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London:
Britain's first "anti-terror" summer camp opened Saturday, with the
goal of teaching Muslim youth how to rebuff extremists who try to
recruit them at schools and in online chat rooms.
The three-day event hopes to equip hundreds of students with
arguments from the Qur'an on how to respond to people with radical
beliefs, encounters some at the camp said happen regularly.
"We want to give youngsters a balanced view of Islam and to remove
the misconception of what jihad actually is," The Associated Press
quoted the organizer, Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri.
"Extremists have confined
the act of jihad to the act of militancy and violence. This is
totally wrong according to Qur'anic commandments", he added.
In March, the
Pakistani scholar who now lives in Toronto issued a 600-page fatwa,
or religious edict, against terrorist acts like suicide bombing.
Some 1,300 high school and university students are expected to study
his fatwa and hear about moderate Islam at the camp at Warwick
University in Coventry.
Ul-Qadri said that in a series of lectures
and debates, he would convince the students "why suicide bombing
makes one a disbeliever, and why terrorists will go to hell fire."
Muslim conferences aimed at helping youths tackle extremism are not
new — some US organizations have even reached out to Muslim rappers
and musicians in an effort to encourage youths to use music and
other means as a form of protest rather than violence.
"For years hate speech was allowed to flourish in Britain so you had
preachings from radical Imams igniting the passions of youths and
dividing the community," ul-Qadri said. "It's now time to repair
this."
For many of the young Muslims attending the camp, joining a
terrorist group to wage holy war jarred with their moderate
believes. But they said extremists are outspoken at universities,
and they lack the right arguments to counter radicals who approach
them.
"I have had some experiences especially at university (with
radicals)," said Tahseen Khalid, a 24-year-old university student in
business and international politics.
"They haven't really worked on me ... I'm not confused. I believe
terrorism is quite alien to the culture we were brought up in. I
just want the information to help me argue the case in the strongest
way," said Khalid, a Pakistani who was born and grew up in Britain.
Teacher Samra Adri, 33, said she also met with extremist groups
while at university. She said young British Muslims often lack
proper religious education and don't have a clear alternative
viewpoint to militant rhetoric.
"You hear in the news everyday about Afghanistan, Pakistan, what
America's doing ... many Muslims are obviously angry about the
political situation in the world, but they don't understand exactly
how a Muslim should react," said Adri, who lives in London.
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