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How can we stop our children from being radicalised by extremists?

There is not place of religion in the modern style of living for today.I feel if i perceive religion from the perspecctive of culture or treat religion as a culture or optional thing, then someway it could be addressed...



How can we stop our children from being radicalised by extremists?

25370-madrassaAFP-1427205095-195-640x480.jpg

When you hear such sentences from children who are only six or seven-years-old, you wonder how you can prevent your children from turning into extremists. PHOTO: AFP

I ask this question because all around me, our kids are being brainwashed by adults who are scared that Islam will disappear from the world if the younger generation is not trained to kill for the sake of religion.

“Dada, you will not go to heaven if you do not keep a beard, Mehroze Khan Chacha told me”.

“Nana, you should wear shalwar kameez when you go to the mosque, not jeans and T-shirt, Akmal driver Chacha says so.”

“Dadi, you should not watch TV, Allah will punish you for it, our Quran teacher told us.”

“Mummy, why don’t you wear a burqa, our Islamiat teacher says your prayers will never be accepted if you don’t.”

When you hear such sentences from children who are only six or seven-years-old, you wonder how you can prevent your children from turning into extremists.

We cannot prevent our children from speaking to our staff members (drivers or security guards) or those who teach them how to read the Quran. These individuals are placed in our lives and we cannot overlook their presence. Muslims have differing beliefs, but the hard-core ones, which we need to keep our children away from, are the ones who believe that not only Pakistan, but the whole world has been created for Muslims who follow an extremist version of Islam.

This belief automatically negates the concept of sub-sections within a majority. When I was a child, we heard that there were only two sects, which have existed for centuries. Mosque Imams were more relaxed and I never heard anyone preaching that it was a good deed to kill those who did not follow the “true” faith, Islam.

Eventually, things started getting worse. Almost all the Christians of Karachi migrated to greener pastures (most Hindus had fled to India immediately after partition). When we were in school, we would play and eat with Christians, Hindus and Parsis (there were a few Jews as well).

Nowadays, children rarely come across non-Muslims. I occasionally come across teenagers who think that only a few non-Muslims are left in Pakistan, and it’s only a matter of time before they are wiped out.

The decline probably started after some of our labourers and working class individuals began returning from Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia, and became convinced that the hard-line version of Islam practiced there was far superior to the relaxed one inherited by Pakistan.

Suddenly there was a proliferation of organisations preaching what they considered the “true” Islam and many people joined them. It was not long before our TV channels also began to telecast programs in which so-called scholars were invited to convince people to follow their ideologies.

At wedding dinners and such occasions, religion and politics are the most popular topics. I keep overhearing obscure things such as whether Islam allows us to eat prawns and crabs or whether a man’s nikkah is broken if he prays behind a man who belongs to another sub-sect. Extreme cases include brothers quarrelling over which imam should lead funeral prayers because they both belong to different sub-sects.

I wonder if this battle can ever be won. At times I am filled with despair over the decreased levels of tolerance in our society, especially when I witness things such as people in my neighbourhood building a new mosque because the Imam of a nearby mosque followed a slightly different version of Islam. Now, when I go to offer prayers in the mosque where the Imam apparently follows a different version of Islam, some of my neighbours express their aversion openly.

I weep for my people, for my country and for the Muslim world. I have no solution to the problem, except perhaps keeping our children away from individuals who lean towards extremism.

How can we stop our children from being radicalised by extremists? – The Express Tribune Blog
 
There is something amazing about multi-cultural, multi-religion, multi-color societies. We are all citizens of the world. Live like one! Keep religion private, keep kids curious and lastly keep science above everything else! possible you think?
 
How can we stop our children from being radicalised by extremists?

25370-madrassaAFP-1427205095-195-640x480.jpg

When you hear such sentences from children who are only six or seven-years-old, you wonder how you can prevent your children from turning into extremists. PHOTO: AFP

I ask this question because all around me, our kids are being brainwashed by adults who are scared that Islam will disappear from the world if the younger generation is not trained to kill for the sake of religion.

