Counter-terrorism Feature
Radicalisation Process : A cultural and religious insight By Anooshe Aisha Mushtaq
U
sing her own experience as a case study, in a three part series, Anooshe Mushtaq explores the experiences of Muslim migrants and offers a perspective on the religious and cultural drivers of Muslim radicalisation in Australia. Anooshe identifies key Islamic teachings used by extremists to target recruits and argues that cultural patterns of behavior in the migrant community make some Muslim migrants more susceptible to these radicalisation messages. She observes the shortcomings of the recently adopted measures to combat radicalisation and why they are less effective than expected due to policy makers’ inadequate understanding of the interplay of religion and culture in Muslim communities. In conclusion, Anooshe argues that policies to combat radicalisation must be designed to address both its religious and cultural drivers best achieved by involving trusted members of the Muslim community in policy design and implementation. A Cultural and Religious Insight In order to gain an in-depth perspective of the views and lifestyles of people from various parts of the world I have interviewed people from the Middle East, the sub-continent and the west. In doing so, not only did I learn a lot about their way of life and their respective beliefs but also underwent a transformation myself. My previously myopic views of the cultural differences widened to understand the reasons behind why the Muslim migrant community thought the way they did. I am not a traditional migrant Pakistani Muslim and have integrated well with Australian mainstream culture ever since I arrived here 30 years ago. However, prior to this research my views were limited mainly based on the views
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of my community about the western culture. The extensive research I conducted on the topic of “Social Media and Extremism” expanded my knowledge beyond the Muslim migrant community’s views of the west and the issues in the Middle East. In this paper I will explain elements of Muslim culture that are integrated with some misinterpreted views of the Muslim religion. I aim to demonstrate how culture and religion are deeply intertwined in the sub-continent and in the Middle East and how, without understanding this, our efforts to combat radicalisation in Australia may not be successful. I am sharing my story as a Muslim female who was born in an Islamic country and lived most of her life in Australia. I have experienced both sides of the world. While eastern culture and Islam are embedded in me, I have equally embraced the western culture. While I was growing up in Pakistan, I experienced a cocktail of culture and religion that often created confusion not just for me but also amongst the people who are born and raised in Pakistan. My view is that this confusion is deliberate and often wielded as a means to control the masses in Muslim society. These mechanisms of control flow from the heads of religion, the Imams, to the people and are constantly leveraged by parents to scare the children into obedience and compliance. When these people migrate to Australia some of them use the same controls to shield themselves, their children and wider families from integrating into the mainstream Australian culture, because it deviates vastly from the Muslim cultural values. Therefore, some people in the migrant Muslim community become prisoners in their own homes and create a new ecosystem for the sake of cultural and religious preservation. I was brought up in a culture that was “black and white” (all or nothing). My mum wanted us to be very successful in