“Do you not know that faith is the leading principle in all matters? For what husbandman can reap, unless he first trust his seed to the earth? Or who can cross the sea, unless he first entrust himself to the boat and the pilot? And what sick person can be healed, unless first he trusts himself to the care of the physician? And what art or knowledge can anyone learn, unless he first apply and entrust himself to the teacher? If, then, the husbandman trusts the earth, and the sailor the boat, and the sick the physician, will you not place confidence in God, even when you hold so many pledges at His hand?” Theophilus of Antioch.
A world view is how one perceives and interprets the world in its entirety. It includes a collection of beliefs about things such as life and the world itself. These beliefs can be held by an individual or a group of people. Many people associate worldview with religion as well. Carol Hill says : “By ‘worldview’ I mean the basic way of interpreting things and events that pervades a culture so thoroughly that it becomes a culture’s concept of reality – what is good, what is important, what is sacred, what is real. Worldview is more than culture, even though the distinction between the two can sometimes be subtle. It extends to perceptions of time and space, of happiness and well-beings. The beliefs, values, and behaviors of a culture stem directly from its worldview.”
Moreover, ideology is a body of ideas that reflects the beliefs and interests of a nation, political system, etc. and underlies political action. Ideology originates from a worldview. It is the infrastructure and ideology is the superstructure of a school of thought.
The practices of religious extremists are reflected through their radical stereotypes and deep-seated ideology which originate in their fundamental interpretation of the world. They interpret religious beliefs with a strictness which is void of reason or logic. These religious radicals believe in extreme rather than moderate views. Moderate fideism is only non-rational while extreme fideism is irrational or anti-rational which is a blind faith and stands against reason.
Blind faith is highly perilous for any society. For example, the religious radicals whose worldview is empty of reason are deeply ethno-centrist. I remember when I with some friends of mine went to a luxury house of a Pashtun, in an insecure district of Ghazni province; I saw cuts on the walls made with sharp objects which surprised me greatly. I asked the reason. The owner of the house answered that the cuts were made by Taliban’s Kalashnikovs. He detailed that they left their guestroom’s door; a separate room made for serving guests which is traditional among the Afghan people, open at night otherwise if Taliban faced closed door they would break in. He added, the Taliban forced them to serve them dinner. He complained that all his neighboring homes suffered from Taliban’s disturbance. They entered their homes and asked them to serve the Mujahideen. Mujahid (Holy Warrior) is a sacred word used for those who fight to support Islam. So, this is a clear manifestation of their ethnocentrism.
The strictly ideological behavior of religious extremists is formed by their fundamental worldview and blind faith. They are brainwashed that way. As a result, a documentary, by the name of Afghan Alphabet, was showed by BBC. Perhaps it was filmed in 1980 when about two and a half million Afghan people were killed and seven million were displaced. The documentary was about Afghan people who emigrated to Zahidan, a city in Iran. They lived in camps and their children did not have access to school. They attended mosques for learning Holy Qur’an. Finally, a school was opened for them by the international fund. The students who attended schools belonged to highly conservative families that hardly ever dared present themselves with their faces open. Even, they were not willing to say their names. Samira Uzbak who was hardly convinced by insistence of filmmaker to tell her name was not persuaded to reveal her face.
She was persisting that it was a sin which would led to the torture of God on the Day of Judgment. When Samira was asked where she got the idea from, she answered that Mullah Omar said that Prophet had a wife whom he locked her in a box and once in a while, he opened the box and smelt her. Finally, Samira’s school teacher left her between two choices whether to reveal her face or get out of the school; she chose the second choice and went out. A friend of her who revealed only her two eyes followed her outside for convincing to reveal her face. She implored and asked her just to reveal her eyes and then repent to God who will forgive her, she refused to do so. However her friend implored and said that she herself will repent to God for revealing her face, Samira denied continuously. So, she has been brainwashed that way by religious extremists and her idea of Prophet regarding his wife is a great superstation and accusation to Prophet. Therefore, their worldview is so strict and closed.
Talibanism also has roots in religious extreme and a misinterpretation of the world. Mostly, the profane has changed into the sacred for them. For instance, their strict political ideology regarding women such as burning their schools and barring them from participating in political, cultural and educational fields is based on their radical worldview. They have been brainwashed and trained for many years which can make their frames of mind unchangeable. Moreover, their ideological opinions and extreme fideism regarding Jihad has deep root in their religious understandings which prepare them for altruistic suicide. Therefore, it will be very naïve of one to think that they kill themselves for worldly materials. However, all their actions and practices have deep roots in religious ideology.