Teachernet, Quilliam Foundation advice for teachers

Advice from the Quilliam Foundation

The Quilliam Foundation is a counter-extremism think tank created by former activists of radical Islamist organisations. Its founders are familiar with the mindset and methods of extremist groups.

The following is intended to help teachers differentiate behaviours that should not be a cause for concern and behaviours that could indicate a young person is being influenced by extremists and developing a mindset that could lead them to accept and undertake violent acts.

Political ideology — use of political propaganda that describes political systems and countries as 'Kufr' or anti-Islamic, and expressing the need to replace them with 'The Islamic system', or Caliphate; or citing movements such as Hizb ut-Tahrir may suggest a young person is becoming influenced by extremist ideologies and be early signs that a certain mindset is being developed. There is a difference between young people who are extremists and those who are rebellious teenagers. Rebellious teenagers identify with rebellious personalities and icons. Superficial statements supporting Al Qaida and Osama Bin Laden or the expression of an anti-American sentiment would not necessarily be indicators of extremism.
Suspended morality — development of a mindset that distorts Islam and requires the young person to suspend all independent views of morality by focusing on scripture and interpreting scripture alone, without any external guidance to what is correct and incorrect behaviour. When a young person is programmed with this dangerous way of thinking they are then susceptible to being programmed into believing that violence is a legitimate means of achieving political goals.
Conspiratorial mindset and 'westophobia' — this refers to a tendency to view the West in general as the source of all evil and troubles in the world. This involves accepting, in most cases without a shred of evidence, bizarre conspiracy theories that absolve the Muslim world of any fault, e.g. 7/7 was an inside job. Attached to this mindset is the idea that the west is the primary cause of failures in the Muslim world resulting in anti-western sentiment.
Ultra conservative outlook — consistently holding what can at best be described as a conservative interpretation of scripture, i.e. a literalist reading of Muslim texts without consideration for the modern world. This is only problematic in connection with the above three points^*.

^{*It is important to distinguish between conservative religious
traditions and political religious movements. The observing of
conservative religious traditions or spiritual attachment by reciting Quran,
observing Islamic dress and clothing, growing a beard, seeking religious
verdicts on their behaviour or not interacting with the opposite gender is not
extremism, does not reflect any political agenda or indicate any persuasion
into violent acts.}

It is important to note that individually these points would not be problematic; but combined would be a cause for concern that should be pursued and referred through appropriate mechanisms.

The following are suggestions for ways to engage with young people and deter them from getting drawn into extremism:

Help young people develop an understanding and respect for other faiths and an appreciation that there are many different interpretations and traditions within Islam, all of which are equally 'Islamic'. This will help to make young people more resilient to the singular, narrow-minded perspective of extremists who contend there is only one Islamically acceptable world view.
Encourage young people to have personal contact and relationships with others from different faiths or backgrounds; this can help prevent the 'dehumanising' of other peoples and cultures. Give young people the opportunity to understand different religious and lifestyle perspectives in order to encourage empathy. For example, having discussions of ethical or moral issues such as abortion or drinking alcohol in a healthy and vibrant social development setting — such as a school RE or PSHE class — can be a barrier to demonising others and having a narrow-minded perspective based on a certain interpretation of scripture.
Give young people access to positive religious guidance and role models.
Expose young people to the real life experiences of those who have been involved in Islamist extremism and now reject such approaches to deter them from taking this path.

Further details and information can be found here.

You can contact the Quilliam Foundation by email.

Published: 08 October 2008