To check Islamic State, focus is on counter-radicalisation

By Vijaita Singh, The Hindu

Dated: September 01, 2016

First it was Badla (revenge), after Batla House encounter it was Farz (duty) and now it is Deen (religion) — this is the opening line of a secret document prepared by the Telangana police to explain the influence of the dreaded militant outfit, the Islamic State (IS) in India.

Though Indian intelligence agencies were little late to wake up to the dangers posed by the IS, already six of 23 who joined the fight in Iraq and Syria are dead, the agencies and the government have finally put their act together. Nearly 150 people are under watch. There are five women also among the probable recruits who were weaned away through community outreach. The thrust is on counter-radicalisation.

From roping in heads of Muslim religious bodies to issue fatwas against the IS to that of keeping an eye on educational institutions, the agencies are acting behind the curtain to discourage young Muslim men and women from being attracted to the IS.

Though it has always denied there is any influence of the IS here, government has taken multiple steps to counter the outfit.

A senior Home Ministry official told The Hindu that a three-pronged approach was being followed by them. “We have categorised the potential recruits of the IS in three categories — those who have come back, those who are curious about the IS and the ones who want to go.”

“There is no blanket rule to arrest all of them. It is being dealt with on a case to case basis. The Islam propagated by the IS is alien to Muslims in India,” said the official.

Another official said: “The concern for India is purely arithmetic as the country has the second largest Muslim population in the world. There is a tiny percentage of Muslims who have joined the IS.”

Role of social media

IS members post religious messages on Facebook and other social media platforms. They then develop contacts with the persons who have shared the post or liked it. These men and women are motivated further by sharing radical videos and pictures. “If seriousness is evinced by the person, the routes and logistics are explained to reach the IS. Phone numbers and Skype IDs are exchanged. The recruit then meets the intermediary and they are encouraged to travel to Syria based on the person’s willingness and drive,” said the official.

The government says it has roped in NGOs to deal with the IS. “Along with those who promote violent extremism, it is important to target extremist ideologies as well. Universities should conduct internal risk assessments. Waging an ideological battle is important,” said the official.

An official said the government was trying to have a wide “overt and covert” presence on the Internet. “Agencies are creating positive Internet content and pushing it across social media. Efforts are on to reduce the appeal of the IS through wide dispersion of counter-radicalisation messages,” said the official. He said the agencies were taking steps to deter people who produce and circulate radical content by booking them under penal provisions. “Another important area is collaboration with online community to strengthen reporting mechanisms and complaint procedures.”

The foremost thing was to find credible interlocutors, who could act as a bridge among the community members, the official said. The government had already brought the Imams on board, who have issued fatwas against the IS. “The Minority Welfare departments should be strengthened through human and material resources. It should be treated on a par with SC/ST departments. It will partner with police and other departments in a creative manner to address the issues of alienation and shared victimhood.”

‘Account for missing youth’

The government has asked all States to step up the traditional beat-policing to generate ground-level intelligence. Special emphasis is being laid on “identifying and accounting for the missing youth in the locality.”

“Custodial violence and unlawful arrests should be done away with. Police should be seen as impartial and fair in their dealings. Bipartisan role during communal violence can hardly be overemphasised. Keep a watch on the activities of communal offenders and persons with radical leaning and maintaining systematic records. Vulnerable youths should be identified,” said the official.

The local police should build effective and unobtrusive intelligence network in educational institutions. Surveillance should be kept on the activities of organisations with radical ideology. A mechanism was put in place to follow discourses in religious congregations and places of worship.

“Many recruits joining the IS are second generation migrants from Muslims from Africa and Gulf countries. It is more attractive than the al-Qaeda as it also appeals to moderate Muslims. The ones joining the IS subscribe to the Salafi ideology, which is not practised much in South Asia. Indian maulanas are opposing this brand of Islam by organising protests,” said the official.

The government is keeping a close eye on places of worship, places of political ideas and learning, communities, places of work, education, prisons and social network.

“All these groups produce groups of like-minded individuals whose shared purpose and experiences build enduring trust and a sense of ‘us, together against the world’ among its members,” said a senior official.

Bridging trust deficit

The government has asked the States to post at least one policeman from the minority community in each police station. Designing a special educational curriculum to sensitise policemen to communally sensitive issues is also being discussed.

India is carefully studying the models being followed in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia and neighbouring Bangladesh in developing a strategy to deal with the IS.

Reference:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/to-check-islamic-state-focus-is-on-counterradicalisation/article7913146.ece

How to counter radicalisation

By Vinay Kaura,

Deccan Herald

Dated: November 17, 2017

The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to start two new divisions to exclusively deal with emerging challenges of radicalisation and cybercrime. One of the dedicated wings, named 'counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation' (CTCR) division, will   be mandated to focus on the online reach of global terrorist groups such as the IS and devising strategies to counter their propaganda. This well-intentioned step, which has been long overdue, could mark a significant step towards improving India's iinternal security and counterterrorism capabilities.

