In the dissertation "Muslims and Political Violence: A Sociological Study of Meaning-Making among Radicalised and Non-Radicalised Muslim Men in Norway," which consists of three articles, Uzair Ahmed addresses the acceptance and rejection of violence among Muslim men in Norway.
Ahmed's work is based on observations and 94 in-depth interviews with Norwegian Muslim men, both radicalized and not radicalized. In the process of writing the dissertation, he spent days and hours listening to the narratives they use to legitimize and make sense of their own choices.
The researcher has spent countless hours with inmates in prison and has also met his informants in Greater Oslo: at the university and at other meeting places, where they have chosen to talk to him.
“The radicalization of Muslims has been a topical issue for quite a while, especially since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, in New York. In the last few years, particularly those who traveled to Syria have the topic relevant here at home,” says Ahmed. He hopes his doctoral work can contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the research on radicalization and violent extremism among Muslims.
- I have conducted a thorough qualitative study by interviewing a large number of informants that are also grounded in sociological theory. This approach is not common in studies of radicalization and extremism and is therefore an important contribution, he emphasizes.
Has been personally challenging
- I appreciate receiving this recognition for work, that has been challenging, says Uzair Ahmed. He admits that at times it was personally taxing to listen to some of the informants share thoughts on why they have supported or are motivated to support political violence. Uzair Ahmed completed his doctoral work at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography (ISS) and is now employed as a post-doc at C-REX (Center for Research on Extremism), which was also a collaborator in the work on the dissertation.
- The fact that my accomplished and esteemed colleagues have nominated me for the gold medal is recognition enough in itself, says Ahmed. He is thankful to his supervisor Inger Furseth and co-supervisor Katrine Fangen at ISS – in addition to several other colleagues, among them Arnfinn Midtbøen (ISS) and Anders Ravik Jupskås (C-REX), both of whom have been important readers and critics in the work with the dissertation.
An advantage that they could identify with him
As an undergraduate, Uzair Ahmed was already interested in how individuals sharing his socio-economic background in Europe and the West become radicalized. He himself has a Muslim background and is a second-generation Norwegian with parents from Pakistan.
The fact that several of the informants in the doctoral research felt that they could identify with him to some degree was favorable for gaining access to informants, he believes. It also posed special requirements to clarify that he was there primarily as a researcher, not as an Islamic scholar, therapist, or spiritual counselor.
“It was a balance that was not always easy to maintain. Sometimes, I just had to be present as a fellow human being,” he says.
Uzair Ahmed had originally planned to include women who become radicalized in his research, but for various reasons, including difficulties in accessing comparable categories of radicalized and non-radicalized women, he put this idea on hold. The fact that he, as a man, had easier access to male informants also played a part.
Prevention of radicalization must focus on racism
"Why do a few choose to resort to political violence in the name of religion, while the vast majority, who share the same background, do not?" That is the main question that has motivated the work on Uzair Ahmed's dissertation.
Even though radicalization among Muslims is often discussed in the media, Ahmed reminds us that there have been no terrorist attacks on Norwegian soil by radicalized Muslims, with one exception: The attack against Oslo Pride, which took place after he had completed the dissertation. Therefore, he is critical of what he describes as the media's hyperfocus on Islam and Muslims.
A recurring finding in the dissertation is that participants have experienced racism and discrimination. Ahmed believes it is important to focus on this given that the far-right terrorist attacks on July 22, 2011, and August 10, 2019, were partly motivated by a hatred of Islam and Muslims.
On the whole, Norway has been good at preventing radicalization, contends Ahmed. He refers to measures aimed at the entire population that contribute to combatting racism and promoting inclusion. Such measures, like education on democratic values, human rights, and critical thinking, counteract racism and promote a sense of community, according to Ahmed.
Rehabilitating the minority that becomes radicalized afterwards is a much larger task – and must, according to the researcher, be tailored at the individual level, since the paths to radicalization are so different.
