Are we losing the war against Terrorism?

The arrest of Abdul Basheer recently really shocked me. Thought this JI episode is over & buried with.....BUT phew, how wrong am I???



So spent last few days to think & "analyze" this whole scenerio. Here, wish to share my sincere & humble opinion on how can S'pore win this WAR against Terrorism.



HOW S'PORE CAN WIN THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM?



1) Reviewing the role of Mosques & MUIS

Our Mosques today seem to be overly involved in their fund-raising activities and thus losing focus on their primary role for the ummah.



So the issue here is WHY they have to do this? I agree that fund is the one of the most essential things for any activities & projects. So are our Mosques not well funded? If Mosques activities are based only on public donations & none from MUIS, then we know where the fault lies.



Bottomline, role of Mosques needs to be reviewed in view of the rising fundmentalism & radicalism. And having programmes that counter this phenomenon.



For MUIS, they must be upfront in eradicating any Wahhabism influence, if any, within the organizations. I've heard there are a number of officials who are Wahhabis in MUIS. I pray to God that this is NOT TRUE. MUIS should also eridicate those Ustaz that have leaning towards Wahhabism.



2) Reviewing the role & delivery contents of Religious Leaders to the Ummah

Whenever one attends a syarahan or religious talk in Mosques or elsewhere, the focus & themes of the talk are usually onhalal & haram (permissibility & non-permissibility), how to pray properly, how to do this & that..etc



I think the need to go back to basics in our overall Islamic education. That is to focus more on knowing in depth who is Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)and what were His real messages. Love, Peace, Brotherhood, Goodness, Universality & Inclusive Nature of Islam as a whole.



Another point is also to make the talks attractive to so more people will attend such talks. Talks on "Do This, Don't Do That" are a REAL Turn-off to most people especially the youths.





3) Making Good Use of the Malay Media (Berita Harian, SURIA and WARNA)

Berita Harian has done a great job in counter attacking radical ideologies with many of their in-depth articles. As an attraction to the majority of the masses, there should more interviews with respected Ulamas.



Ulamas like Sheikhs Tantawi, Yusuf Qardhawi, Hisham Kabbani & Hamzah Yusuf. Conducting & publishing interviews with famous Muslims like Yusuf Islam (Cats Steven), Muhammad Ali (the Former Boxing Champion), Zinedine Zidane (the Former Great Footballer), Shirin Ebadi (Nobel PeacePrize Winner) with focus on Peace & Humanity.



Both SURIA & WARNA can expand on this approach. Getting The Straits Times to feature these interviews is also good because there a quite a number of educated Malays who does not read Berita Harian.

It is really beneficial that these personnel conduct talks to the Public as well.



4) Others

Last year, I attended a beautiful conference held by Aleem Siddique Mosque called, "The Journey to Ihsan" where a numbers of famous Muslim speakers were invited. I heard there was ZERO support from MUIS...WHY????

During that conference, one American Muslim lady shared a video on "Beads of Faith" who showed the common practice in using tasbeeh or rosary among people of different faiths. That was really an eye-opener to me.

Any way, I agree with the Government stand it is only through the Community that Terrorism can be stopped. However, the Government must also its part in helping those in the Community who are in dire financial needs. This is because those radicals who their enormous amount of cash can easily lure the poor or in-need into their evil activities.

Enuff Said....