Fortunately, India has not seen the kind of religious radicalisation that has spread elsewhere. The high level of integration of Muslims in Indian society as well as the traditionally moderate nature of Islamic faith in India, as compared to its Pakistani counterpart, are the reasons. But if the recent spate of arrests of IS recruits or sympathisers is any indication, it is reasonable to argue that India is not entirely immune to the waves of religious radicalisation.

It also debunks the long-held notion that ideologically motivated Islamist terror had bypassed mainland India, despite Kashmir having been subjected to separatist Islamist insurgency. The IS seems determined to spread its tentacles in India, as reflected in a growing number of Muslims from mainland India becoming radicalised. Early this month, the Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorism squad arrested Abu Zaid at Mumbai airport soon after he arrived from Riyadh. Zaid was allegedly radicalising Indian Muslims through social media to recruit them into the terror outfit. On November 2, Kerala police confirmed that six more youths from Kannur had joined IS. In July this year, Shajahan Velluva Kandy, an IS operative and a resident of Kannur, waarrested on his deportation by Turkish authorities. Last month, Philippines authorities arrested Karen Aisha Hamidon, a leading female online recruiter who had been acting on behalf of IS on Facebook, Telegram and WhatsApp. In December 2015, an Indian Oil Corporation manager, Mohammad Sirajuddin, was arrested from Jaipur and a computer engineer from Tamil Nadu, Mohammad Naseer, was deported from Sudan. Both had claimed that they were influenced by Karen. In September 2017, an IS operative was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his possible involvement in a conspiracy to carry out terror attacks across Tamil Nadu. The list is too long to fit here. Most Indian suspects arrested for terror related activities are youth, having a good education and well employed, often motivated through internet propaganda. Since spreading hateful and distorted messages or triggering a conflict through cyberspace is low-cost but has potentially devastating impact, terrorists throughout the world are relying heavily on cyber mobilisation to recruit, finance and train more fighters to their cause. In fact, cyber radicalisation has already reached alarming proportions in Kashmir, leading Dineshwar Sharma, the newly-named interlocutor for talks in Jammu and Kashmir, to set de-radicalisation of Kashmiri youth and militants as the topmost priority so as "to prevent Kashmir from turning into a Syria of India".

Islamic radicalisation may be described as a gradual transformation from a non-violent and religiously based understanding of the Islamic faith to one with a violent and politically motivated ideology premised on the belief that Islam is in danger only viable solution for the survival of Islam is to perpetrate acts of violence. These radicals are playing havoc across much of the democratic world, resulting into 'lone wolf' terror attacks in several Western cities. The latest massacre of innocents in Manhattan in America by a radicalised Uzbek is yet another indicator of the grave threat IS poses to the world, particularly to all countries and societies with sizable Muslim populations.

The recent trends in jihadist terrorism and radicalisation around the world highlight the limits of conventional counterterrorism approaches that place a single-minded focus on security measures. What is really required is a smarter approach one that  goes beyond countering terrorists with law enforcement or military tactics. An effective strategy would be one that incorporates measures to prevent susceptible people from getting converted into dreaded terrorists in the first place. It begins by addressing the forces that radicalise people to join terror groups. Success in counter and de-radicalisation policies would largely depend upon a whole-of-government approach, which includes an effective and efficient governing mechanism.Besides, law enforcement agencies must work closely with civil society academics, professionals, religious and local leaders in tapping the talents of local communities in developing counter-narratives.

Last but not the least, the police leadership must adequately prepare the policemen on the streets to play a leading role in preventing and countering radicalisation by listening to and addressing the grievances of the people they often claim to serve.  One must hope that the CTCR division will keep these factors in view while formulating a comprehensive response to counter radicalisation.

About the author:

The writer is Assistant Professor, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Sardar Patel University, Jodhpur

Reference:

https://www.deccanherald.com/content/643384/how-counter-radicalisation.html

From Global to Micro Jihad: Three Trends of Grassroots Terrorism

By Kumar Ramkrishna

RSIS, Singapore

Dated : May 07,2013

Three strategic trends- operational, ideological and technological-underlie the continued metastasis of the extremist ideology of Al Qaedaism. It will evolve further away from the original emphasis on centralised global jihad to a more decentralised micro jihad, which will take the form of grassroots-level small cell and lone wolf terrorism.

Commentary

METASTASIS, in the medical world, is the process by which a cancerous tumor spreads through the bloodstream to distant parts of the body from the original site of occurrence. In similar fashion, as argued by some terrorism scholars, the extremist ideology of Al Qaedaism, a “tumor” or “mutation” of non-violent political Islam, has likewise metastasized. That is, thanks to the cyber bloodstream of the Internet, the stock “Al Qaeda Central” narrative of a US-led international conspiracy against the Muslim world has diffused worldwide from its original locus in the Afghanistan-Pakistan (AfPak) border region.

In this respect, three mutually reinforcing strategic trends can be discerned. These point to the continuing transformation of the original centralised global jihad vision of the founding Al Qaeda leadership into a much more decentralised, harder-to-detect, grassroots-driven micro jihad. These trends are operational, ideological and technological.

