By Anas Alyusuf

Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Half of Daesh (the so-called IS) terrorists are Muslims from the Western countries. They are more drawn to the so-called political Islam than adopting the true and whole religion which preaches peace and coexistence. This is a dangerous and negative phenomenon. “Our task in the Muslim World League (MWL) is to explain and propagate the truth,” said Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, the Secretary General of the Muslim World League.

Some extremists, especially the hardcore elements, are provoking the extreme right to react. They are happy to see a growing chasm between Islam and the West, leading to a conflict which is often referred to as a clash of civilizations. The extremists survive and thrive on such conflicts and clashes. They indulge in acts of terror and violence everywhere, Sheikh Al-Issa, who is also chairman of the World Organization of Muslim Scholars, asserted during a TV program on MBC.

A political organization — the Muslim Brotherhood — disguising as a true representative of Islam is responsible for the rise of the so-called political Islam in the West, Sheikh Al-Issa claimed."They (the extremists) have reduced Islam, the great religion, to merely a political tool, while true Islam is devoid of any political motives and there are no misconceptions about the religious tenets," he told the audience.

“Regrettably, the misconceptions have deliberately been created by the Muslim Brotherhood, especially among the religious minorities and some of them have been influenced by these misconceptions,” Sheikh Al-Issa added.Commenting on the dialogue initiative with the leaders of the extremist right, Al-Issa said: “All of those from the extreme right with whom we initiated a dialogue, are now friends of the Muslim World League.

We had a rational and logical dialogue based on true Islamic guidance and wisdom. It is a reality that we should all end up with.” “Just 10 percent of the common factors (common grounds) can guarantee the establishment of peace and harmony in our world. People cannot coexist in absence of these common grounds. Everyone must realize that difference, diversity and pluralism are among the laws of Allah Almighty,” Al-Issa underlined.

The Muslim Brotherhood, he said, also operates on a wrong premise that there is an inevitable clash between Islam and the West. Therefore, if I engage in a discussion with the West with this premise, I won’t reach any agreement with them, but it may create more differences, deepening the chasm.”Al-Issa called for increasing awareness among the religious minorities in the West, within the Islamic sphere in general, about insulating Islamic thought from the influence of the so-called political Islam or the ideas of the Muslim Brotherhood. He drew attention to the fact that many of the clashes some Muslim youth indulge in are the result of the deviant thoughts exported to them.