EXTREMISM
REFER to the report “Religious schools not source of militants” (NST, March 3). It is good of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, to reveal that “less than 10 per cent of those involved in the Islamic State militant group were from the religious field”.
He attributed their involvement to “the emergence of the social and online media or YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and others”.
We do hope our religious teachers are always guided by the Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim) ruling, so that students will not deviate from the true teachings of Islam.
The ustaz and ustazah at all religious schools must help the government to dispel any notion that religious schools are breeding grounds for potential jihadists who will not hesitate to join the Islamic State (IS) or militant groups.
We have to bear in mind that religion has a way of intoxicating a person. His A person’s mind can be poisoned by a narrow interpretation of any hadith. He can be turned into a human dynamite, in the name of Islam, as the promise of martyrdom and heaven is too good to turn down. Many of those who signed up to be martyrs by joining IS doesn't really don’t know what they are doing. They are carried away by the idealism and frenzy of the moment. They will not stop for a moment to think of whether their “sacrifice” is really the call of Islam. To them, they must be with the IS militants despite their spouses, parents, siblings and friends telling them that IS it is not what Islam is all about.
Nevertheless, those being detained should not be punished. Except for the hardcore, the rest, like the 14-year-old teenage girl from Muar, Johor, should be sent for counselling and should be made to continue with their schooling in a new school.
They need to be given a second chance, for they do not know what they were doing.
The challenge to the government now is to produce citizens who can think rationally, be open-minded and to see Islam from a broad perspective.
Perhaps English-medium schools and a strong religious foundation can help.
Killing fellow Muslims, as in the case of the IS cause, is not Islam. What IS is doing is no different from the Khmer Rouge, who wanted to raise a new generation of pure unadulterated Kampucheans. But then, when Islam is interpreted by the book, atrocities as we know it are different from the IS’s or any religious bigot’s interpretation.
The Malays in the Malay Archipelago have been practising moderate Islam since the religion first Islam came to this part of the world, and that should be the way forward.
Any form of religious extremism must be nipped in the bud. After all, Islam is a religion of moderation, and that is how it should be understood and practised.
It is precisely because Islam is a moderate religion that many Malay parents feel comfortable sending their children to religious schools in the hope that they become better children, loyal citizens and good Muslims.
This is where Jakim has to consistently monitor to ensure all religious schools, including the private sekolah pondok agama, or religious schools, are in line with the government’s educational policy and taught within the spirit of the Rukun Negara.
A hotline should be established so that the people can immediately inform Jakim of any deviationist teachings or if anyone they know in the village or schools has have militant tendencies.
Hassan Talib,
Gombak, Selangor