Operational Trends

Operationally, intensified law enforcement and military action against centralised extremist Islamist networks such as Al Qaeda Central in the AfPak region and its affiliates in Southeast Asia such as Jemaah Islamiyah have been very successful in disrupting their organisational cohesion and operations. More than a decade after the September 11 attacks, security and intelligence agencies worldwide have co-operated to develop generally effective legal, financial, administrative and coercive countermeasures to detect and thwart operations conceived and implemented by organised terrorist networks. This has made it far more difficult for surviving Al Qaeda Central leaders to plan and mount spectacular September 11-type operations.

On the one hand, forced operational decentralisation due to the hostile security environment post-9/11 has seen the emergence of regional Al Qaeda hubs such as in the Arabian peninsula, North Africa and Iraq. More significantly, Al Qaeda Central has also had to devolve operational planning for future attacks to harder-to-detect smaller cells and individuals scattered throughout the globe. To be sure, Al Qaeda Central still played a role in training some cells and individuals who were later involved in so-called homegrown plots such as the July 2005 London bombings and thwarted bomb attacks in New York City. The important point however is that apart from the occasional training and moral inspiration provided by Al Qaeda Central, such homegrown plots were not centrally planned and directed, but were largely developed by the local cells themselves.

Ideological Trends

Complementing the trend toward operational decentralisation have been ideological developments. In the past decade the Syrian Al Qaedaist ideologue Abu Musab Al-Suri published his well-known tract The Call for Global Islamic Resistance. Al-Suri argued against reliance on centralised direction from the core Al Qaeda leadership. He was instead in favour of action by independent small cells acting on their own initiative to exploit local opportunities to strike at enemies of the Muslim world wherever they were to be found. Al-Suri’s tract found ready audiences worldwide, including in Southeast Asia, where his work was translated into Bahasa Indonesia and has had a discernible impact on the evolution of the micro jihad in that country.

Complementing the ideological emphasis on “small is better” has been the call for lone wolf action by organs such as the online English magazine Inspire, the brainchild of the late “bin Laden of the Internet,” Anwar Al-Awlaki, who was the chief ideologue for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen. The ideological focus on lone wolf action has been effective – Major Nidal Hassan, who killed US servicemen at Fort Hood in Texas in November 2009, as well as the Tsarnaev brothers who perpetrated the bombings at last month’s Boston marathon, were prime examples of individuals who took to heart the stock Awlaki injunction to think globally but act locally. Taken together, the ideological buttressing of small-cell and lone wolf micro jihad, has reinforced the trend toward grassroots-driven terrorism.

Technological Trends

It is however the third strategic trend of rapid technological innovation that best illumines the past and future evolutionary pathway of micro jihad. Central to this trend is the Internet. Both operational decentralisation of terrorist planning and action, as well as the ideological emphasis on small-cell and lone-wolf activity, rely on the Internet and social networking to function effectively. Nidal Hassan’s email correspondence with Awlaki was crucial in his radicalisation process, while the Tsarnaev brothers apparently learned about the pressure cooker bombs they used from the AQAP Inspire magazine online. Ominously, Indonesian militants have also translated into Bahasa Indonesia the very same online Inspire edition on bomb making that the Tsarnaevs were said to have used. Moreover the increasing availability of cheap smartphones with highly affordable Internet broadband access mean that at-risk individuals globally can surf extremist websites without having to be bound to a desk – and having their surfing patterns detected.

Finally, a recent technological development is worth flagging: the rapid rise of 3-D printing. This is an additive manufacturing process in which a computer-controlled printer is employed to manufacture consumer items such as shoes, jewellery as well as industrial equipment. The idea behind consumer 3-D printing is straightforward: as the printers become cheaper, instead of buying goods from shops, people will instead simply download designs and print out the items at home. The problem is that 3-D printing can also enable manufacture of weapons or weapon parts in their homes as well. Just this week a US group called Defense Distributed, led by a self-styled crypto-anarchist law student at the University of Texas, successfully test-fired a plastic gun manufactured by a 3-D printer bought for US$8000 from the online auction site Ebay. The group even plans to make the blueprint for the plastic gun available online.

One US Congressman, Steve Israel has warned that once the technology improves and costs begin to fall, 3-D-printed weapons and parts could well fall into the hands of lone wolves. Technological analysts such as Sebastian Anthony point out that at the moment consumer 3-D printing works most effectively with plastic materials. It is when metal 3-D printing becomes more feasible and cost-effective, though, that he warns that: “the world will really change.”

It cannot be overstated that the strategic confluence of these three historic trends – the operational, ideological and technological- points clearly to the continuing metastasis of the tumor of Al Qaedaism and the decisive shift towards grassroots-driven micro jihad. Effectively coping with this emerging, complex phenomenon demands that a stove-piped approach to national security be discarded as obsolete and even hazardous. Instead, the only way forward is to create a vibrant community of practice effectively bringing together local and international multi-disciplinary expertise, encompassing law enforcement and homeland security professionals, public and private sector technologists and academics.

