Muslims residing in the West fit into one of the following political philosophies or ideologies. Surprisingly, there are actually only a few possible views.
- Democracy (“Full” or “Flawed” as per the Democracy Index 2012)
- Caliphate: There are only three possibilities here:
A. Islamist
B. Jihadist
C. Monarchism and Monarchist - Islamist with democracy (i.e. Turkish government, Hamas, Hizbollah, Morsi)
- Islamist by any means necessary i.e. sympathetic or favorable to “Jihadism”
- Wiliyat i-Faqih (Iranian State ideology but not limited to Shiites. Most followers of classical Sunni Islam, non-Wahhabi, actually believe in this, and see Ulema and Islamic Shaykhs as possessing the solution to all social dilemmas. The idea of Al Abdaal is different, since the forty Abdaal are substitutes for the Caliph of God, the Imam, who is like the Caliph of God from the Quran, King David)
- Monarchist (support for a specific royal house i.e. House of Osman ‘Ottomanism’)
- Monarchism (support for monarchies in general, opposite of democracy)
- Absolute Monarchy (i.e. Brunei, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Vatican City)
- Constitutional Monarchy as Ceremonial (i.e. UK, Canada)
- Constitutional Monarchy as Executive (i.e. Monaco, Morocco, Jordan, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates)
- Nothing. Apolitical. According to Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, over 670 million Muslims expect Mahdi and Jesus to appear before 2050.
- Aspiring Jihadist/Terrorist. Radicalized through the ‘Four Stages of Radicalization’.
- Believe in whatever the mainstream political philosophy of the country they reside in adheres to. If American, full democracy, if Canadian, ceremonial constitutional monarchy, etc.,.
- Hypocrite. Support or praise tyrants like Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, Assad, Mubarak, or Islamist-terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, Taliban, ISIL, etc., but are not themselves willing to live under them nor want their relatives to.
There is nothing else to it. As such, there is no need to spend millions on spying on an entire community and blaming them for the views of specific individuals. Use this as your “litmus test”. Salam.