The Psychology of Extremism

In an attempt to understand the motives that drive individuals to join extremist mass movements, whether groups or parties, and how such movements succeed in attracting and securing their support despite the irrationality, extremism, and danger of their actions, the American philosopher Eric Hoffer wrote his famous book The True Believer. This book was translated into Arabic by the late Dr. Ghazi Al-Qusaibi under the title Al-Mu’min al-Sadiq (The True Believer). Al-Qusaibi tells us that he had been researching the phenomenon of terrorism and wished to find a book that would reflect the inner workings of the terrorist’s mind to explore its depths. He finally found this book, which he says he had long awaited.

I was careful not to speak about this book until I had completed reading it first in its original text and then in Al-Qusaibi’s translation. Perhaps the first thing that caught my attention in the Arabic version was the inaccuracy of its title, Al-Mu’min al-Sadiq, which is a literal translation of the original. The problem lies in the religious connotation of the word Mu’min (believer) for the intended Arabic readership. In Arab and Islamic consciousness, (the Eman) faith is usually associated with followers of Islam. Thus, someone who sees the Arabic title Al-Mu’min al-Sadiq and then reads the book may incorrectly link Islam with extremism. For this reason, it would have been more appropriate to exclude the word Mu’min with its religious overtones and replace it with a word like member. Nonetheless, the translation overall came out polished and fluid, as is typical of Dr. Al-Qusaibi’s literary mastery.

Hoffer built his book around what I would call “individual resentment”, which in turn leads to an unconscious withdrawal from society. The resentful person thus longs to escape from himself and dissolve into a new entity in search of a new identity. At this point, the radical revolutionary movement steps in to exploit this individual resentment and present itself as an alternative and new home for the individual’s sense of belonging. Hoffer writes: “Here occurs the encounter between the mentality of the individual—the emotionally isolated person—and that of the organized criminal leader. This is the first stage of extremism, which inevitably leads to the individual’s immersion in such movements, his transformation into a pliable tool in the hands of its leaders, and his readiness even to carry out acts of terrorism.”

This reminds us of what I previously wrote in this newspaper (Al-Riyadh) in a three-part series entitled “Sayyid Qutb and the Manufacture of Resentment.” Sayyid Qutb, in fact, wrote his essay “Schools of Resentment” (Madaris lil-Sakhat), published in the Egyptian magazine Al-Risalah, issue no. 691, dated September 30, 1946. He begins his article by saying: “My friend said to me: Will you never cease being resentful of all appearances and conditions? Rest your nerves, my brother, and leave creation to the Creator. It is useless—useless, all these cries! I said to my friend: As for me, I will remain resentful, proclaiming my resentment against every ugly appearance and condition, and I will not leave creation to the Creator…” In this essay, Qutb urged the youth to resent everything—starting with the government, the existing conditions, politicians, intellectuals, and so forth—ending with a call for society to resent itself. At this juncture, Hoffer’s thread becomes evident, and we can see how so many young people at the time were drawn into Sayyid Qutb’s thought.