RADICAL BIPOLAR EXTREMISM

Extremism cannot beat extremism, but on the contrary these two will feed each other, causing difficult consequences in our society. We have to learn as a society to not generalize things and to sit down and converse reasonably and with mutual respect on how to find a solution.

Illustration: Argjira Kukaj

As a young person I was always interested on the phenomena and laws of this world that cannot be explained or seen. So, I simply questioned my reality. Personally this thing resulted in leading me towards religion. But, I faced numerous problems at the beginning of searching for information around religion I liked which was Islam and the reason is that I didn’t have anywhere to find a source of accurate information and that wasn’t coated with a hint of radicalism.

Fortunately, I’ve selected the information and thrown out the suspicious information and I didn’t accept them but researched it further until I understood religion in a fully just way. Many young people who in themselves encompass a religious character walk around for this information and end up in getting it from radical individuals and groups that multiply like some epidemic bacteria. Their access to these groups usually happens by the internet where manipulation is easier because of easy communication. And so these young people with very inaccurate information around religion are transformed into puppets of different agendas.

So, the lack of accurate information around religion is one of the causes of our youth’s radicalization. But, can we fix this thing? This question now sends us to another kind of radical extremism in our society. The absurd hatred directed toward Muslim believers with the pretext that being religious automatically means you will be extremist or radical. I see this hatred every day in my life, while I say to someone that I pray 5 times a day and they automatically think that I’m a radical person or that have an infiltration agenda behind my back. And others assume that I don’t talk about anything else expect religious subjects, where they’re completely wrong since like any young person I’m interested and talk about sport, the film world, culture, music, the book world etc… Being religious does not mean that you’re sui generis or separate from others.

Another violation is also when some invade on the way someone dresses, whether they should wear a scarf on their head or not, to have a beard or not. Humans are free to dress as they want, to wear a scarf, wrap, hap and then they can let their moustache or beard grow. These rights are accepted all around democratic Europe and even in the United States. Some live with the pretext that to become “European” you should offend and deprive a Muslim who lives with their principles without hurting anyone, this thing doesn’t hold up at all since you’re passing on the opposing side of Europeans or the democracy they aim for. And this kind of extremism again brings us to the question I posed above.

Extremism cannot beat extremism, but on the contrary these two will feed each other, causing difficult consequences in our society. We have to learn as a society to not generalize things and to sit down and converse reasonably and with mutual respect on how to find a solution. To make it possible for those with interest on the religious aspect to find the accurate information in families, at school, in religious objects controlled and verified as safe sources, in society etc. And to not offend everything that has to do with religion and to not continue to hinder accurate learning of religion because then we’ve committed a violation of essential human rights and we’ve transformed into the opposite of democracy, communism.

About the author: Shefket Bujari is a 19-year-old from Suhareka who attends journalism studies in the University of Prishtina.