The following is intended to help teachers differentiate behaviours that should not be a cause for concern and behaviours that could indicate a young person is being influenced by extremists and developing a mindset that could lead them to accept and undertake violent acts.
Political ideology
— use of political propaganda that describes political systems and countries as 'Kufr' or anti-Islamic, and expressing the need to replace them with 'The Islamic system', or Caliphate; or citing movements such as Hizb ut-Tahrir may suggest a young person is becoming influenced by extremist ideologies and be early signs that a certain mindset is being developed. There is a difference between young people who are extremists and those who are rebellious teenagers. Rebellious teenagers identify with rebellious personalities and icons. Superficial statements supporting Al Qaida and Osama Bin Laden or the expression of an anti-American sentiment would not necessarily be indicators of extremism.
Suspended morality
— development of a mindset that distorts Islam and requires the young person to suspend all independent views of morality by focusing on scripture and interpreting scripture alone, without any external guidance to what is correct and incorrect behaviour. When a young person is programmed with this dangerous way of thinking they are then susceptible to being programmed into believing that violence is a legitimate means of achieving political goals.
Conspiratorial mindset and 'westophobia'
— this refers to a tendency to view the West in general as the source of all evil and troubles in the world. This involves accepting, in most cases without a shred of evidence, bizarre conspiracy theories that absolve the Muslim world of any fault, e.g. 7/7 was an inside job. Attached to this mindset is the idea that the west is the primary cause of failures in the Muslim world resulting in anti-western sentiment.
Ultra conservative outlook
— consistently holding what can at best be described as a conservative interpretation of scripture, i.e. a literalist reading of Muslim texts without consideration for the modern world. This is only problematic in connection with the above three points
*It is important to distinguish between conservative religious traditions and political religious movements. The observing of conservative religious traditions or spiritual attachment by reciting Quran, observing Islamic dress and clothing, growing a beard, seeking religious verdicts on their behaviour or not interacting with the opposite gender is not extremism, does not reflect any political agenda or indicate any persuasion into violent acts.
It is important to note that individually these points would not be problematic; but combined would be a cause for concern that should be pursued and referred through appropriate mechanisms.
The following are suggestions for ways to engage with young people and deter them from getting drawn into extremism:
Help young people develop an understanding and respect for other faiths and an appreciation that there are many different interpretations and traditions within Islam, all of which are equally 'Islamic'. This will help to make young people more resilient to the singular, narrow-minded perspective of extremists who contend there is only one Islamically acceptable world view.
Encourage young people to have personal contact and relationships with others from different faiths or backgrounds; this can help prevent the 'dehumanising' of other peoples and cultures. Give young people the opportunity to understand different religious and lifestyle perspectives in order to encourage empathy. For example, having discussions of ethical or moral issues such as abortion or drinking alcohol in a healthy and vibrant social development setting — such as a school RE or PSHE class — can be a barrier to demonising others and having a narrow-minded perspective based on a certain interpretation of scripture.
Give young people access to positive religious guidance and role models.
Expose young people to the real life experiences of those who have been involved in Islamist extremism and now reject such approaches to deter them from taking this path. - link
It is troubling that former extremists are seen as the only people who know how to deal with extremism.
Just because you have been an inmate of a mental hospital does not mean you are an expert in clinical psychology however former extremists are being lionised because they confirm the basic tabloid prejudice that violence is a natural part of being a Muslim.
So whose ignorance is being vindicated? Certainly the potential of an open, unapologetic belief in Islam as a valuable part of British society is not on the agenda.
At every stage of dealing with extremism, the government has made the wrong choice.
First, only British-trained imams were to be promoted, though how and what they were trained in was not examined.
Then there were to be road shows at which religious scholars selected for their moderation and tractability, rather than an understanding of the problems of young British Muslims, would explain the error of extremist ways.
Then Sufism was touted as the solution, and the Sufi Muslim Council was created as the voice of moderation.
Now the way forward is with sinners who were once mouthpieces for jihadi propaganda and advocated the violent rejection of all things western.
The thing nobody has suggested is engaging the silenced and diverse majority of Muslim communities.
If the debate of the mainstream is ignored, there is nowhere for those rescued from extremism to go. The silent majority is supposed to be groomed to embrace quietism - which explains why Sufi mysticism is in vogue - and, most important, to be put off politics for life.
Islam is not an ideology, but it is no more devoid of politics than Christianity. Far from "obeying" this government, Muslims are duty-bound to challenge it. Extremism is not only a religious issue; it is also a product of our politics. And tackling extremism requires changing politics as much as changing religious outlook.
Within the British Muslim community there are pockets of underachievement, under-employment and high unemployment. There are problems of education, health and social provision. All are festering ground for extremism; all are political facts. Then there are problems, which too few Muslims are prepared to acknowledge, that they share with sections of white British society: problems of family disintegration and drugs, of an existence devoid of opportunities to share in consumer culture. An escape from this existence is gang membership and drug culture, a kind of glorying in the indignity of one's existence. These, too, are political problems.
Most of all, British foreign policy has a direct bearing on nurturing extremism. The occupation of Iraq, the by products of the "war on terror", the perpetual suffering of the Palestinians are not amenable to deprogramming techniques.
So we don't need neo con ex-extremists to define what extremism is about. They are part of the problem, not the solution.
We do need a viable politics that tackles the root cause of extremism. Whatever the joy in heaven, we cannot allow former lunatics to take over the asylum. - link
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