In addressing the combat against flawed concepts and ideas, and the confrontation of extremist ideologies while underscoring the imperative of intellectual elevation, it became essential for us to illuminate the concepts of extremism and intellectual deviation.
One of the paramount challenges confronting both global and Arab societies is the issue of intellectual extremism and deviation. This predicament transcends religious and ideological boundaries within these societies, as the phenomenon has recently proliferated perilously, emerging as a principal catalyst for societal fragmentation and decay. Consequently, it poses a significant peril to all social, political, and economic frameworks.
1- The Concept of Intellectual Deviation:
Intellectual deviation and extremism denote a departure from moderation and equilibrium in thought, perceptions, and beliefs, resulting in adverse effects on both individuals and society at large. It encompasses deviating from accepted intellectual and cultural norms within a given society, often leading to an inclination toward exaggeration and rigidity in ideas. This inclination, in turn, fosters unwarranted biases that culminate in detrimental behaviors for individuals, groups, and consequently, entire communities. Contemporary intellectual deviations and arbitrary interpretive readings have expanded in meaning to encompass diverse realms of thinking methodologies, intellectual approaches, and doctrinal backgrounds, rendering the concept complex, intertwined, and multifaceted.
2- Manifestations of Intellectual Deviation:
Intellectual deviations manifest in behaviors, actions, and stances that signify such deviations. These manifestations are numerous, varied, and interconnected, pertaining to both individual and institutional spheres within society, including states and nations. They signify deviations from rational paths in the realms of ideas, sciences, and knowledge, encompassing a range of expressions and manifestations. These manifestations include:
- Ideological and Faith Deviation: This encompasses atheism, paganism, polytheism, and all forms of misbelief within the realm of faith.
- Expressive and Rhetorical Deviation: This involves accusing religions of what they do not contain, falsely accusing institutions and references, and using derogatory and offensive terms without legal or customary justification in religion, law, or tradition.
- Deviation within Some Scientific Institutions and Schools of Learning: This includes distorting scientific facts through deception and fallacy, undermining established religious knowledge, and distorting reality.
- Campaigns of Excommunication and Discord: These involve inciting suspicion, chaos, and doubt in institutions and scholars, representing a dangerous aspect of intellectual, jurisprudential, rhetorical, and cultural deviation.
- Campaigns of Religious Defamation: These target sanctities, symbols, references, prohibitions, homelands, and incite virtue and excellence.
Impact of Intellectual Deviation on Social Security:
- Incitement of Discord: Intellectual deviation can exacerbate conflicts and tensions within society.
- Misguidance and Deception of Youth: This negatively affects young people and leads to their moral deviation.
- Proliferation of Violence and Crime: Intellectual deviation increases acts of violence and disturbances, leading to violations of the rights of individuals and groups.
- Disruption of entrenched ethical values in societies.
- Attempting to destabilize sources of knowledge and established science within society.
- Labeling the nation’s approach to religious understanding as extremism and intellectual terrorism.
- Weakening belief in loyalty and disavowal, exemplified by befriending and praising non-believers, and engaging in actions contrary to Islamic principles, including attacks on covenanters and those under protection.
- Decline in the conviction of governing by divine revelation and the justification of governance by other means.
Based on the foregoing, the pathway to prevent the slide into the pitfalls of intellectual deviation begins with self-reformation, followed by societal restructuring and the cultivation of sound personalities. This entails advocating for moderation, fulfilling religious obligations, avoiding forbidden actions, and strengthening the bond between youth and established scholars.
The correct methodological approach to confronting and combating intellectual deviation involves:
- Attention to educational spheres, where faith-based education acts as a bulwark against intellectual deviation, with families, mosques, and schools playing pivotal roles.
- Occupation of leisure time and the combatting of excessive luxury, which contributes to youth susceptibility to intellectual deviation.
- Avoidance of destructive media due to its substantial societal impact.
- Dialogue as a persuasive tool, with calm and convincing discourse achieving what force cannot.
- Love for the homeland, its interests, unity, obedience to authority, serving as a means to achieve intellectual security.
- Counteraction against negative intellectual influences, encompassing theoretical (books, magazines, publications, newspapers) and practical (false ideologies and propagandists reaching out through personal contact, debate, and teaching).
Intellectual deviation involves a departure in thought and a contravention of societal beliefs, values, culture, laws, and a departure from moderation and balance. It is imperative to resist erroneous ideas and opinions that lead to violence and extremism in all forms, emphasizing that modern wars are wars of thought and knowledge aimed at dividing society and stirring up discord among its factions.
