Is that all there is to how to talk to God? There were also small, local religious schools and individuals within their communities who were venerated for religious knowledge and piety. And General John Allen, who is coordinating this-not commanding the military, but coordinating the overall coalition effort-just visited Egypt and other partner countries to make certain that all of the pieces are coming together. John Kerry articulated the new approach. The attraction of this approach to Western diplomats is clear. The Saudi approach to Islam, for example, has been very supportive of the ruling family. The notion of political Islam, therefore, is a modern idea and should not be considered an integral part of the Islamic tradition. Islam, a peaceful religion. There are more than 25 million Sikhs on the planet, making Sikhism the fifth-largest religion in the world, yet many westerners are painfully ignorant of this monotheistic, centuries-old faith with roots in South Asia.

The autonomy of official religious institutions has other costs for regimes besides making religious officials unruly supporters. Religious establishments in the Arab world began to attract international attention after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. The first position has led some countries to ban him, while the second made Egypt’s ambassador to the United States lump him together with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.50 Qaradawi is a product of, and doctrinally close to, Al-Azhar, and his standing as a lightning rod comes largely from his politics and his sometimes controversial manner in public speech, and much less from his voluminous scholarly writings. However, when it comes to politics, Qaradawi and Egyptian religious officials fall back on mutually insulting language. This cosmic event often throws a spanner in the works when it comes to smooth travel experiences. Mathilda (Natalie Portman), a 12-year-old girl living in New York City who has been exposed to the sordid side of life from an early age: her family lives in a slum and her abusive father works for drug dealers, cutting and storing drugs. Rather, the civil religion expressed what those who set the precedents felt was appropriate under the circumstances.

As one Azhari official explained, when he was offered a position it set off a debate among his friends about whether, by accepting, he would be dishonoring those killed in the ruthless suppression of demonstrations in August 2013.45 While he himself seemed loyal to the regime, the social pressure was sufficient to make him reluctant to accept the post. Everything in the life of the creations of Allah, especially for those who have choices to make (us), must be dictated and clarified by the One who Created everything in the fist place. Therefore, those who expect regimes to counter radicalism through their control of the state religious apparatus underestimate the complexity of the issue. However, with the rise of the Islamic State in 2014, a good deal of the focus shifted to enlisting religious establishments as allies in the effort to counter violent extremism. Regimes often regard them as instruments, albeit imperfect ones, by which they can counter their political adversaries.

While spontaneity is fun in long-term relationships, it can be seen as rude early on. For example, while there are more than 300,000 Yarsani in Iraqi Kurdistan, there are more than 2 million Yarsani in Iran. Almost all official religious leaders are authentically horrified (and, of course, threatened) by the rise of more radical movements. But they also work to discourage and sometimes suppress cultural expressions, religious sentiments, and political and social movements unconnected with violence or extremism. The policy of backing existing regimes, and of endorsing their attempts to garner international support by putting their own religious establishments forward as bulwarks against extremism, enjoys bipartisan support in the United States. The Latin states did just that, requesting equal representation in the Senate, but this demand was refused. Similarly, Jordan’s teachers-especially but not exclusively those specializing in Arabic or religion-have been viewed as dominated by Islamists, to the extent that the regime has consistently blocked the formation of a teachers’ union.43 In Saudi Arabia, many of the most strident voices have found perches in the country’s universities and religious establishment, protected to a limited extent by the loyalty of the leaders of those institutions to the ruling family.44 Egypt’s Al-Azhar has been politically divided since July 2013 over the country’s military-backed regime and the measures it has taken against Islamists.