Purifying themselves in the name of religion
A common trait Ahmed found among the radicalized informants in his material was low socio-economic status and exclusion.
“On the path to radicalization, many of my informants created a narrative that justified political violence in the name of religion,” Ahmed explains. He points out that it is particularly interesting that the vast majority of Muslims lean on religion as a counter to violence, while the radicalized do the complete opposite.
“Radicalized Muslims often create a narrative that involves purifying themselves and their criminal past by committing violence in the name of religion,” says Ahmed.
He adds that this logic was also used by the Islamic State (IS). The researcher mentions that some of the radicalized come from families with poor economic conditions, while others have siblings who have made a class journey and have elite professions in Norway. Some have been criminals and lived on the fringes of society for a long time, others have fallen out at a specific point. What started the negative spiral can vary from person to person.
- A denominator common to many is that they started with crime and violence and then at some point found religion – in the form of an extreme variant of Islam. It is among extreme Islamists they feel accepted and at home, says Ahmed. He emphasizes that these are individuals who would likely not feel included in other religious communities due to their attitudes.
He hastens to clarify that this only applies to a minority - and that it by no means implies that others with low socio-economic background choose a criminal and violent path.
It is the use of violence that they excel at
One of the questions Uzair Ahmed asked the informants was how they explained their own development leading up to the use of political violence in the name of religion.
Several mentioned that what they could do was violence. That was what they had experience with. Violence was seen almost as a craft. It was their contribution to the religion, Ahmed says.
“Those who become radicalized turn to the narratives available to them. And one of the narratives also used by IS is that it is precisely the criminals and violent who can create the best future. That they can wash away their sins and become better people in this way.”
The researcher emphasizes that the justification of their own choices is usually based on the radicalized individuals' own experiences, including experiences with discrimination and racism. Common too is that they feel strongly excluded - also because of their religious background. Many also had negative experiences at school, with teachers, and in the job market.
Ahmed points out that these different stories are not pulled out of thin air but are also based on narratives in the larger society about "the Muslim," as someone who does not belong to the nation, but who is extreme and violent and not like "us", a part of the mainstream.
- This image, especially of the Muslim man, is referred to among all my informants: both those who are violent and the vast majority who would never resort to violence. Being always seen as a minority is something many point out as having significant negative consequences for their lives.
Religion can be harnessed to support entirely opposite views
One thing that Uzair Ahmed has particularly noted in meetings with different informants is that religion can be invoked to support highly disparate views. The vast majority of Muslims lean on religion as a guide away from evil actions such as violence and crime and seek the good in people. And most Muslims who have committed criminal acts, which are not in the name of religion, deeply regret them – and turn to religion to get back on "the right path."
“The vast majority of Muslims draw a clear line between the religion and the negative actions they perform. Religion becomes a support in getting out of adversity. Religion works preventively against negative actions. While the radicalized build a kind of bridge between religion and violence and use religion to legitimize their actions: Not just against the larger society or the West, but also against other Muslims,” says Uzair Ahmed.
Important data from a community few can access
- What makes this dissertation so special is the data collection it is based on. Much research on radicalization is based on data from the media and various movements' writings, and there are relatively few who collect the type of primary data that Uzair Ahmed has done, says Inger Furseth, who is a professor at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography (ISS) and Uzair Ahmed's supervisor.
She refers to the fact that he has gained access to a radical Muslim environment that researchers often do not have access to. He has conducted comprehensive interviews and carried out field research.
- As several in these environments operate outside the law, this data collection involves a certain risk, she emphasizes.
She also points out that Ahmed in his analysis bridges general sociology and studies of radicalization.
- Research on radicalization and extremism is often very empirically oriented, and little emphasis is placed on the use of societal theory to understand data. Here Ahmed has performed an exemplary piece of work, she says and mentions that Ahmed has very good analytical abilities and is able to connect with those he studies and engage them in conversation excellently.