About the Author

Kumar Ramakrishna is Associate Professor and Head of the Centre of Excellence for National Security at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.

Reference:

http://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/cens/1978-from-global-to-micro-jihad-th/#.W3pvwiQzbIV

How is counter-radicalisation different from de-radicalisation?

Posted on November 10, 2016

Journal of Defence Studies, 
10 (2), April-June 2016, pp. 39-76.

Surendra Raje Sawant asked: How is counter-radicalisation different from de-radicalisation?

Adil Rasheed replies: The confusion between the terms ‘counter-radicalisation’ and ‘de-radicalisation’ was quite common even in counter-terrorism literature in the last decade. However in recent times, these terms are no longer used interchangeably, but refer to clearly enunciated and distinguishable sets of measures employed to reverse the process of radicalisation in different stages of its life cycle with characteristic behaviour, tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs).

In fact, we must add here another term ‘anti-radicalisation’ which constitutes its own separate set of measures directed at combating radicalisation, which is different from measures taken under ‘counter-radicalisation’ and ‘de-radicalisation’ programmes.

The ‘anti-radicalisation’ programmes are meant to protect those segments of population that have only recently come under the influence of radicalisation and cover measures related to early detection of trends toward violent extremism and radicalisation as well as developing immunity and deterrence against the propagation of hateful and violent indoctrination.

On the other hand, ‘counter-radicalisation’ campaigns are launched in communities/societies that have already contracted the virus of radicalisation and violent extremism and target those individuals/segments of society that are susceptible to or are in the process of joining forces of violent extremism or terrorism. The aim is to rescue such people/communities from fully embracing the ideology of violent extremism and from joining radical groups. The measures suited to counter-radicalisation operations include disengagement, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes.

The third set of measures pertain to ‘de-radicalisation’ programmes, which treat violent extremists during their period of imprisonment or incarceration, so that they do not practise or propagate ideas of violent extremism once their jail term ends and they have to be released due to legal compulsions. Thus, ‘de-radicalisation’ programmes are solely devised for those individuals who have already been radicalised and may have even committed, aided or abetted acts or tried to commit acts of violent extremism.

The ‘de-radicalisation’ measures cover post-surrender and post-detention programmes, such as behaviour modification programmes, ideological or religious counselling, vocational education, recreational and psychological rehabilitation, inter-religious or inter-communal harmony discourse, post-release surveillance and care, as well as involvement of family members and civil society to foster rehabilitation, etc. Currently, over 40 countries run various counter-radicalisation and de-radicalisation programmes around the world, mainly United States, and in Europe, West Asia and Southeast Asia.

Sometimes, the term ‘counter-radicalisation’ is loosely used to include all the above category of programmes to combat radicalisation, as there is still no agreement among experts on what these programmes should be termed as collectively.

For more on this subject, please refer to my following IDSA publication:

Adil Rasheed, “Countering the Threat of Radicalisation: Theories, Programmes and Challenges”, Journal of Defence Studies, 10 (2), April-June 2016, pp. 39-76.

Reference:

https://idsa.in/askanexpert/counter-radicalisation-different-from-de-radicalisation

Every student is a soldier in the fight against religious extremism

By Jose Hong

The Straits Times, Singapore

Dated:August 18, 2018

Even though Singapore has different religions, different races and different languages, its people respect each other while making sure there is common space for everyone. 

Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said this to about 300 Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students at a forum on the dangers of extremism on Saturday (Aug 11). 

He noted 20 people have been arrested since 2015, while there were 11 arrests from 2007 to 2014.“Of this 20, 18 were radicalised online, so that shows you how important it is to make sure your online space is okay,” he said.

“The other thing that is worrying is, in the past, it took about two years for people to get radicalised. But now, sometimes it is two months, three months... Sometimes, internationally, it has even been three to four days.”

Mr Shanmugam urged the audience to fight extremism online by actively learning about religion through established sources for a start and, secondly, to teach their friends and family about the positive messages of Islam: universal brotherhood and sisterhood, friendship, and working and living together in a common spirit.

“Each one of you has to look at yourself as a soldier, fighting for the cause of your religion, helping to put out the true faith, and helping your friends and country,” he said.The Straits Times understands this increase was largely due to the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) network from 2014.

“We have the situation relatively under control, but neither you nor I can say we’ve won against radicalisation. And we have to be on guard - and we have to fight back,” Mr Shanmugam added.

Saturday's forum – Dangers of Extremism in the Cyber World: Building Resilience in Youth – was held at the ITE College Central.

It is organised annually by the Inter-Agency Aftercare Group, a voluntary care group. It covers radicalism issues and targets different groups of young people each year.

The forum had representatives from social media giant Facebook and charity Touch Cyber Wellness discussing topics such as identifying fake news and the role of social media in spreading extremism.

The students also took part in a closed-door dialogue with Mr Shanmugam and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and Health Amrin Amin on Singapore’s security situation.

