GAGGED FAITH: Islamist setback has left firebrand clerics like Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman in the lurch

On September 11, the Muslim world was precariously poised. The vast majority of decent, law-abiding Muslims throughout the world shared New York's sorrow. But there was a determined minority that walked with an extra bounce. For them, it was Islam's finest hour. There was an equally significant number of fence-sitters who looked admiringly at bin Laden's audacity even while dismissing the attack on America as a monumental Jewish conspiracy.

For bin Laden, September 11 had a dual significance. It aimed at intimidating the US into an isolationist foreign policy and withdrawing from its commitments in West Asia. Simultaneously, it was targeted at the soul of Islam-to set the pace of a mighty resurgence of militant faith. There was always a dual strand in Islam-one emphasised piety and compassion and the other drew inspiration from its tradition as an imperialist religion. Bin Laden's preference was clear-he was the high priest of Islamism, a religio-political doctrine to liberate Muslims and decimate the non-believers.

It is frightening to contemplate how close the project came to succeeding. Based on his understanding of American decadence, its fear of body-bags and its abhorrence of reliving another Vietnam, he calculated that the force of initial indignation would disappear with a firing of a few cruise missiles in Afghanistan. Like 1998. This would expose Uncle Sam as a paper tiger. This message would reverberate around the ummah and create an irresistible Islamist groundswell.

The enormity of September 11 ensured the failure of the larger Islamist project. The US Administration did not blink and the Daisycutters did not miss. Like with Hitler, Washington insisted on an unconditional surrender. When the tanks of the Northern Alliance braved Pakistani disapproval and rolled into Kabul on November 10, Islamism suffered more than a military defeat. It was trounced by fellow Muslims who didn't make a fetish of burqas for women, no music and an obligatory fistful of beard.

Islamism disavows national boundaries. Which is why its untouchability is not confined to post-Taliban Afghanistan. In defeat, it has lost its cutting edge. By overplaying his hand, bin Laden helped reverse the triumphant march that began with the Iranian revolution and the anti-Soviet jehad in Afghanistan. His celebrated defeat has forced the Muslim world to take a hard look at itself and its inadequacies.

It could presage a reformation in Islam.

4 Patriotism
THE NEW COMFORT

STARS AND STRIPES: For a terror-struck America, the national flag became an abiding symbol of solidarity and solace

When terror struck America, national flags were found to be in woeful short supply and God bless America shot to the top of the charts. In a moment of intense trauma, the US reverted to patriotism for solace. The nation-state decried by the cosmopolitan chic and marketeers alike made a spectacular and emotional comeback.

In an Israel debilitated by a string of suicide-bombers, the murder of a cabinet minister produced an onrush of nationalist sentiment and had Yasser Arafat cowering for cover and, finally, shedding his ambivalence on terrorism. In India, a country whose infinite patience had been equated with cravenness, the attack on Parliament generated a ferocity of response that left Pakistan nervous and the US puzzled.

Countries debated issues of national identity, a phenomenon the pundits had relegated to the Churchillian archives. In Britain-where history and heritage had succumbed to political correctness-a government report now proposed an oath of allegiance to affirm "a clear primary loyalty" for new citizens. There was talk of immigrants imbibing "British values" and speaking a common language.

In pitting civilisation against an Islamist ummah, bin Laden forced a reassertion of nationhood-the solace of the familiar against an alien terror.

5 Tolerance
LIMITS OF LICENCE

LUXURY OF DISSENT: British anti-war protestors failed to see the irony of standing up for bin Laden

Investigations into bin Laden's elaborate Al Qaida network produced some startling conclusions. One, which could easily have been predicted, was that terrorists had capitalised on lax visa regimes, the obsession with civil liberties and the overall climate of multicultural tolerance, to engage in subversion. The licence of democracy was successfully used to subvert democracy.

A backlash was inevitable. The US hurriedly enacted the USA Patriot law that gave the authorities greater powers to monitor and apprehend those suspected of terrorism. It aroused some misgivings but these fears were overshadowed by recognition of a common danger. In India, where cross-border terrorism had successfully plugged into an indigenous network, the Government imposed POTO, mainly to ensure terrorists couldn't go scot-free by retracting their confessions before the police. It became the subject of partisan politics but public opinion-particularly after December 13-forced the Opposition to effect a tactical retreat.

Even religious freedom came under scrutiny. World opinion compelled Pakistan to impose curbs on its state-patronised jehadis. Britain took a hard look at the incendiary rhetoric in its mosques and declared support for the Taliban to be treason. Religious extremism was no longer seen to be kosher. It had offended all the tenets of decency.

The paramount question now before the democracies is: how can liberty blend with civic responsibility? Bin Laden demonstrated that absolute freedom was sharply at odds with self-preservation.

By confronting it, the messiah of terror has unwittingly helped the free world recover its balance.