Islamic preachers (Asatizah) as agents of extremism PDF

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This article was a part of my group assignment for Basic Philosophy & Islamic Worldview, the original topic was about Extremism and Islamophobia....

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Islamic preachers (Asatizah) as agents of extremism?: A recommended solution By: Firdaus Mokhlis (AIKOL, IIUM) *This article was a part of my group assignment for Basic Philosophy & Islamic Worldview, the original topic was about Extremism and Islamophobia. A huge thanks to my teammates Ayie, Aidil, Farhan & Ulfa for their thoughts and efforts for this project.

Based on Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, the term ‘extremism’ can be defined as political, religious ideas or actions that are extreme and not normal, reasonable, or acceptable to most people. An extremist on the other hand is a person whose opinions, especially about religion or politics, are extreme, and who may do things that are violent or illegal for what they believe. Besides, Islamophobia is a fear, or more precisely, an excessive fear, against Islam and Muslims. It has seriously emerged throughout the globe after the event of 9/11 and the impacts can still be felt and seen until now. In fact, both extremism and Islamophobia are not new issues in Islamic civilization as this all took place about 1400 years ago during the Prophethood era. The general social boycott towards Muslim society launched by the pagans of Mecca can be considered as one of the earliest extreme oppression in Islam. As time flies, extremism could be said to occurred at most parts of the globe especially in Muslim minority countries such as in Europe, China and Myanmar. Nevertheless, this article would like to focus on the extremism among Muslim society itself despite of extremism among Non-Muslim. Why could this happen and how to solve it?

Ustaz Hasrizal Abd Jamil, a well-known book author, also once mentioned that any individual needs to be careful in discussing an issue that they do not know comprehensively, such as the suicide bombing issue in Palestine or even the current issue of vaccination. In fact, extremism occurred in society as they got influenced by the statements or explanations of the preachers who sometimes have discussed issues beyond their expertise. Due to that, it seems that the society at large also plays a vital role in whether to curb the sentiment of extremism or the one who spreads it. In addition, the government or Islamic Religion Council specifically is urged to take this issue seriously by supervising and impose a strict procedure in granting the authorization certificate (Tauliah) to teach the religion of Islam to the public. This is to control excessive Islamic preachers that might tend to propagate misleading precepts of Islam that

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triggered the public to be misunderstood and then react extremely in their lives. Mufti of Selangor, Sahibus Samahah Datuk Mohd Tamyes Abd Wahid has explained that this law is not to prevent someone from doing da'wah but to ensure that the preachers are qualified enough and having a right aqidah (belief) of Islam.

In conclusion, the existence of freedom of expression and speech would never justify the freedom to propagate deviant, or even extreme teachings to the public. Thus, every individual needs to acknowledge others' expertise in a particular area and stop from talking on a topic that is not known in depth. This is such an injustice towards the discipline of knowledge. Lastly, society also needs to be careful in listening to others, who are actually not experts in an area both from their lectures and social media. Extremism among Muslims is not a small matter, since it will affect the public perception towards Islam.

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