THE Quran says “Allah wants to lighten your burden, for human beings have been created weak by nature” (4:28). The latter part of this verse points out one of the common characteristic of human beings which is that they are weak by nature.

The word “weak” in the above verse is to be understood in the light of what has been stated in the previous verse which says “And Allah would turn to you in mercy; but those who follow their lust would have you go tremendously astray” (4:27). The verse tells us that Allah wants to be merciful to human beings, but those among them who follow their lust make them go astray. And they fall prey to lust because as human beings they are weak by nature and, therefore, unable to resist temptation (4:28).

The word “weak” in the verse (4:28) has, therefore, to be understood as “the inability to resist temptation” or “easily falling prey to lust.” It would mean that by their nature, human beings are so weak that they cannot resist temptation or they easily fall prey to lust. This particular weakness can be the root cause of many crimes and evils on earth. Theft, fraud, dacoity, corruption and excesses are committed mainly because of this weakness.

Desire by itself is not a bad thing. It is a part of human nature and the main source of motivation impelling one towards great achievements. Desire becomes a bad thing when it turns into lust i.e. when it becomes more intense and overpowers reasoning and conscience. In other words, desire can lead to constructive results when it is controlled by reasoning and conscience. But it can lead to constructive results when it overpowers reasoning and conscience and acquires control over the actions of a person or when it is infected by vanity as the Quran says (22:52).

A desire sometimes becomes insatiable when the person desires more and more of a thing than he actually needs i.e. when the desire has no end. In such a case the desire turns into greed which could be more intense in effect than mere lust, because the person may already have or can have what he needs, yet he wants to have more and more of it.

He naturally adopts all possible means, legal or illegal, moral or immoral, to have more of the thing he so desires. It is mainly in such cases that people take recourse to treachery, excesses and usurpation. Greed tends to overpower the human soul as the Quran says “And human soul is swayed by greed” (4:128).

Envy is another offshoot of uncontrolled desire. This is developed when a person desires what legitimately belongs to someone else and starts harbouring a grudge against him, often leading to usurpation or harming the person himself if it is not possible to usurp what he has got. The first murder committed on earth was because of envy when one of the sons of Adam killed the other because the sacrifice offered by one was not accepted and that of the other was accepted. The one whose sacrifice was not accepted killed the other (5:30).

Another offshoot of uncontrolled desire, even more serious than envy, could be rivalry. This occurs when two or more persons compete with one another in the acquisition of power, wealth or some other worldly gain and in that process get so swayed by desire to achieve what they want that they cease to hold any moral or social values. The Quran says “your craze for more and more and mutual rivalry for worldly gains has made you heedless” (102:1). The desire for more and more worldly gains and the resultant rivalry are also offshoots of lust.

The Quran very clearly tells us what the consequences of falling prey to one’s lust could be. It says: “so follow not lust lest you lapse from truth and if you lapse or fall away, then lo! Allah is ever informed of what you do” (4:135). It says again: “and do not follow your lusts, for it will lead you astray from the Way of Allah” (38:26).

Moreover, every human soul, as the Quran tells us, has three inclinations. One is to commit wrong and sinful acts, termed as Nafs-i-Ammarah (12:53). The other is to realize and repent i.e. to realize immediately that what one has done is wrong, and repent the deed. This is Nafs-i-Lowamah (75:2). The third is to do good and righteous deeds termed Nafs-i-Mutmainnah (89:27), also called the soul at peace.

Lust is one of those human frailties that impacts directly on Nafs-i-Ammarah and thereby makes one do wrong and sinful acts. It also suppresses Nafs-i-Lowwamah and Nafs-i-Mutmainnah, as a person under the influence of intense desire is never inclined to repent whatever wrong he does nor is he inclined towards doing good and righteous deeds.

It is, therefore, not only important but of fundamental importance that the inability to resist lust is made up or controlled to the desirable extent. In this connection, the Quran gives us a clear indication when it says “and who goes farther astray than he who followed his lust without guidance from Allah” (28:50). It means that the only appropriate way to control lust is to take recourse to the guidance of Allah.

Allah has bestowed such faculties on human beings with the help of which they can take recourse to and make proper use of His guidance. One is the faculty of reasoning (16:78) whereby one can come to a conclusion through a logical way. The other is conscience (91:8) which enables one to make a distinction between right and wrong within regard to his own conduct.

Mere reliance on reasoning, however, is not enough in every case. Satan relied solely on his reasoning when he refused to bow before Adam, his contention being that since he was made of fire he was superior to Adam who was made of clay. Reasoning has, therefore, to be complemented by the conscience and guidance of Allah in order to come to the correct conclusion specially when the question is not simply of what is right and wrong but what could be right and wrong in the light of Allah’s guidance.

About Hazrat Yusuf, the Quran says that he might have been tempted to do what he was invited to do had he not perceived the divine argument (12:24). It was with the help of his reasoning coupled with conscience and guidance from Allah that he came to the conclusion that what he was invited to do fell in the category of major sins. And it was the fear of Allah that restrained him.

Thus, with the help of reasoning and conscience coupled with divine guidance and animated by the fear of Allah one may be able to control his desires.

UNDOUBTEDLY, Pakistan has suffered tremendously because of the sectarian and Islamic extremist phenomenon. A number of extremist organizations grew out of the earlier jihad in Afghanistan during the 1980s. At the time, the war was strongly supported by the US and other western countries.

The US had supplied the Mujahideen with sophisticated weapons while the Pakistan army provided training and logistic help to the Afghans. The CIA-ISI collaboration during General Ziaul Haq’s regime is well-documented and acknowledged widely.

