9/11: Lessons from Extremism

Yesterday was the anniversary of an ominous incident: the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon and the killing of innocent civilians. It is an ominous incident because it ignited the flame of hatred between Muslims and Westerners. It was exploited by extremists and malevolent forces on both sides in order to settle historical disputes and intellectual conflicts at the expense of the peaceful innocents in the Islamic and Western worlds.

The perpetrators of the cowardly attacks are ultimately followers of a fringe transgressor group, regardless of their nationality or expertise. Despite this fact, intellectual and religious ultra-extremists in the West exploited the incident to settle scores with Muslims. Since then, they have unilaterally terrorized the world through the militarization of international relations, in what is known as the “Clash of Civilizations.” They have accused Muslims of violence and extremism, stating that the great religion of Islam is one of cruelty and vulgarity. One and a half billion Muslims in the world opposed the attack of September 11: the vast majority of imams in the world denounced it; renowned religious scholars in the Islamic world concurred on its illegitimacy and considered it an act of aggression; all the leaders of the Islamic countries condemned it. However, Westerners were more compelled by their own lust for revenge.

At any rate, the incident has passed with all its evil and darkness; peoples should put it behind their back and treat it as a lesson in history. They should also treat it as a living example of the kind of enormous power to destroy human and international relations that extremists on both sides are able to take advantage of if left with decisions of war, peace, and human connection. This incident illustrates the need for states and nations to be prudent in their actions and reactions so as not to give radicals the opportunity to hijack the will of the people and the power of states, exploit this will and power in order to realize their goals, and use others as a means of revenge and history score-settling.

The years that have followed the attacks have been characterized by an open war of hatred between the Islamic and Western worlds. This has been due to the fact that extremists on both sides were able to instill fear, suspicion, and lack of trust into their populations. Once they successfully accomplished that, they were in full control of the geo-political scene and were able to guide the ensuing events in the direction of their aspirations. It is for that very reason that such a painful, unnecessary, and unconstrained confrontation occurred. It would had been possible to punish the perpetrators of the attack without igniting a war between civilizations, religions, and nations; without resorting to the means of collective punishment; and without remolding extremists and hate arsonists into global heroes.

On this occasion, it is essential to praise the courage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, and his wisdom in handling the crisis. He worked to calm the situation and avoid provocative reactions, saving the long-term friendly relationship with the United States from total collapse and avoiding the destructive end that the extremists on both sides were aspiring to bring about. Moreover, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques was able, with the help of the sensible people on the U.S. side, to restore the relationship to one of friendship, trust, cooperation, and respect.