concerns that are, perhaps, couched in religious terms to validate their heinous crimes.
Religion might provide the motif or stamp
of approval for their action, but not for the
original motive.
MOVING FORWARD - EDUCATION,
TRAINING, INTERVENTIONS, AND
COMMUNITY ACTION
T
his perversion of Islam into an ideology that allows the wanton killing
of innocent people in pursuit of a
utopian society needs to be confronted directly. Yet — contrary to what many believe
— what is needed is more Islam, not less. It
must be the normative, traditional Islam: the
Islam that exemplifies centuries of scholarly
and theological consensus that neutralizes
such perversions. Any other version of Islam
is not likely to have credibility among extremists. The consensus is clear: the murder
of innocent people under any circumstances
is prohibited. This message must be conveyed forcefully and instilled into the minds
of vulnerable youth who have fallen for misinterpretations of Islamic scripture.
Muslims are engaging and leading an ideological and theological battle that only reputable and legitimate Muslim scholars can
win. And yet this approach cannot unfold if
the broader society continues to stigmatize,
modernize, and/or secularize these individuals, for such reactions often do more harm
than good and usually play right into the
jihadi narrative that “outsiders” are attempting to malign and misguide Muslims from
“true” Islam. Various types of de-radicalization education programs are in place around
the globe, including Egypt, Iraq, Libya,
Yemen, Jordan, Malaysia, Great Britain, the
Netherlands, and Indonesia.
Governments that are serious about improving public safety by mitigating radicalization and terrorism must encourage this
kind of work. This cannot be done if the state
continues to alienate Islam, in sociopolitical
terms, as a belief system that naturally urges
its adherents toward violence and, therefore,
somehow must be curbed. Such an antagonistic approach will only backfire.
Appropriately-trained Muslim scholars
who represent the authentic Islamic tradition must be empowered to lead this effort
FALL 2015
and equipped with ways to allow their voices maximal reach. For example, unstable
Yemen’s de-radicalization program, based
on the Committee for Religious Dialogue
program, features well-established, authentic
Muslim scholars who engage with suspected al-Qaida members and sympathizers to
discuss basic Islamic concepts. Participating
religious figures pay special attention to the
concept of jihad to address the misconceptions held by radicalized individuals. This
particular program needs a great deal of help
in terms of their institutional capacity building and messaging capabilities. Government
outreach initiatives need to develop partnerships with the Muslim community that will
enable the latter’s leaders to be the first line
of defense via community-led interventions.
Many Muslim scholars and community leaders can provide professional counseling,
counter-radicalization programming, and
religious retraining within an authentic religious paradigm.
Community-led interventions should address social alienation. Public and private
foundations should fund community centers that foster a sense of belonging through
sports and creative arts programs. Mentors
who can talk realistically about shared values
and non-violent approaches to conflict and
disagreements instead of just repeating platitudes should be located and made available.
The Internet remains a problem due to
the number of radical websites. A way to
debunk these online arguments must be
found through engaging local Muslim leaders, imams, and scholars who can produce
moderate, counter-radical websites firmly
grounded in mainstream Islam. Local community centers and mosques should inform
parents of what they can do to prevent their
children from falling for the online indoctrination produced by ISIS and other terrorist
groups. U.S. leaders also could work with
their allies and partners abroad to find ways
to shut down those sites that attract susceptible recruits living in the West.
More broadly, the general public needs to
be educated about Muslims and Islam. Given
the media’s increased attention to homegrown terrorism and the misunderstandings between Muslims and non-Muslims in
America, a public, national dialogue needs
to be initiated to counter the misperceptions
many have about Muslims. Government officials need to be far more assertive in their
effort to organize public forums that address the threat of domestic radicalization
along with the differences between radical
and mainstream religious tenets of Islam.
One major problem associated with such
attempts, however, is how to convince the
general public that such undertakings are not
Muslim propaganda.
Similarly, public and private foundations
should provide resources for intra-Muslim