In Mr Shanmugam’s opening address, he also talked about the terrorism risks in the region.

“In Singapore we haven’t had an attack, not because the terrorists don’t want to but so far it’s been difficult for them,” he said.

“The fact you don’t worry about suicide bombers is not because they don’t want to come but, so far, because the Government, the public, and the security forces have worked together to keep them out.”

Mr Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ Centre of Excellence for National Security told The Straits Times that online radicalisation facilitates extremism, both religiously and non-religiously motivated.

“Hence, counter-radicalisation will always be a work in progress especially for highly globalised and multicultural societies such as Singapore,” he said

Besides improving online algorithms and improving people’s digital literacy, he said: “We need to delegitimise extremist ideas by showing how Singaporean values are more humane and just.”

Reference:

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/every-student-is-a-soldier-in-the-fight-against-religious-extremism-shanmugam?&utm_source=email&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=addtoany

Muslims in Agra hold meeting to discuss counter-radicalisation strategies

By Siraj Qureshi, India Today

Dated: January 13, 2018

In the backdrop of the recent terrorist attacks in Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the radicalization of a bright young AMU scholar Mannan Wani, a meeting of Muslim scholars and other local intellectuals was held in Agra recently in which these radical activities were strongly condemned.

The participants demanded that radicalisation be curbed by all countries of the world, including the Islamic countries and the clerics, who hold a sway over the community and have the credentials to quote the Holy Quran, hadith, opinions of companions, Sunnah etc. should assist in this by denouncing violence perpetrated by ISIS and the outfits of its ilk.

Addressing the meeting, Bhartiya Muslim Vikas Parishad chairman Sami Aghai said that the initiatives on the part of the religious leaders could provide clear, categorical, comprehensive injections and out of the folds of Islam, dissuading the confused and impressionable young Muslims from embarking upon the path of radicalization, eventually leading to terrorism.

He said that although most Muslims oppose and condemn terrorism in unequivocal terms, terrorists continue to recourse to violence, indiscriminate killing of innocent people, targeting religious establishments and public places in the name of Jihad; through the distorted, twisted and confused interpretation of Islam, which is based on peaceful co-existence, tolerance and philanthropic philosophy.

Aghai said that the radicalisation of Muslim youth, like in the case of the young AMU scholar Mannan Wani, emanates two kinds of negative responses and destructive attitude i.e. damage to Islam/Muslim world and threat to humanity, besides being responsible for misplaced thinking among youth, alienating them from true Islam and turning them towards Atheism, posing thereby a serious danger to the Ummah.

UP Sarvdaleey Muslim Action Committee President Syed Irfan Salim said that the 'fatwas' by influential clerics could be used to explain the true meaning of Islam to these misguided youth, based on amity, faith, and spiritual excellence, collectively representing peace, safety, mercy, tolerance, forbearance, love, kindness, benevolence and humanity. All these specifications are also ratified through Quranic verses, Hadith, Prophetic traditions, and opinions of jurists. These Fatwas may inter-alia include guidelines for ratification by the Prophet and scriptures for the Muslim community.

Salim further said that Islam is a religion of peace, the sanctity of human life where the violent radicalization, terrorism, the act symbolizing the infidelity by radicals/terrorists are not condoned and such ignorant, jealous and maligned individuals are abhorred as they are destined to hell.

He said that Islam assures the guarantee and protection of life honor and property of non-Muslims. The killing of women, children, old, infirm, religious leaders, traders, diplomats and those who had surrendered is strictly prohibited in Islam as Islam is not merely a religion, but a complete code of life wherein rulers are required to eliminate/exterminate anti-nationals and radicals/terrorists as their acts are sinful and not considered Jihad under any circumstances. Salim said that the radicals who consider the killing of non-Muslims as lawful, are apostates and should be dealt with strictly.

Hindustani Biradari Secretary Ziauddin said that the policies, events, acts, and circumstances used by radicals/terrorists are evil in the eyes of Islam and even if it is a pious/convincing/good intention in the name of Islam, such an act is not pardonable as it is clearly said in the Holy Quran "Listen, sincere obedience and worship is only Allah's due. And those (disbelievers) who have taken (idols etc.) and give reasons would be judged by Allah"

He said that another verse in the Holy Quran says "Allah does not like mischief and violence," while another verse clearly says "When it is said to them: Do not spread disorder in the land, they say: It is we who reform. Beware (Truly) it is they who spread disorder but they do not have any sense (of it) at all."

Ziauddin said that Mannan Wani was a promising young Muslim youth who chose the wrong path as he was misled by some other Muslims who were themselves misguided. It is the responsibility of the clerics to provide the correct interpretation of Islam and issue guidelines through fatwas, so that no more Muslim youths take up the path of violence in the presumption that they are doing 'Allah's work', when in fact, what they are doing is sin in the eyes of Allah.

