda quite successfully. The success of which, in turn, lies not only in the degree of its activity, but also in the lack of the proper religious level of education of the “absorbed”, i.e. youth, their brains. There are known cases when people went into the forest precisely after being processed on the Internet by some Internet “emir.” Of course, the emir often remains alive, and the recruit goes on to carry out bombings and other acts. Someone will say that they go into the forest for the sake of money. I will not support this point of view for a simple reason - let the one who says so spend at least one night there in winter. It is unlikely that after this, doubts would remain about what largely plays the role of ideology. One of the Prophet's companions, Umar, was right when he said that there is no worse enemy for Muslims than a hypocrite talking about the Koran and an ignorant Muslim doing something and at the same time believing that he is right. The latter is very relevant. Of course, one cannot push away the element of commercialism, but not among “cannon fodder”. They go into the forest for ideological or personal reasons. For the sake of money, someone can buy something, give them a ride somewhere, but not fight. This is a struggle of ideologies first and foremost. There is no other way: fragile youth are often exposed to catchy slogans and sugary sermons by emissaries of American “jihad.”

In Chechnya in August 2012. The Department for Relations with Religious and Public Organizations launched the “Ulema Question” project on their website. This is a good thing, considering the fact that the vast majority of questions are addressed to the ulema of the East. It is known that more or less significant Arab ulema have their own blogs and websites online. For the Chechen ulema this is a new thing and a test. A novelty – it will remain a novelty for now due to the fact that among the local ulema one can still hear, they say, the Internet is nothing but dirt, and we will do what the religious books tell us, and not what is there on the Internet. At the same time, without realizing that time has passed, roughly speaking, “boards and chalk.” New times require a new approach, which absolutely does not contradict Islam. That is why the Internet is busy with all sorts of evil, because the ulema do not want to fight in new conditions against evil. Often, they simply don’t know how. The problem of teaching computer literacy is urgent. Fortunately, at the Russian University. Kunta-Hadji, which was opened in 2009 in Grozny, established the subject of computer science as mandatory. Let's hope that the new generation of ulema will be adequate to the challenges of our time. But this is in the future: the next release is in 2013. And now – timid attempts. In addition to the banal topic of using a computer, there is the issue of adequate counteraction, the so-called educational qualification. It is obvious that the ulema in the East are more knowledgeable about religious subjects than the local ones. This is almost an axiom. Otherwise, for centuries they would not have gone there for knowledge. The way out is to “grow” your own ulema without losing cooperation with large eastern universities. Moreover, there are a lot of precedents - quite a few of the ulema of Islam were not Arabs. This will give additional impetus in the fight against the spread of extremism in the same network. The struggle for minds has long since moved there. We only have to regret the belated reaction of those who, out of duty to serve God, shun and do not accept new challenges.

For now, we have to express hope that extremist propaganda will be demolished online through the efforts of both clergy and secular figures. Behind the religious fanatics are the satanic forces of liberalism. The last bastion of potential resistance is Islam. Corrupted by individualism, he will never go to any lengths to defend even his ideals. A society where ideology has a certain meaning always becomes an object of aggression. In this case, religion.

ps:

I think the words of Paul Craig, (Institute of Political Economy, USA), who claims that the State is involved in the pussyriot case, are not unfounded: bit.ly/ORdN3j