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Mosque minaret
The minaret of a mosque in Leeds. Photograph: Dan Chung/the Guardian
The minaret of a mosque in Leeds. Photograph: Dan Chung/the Guardian

Imam network launches site to counter Isis propaganda

This article is more than 8 years old

Online magazine Haqiqah aims to show that extremist group’s message has no theological basis

Imams and Muslim community leaders have launched an online magazine in an effort to counteract “poisonous” views peddled by Islamic State.

Haqiqah (Reality) aims to show young people tempted by Isis propaganda that the extremist group’s message has no theological basis. It is the work of ImamsOnline.com, a network of religious leaders in the UK.

“The frontline for imams in the 21st century is not the pulpit, it is online, on social media, on YouTube, on Twitter,” said the site’s editor, Shaukat Warraich. “There is a perception that Islamic institutions are not doing enough to fight against Isis but this is clearly evidence that imams are coming together to make themselves heard. British imams in particular are saying we are going to take this on.”

Between June and August eight people a day were referred to the government’s deradicalisation programme Channel. Qari Asim, senior imam at the Makkah mosque in Leeds, said the community was determined to be proactive in countering extremism.

“Any solution to the problem of extremism has to come from the community,” he said. “The Muslim community has suffered more at the hands of these extremists than anyone else. It is not in our interests at all to condone what they are saying, it brings our faith into disrepute, it poisons our young people and it fuels anti-Muslim sentiment.”

The second issue of Haqiqah, launched on Thursday – the first edition was downloaded 75,000 times – focuses on the ideological and practical failure of Isis to created a caliphate. Clerics argue that the biggest mass migration into Europe since the second world war proves that Isis have only succeeded in spreading terror and hatred.

Writing in the magazine, Mohamed el-Sharkawy, of al-Azhar College of Islamic Studies, says: “Under Daesh [Isis] rule we have seen indiscriminate mass murder (Muslims and non-Muslims), the killing of imams and scholars that exposed them for the irreligious beings they are, the corruption of sacred laws, the destruction of mosques and places of worship, the unjustifiable enslavement of innocent young girls.

“Time and time again the Qur’an and the prophetic teachings implore us to act in moderation, to act in kindness and with justice. Nowhere in the Islamic tradition do we see any justification for what Daesh are doing.”

Safia Shahid offers “a message to my sisters”, warning young women about the dangers of grooming after the disappearance of several teenage girls, such as the15-year-old friends from Bethnal Green Academy now believed to be married to Isis men in Syria.

“There will be those who will seek to manipulate you by telling you that they know what you are going through, assuring you that they can relate to your innermost feelings and promising you to help you forget your troubles,” she writes. “These ‘mujahids’ prey on your insecurities and try to make you doubt the righteousness of your practice of Islam. Do not be inspired by Isis’s superficial authenticity; its actions do not represent Islam in any shape or form.”

Speaking to the Guardian, Shahid said: “The risk for these young women is a forced marriage to a so-called mujahid, forcing them to leave the love of their family and everything they hold dear for an illegitimate crusade. It’s a grave danger.”

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