Combating extremism online, British imams have launched a website that aims at dissuading young Muslims form joining the so-called Islamic State (ISIL) fighters in Syria and Iraq.
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“From images of terrible violence and murder to preachers sowing the seeds of hatred, each and every example of this harmful content has the potential to hurt us all,” Shaukat Warraich, editor of Imams Online website, told The Sunday Times on Sunday, December 15.
“This is a plea from representatives of all our communities to the public and internet and social media companies to act to help keep us safe from extremist content.
“The Internet can no longer be freely used by terrorists and those that would cause division and espouse hatred.”
The launching of “Imams Online” was urged amid increasing reports about Muslim youth travelling to the Middle East to join militant groups.
Some ten imams, representing cities such as London, Leicester, Leeds, Lancashire, the West Midlands and Buckinghamshire, are involved in the new campaign that aims to fight ISIL online activism.
Blaming internet companies for allowing the web to be a “safe haven” for extremists, the imams warned that extremist content in social media is “hampering” counter radicalization efforts.
Backed by Maulana Shahid Raza of the British Muslim Forum, a senior imam at Leicester central mosque, and Hafiz Ghulam Rasool, director and principal of the Hazrat Sultan Bahu Trust in Birmingham, the campaign encourages Muslims to report extremist websites.
Imams like Qari Muhammad Asim of the Makkah Mosque in Leeds, Hafiz Zaheer Shabir of the Bristol Council of Mosques, Sahibzada Ghulam Jeelani of the Wycombe Islamic Mission, and Abdul Hameed Qurashi of the Lancashire Council of Mosques have also joined the campaign.
Hope Not Hate, the Active Change Foundation and Upstanding Neighborhoods will be working with the imams too.
The initiative is not the first by UK imams to denounce extremism.
Earlier in June 2014, an open letter signed by more than 100 imams from across major theological backgrounds and cultural groups urged British Muslims not to travel to the war-torn regions.
The letter called on communities ''to continue the generous and tireless effort to support all of those affected by the crisis in Syria and unfolding events in Iraq'', but to do so ''from the UK in a safe and responsible way''.
British Muslims are estimated at nearly 2.7 million.
Last month, British PM David Cameron disclosed that British fighters travelling abroad to take part in the conflict in Syria and Iraq could be prevented from returning to the UK under a new Counter Terrorism Bill.
Under new “exclusion orders” announced by Cameron, suspected fighters would be barred from returning to Britain unless they agreed to be placed under strict controls.
Rights groups criticized the new proposals as being unjust and warned they were pushing Britain into becoming a “police state”.
UK Muslims would also face arrest after coming from the conflict areas in the Middle East.
Reflecting British government’s double-standards, a growing number of British mercenaries have been traveling freely to Syria and Iraq to join the fight against ISIL.
