It is important for us to advocate, and adhere to a balanced interpretation of Islam, and to eschew extremism, not only because it is right to do so from a religious point of view, but also because this is the only way to prevent the inevitable secular backlash that radicalism will create.
Whether they know it or not, groups like Da’esh, the Salafi Jihadis and Khilafah-ists, are actually the vanguard for secularism. Their impractical, intolerant, over-simplified, extreme interpretation of the religion will never result in the establishment of an Islamic state, but rather, it will alienate people from the whole concept of political Islam and the Shari’ah itself, and push people away from the Deen.
We have to pre-empt this eventuality by upholding, following, and calling to the Middle Path of Islam, both in our own practice, and in our political strategies