Al-Hayat

It is important to revise the elementary school curricula to insure that students develop correct ideas. In fact, students at this age tend to be influenced by the ideas that they are exposed to. Anything they learn at this age will be etched in their minds.

Of course, some might disagree with what I say. My wife, children and I lived in the UK from 2003 to 2013. When I moved there, I had children aged eight, four and one. All of my children went to UK schools and studied there. My first and second sons were influenced by the British school curricula and several important ideas were instilled in their minds. For example, they learned that it is important for one to always be honest, have the right to debate and argue, believe in equality and be proud of one’s country and history. Does the school curriculum in the Kingdom arm students with the same ideas?

My daughter will turn 16 in August. When the bloody Manchester explosion took place, I asked her if she heard about the explosion and the people who were killed. She knew about it. This is what she said: “Unfortunately, people on Twitter say a Muslim man is involved in the explosion.” She did not say a “militant” Muslim, she only said a Muslim because she was taught at British schools how to differentiate between Islam and extremism. If she were studying in a Saudi school, she probably would not have differentiated between the two.

The person responsible was a young Libyan man who was born and raised in the UK. Obviously, he was either brainwashed by family members or friends. We all know that there are some Muslims of Asian origin who find it difficult to integrate into British society and stick to their original cultural and religious values, shutting themselves off from society. This proves that school curricula are not the only factor in the equation.

We need to introduce very strict anti-terrorism laws and severely punish people involved in terrorism. We must remember that terrorism comes in different forms. It is not only about causing explosions, killing and violence. Instigating others to commit horrendous acts and belittling others is also a form of terrorism.

In one of her tweets, a female Saudi professor accused some Saudis who work for Saudi TV channels of working against their own country and creating problems. This is a baseless accusation for the simple reason that all channels are being monitored. If there was a shred of doubt that these people were actually working against their country, drastic action would be taken by the authorities.

Let us not forget that the explosions that took place before the one carried out by the Libyan man involved some other Muslims of Asian origin. They were all born and raised in the UK.

It is worth mentioning that India continues to exert great efforts to fight terrorism through Bollywood movies that shed light on extremists and militants who live in the West.