Reference:

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/muslims-in-agra-hold-meeting-to-discuss-counter-radicalisation-strategies-1144616-2018-01-13

Islam favours pluralistic, democratic government

By Siraj Qureshi, India Today

Dated: August 18, 2018

In view of the threat to peace in the world from the growing fanaticism in the young Muslim population all across the globe aimed at 'cleansing' the world of non-believers, Islamic scholars and thinkers came together in Agra to discuss this issue.

Chairing the meeting, Bhartiya Muslim Vikas Parishad chairman Sami Aghai said that the Prophet had ratified Pluralism and not Al-Salaf, the 'Puritan' Islam as propagated by Islamists.

He said that extremists actually try to 'purify' the lands of Allah in a bit to retrieve the purity of the Salaf (the Muslim predecessors) by attacking the democratic system of governance. But in reality, the Prophet and his companions had professed peaceful coexistence because, in his state of Madina, all religious communities lived by an alliance of shared values known as 'Misaq-e-Madina', the written constitution of Medina which had the clear causes of religious pluralism and universal brotherhood.

Let alone Muslims, all non-Muslims living in Madina were accorded full protection of life, religious freedom, and democratic rights.

Muslim scholar Naseem Ahmed Advocate said that all terror outfits, including ISIS, brazenly breach foundations of Prophet's secular system of governance.

In fact, common Muslims living in the democratic countries like India embrace the democratic values and secular ethos by intermingling with citizens of other faiths. Thus they find themselves inclined towards an inclusivist religious narrative focused on a spiritual synergy with the people of all faiths and creeds.

Demanding that the governments of democratic countries take a tough stance against the spread of this extremist Islam, Sarvdaleey Muslim Action Committee President Syed Irfan Saleem said in contrast to the Muslims living in the democratic countries, radical preachers of political Islamism and global Islamic Kalikhate (Khilafah-Al-Almaiyah) call for permanent war against all 'un-Islamic' forms of governance, besides all countries epitomizing principles of individual liberty, freedom of faith, secularism and democracy, the places of Shirk (paganism), thus continue to attack the age-old tradition of Pluralism, Universalism and Egalitarianism.

He said that to curb the spread of Extremist Islam, religio-political leadership and scholars of Islam have to disapprove the idea of Extremism and rebuff the rhetoric of those who conflate Islamic scriptures into Extremism through ideological counter-narrative which would eradicate terrorism and radicalization more effectively than the military operations.

Reference:

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/muslims-prophet-mohammad-pluralistic-democratic-agra-sami-aghai-1317878-2018-08-18

The role of education is paramount in de-radicalisation

The Week

Dated August 05, 2018

By Namrata Biji Ahuja

As cornered Islamic State fighters flee conflict zones of Syria, and Mosul in Iraq, leaving a trail of death and destruction, Maqsoud Kruse, executive director of Saudi Arabia-based Hedayah Centre, a global centre for countering violent extremism, says the world community must address the question of how to deal with the men, women and children of Daesh coming from conflict zones.

What are some of the issues that must be kept in mind when we talk of de radicalisation?

When we are dealing with a foreign terrorist , we must keep in mind that he is in a totally foreign country. He is smuggled into the conflict areas, and, in matter of weeks or months, he ends up killing complete strangers whom he has never met before or starts blowing himself up. What was his process of radicalisation and can we reverse it? The other issue is with regard to dealing with terrorist fighters who are fleeing conflict areas. As we are seeing in Iraq and Syria today, once the security forces enter the conflict zones, a large number of extremist fighters flee back to their home countries. How do you begin their de-radicalisation process? The other concern is of children born in these conflict areas. The children of Daesh. All these issues need to be addressed.

How important are national strategies in countering terrorism?

Developing national strategies is the key to countering violent forms of extremism. Most countries have some sort of counter terrorism strategy which is a collaborative effort of security, policing, intelligence and defence forces, where terrorists are either killed or put behind bars. However, when we talk of formulating a strategy for countering violent extremism, it relies a lot on preventive efforts, which require the involvement of everyone from the teacher in the school, the parent at home, the communicator on the television, the policy maker in Parliament, the Imam in the mosque or the priest in the church. I am happy to note that a lot of effort is being made by the Indian government on this front.

Who all should be part of the de-radicalisation process?

If we are truly sincere in countering all forms of extremism, then we are all part of the solution. The empowerment of civil society leaders, NGOs, community leaders, those people who can have an impact on the society and inspire and make a difference have a key role. So, we have programmes for training Imams, civil society leaders, educators and all forms of individuals who influence and impact the society. When we counsel a radicalised youth and tell him not to walk the path of extremism, we also need to have an alternative ready for him to show him that the cure to all problems does not lie in taking someone else's life or your own life.

How important is the role of education here?

