Rise of religious extremism in West: Should Europe finally bid farewell to secularism?

Secularism was born out of the need to separate religion and state. But what happens when a said religion itself becomes a threat to the state? Till when, Europe and the West, can afford to just be racist and blame immigrants, overlooking the crucial driving factors like their ‘religion’, and ‘ideology’ and the underlying theocracy? Such modern-day issues make questions, Is secularism still relevant? Should Europe finally bid farewell to secularism? Or, is it time for states to acknowledge the primacy of religion and certain ideologies and not just bring in relevant stringent laws but enforce them too? Does religious loyalty supersede the sovereignty of the state? Failings of European secularism and ‘God Gap’ The European idea of secularism fails to fill the ‘God Gap’. First, it fails philosophically. It doesn’t provide us with a rational interpretation of life. Second, it fails religiously and spiritually. Third, it fails in the realm of social/moral values. To understand Islamic extremism, one must study in what ways it fills this ‘God Gap’. So for any secular nation-state, it is impossible to tackle religious extremism, until and unless they reclaim their own religious identity, be in Christianity, Judaism or even Hinduism for that matter. When it comes to Europe, take France for instance, knowingly or unknowingly made a grave mistake of not collating data on racial, religious, or gendered basis at all, which ended up giving the immigrants and anti-social elements a blind spot to thrive. On the other hand, the European countries that did collect, understand the brevity of the situation. Demographic shift in Europe A research report by Alex Schmid, which looked into the links between migration and terrorism, says, “Some children of immigrants to Western diasporas, insufficiently integrated into the host society and being caught between two cultures, have in a search for identity and meaning, looked at Jihadists as role models and thousands of them migrated to Syria to become foreign fighters…Migrants can be terrorists and terrorists can be migrants in many ways. The arrival of large refugee populations when not properly handled, increases the risk of attacks in the recipient country by both domestic and transnational terrorists.” - (Schmid, 2016, 2) One would also like to believe that refugee camps are secure locations where people who have fled persecution or the prospect of violence can heal, wait for the conclusion of hostilities, and make plans for how to resume their lives after returning. Sadly, this is often not the case; because they are typically weakly policed, refugee camps tend to be deadly locations. Refugee camps are frequently associated with suffering and an absence of perspective for those forced to wait there for better times. They serve as a breeding ground for terrorism, much like jails. A little over half of all refugees worldwide are under the age of 18. Younger people are more likely than older persons to join terrorist organisations. Open-ended residence in such camps offers recruitment opportunities for terrorists and guerilla fighters. (Schmid, 2016, 33) Another report by CSIS depicts the extent of terrorist attacks. In the five years (2013-2017), Islamic extremists have focused on targeting places like airports, private citizens, businesses, the military and police-often symbols of the ‘infidel’ government, its citizens, and Western civilization. (Jones et al., 2018, 13) If one looks at the data provided by the European Union’s website , in 2023 alone, 69,178 irregular arrivals were registered. The breakdown per migratory route is as follows: Central route: 50,318 arrivals, Eastern route: 10,285 arrivals, Western routes: 8,575 arrivals. These are the top nationalities which accounted for irregular inroads into the EU. All others (2,041) on the Central route, Syria (825) on the Eastern route, and Morocco (475) on the Western route. While it is, in concrete situations, difficult to isolate specific factors as being responsible for migration, a major driver of forced migration is severe state repression involving attacks on civilian populations that in cases of (civil) war, often also amount to war crimes or war-time terrorism. Data from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria - and to a lesser extent Pakistan - show that the number of first-time asylum seekers in Europe is correlated to the number of deaths from terrorism in the countries of origin. The EU has estimated the number of illegal border crossings, which were at an all-time high during the year 2014 to 2016 and now again the numbers have been going up since 2021-22. This is what the Pew Research report has to say, “The greatest increases – driven primarily by continued migration – are likely to occur in Western and Northern Europe, where Muslims will be approaching double-digit percentages of the population in several countries. In the United Kingdom, for example, Muslims are expected to comprise 8.2% of the population in 2030, up from an estimated 4.6% today. In Austria, Muslims are projected to reach 9.3% of the population in 2030, up from 5.7% today; in Sweden, 9.9% (up from 4.9% today); in Belgium, 10.2% (up from 6% today); and in France, 10.3% (up from 7.5% today).” - (The Future of the Global Muslim Population, 2011) Challenges of tackling religious extremism within secular