How does a person become a sectarian extremist or a radical? Ed Hussain explains in his book, “The Islamist”:
As a young boy, his father introduced him to a spiritual guide. He was awed by the Muslim devotees’ singing of praises to the prophet, Mohammed, and Allah.
He shares, “I still remember the advice our guide gave to the initiates. He advised them to do two things: First, to pray as though they saw God. And, to avoid envy and jealousy.”
Things were peaceful and happy until Ed fell into the influence of fundamentalists who swayed him to believe that they had to fight western influences and bring Muslims to a position of domination.
His life went into a dizzying spin—until he found the essence of spirituality again. He explains, “We need to cleanse our hearts of anger, enmity, arrogance, envy, rancor, jealousy and other vices that drive us away from the truth and put us in conflict with the message of creation.
He realized that jihad wasn’t meant to kill innocent people.
He saw the true brotherhood espoused by Islam. He enthused, “Being a Muslim isn’t a political identity. In Mecca, I met Muslims who had different backgrounds and culture but united in their beliefs. —That is the true ummah—a spiritual community, and not a political bloc.” So, Hussain turned his back on extremism and fully embraced the essence of Islamic spirituality!