ASF 2019: Extremism Has No Place In Islam, Only Way Forward Is Creation Of An Arabosphere

Across the Arab world there is a strong cry of “enough extremism”, a firm call for the immediate cessation of the “use of religion for political gain”, a heartening realisation that the Arab world is “not becoming any less religious”, a hopeful sentiment of being “in favour of places of worship for other religions”, and a slightly worrying rejection of “secularism as a concept”.

All this and more were some of the key takeaways of an honest panel discussion titled ‘The Future of Islamism in the Next Decade’ moderated by Faisal J. Abbas, Editor-in-Chief of Arab News, with panelists Omar Saif Ghobash, Assistant Minister for Culture and Public Diplomacy, and author of Letters to a Young Muslim, along with Ed Husain, founder of the counterextremism organization Quilliam and author of The Islamist – both prominent experts in the field of Middle Eastern geopolitics and Islamism. The session was part of the morning agenda of the 12^th Arab Strategy Forum (ASF 2019) at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre today.

The key findings discussed during the panel discussion were captured in a landmark study commissioned by ASF in partnership with Arab News and YouGov. The research surveyed over 3,000 Arabs across 18 countries to determine what they believe are top problems for their societies, issues driving conflict in the region, and how religion and politics intersect in their daily lives.

Addressing perhaps one of the biggest dichotomies of the research, where 51 per cent of the respondents were in favour of places of worship for other religions yet feared a secular state model, Husain said: “The fear of secularism stems from the absence of a native, authentic and relevant definition of secularism that the Arab world is yet to define. It is critical to understand that we are already Quran-compliant nations and perhaps can look to the English-speaking world where you can say ‘God Bless this Country’ without feeling the pressure of establishing a state religion.”

Husain pressed for the creation of an Arabosphere, and urged the audience to establish a clear identity on what it means to be Arab and Muslim along with being modern and progressive. He elaborated: “The concept would be much like what the UAE has achieved– an almost ideal model, where you are privately pious and realise it is the state and not the mosque that is responsible for solving your social and economic issues.”

The survey revealed an encouraging decline in the popularity of religious groups with people acknowledging that Hamas has done little for Gaza, Hezbollah for Lebanon and the Muslim Brotherhood for Egypt.

“I fear that the failure to articulate a strong Arab identity will create a vacuum for extreme Islamism,” added Husain.

In response, Ghobash said that the Arab world had woken up to the “absolute failure of Islamist movements pretending they have a solution to all social and economic problems and eventually proving they have none of it and only sought power to drive an agenda of extremism. It is safe to say that the future of groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, ISIS/Daesh, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and Hezbollah are bleak.”

Referencing the success of what the panel called the ‘UAE model’, Ghobash said: “As long as there is mistrust in the political institutions or the state, people will revert to their primary social institutions, notably religion.”

He added: “What clearly works in the UAE, as opposed to anywhere else in the Arab world is the implicit faith in the state machinery and the desire to see the state action as a framework for the well-being of its citizens.”

In conclusion, the panel discussion acknowledged all the impressive progressive efforts of Saudi Arabia and concurred that the Arab world’s pursuit of modernity was in no way getting ‘less religious.’ The speakers underlined the fact that religion would continue to be the cornerstone of the emerging Arabosphere – with perhaps more private reflection.