ISLAMIC APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE AND EXTREMISM: CONTEXTUAL READING OF HADITHS ON THE MAHDI WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SRI LANKA

Authors

  • Mohammad Ismath Ramzy Department of Educational Foundation and Humanities, Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5676-1114
  • Rahimi Md Saad Department of Educational Foundation and Humanities, Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya
  • Rohan Gunaratna Security Studies, the Nanyang Technology University, Singapore

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31436/shajarah.v29i1.1823

Keywords:

The advance of Mahdi, contextualization, messianism in Islam, Muslim extremism, Islamic apocalypse

Abstract

Like any other religious community, the apocalyptic literature in Muslim society has become a source of pessimism instead of optimism. The extremists who conducted a series of suicide attacks on religious places and hotels in Sri Lanka in 2019 justified their violent activities, referring to apocalyptic literature that prophesied the advance of Mahdi. These extremists misunderstood the hadiths on the Mahdi and intended to create instability in the world to accelerate his coming to resolve the present issues of Muslims. This research studied the relevant hadiths quoted by the extremists to kill innocent people and explored their meaning. The contextual analysis method has been employed to extract the meaning of these hadiths. This research shows that the extremists have misinterpreted these hadiths and used the Islamic apocalyptic literature out of context. The socio-political context of the usage of these hadiths further elaborates the change that has taken place in the understanding of their purpose throughout history. Therefore, this research recommends that Muslim religious and social leaders review interpretation traditions and educate young people to adopt socio-political and historical contexts to understand Islamic apocalyptic literature, mainly hadiths, to protect young people from extremism and radicalism.

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Author Biographies

Mohammad Ismath Ramzy, Department of Educational Foundation and Humanities, Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya

Chair, Education for Humanism and Social Advancement Research Centre (EHSAn), Department of Educational Foundation and Humanities, Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Rahimi Md Saad, Department of Educational Foundation and Humanities, Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya

Rahimi Md Saad completed his B.A (Hons.) at University of Yarmouk, Jordan (1997) in Arabic Languages ​​and Literature (major) and Syariah (minor). He obtained his Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the International Islamic University of Malaysia (1999) and furthered his Masters in Education from the University of Malaya in Educational Technology (2003) and he is currently conducting his doctoral research in waqf and educational development. He began his career as an Educational Tourism Executive at Ash-Har Travel & Tours (1997), Registrar at Kulliyyah Pondok Darulnaim (1998). He joined the International Islamic University of Malaysia as an Arabic Instructor/Lecturer (1999-2005), before moving to the Faculty of Education, University of Malaya since February 2005 to date. In social activities, he also contributes as a Trustee, Al Shafi’e Charitable Foundation, (2009-date), a Board Member, Selangor Public Library Corporation (2008-2019) and a several number of NGOs. His research and publication interest lie at the relationship between education and social development especially from the Islamic perspective. He has published many articles and chapters of book devoted to exploring and articulating issues in education and social development.

Rohan Gunaratna, Security Studies, the Nanyang Technology University, Singapore

Dr Rohan Gunaratna is Professor of Security Studies at the Nanyang Technology University, Singapore. He received his masters in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame in the US where he was Hesburgh Scholar and his doctorate in International Relations from the University of St Andrews in the UK where he was British Chevening Scholar. A former Senior Fellow at the Combating Terrorism Centre at the United States Military Academy at West Point and at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, he served as an instructor for counter terrorism intervention units. A former honorary professor at the Kotalawala Defence University, he is Senior Advisor of its Department of Defence and Strategic Studies. He wrote the blueprint for establishing the Ministry of Defence think tank, Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka. Gunaratna is the author of “Inside al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror” (University of Columbia Press), co-author of “Three Pillars of Radicalization: Needs, Networks and Narratives” (Cambridge University Press) and edited the Insurgency and Terrorism Series of the Imperial College Press, London. He wrote six books on Sri Lanka and interviewed the terrorist leadership of the LTTE and those arrested after the Easter Sunday attack. 

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Published

2024-06-30

How to Cite

Mohammad Ismath Ramzy, Rahimi Md Saad, and Rohan Gunaratna. 2024. “ISLAMIC APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE AND EXTREMISM: CONTEXTUAL READING OF HADITHS ON THE MAHDI WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SRI LANKA”. Al-Shajarah Journal of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation (ISTAC) 29 (1):1-23. https://doi.org/10.31436/shajarah.v29i1.1823.

Issue

Vol. 29 No. 1 (2024): With Special Speech by the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia

Section

ARTICLES