Former Pakistani Ambassador to the US speaks out on the Muslim world

The rise of Islamic extremism in the Muslim world has increased since 2011, especially with the appearance of ISIS. Islamic extremism and its aggression against the West and various Eastern governments has drawn notable attention to the region.

Former Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani gave a speech titled, “Seeking Lost Glory: Lessons of Islamist Extremism,” to pinpoint the source of jihadism in the East.

Haqqani is accredited as a leading expert in South Asian policy and radical Islamist movements. He was born in Karachi, Pakistan and worked as a journalist for eight years before working under two Pakistani Prime ministers. He was later appointed as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka, and then to the U.S. from 2008 to 2011.

Haqqani discussed the history and rise of Islam in the modern era to find the root cause of radical Islamic behavior in the Muslim World. Haqqani faulted many modern Muslim political campaigns for attempting to revive past Islamic glory, who were at the height of their status as a world power around the 12th century.

“To re-seek this glory, we must re-visit the past,” Haqqani said. “Yet, through ISIS, we see that often times this pattern of thinking is not the best approach.”

In the 12th century, there was a notable change in the acquisition of knowledge in the Islamic World. The Mughal emperors who ruled the region at the time paused further innovation fearing new ideas would ‘change the natural order’ of the empire.

Islamic schools, Madrasas, only taught religious sciences, devoted mainly to studying Islamic Law as well as philosophy. The curriculum stayed the same for centuries and did not modernize until Western teaching reached the Middle East via colonialism.

Madrasas failed to change, causing the Quran to be strictly taught without supplementing other subjects. Haqqani believed this was the reason why the Muslim world is so adamant to modernization of its faith and close minded towards Western thought.

Haqqani argued Muslim countries were colonized because they were already falling behind.

“No one can colonize anyone with the same ability and advancements as them.”

This vacuum of knowledge between the Mughal rule and Western colonization from the early 16th century to the 20th century affected how differently Muslim countries rule versus Western powers.

Haqqani drew a connection between the lack of education in the Muslim world and the region’s decline in economic and political power. 

Haqqani tied the past to the problems of the present.

“If it happened then, then it can happen now,” he said, in regard to previous rejection of Western intellect.  

Florida State University Junior, Muhammad Rasul did not agree with parts of Haqqani’s speech.

“As a Pakistani, I thought Haqqani’s speech touched on some correct points but his ideas seemed extreme,” he said. “Many historical examples seemed to criticize Islam and Pakistani policies and were far removed from Pakistan’s contemporary problems.”

Haqqani is well received in the U.S. but unpopular in Pakistan. He faces charges in an open Pakistani Supreme Court investigation regarding the Memo-gate controversy. The controversy involves the ambassador reaching out to U.S. military chief in 2011 to ask for U.S. assistance in putting down domestic Pakistani unrest, in fear of a coup. The memo was sent soon after the U.S. raid into Pakistan to kill the founder of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden. 

Haqqani now resides in the U.S. and currently serves as the Director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institution in Washington D.C. He has also authored three books on Pakistani politics, as well as a book on the relationship between India and Pakistan.

Before his speech, Haqqani attended a private luncheon with students to give more personal knowledge about his experience as former ambassador, specifically on the current state of Pakistan’s government.

Haqqani expressed Pakistan’s greatness lacks because political problems are solved using military force.

“Pakistan needs economic power and education as its’ current focus, nuclear weapons are of no use if it truly seeks to be a great power once again,” Haqqani said.

Haqqani stated that Pakistan believes nuclear weaponry is important and makes them an equal on the world stage. However, they prioritize it over economic and educational well-being.

“If you have ten bombs, you need to make 15. How many times are you going to bomb something?” he said. “So it’s a losing race, an arms race is always going to be a losing race, so Pakistan may end up like the Soviet Union did. The Soviet competed very well with America, but in the end, it just collapsed from within, economically and all that.”

Despite Pakistan being ranked sixth in the world for the largest population and in nuclear world power status, the country remains 41st in the world in regards to Gross Domestic Product in 2016.

“Use the money [aid] to encourage expenditure in education, or using the aid to boost the economy instead of investing it in the military, where more than half of the population lives at near poverty living on $2 a day.”

Haqqani respects and accredits America for having a good reputation with course correction, and felt the Pakistani government lacks an open relationship like America has with its’ citizens.

“Hearing from a former ambassador is more interesting than hearing from a current ambassador because their opinions and thoughts aren’t scrutinized as much as current diplomats,” an FSU International Affairs student said.