In December 2021, the clichéd image of the regressive, feudal Arab got a paint job. Across West Asia, young men and women erupted in a revolution against autocrats and dynasts. A revolution called the Arab Spring. Scores of them became martyrs of hope. Some tyrants fell. Some fled. The last time something like this happened was in the 1980s, when young East Europeans overthrew their Communist dictators and inaugurated democracy. The world sat up and applauded.
The global establishment, however, missed the warning signs. Youth was the powerhouse of the Arab Spring. Though democracy was its dream, at its core was the Muslim Brotherhood, which champions sharia rule. Hence, it was not democracy but horror and death that followed in its wake -- the ISIS raped, enslaved and massacred thousands. The war-torn Syria became a map of pain. The rule of law died in Libya. A caliphate of cruelty rose on the ashes of the revolution.
In Afghanistan, where the protection of the Western armies had incubated a modern society for women and youth, the Taliban brought back their bleak version of Islamist purity. Irony embitters the lifeblood of these countries, where tyrants and mass murderers are on a PR drive to impress the West, lure investors and create jobs while gurus of gore are sponsored at home. Surveys now refute the Western liberal notion that young Muslims support moderate Islam -- 59 percent in the UAE, 58 percent in Saudi Arabia and 74 percent in Egypt oppose listening "to those among us who are trying to interpret Islam in a more moderate, tolerant, and modern way". It’s a no-brainer; the West praises the 'modernising efforts' of Arab autocrats while ignoring their civil rights' violations. Radical Islam offers lethal clarity without compromises.
Another survey established that 34 percent of young Muslims prioritised faith over wealth. Prayer is central to their lives; 84 percent of respondents in Malaysia and Indonesia prayed five times daily and 33 percent described themselves as more religiously observant than their parents. Halal (what is permissible as contrasting with 'haraam') is integral to their lifestyle -- 91 percent of those polled patronise only halal products. Sixty-one percent follow halal banking and investment rules. Seventy-seven percent said their travel plans depend on the availability of halal facilities.
Religion and technology have become kissing cousins; Mark Zuckerberg would be flummoxed to know that 85 percent of respondents asked for a Muslim-specific metaverse and 53 percent polled used prayer and Qur'an apps. In the Middle East, 41 percent of youth identified religion as most important to their identity over nationality and family. A recent blog post by Tam Hussein, an award-winning journalist and author of To the Mountains: My Life in Jihad, from Algeria to Afghanistan is dismaying: Hussein notes the support of young Muslims for a caliphate created through 'blood'.
The conservative wave sweeping democratic nations seems to be a direct response to such bloodthirsty belief. Consequentially, the relevance of social nuances is fading in a binary world fortressed by faith. The Right -- Christian, Hindu and Jewish -- is now more militant and unforgiving as they appropriate aggressive custody of their culture. The 21st century's defining paradox is that the world's youth are becoming divided even as the contradictions of identity keep multiplying.