“Dada, you will not go to heaven if you do not keep a beard, Mehroze Khan Chacha told me”.

“Nana, you should wear shalwar kameez when you go to the mosque, not jeans and T-shirt, Akmal driver Chacha says so.”

“Dadi, you should not watch TV, Allah will punish you for it, our Quran teacher told us.”

“Mummy, why don’t you wear a burqa, our Islamiat teacher says your prayers will never be accepted if you don’t.”

When you hear such sentences from children who are only six or seven-years-old, you wonder how you can prevent your children from turning into extremists.

We cannot prevent our children from speaking to our staff members (drivers or security guards) or those who teach them how to read the Quran. These individuals are placed in our lives and we cannot overlook their presence. Muslims have differing beliefs, but the hard-core ones, which we need to keep our children away from, are the ones who believe that not only Pakistan, but the whole world has been created for Muslims who follow an extremist version of Islam.

This belief automatically negates the concept of sub-sections within a majority. When I was a child, we heard that there were only two sects, which have existed for centuries. Mosque Imams were more relaxed and I never heard anyone preaching that it was a good deed to kill those who did not follow the “true” faith, Islam.

Eventually, things started getting worse. Almost all the Christians of Karachi migrated to greener pastures (most Hindus had fled to India immediately after partition). When we were in school, we would play and eat with Christians, Hindus and Parsis (there were a few Jews as well).

Nowadays, children rarely come across non-Muslims. I occasionally come across teenagers who think that only a few non-Muslims are left in Pakistan, and it’s only a matter of time before they are wiped out.

The decline probably started after some of our labourers and working class individuals began returning from Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia, and became convinced that the hard-line version of Islam practiced there was far superior to the relaxed one inherited by Pakistan.

Suddenly there was a proliferation of organisations preaching what they considered the “true” Islam and many people joined them. It was not long before our TV channels also began to telecast programs in which so-called scholars were invited to convince people to follow their ideologies.

At wedding dinners and such occasions, religion and politics are the most popular topics. I keep overhearing obscure things such as whether Islam allows us to eat prawns and crabs or whether a man’s nikkah is broken if he prays behind a man who belongs to another sub-sect. Extreme cases include brothers quarrelling over which imam should lead funeral prayers because they both belong to different sub-sects.

I wonder if this battle can ever be won. At times I am filled with despair over the decreased levels of tolerance in our society, especially when I witness things such as people in my neighbourhood building a new mosque because the Imam of a nearby mosque followed a slightly different version of Islam. Now, when I go to offer prayers in the mosque where the Imam apparently follows a different version of Islam, some of my neighbours express their aversion openly.

I weep for my people, for my country and for the Muslim world. I have no solution to the problem, except perhaps keeping our children away from individuals who lean towards extremism.

How can we stop our children from being radicalised by extremists? – The Express Tribune Blog

Nice article. I wasn't aware about the extent of the problem.

The only logical conclusion I can surmise from this is that the problem stems from the religious education in madarsas. In India, and other non Islamic countries this problem isn't there to remotely this extent as religion isn't mixed with education most times.

For my further information, I would like to know two things.

Do all madarsas propagate extremist teachings or are there some moderate madarsas also?

Is there no alternate to education by madarsas in Pakistan?

Thanks buddy.

:)
 
Nice article. I wasn't aware about the extent of the problem.

The only logical conclusion I can surmise from this is that the problem stems from the religious education in madarsas. In India, and other non Islamic countries this problem isn't there to remotely this extent as religion isn't mixed with education most times.

For my further information, I would like to know two things.

Do all madarsas propagate extremist teachings or are there some moderate madarsas also?

Is there no alternate to education by madarsas in Pakistan?

Thanks buddy.