I feel that the role of education is paramount . All forms of extremism, regardless of the labelling, starts as an idea. This idea triggers an emotional response, and this in turn triggers a certain kind of behaviour pattern which takes the form of violence or terrorism or something else. So, during this entire process, when an idea develops into an emotion and then a behaviour, we have multiple opportunities to intervene and make a difference. So, what we have developed is the Abu Dhabi memorandum of good practices which talks about the role of education in countering violent extremism which shares a set of good practices. This policy document was endorsed in September 2015 by 29 countries, European Union and members of the Global Counterterrorism Forum. It was followed by an action plan the following year. It is about teaching leadership, team work and working on cognitive skills and critical thinking of young children. Some people ask this question: should we monitor online activities of children or explain what is terrorism? The answer is we will not be able to do that. What we can do instead is impart them the necessary skills and mental ability to empower them to carry out their own autopsy of things, so that they are able to deconstruct the narrative that comes before them and find out what is true or not and reject it accordingly.

It is true that ideas cannot be defeated. They simply exist.

Yes, it is true that we cannot defeat an idea. What we can do is to build a counter narrative that is not always reactive or defensive. Merely banning social media platforms is not enough. We must also be able to build our social media outreach for a counter narrative. Why is it that when these terrorist groups create a social media message, it resonates with some of us and not with some others? The answer is simple, it is the content. So we need to create a better idea that resonates more. In this competition of ideas, we need to be innovative, creative and visionary.

Can you explain how Hedayah Centre works in countering violent extremism.

Hedayah was created in 2012 in response to the growing desire from the members of the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum (GCTF) and the wider international community for the establishment of an independent, multilateral centre devoted to Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) in all of its forms and manifestations. We don't work with extremists or terrorists directly, but we work with practitioners and policy makers who are engaging with them. We are building training curriculums in collaboration with a variety of key strategic partners such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the Global Center on Cooperative Security, and the International Institute on Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ) on a variety of issues like building national strategies, community policing, social media, foreign terrorist fighters, and Imam’s training. Hedayah also acts as a hub for exchanges of good practices around the world.

Can you tell us something about the recent activities?

One of our activities was the CVE Hackathon, which is an exercise of gathering CVE and Communications experts together to generate solution-focussed “prototypes” on how can we counter the Daesh online messaging? For example: Our Sawab centre is a digital communications hub that aims at degrading Daesh’s propaganda and recruitment efforts through direct online counter messaging. It was established in July 2015 as a joint initiative by the UAE and the US, as part of their collaboration within the Global Coalition to Counter Daesh (GCCD). This year, we will be organizing the second “CVE Global EXPO” that will take place in Abu Dhabi where we will be studying the advancement of preventing and countering violent extremism, not as a soft option, but as a strategic imperative.

Note: Maqsoud Kruse is the Executive director of Hedayah, The International Center of Excellence for Countering Violent Extremism, Abu Dhabi

Reference:

https://www.theweek.in/theweek/cover/2018/07/30/the-role-of-education-is-paramount-in-de-radicalisation.html

The distortion of Islam that drives terrorism

The Washington Post,  

Dated: August 01, 2018

By Robert G. Rabil

Jihad is an ominous word to most Americans, conjuring up images of terrorism. But the word “jihad” in Arabic merely means “to strive” or to make a “determined effort.”

The association with terrorism represents a distortion of the true Koranic meaning of the term. According to an oft-repeated hadith (sayings of the prophet Muhammad), jihad is supposed to encompass both a struggle against one’s sinful proclivities, known also as “greater jihad,” and a struggle against injustice, known also as “smaller jihad.” But over time, both Shi’a and Sunni Islam have developed distinct distortions of jihad, both of which contribute to the current association we have between jihad and terrorist acts. This tie, however, advances a twisted concept with little to do with the mainstream teaching of Islam.

The concept of jihad began being distorted almost immediately. During the expansion of Islam between the 7th and 13th centuries, jihad came to have an offensive connotation — to expand the territory of Islam as a collective duty — in addition to a defensive one — to defend against foreign aggression. Medieval scholar Ibn Taymiyyah affirmed that rebellion against a ruler who failed to enforce or govern by Islamic law was permissible.

Yet the modern concept of jihad developed mostly in the 20th century, with a watershed transformation occurring as part of Islamic anti-colonial movements.

In 1939, the Sunni jurist Abu Ala Mawdudi sharpened the definition of jihad to mean a movement of liberation throughout the world that enabled Islam to reign supreme. Mawdudi also transformed the concept of jahiliyah (the age of ignorance before God’s message to the prophet Muhammad) into a condition that exists in any time or place where an Islamic state has not been actualized. Mawdudi split the world between an Islamic divinely ordained world and an infidel world that needed to be overturned.

In the 1950s, Sayyid Qutb of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood built on Mawdudi’s work. Qutb argued that Muslim society under corrupt rulers was dominated by jahiliyah, and therefore it was the duty of righteous Muslims to bring about God’s sovereignty over society. But Qutb went further because he perceived the modern world as steeped in jahiliyah. Jihad for Qutb was as much about re-imposing God’s sovereignty over mankind as about political transformation.

This understanding of jihad drove the Muslim Brotherhood to try to assassinate Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1954 and remove the Syrian regime in 1964. Why? Because these leaders advanced the anti-religious secularism, jahiliyah, that the Brotherhood wanted to overthrow.

