During the Christmas and New Year celebrations, most of the western nations were placed on high alert for any terrorist activities. Only a decade or two ago these nations usually celebrated the year-end festivities peacefully.Why has this change occurred?

To understand, one has to refer to the western-backed interference, regime change and conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East. Since the attack on Iraq the conflict zone has spread all over this region. Numerous militant, jihadist and extremist groups have been spawned. The ever-volatile Middle East has been severely destabilised by the on-going chaos in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen.

The western countries are the main culprits for the tragedies that have unfolded from Algeria to Yemen.

That the Muslims are fighting back against the aggressors was evident from the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, which was followed the al-Qaeda 9/11 attack in New York. The West is learning a painful lesson that the days of passive Muslim resistance are over, and that they can take on the West no matter what its strength.

The urge in the West to subjugate Muslim nations has stirred up in Muslims their inherent right to defend their religion. This has spawned various militant groups, the deadliest being the IS, which sends shivers down the spine of the West.

The IS ideology of setting up a caliphate - a superstate ranging from Northern Africa to the Middle East - has found favour with many Muslims,who view that the fragmented Islamic world has triggered western intervention and that the best weapon is unity with a syariah system in place. To Muslims the caliphate of old is reminiscent of the golden age of Islam when Muslims were in the forefront.

The IS points out the cause of Islamic decline, and that the only way to stop western interference and dominance is for the Islamic countries to unite under a caliphate with syariah as the national law. To some Muslims the world over, the Caliphate is a brilliant idea for their transformation from the multitude of problems and challenges Islamic countries are facing.The IS feels that it is only by reviving the Caliphate that Muslim unity and progress can be achieved.

Many Muslims are totally disillusioned and fed up with the various forms of government ranging from the authoritarian to the secular and want syariah. Islam more than any other religion has a unique set of laws and is considered a way of life for the Muslims. Islamic law is second to none in its simplicity, complexity and sense of justice.

Hence Muslim nations have no need for western ideologies such as liberalism, democracy and others which are at odds with syariah principles. The IS says that the instability and disunity of Muslim nations have been caused by western interference. As such the IS has formulated the Caliphate to unite the Islamic nations into a superstate that can stand up to the West.

Divide-and-rule policy

This concept is opposed by the West, which profits enormously from its divide-and-rule policy that has splintered Muslim unity.

In the western-dominated press the attacks by IS and other Islamic militants are given so much prominence but the fact that hundreds of thousands of Muslims have died due to western interference and instigation are conveniently hidden if not glossed over. The IS uses massive violence in its quest and campaigns but this is possibly due to the IS finding no other way to drive out or defeat the West.

The West needs to stop its interference via regime change and other attempts. If left to themselves the Muslim nations will gradually stabilise and adopt any system that works for them and their religion. Interference in Muslim nations, unlike before, gets a quick militant response and the West has learnt this painfully.The militants have taken the war to the western capitals where the conspiracies against the Muslim countries were planned.

Today the Islamic world abounds with regional militant groups such as the Boko Haram, Al Shabab, the Hezbollah, the Taliban, Abu Sayyaf, etc, which are fighting for the Islamic cause or are a check to western aggression and interference.

The West needs to realise that its military intervention, interference and instigation have caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of refugees, impoverished countries and destabilised countries in the Islamic world and there is no end to the misery and injustices that have been inflicted on the people.

Even the Arab Christians who had lived alongside Muslim communities for centuries in the Middle East have been targeted by militants just because they are Christians and are identified with the West. The Sunnis and Shiites - long distrustful of one another - are now fighting it out and spreading the regional conflict due to Western instigation.

The conflict appears to be spreading as even stableneighbouring countries such as Turkey and Pakistan are sucked into the conflagration. The Arab Spring too was unable to bring any positive changes and ended in disappointment and failure. The entire Islamic world has been destabilised and it will take a long time to bring peace.

Leave the Muslim countries alone and there will be peace in the world especially in the western capitals. This is the Christmas and New Year message to the western nations. The West can offer socio-economic aid and humanitarian assistance to the Muslim nations but refrain from interference and domination. The age of subjugation is long gone.