How much is foreign policy really to blame for extremism or are we simply using it as an excuse to mask the inconsistencies of religion?

This might not bode well with some readers of this publication but we have to realise that British and western foreign policy is not entirely to blame for the troubles in Muslim countries.

It is not to blame for some elements of extremism and we cannot use it as a reason every single time a Muslim commits a violent act.

It is clear that western foreign policy in the past several hundred years has been based on securing land and resources.

This strategic policy has not changed for European, American, Russian and Chinese powers and in recent years it has become more stark.

But can we really blame all the ills and the corruption in Muslim countries on outside powers? We are very quick to do so because I sense it is the easy way out.

Try pointing this out and you are automatically given some Wikipedia history lesson.

I was watching a TV discussion the other day which featured a debate on this very issue. We had people who you would class as intelligent repeatedly claim foreign was to blame for almost any negative portrayal of Muslims.

There was a constant focus that ‘foreign policy’ was in some way to blame for radicalisation. Let us stop saying things to make ourselves as Muslims feel better.

The foreign policy of not only western governments but others around the world is hypocritical at best. We support tyrannical regimes until we have no strategic use for them and then repeat the cycle with another set of rulers.

Egypt is a clear example in modern times. We dare not call for freedom and then when the army took back control from an elected government our government stood back watched the ‘peaceful’ transition to the status quo that suited us best.

And if the same things happens elsewhere we are up in arms about peace and freedom.

The aims have changed little in over a hundred years and they are unlikely to change now. What has made this hypocrisy more evident is the rise of the internet.

The internet has made state propaganda redundant for many people who can view for themselves on their own phones news as it happens. Social media in particular has forced media organisations to change tact but at the moment it is the former that is winning.

Why would a 16 year-old British Muslim who can view for himself the hypocrisy of the western governments not feel in some way aggrieved?

We then have mainstream Muslims as well as those who you might label as ‘extreme’ round up on that great ogre that is foreign policy.

But let us ask ourselves some questions. If there was no Israel would extremism disappear? What would have happened if we had not gone to war on Iraq?

What about 9/11 and 7/7? Imagine there had been no 9/11 and there was in fact no Al-Qaeda? Would there be no extremism in our midst?

If the great Ottoman Empire had not broken down during the last century would we not have Islamic extremists?

What if western governments decided that they did not want to invade the Middle East every other year under the guise of freedom and democracy?

Now, truthfully would there be no extremists amongst our Muslim community? I can tell you now of course there would. And we need to stop kidding ourselves.

I personally meet people who have no idea what is actually going on around the world and no knowledge of their own Islamic history. The foreign policy argument does not hold sway with them whatsoever but they are what you may well term as ‘extreme’.

They are extreme in their ideals and in their support for violent extremists across the world. They may not say so in public but privately they are keen to see killings in the name of religion – sometimes against their own.

These people hold these views because that is in essence what they believe. They say and hold these views because they want you to believe them too.

There is evidence of just as much prejudice from one set of Muslims against another.

We can’t use the foreign policy excuse every time we don’t feel comfortable with an argument.

This is not about admitting one’s ills or trying to find reasoning for why there is so much Islamophobia. I am also not trying to appease anyone or make myself feel less guilty.

It is about simply stating a fact. Not all of the problems in the Islamic world and amongst Muslims here are due to ‘Foreign policy’. Sometime we have to realise that in essence we have issues that are not and cannot be blamed on this great ogre that is ‘foreign policy’.

Sadly, in recent times as we try to defend our religion from this daily onslaught that is all we seem to be doing.