By Maha Al-Mutairi
Daesh (the self-proclaimed IS) is a terrorist group that is a threat to the Islamic world since it targets Muslims. Many Muslims from all over the world are being radicalized and recruited by Daesh through social media. The group uses social media, especially Twitter, to brainwash teenagers and adults with their poisoned ideology to serve their terrorist goals. How can families and societies protect their children from being affected by Daesh?
Parents are firstly responsible for their children. They need to keep a check on them and supervise their social media interactions by checking who they follow and how they are being affected. If they find out that their kids believe in extremist viewpoints then they need to firstly convince them that these ideas are extremely false and that these terrorists are spreading these ideas to achieve some sort of political goals which is weakening our doctrine. Parents have an essential role in raising awareness, especially when it comes to Islamic doctrine. They must teach their kids that the real Islam prevents us from killing our Muslim brothers and other human beings. They should provide evidence of this from the Quran by mentioning verse 32 from Al-Ma’idah: “For this reason we made it a law for the Children of Israel that the killing of a person for reason other than legal retaliation or for stopping corruption in the land is as great a sin as murdering all of mankind. However, to save a life would be as great a virtue as to save all of mankind.” There is also a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that shows that Islam only calls for peace. The Prophet (pbuh) said: “None of you becomes a true believer until he likes for his brother what he likes for himself.”
Schools are also responsible for raising awareness among students by highlighting this problem and showing students that Daesh is politically driven and simply using people for its own goals. Schools should also supervise teachers and ensure that they are teaching authentic Islam since teachers can have a great influence on students.
If these children still entertain terrorist ideas and remain unconvinced, then it is the responsibility of parents to inform the police to protect their children from becoming suicide bombers and fighting abroad.
It is our role and the role of every citizen to inform the relevant authorities if we notice that one of our family members have terrorist sympathies. This is necessary to minimize risks, and protect them, our country and our doctrine.
