Ahmed, leader of Stop the CRISIS, an initiative to counter the radicalization of Canada’s Muslim youth, says new converts — like former University of Ottawa student John Maguire — appear particularly vulnerable.
Source/Credit: Ottawa Citizen
By Chris Cobb | December 8, 2014
Canadian Muslims, especially students, shouldn’t hesitate to report anyone they suspect of heading down the ISIL terrorist road, an Ottawa imam said Monday.
“If we hear someone one expressing sympathy for ISIS, we should tell the authorities,” Imam Imtiaz Ahmed told the Citizen. “We don’t want these young men to hurt themselves or their fellow Canadians.
Ahmed, leader of Stop the CRISIS, an initiative to counter the radicalization of Canada’s Muslim youth, says new converts — like former University of Ottawa student John Maguire — appear particularly vulnerable.
Kemptville-born Maguire, 24, identified himself as Abu Anwar al-Canadi in an ISIL (sometimes called ISIS) video posted on YouTube at the weekend.
In the six-minute propaganda video, Muslim convert Maguire apparently reads a scripted message and refers repeatedly to the October killings of two Canadian forces members.
He tells fellow Muslims that waging jihad in their home countries is a religious obligation.
Ahmed called the video “shocking.
“We have seen new converts going abroad,” he said. “Maguire looks intelligent and he got good grades in university. What makes him think that what he’s doing is right? Who would have thought that the proverbial boy next door could become a radical militant?
“But these people have an agenda of harming Canadians and harming our country, so we should be the first to report them,” he added.
Ahmed refused to speculate where or how Maguire might have been radicalized.
“Obviously he is getting ideas from somewhere — at university or on the Internet,” said the imam. “We have to find out where.”
Lack of knowledge about Islam means many young Muslims lack the intellectual tools to counter radicalization, said the 32-year-old Pakistani-born imam.
Ahmed echoes fellow Ottawa imam Mohamad Jebara in calling for a co-ordinated education effort to help young Muslims understand that the ISIS propaganda does not represent Islam.
“A nation can take reactionary measures to address such pressing issues by bombarding those who instigate bigotry and hatred,” Jebara told the Citizen on Monday. “Prevention is far superior.
Education can “unshackle closed minds” and play a major role in preventing extremism, he added.
“Inclusive compassionate education is much cheaper and far more effective than missiles,” said Jebara. “It’s far more successful than hatred and far more productive than sitting back, allowing extremists to spread their hateful dogma and then reacting to their atrocities.”
Another Muslim group known as Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama`at has also condemned the video.
“The threats made against Canada in the name of Islam are absolutely antithetical to the authentic teachings of Islam and have no basis in any religion,” the group said in a release Monday. “ISIS is infiltrating its barbaric teachings to frustrated and restless people from all parts of the world who are ready to give their lives for this unjust cause.”
Ahmadiyya Muslims — also known as the Ahmad — are one of the smallest Muslim groups in Canada with about 25,000 members. The Ahmadi community originated in late 19th century India. The sect is generally regarded as heretical by more orthodox Muslims because it does not regard Mohammed as the final prophet and its members are often persecuted in Pakistan.
Adam Gilani, former president of the University of Ottawa Muslim Students Association, said nobody connected to his association knew Maguire well but there were rumours earlier this year that he had left Canada and gone abroad.
“There were no clues and no red flags,” he said, “and for us that is the most concerning thing. He was isolated and not looking for answers in the right places.
“We (the Muslim community) have a responsibility to make sure we reach out to these isolated individuals.”
ccobb@ottawacitizen.com
Read original post here: Report fellow students on road to terrorism, Ottawa imam urges
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