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Many people labelled as extremists are not in fact extreme in their religion at all. They’re lax. Lax in the prohibitions of their religion.

Taking an innocent life is an enormity: an abomination. Attacking civilians as they go about their daily lives is severely censured in our tradition. Even indiscriminate violence on the battlefield is classed as a disliked or offensive action. Attacking worshippers at prayer is pure banditry. These are not matters of debate.

Preying on vulnerable girls online, arranging secretive meetings, plying them with drugs and alcohol, and forcing them to perform degrading acts: these are not the actions of one who knows anything about the ethics or prohibitions of his religion. This is corruption, degeneration: the service of the lowest calls of the self, untamed by the piercing light of faith.

To call such people Islamic extremists is to bend language itself. There is nothing Islamic about such behaviour; it is the very opposite of all that Islam seeks to establish and promote, namely justice for all, safety for all, good health for all. Those actions are not extremes of faith, but rather an abject absence of faith.

That is not to say our tradition is silent on actual extremism in religion. On the contrary, we find many sayings attributed to the prophet, peace be upon him, in which he is reported to have warned his followers against going to extremes in religious practices.

“Beware of extremism, for indeed, extremism destroyed those before you.” 

Hadith

Rather, we are advised to moderation in religious practice. Our faith is not meant to be hard. Those that make it hard will be overpowered by it, and will struggle to maintain course.

“Make matters easy for people and do not make them difficult, and give people glad tidings and do not repulse them.”

Hadith

Perhaps some people seek to justify their behaviours by hiding behind the banner of religion. Equally, others may claim no such thing, admitting that they have abandoned the path completely, if they ever knew it at all. If proponents of other faiths or ideologies choose to capitalise on their sins for their own ends, it is immaterial.

In either case, it obscures the truth. Most we meet outside our circles of faith have no idea about the ethical dimension of our faith. They don’t see good Muslims living good lives. They don’t see the mercy and compassion of charitable souls. They cannot see their defence of the poor and vulnerable.

No, for our entire religion has been parodied from both within and without. May God guide the sincere seeker, capable of opening their heart and mind, to look beyond, and look within, to scrape back the layers and accretions, to rediscover all that truly sits well with their soul. And may God protect us all from lax extremes.