Thousands of Pakistani Mujahideen had also participated in the jihad and returned to Pakistan after the defeat of the Soviet Union. These trained fighters then joined various radical Islamic organizations some of which became involved in the Kashmir struggle. Unfortunately, Pakistan became awash with weapons of all kinds and intolerance bred militancy.

Later, during the 1990s and in the last few years, these organizations became more sectarian in nature. As Pakistan abandoned its policy of aiding the Kashmir struggle, these groups turned inwards and were further radicalized as they felt abandoned by the Pakistan government. Endemic violence resulted in the cities and towns of Pakistan. Sectarian killings took place on a larger scale. Tragically, hundreds have lost their lives in tit-for-tat killings during the past many years.

The spectre of “sectarian menace” kept on rearing its ugly head claiming many lives each time. In 2004 alone, some 200 people were killed in Lahore, Quetta, Karachi, Multan, Sialkot and Gilgit. This year, a suicide bombing in an Islamabad shrine resulted in 20 dead. A few days later, another bombing at a Karachi imambargah resulted in six deaths. The recent violence in Gilgit has claimed 10 lives.

Meanwhile, General Musharraf’s government has banned a number of extremist militant organizations. On July 7, 2005, suicide bombings in London killed at least 56 people, including the four attackers. Three of the four men blamed for the suicide bombings were British-born Muslims of Pakistani origin. As expected, the whole issue of Islamic extremism in Pakistan was highlighted by the global media. Tony Blair, prime minister of Britain, immediately called on President Musharraf to crack down on the madressahs that some of the London bombers were supposed to have attended.

The London bombings led to immediate action against suspected Islamic extremists by the government. The crackdown on suspected militants that started on July 20, 2005, has led to more than 300 arrests. Police raids were conducted throughout the country. The police seized hate literature and forcibly closed down the offices of outlawed groups operating under fake names. Arrested suspects came from, among others, the Tehrik-i-Jafria, Sipah-i-Sahaba, Sipah-i-Muhammad, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Harkat ul Ansar, Hizb-ul-Tahir, Shariat-i-Muhammad, Harkat-ul-Muhahideen and Jaish-i-Muhammad.

In a televised address to the nation in the aftermath of the London bombings, President Musharraf acknowledged that Pakistan had a “problem” with militants, amid international concern that Islamic schools were promoting extremism. Pakistan should not be labelled as lax in the war on terror simply because three suspected suicide bombers were of Pakistani origin and visited Pakistan in 2004, he said, pointing out that Britain also had a problem with home-grown extremism. He said that a lot had to be done by both Pakistan and Britain. The president appealed for a jihad against extremism and announced a number of measures to be taken to curb extremism.

It was reported in one of the foreign newspapers that President Musharraf had made similar pledges after 9/11, and experts warned that the crackdown on suspected militants could “alienate” many in Pakistan. This was wise advice given. One is dismayed at the development of Islamic radicalism in Pakistan and it is hoped that the menace is eliminated. The time for taking action against extremism by the government is now, so that religious extremists groups are quickly quelled.

But the government must act in a cautious and prudent manner, making a clear distinction between the “constitutional” Islamic forces and Islamic radicals. The former want to bring in change from within the political system as they have accepted it as legitimate. The latter do not accept the legitimacy of the present political order. This distinction is very important and must not be lost sight of. For example, the MMA is a “constitutional” entity, and therefore, the government must not only tolerate it but also accommodate it. Moderate Islamic organizations must be encouraged and a dialogue conducted with them.

In some ways, the growth of Islamic radicalism is to be expected, given the politics of the region and the ‘political aspirations’ of common Muslims. This is a serious internal problem in Muslim nations and should be handled wisely and with patience, keeping in mind that some Islamic extremists are simply misguided and not evil per se. They can and should be reformed. A cautious approach is needed to handle the situation. Any mishandling of the issue may have untoward consequences. The government must show tolerance for the high-sounding rhetoric of Islamist leaders who claims to be “saving Islam”, yet again. This is politics as usual and nothing extraordinary. These elements, though undesirable, must be further tolerated.

It should be noted that all activity under the Islamic label is not necessarily religious in essence. Some of it is generated because of popular perceptions of the Third World versus imperialist western powers. Islam has become a rallying cry for justice. It is also the language of protest that the Muslim people understand. But, religion has also become the language of convenience for Muslims. Many radical movements in the world have struggled against the hegemony of the western powers. Many people in the Third World regret and also dislike the rise of the West and the consequent undermining of their cultures and ideologies.

The current ravages of the western-led globalization onslaught are having a negative effect on the Third World including Islamic lands. Some of the anti-West movements that appear as Islamic are really Third World liberation movements in camouflage. After all, the western occupation of the Islamic lands — Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq etc. — could not have gone unnoticed and a strong reaction was both expected and understandable. In fact, a reaction by Muslims against Britain was also expected as it has chosen to be Washington’s junior partner in the American-led military adventures in the Middle East. In other words, what passes as Islamic, can also be understood in nationalistic and political terms.

Politics is the language of compromise and political problems are best handled through political means. The unnecessary use of force can and will radicalize religious groups in Pakistan as is happening in Algeria, Egypt, and Syria etc, where the moderate and constitutional Ikhwan ul-Muslimeen was radicalized by the brutal tactics of the Arab rulers. This aspect of religious extremism must be understood clearly. A cautious approach should therefore be adopted in handling the problem of Islamic radicalism in the country.

The writer is a research scholar.