by Tengku Ahmad Hazri

[The following policy recommendations are extracted from Mohammad Hashim Kamali, “Extremism comes in many guises”, New Straits Times, 9 March 2015; Mohammad Hashim Kamali, “Terrorism and cowardly murder”, New Straits Times, 10 March 2015; Elmira Akhmetova, “Islam, extremism and moderation”, New Straits Times, 26 February 2015; Abdul Karim Abdullah, “Effective way to fight radicalism”, New Straits Times, 11 February 2015, and from a Round Table Discussion on ‘Extremism, Terrorism and Islam: Towards a Better Understanding of Issues’, IAIS Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 22 January 2015]

The ascendancy of extremists movements in the name of Islam call for urgent responses by the moderates. In addressing this problem, some salient points to be noted are that:

• Extremism gained ground partly because of the weakness of moderates: whereas moderates reflect nuances and variety in their views, extremists are uncompromisingly certain that they are “right” while others “wrong”, thereby offering certainty and direction
• Extremism is frequently but responses to injustices, whether inflicted directly on the would-be extremists or on others perceived to be affiliated to them, either through blood ties or kinship of faith
• In some cases, extremism arose from the failure to integrate with the wider society, especially in the case of Muslim immigrants to non-Muslim lands

The following recommendations should be taken up in designing and devising effective counter-extremism strategies:

• ADDRESS the root causes of extremism, namely poor governance, economic underdevelopment and lack of social justice, as well as global power structures contributing to grievances
• EDUCATE children and society through educational institutions and the media to train Muslim youth to adopt more peaceful ways of life
• APPRECIATE the varieties of extremism (theological, political and practical), the history of religious extremism, and that the actors of extremism can be both non-state as well as state actors to better craft tailor-made counter-strategies
• RECLAIM narrative of injustices from extremists by presenting counter-narratives that mobilize struggle against injustice as a common concern of humanity rather than an insulated cult, whose own legitimacy is denied by their own co-religionists
• PERSUADE governments through advice, diplomacy and negotiation to formulate foreign policies that would be less adverse to civilians especially in conflict-ridden states  
• SPEAK UP against extremism so that moderates will occupy the higher moral ground