:)
Not every madarasa is making extremists. There are some moderate madarasas too.
Children get religious education in schools but people prefer to send them to any madarasa they like.

There is not place of religion in the modern style of living for today.I feel if i perceive religion from the perspecctive of culture or treat religion as a culture or optional thing, then someway it could be addressed...
If we start to do that in our country, it will take at least 4 to 5 generations for this environment to get better, still there will be people doing religious propaganda.

I think there is no full proof way. Otherwise people born in London, raised there would not have gone to join ISIS.
Every place has fanatics.
 
I was in sort of a situation as described in opening lines of OP few years ago too. Used to religiously watch Islamic channels on TV all the time, thought Namaz Roza and Shalwar Kameez were the path to salvation and all other religions were inferior. One of my uncle had also scripted into my brain that Shias and other sects of Islam are our enemies and we must taunt them and do Jihad against them and the West is on a mission to destroy Islam. But over the years as I spent more time on the Internet and moved away from the religious stuff, I learned to question more and more and a lot of things of which I was not aware previously came to my knowledge. Slowly I realized religion is not everything and you must enjoy life as much as you can at the same time retaining your identity as Muslim even if ti doesn't mean you're a Mullah.
I think a liberal learning environment in which the curriculum shows perspective from a neutral standpoint instead of the biased Islamic version will allow the next generation to form their own opinions and be more questioning and free thinkers. More exposure to the Internet will also help as it did in mine, as the internet is a goldmine of knowledge and information, which is not usually presented to you on QTV or Peace TV or any religious channel for that matter.
 
Reasoning and critical thinking is what separates you from an animal.

In order for a child to grow up well rounded and have sound understanding of self preservation they need to know how to reason and then they will never be radicalized regardless of what crap someone in front of them is talking.
 
I was in sort of a situation as described in opening lines of OP few years ago too. Used to religiously watch Islamic channels on TV all the time, thought Namaz Roza and Shalwar Kameez were the path to salvation and all other religions were inferior. One of my uncle had also scripted into my brain that Shias and other sects of Islam are our enemies and we must taunt them and do Jihad against them and the West is on a mission to destroy Islam. But over the years as I spent more time on the Internet and moved away from the religious stuff, I learned to question more and more and a lot of things of which I was not aware previously came to my knowledge. Slowly I realized religion is not everything and you must enjoy life as much as you can at the same time retaining your identity as Muslim even if ti doesn't mean you're a Mullah.
I think a liberal learning environment in which the curriculum shows perspective from a neutral standpoint instead of the biased Islamic version will allow the next generation to form their own opinions and be more questioning and free thinkers. More exposure to the Internet will also help as it did in mine, as the internet is a goldmine of knowledge and information, which is not usually presented to you on QTV or Peace TV or any religious channel for that matter.
this is self discovery which is a slow process.. we are talking about teenage kids being radicalized even though their parents did their best to bring up the kid they deem best.
Frankly there is little parents can do, but you should not limit your kids exposure to extreme islam, infact its the opposite, let him/her be exposed to every type/sect/style of islam... even other religion..
 
Let me humbly offer a reminder that I often mentioned on my blog and IRL in defense of Islam.

2015 - 622 = 1393
It so happens that 1392 is when three synods in London called by the Cantorbery archbishop condemned
the first well known "reformer" in Christianity, John Wycliff. Christian religious wars ensued for 200 years.

So that by that account, Islam is actually on the same timeframe? And only the future will tell if it takes Muslims
less time to settle this differences.

Otherwise agreed to Menace2 on critical thinking and Whaleed on exposure to varied sources.
I never shied away from explaining all and any things to my son as was done for me and he's
grown into a well rounded young man, quite vocal about opposing racism and other fanaticisms.
Good day all, Tay.
 
Teach them philosophy.... Keep them away from the madrassa, mosque, church, synagogue or temple I reckon.

Let the kid discover it's path in life.
 

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