frameworks Secular governments will never be able to tackle the ‘Islamic extremism and violence’ issue if they continue to look at it from a secular, purely-political lens. The problem demands to be looked at from a theoretical perspective, put Islam and its followers under scrutiny, and critically deal with the ideology and its motive. To begin with, let us address how secularism is viewed in the theocratic Islamic world, if and how it leads to violence. It might be a hard pill to swallow for many, but the Islamists have understood the perils of secularism to their religion. There is one thing that Islamic resurgence agrees on, is the condemnation of secularism. Sayyid Qutb roots for an Islamic government (more or less equivalent to Sharia laws) is a rebellion against purely humanistic laws. For a moderate like Fazlur Rehman, “Secularism destroys the sanctity and universality of all moral values” (Sonn, 1987, 284). Moreover, in Abrahamic empires like Islam and Christianity, for example, God is seen as the foundation of all morality, and expanding their boundaries is not only seen as legal but an ethical compulsion. Theoretically, at least, there is no natural limit to the empire’s fated domain. (Sonn, 1987, 286) From here, these two religions came up with two different solutions. In the Christian world, in the 16th and 17th centuries, Europe produced the ideological basis for political legitimacy independent of religious institutions. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke came up with leadership theories independent of the Church for the commonwealth’s greater good. On the other hand, Islam intertwined religion and political power/legitimacy even more intricately. One way in which these Islamic extremists are increasing or, say, pushing their ‘empire’s’ boundaries, is by taking refuge in Dar-Al Harb (non-Islamic countries) zones. Here, Pew Research’s data comes in handy to understand how they ‘Islam’ify those countries. Beginning with, “Recent flows of asylum seekers have been dominated by young men (roughly 70% to 75% of asylum seekers have been male). Under certain conditions, refugees who obtain humanitarian protection status are entitled to family reunification. If current refugees can bring family members to Europe, this could increase the female share of future refugee flows as spouses, children and other relatives join existing refugees.” - (Methodology: Europe’s Growing Muslim Population, 2017) Gradually, the countries show signs of a significant Muslim population. “In 2030, Muslims are projected to make up more than 10% of the total population in 10 European countries: Kosovo (93.5%), Albania (83.2%), Bosnia-Herzegovina (42.7%), Republic of Macedonia (40.3%), Montenegro (21.5%), Bulgaria (15.7%), Russia (14.4%), Georgia (11.5%), France (10.3%) and Belgium (10.2%)” - (The Future of the Global Muslim Population, 2011) The data from 2011 itself showed significant demographic change, so one can only imagine what the numbers would look like now. Balancing civil rights and national security There are certain inherent challenges Secularism is facing in countering religious extremism. When the Western political society feels the need to justify and secularise the motivation behind terrorist attacks. Society fails when it believes that by addressing the political aspect, the phenomenon would pass. But expecting political gestures to change radicals’ hearts to work, when the roots are not political, is not wise. Any attempt to address the terrorist threat in a way that ignores its intellectual, cultural, and religious roots will fail. To create an actionable strategy to deal with the challenges, efforts should start by denouncing theocracy of radical Islamic doctrine. But the secular front is already at a disadvantage. Western notions of civil rights, along with legal, political, and cultural restraints that forbid government meddling in the internal affairs of religions like Islam, make it challenging to ban or punish fiery sermons by imams in mosques or punish clerics for issuing Fatwas defending terrorism. (Bar, 2004, 35) The legacy of colonialism also prevents Western governments from taking actions that can be seen as anti-Muslim or Islamophobic. This reveals how ineffective secular governments are at tackling the root causes of the terror threat. In actuality, the majority of new and stringent anti-terrorism laws passed in various nations rely primarily on administrative and investigative capabilities and do not address the criminalisation of “ideological crimes” motivated by religion. (Bar, 2004, 36) Future of secularism in Europe and beyond The above argument explains how secularism’s focus on the separation of religion and state neglects the influence of religious ideology or the aforementioned “God Gap” in the radicalisation process. To end with, Europe at least attempts to provide better living conditions, and freedom, freeing them from terror, and theocracy, but at the cost of their national security. The immigrants have a moral duty towards their host nation to adhere to their culture, lifestyle, most importantly, the law of the land. However, Muslim refugees seem to have made a choice; their loyalty continues to tilt towards their ideology than the host state’s. The very same ideology ended up making them refugees elsewhere. The writer is Research Assistant in Chanakya University. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .