|
Toronto Star - June 5, 2006
Canadian Muslim leaders vow to root out extremism
By Heba Aly
Shock. Pity. Disgust.
Muslim leaders say they feel a range of emotions — if allegations turn out to be true — toward the 17 men and boys accused of terrorism-related charges.
But they agree on one thing: It's time to get to the root of the problem.
"(The) Muslim community within itself, they have the challenge of coming to grips with the issue of extremism within themselves," says Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer at the Islamic Institute of Toronto who has been an imam at various mosques in Toronto for more than 30 years.
The majority, if not all, of the suspects are believed to be Muslim. Police said Saturday the suspects had no known connections to Al Qaeda.
"I don't know where these ideas come to them, who is implanting these kinds of ideas in their heads," Kutty says, his tone frustrated.
"But if the youth are turning this way, it is something that the Muslim leadership has to think seriously (about). How can we serve our community better by making sure that our youth are kept in line with mainstream (Islam)?"
The Canadian Islamic Congress told the Star it has asked provincial and federal governments for funding to study how and why Muslim youth are drawn to extreme ideologies, but has been turned away, according to president Mohamed Elmasry.
Kutty says he knows of no mosque — he gives sermons at several different mosques a month — that preaches extremist ideology, and thus doesn't know where the problem starts.
Shabir Ally has one answer.
The Guyanese immigrant is president of the Islamic Information and Dawah Centre International, which reaches out to non-Muslims to inform them of Islam.
"We have to look at some features of classical interpretations of Islam that have remained with Muslims," he says, pointing to certain texts of Islamic jurisprudence, religious commentary and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad that "the majority of Muslims do not concern themselves with."
He added: "We have the average Muslim who goes about his daily business of earning a living, trying to have a good life and at the same time remembering his Lord — and then there is some of the youth who are looking for a pure authentic Islam, and they are going back to the classical texts."
He says these interpretations, which prioritize violence over peace, must be rewritten, which he admits is "a huge task."
In the meantime, suggests Abdul Hai Patel from the Islamic Council of Imams Canada, funding to engage youth in faith-based communities is part of the answer.
But, he maintains, the community can't be held responsible for the actions of a few. "If someone uses the knowledge of science to make a bomb to kill people, can science be held responsible?"
For six weeks this spring, every Thursday for three hours, 15 leaders from the GTA's Muslim and Arab communities met with representatives from the RCMP to ensure the two groups saw each other as partners and not enemies.
That's why the arrests on terrorism-related charges came as a disappointment to Yaser Kherdaji, who is part of the project called the citizen's academy.
Now, it's almost back to square one…..
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1149460818179&call_pageid=970599119419
Muslim leaders divided over existence of extremism in communities
Islam not violent, Toronto Muslims say
Don't judge all Muslims by acts of a few
Muslim experts warn about drawing conclusions
Muslims feel like 'double victims' | Mistakes last a lifetime
Canadian Muslims Relieved Terror Attacks Averted
Muslim leaders try to quell fears after bomb-plot roundup
Muslim organization commends the efforts of Security forces
|