In 1986, the assassins of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat made this conception of jihad explicit in a pamphlet, “The Neglected Duty.” The author Muhammad Abd al-Salam Faraj argued that jihad had been neglected by leading Muslim scholars and that “there is no doubt that the idols of this world can only be made to disappear through the power of the sword.”

The ideas of Mawdudi, Qutb and Faraj enabled Sunni Islamists to advance this distorted concept of jihad. They framed efforts to excommunicate secular rulers as an armed struggle against jahili secularism, contesting the mainstream Islamic view that Muslims should submit to political authority in order to prevent strife. Their teachings also transformed jihad into a mandatory, individual obligation for all Muslims.

Qutb’s thinking especially motivated Osama bin Laden to launch his global, anti-Western jihad. Bin Laden subscribed to the puritanical Salafi school of Islam that seeks to create an Islamic utopian state by returning to the authentic beliefs and practices of the first generations of Muslims. Salafi-jihadis believe that only violent struggle can achieve this goal.

Bin Laden’s organization, al-Qaeda, ultimately aims for the overthrow of the “apostate” regimes in the Middle East that are preventing the creation of this Islamic state; but it has focused its violence on the United States, because America’s support of these regimes has enabled and perpetuated their rule.

The Islamic State, an offspring of al-Qaeda, shares its ideology, but has a different focus: establishing an Islamic government. The Islamic State has selectively chosen controversial verses from the Koran and citations from radical classical and contemporary scholars to legitimize its rule. It has dehumanized, bastardized, “apostasied” and targeted for death all “others” who don’t subscribe to its vision, Muslim or non-Muslim.

The concept of jihad has also been heavily influenced by the history of the Shi’a Islam, the other major strain of Islam.The Shi’a believe that the descendants of Prophet Muhammad should lead the umma (community of believers).

The most formative event for Shi’a ideology and tradition was the martyrdom of the prophet’s grandson Hussein in 680. Imam Hussein became the prince of martyrs who opposed tyranny and oppression and epitomized the struggle against chronic injustice that pervaded the world. The murder of his heirs, with the exception of the 12th Imam (who Shi’a theology teaches went into occultation and will return as the Mahdi (Guided One) to bring justice to earth), by reigning Sunni caliphs only reinforced Shi’a belief in the struggle or jihad against injustice and tyranny.

Critically, the Shi’a concept of jihad that developed over centuries viewed offensive jihad as illegitimate, while considering jihad in defense of the Muslim community facing foreign aggression obligatory.

In the 1970s, former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Rullolah Khomeini honed this Shi’a conception of jihad by arguing for the establishment of an Islamic government ruled by a senior jurist (Wilayat al-Faqih) after deposing a non-Islamic enemy. He believed that only an Islamic government could enforce Islamic precepts, provide justice and unite the umma.

Khomeini saw no alternative but to revolt against tyrannical regimes — including the Iranian one governed by Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, whose alignment with the West and push for modernization placed him in the category of an anti-Muslim tyrant. After helping to lead a successful rebellion in Iran, Khomeini elbowed aside secular allies and imposed this vision.

This jihad against tyranny sharpened the Shi’a view of the necessity of active resistance. Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, considered the spiritual leader of the US-designated Lebanese based terrorist group Hezbollah, endorsed jihad as a defensive movement against a purported occupation by Israel.

Moreover, Fadlallah endorsed suicide operations as an encouraged form of resistance on par with ideas of martyrdom. The leadership of Hezbollah turned jihad and violent resistance to Israel into almost synonymous ideas. Deputy secretary general Naim Qassem emphasized that “the movement of Hezbollah is a jihadi movement whose primary objective is the jihad against the Zionist enemy.” From a Western standpoint, this firmly cemented the ties between the Shi’a version of jihad with terrorism.

While the Sunni and Shi’a concepts of jihad have a different history, both see jihad as a way to fight tyranny and oppression. For Shi’a Muslims jihad must be defensive and blessed by senior Muslim jurists, unlike the Sunni version which aims to reconstitute Muslim power under the pretext of defending or propagating Islam. But this conception has still blessed what, to many in the West, appear to be offensive actions that violate the modern rules of warfare — like not targeting civilians.

While many Westerners conflate jihad with terrorism, it’s meaning is not so specific. Jihad is a malleable concept with many potential meanings. Nevertheless, both Sunni and Shi’a extremists have crafted conceptions of jihad with a tremendous impact on the West. The Sunni version is a triumphalist religious ideology incapable of co-existing with Western values or societies, and the Shi’a version animates regimes hostile to the West as well.

But it’s important to recall that these are both distortions of Islamic teachings, propagated by extremists. Most Muslims do not support jihad as warfare unless they are under attack. Rather than demonizing Islam, the United States should be mindful of not painting with an overly broad brush that pushes Muslims towards these extremist conceptions.

About the author:

Robert G. Rabil is a professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University. 

Reference:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/08/01/the-distortion-of-islam-that-drives-terrorism/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8b63cf9f99e2