The comfort of certainty

The Islamist ideology, in most of its many forms, offers a coherent and (mainly) consistent viewpoint with which to perceive the world and make judgements about others. This is particularly welcome and comforting for many new recruits, as the "world outside" is full of diversity and ambiguity, with so few certainties that it can be quite disconcerting.

Within Islamism one is given a set of clear black-and-white criteria by which to determine right from wrong, and precise dogmatic manner by which to conduct oneself. This is quite reassuring for many, as things begin to make sense and fall into place in one's mind, according to the grand Islamist scheme. Dilemmas which have perplexed the world for centuries are magically resolved by the winning formula, inspiring the new ideologue with additional trust in his adopted school of thought.

This attitude also has the tendency of lulling those who subscribe to it into a false sense of security, as the adopted ideology is often synonymous with Islam itself, and just as Islam cannot be wrong, the Islamist ideology is likewise absolved of any shortcoming or imperfection, thus confirming and entrenching the delusion.

Adherents to the Islamist ideology will also tend to become zealously defensive of their doctrine, in the belief that this is in fact a defense of Islam itself. Productive dialogue thus becomes progressively more difficult as the advocate's personality and thinking moulds itself to the Islamists tenets and dogma, becomming more and more brittle with time, eventually solidifying and fossilising in a state almost unreachable by reasonable debate.

(... to be continued, insha Allah...)