Among the challenges facing Islam is the misinformation and misunderstanding about what the religion actually stands for. This manifests itself among Muslims with extremist groups like ISIL distorting the Quran’s message to justify their violent agenda, while outside the faith it has led to the misperception by some that Islam is inherently violent.
One reason why this situation has proliferated is that unlike many other religions, there is no central council with the power to rule on disputes of interpretation in the way that, for example, the Vatican does for the Catholic Church. This is exactly the reason why the Muslim Council of Elders was formed, bringing together 14 Islamic scholars from across the Muslim world to address the problem in a holistic way and to act as a counterweight to the toxic rhetoric.
But compiling a panel of scholars with impeccable credentials is only the first stage in the process. Unless it can get its message out globally to all ages and societies, it risks becoming little more than an echo chamber. With most of the world’s Muslims being under the age of 30, connecting with young people remains paramount.
This explains why, as The National reported yesterday, modernising the way Islam is taught in schools was high on the council's agenda when it convened in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. One of the council members, former Indonesian minister of religious affairs Dr Mohammed Shihab, said schools in his country often use textbooks that are out of date both in terms of religious interpretation and scientific advances.
But does this go far enough? There is a cogent case for the council to target its message at the audience in each country with a sizeable Muslim population. The challenge of getting the right message about Islam to fundamentalist madrasas in Pakistan, for example, is very different to the one needed to address a disaffected young Muslim in Belgium who is tempted by ISIL’s twisted philosophy. The young average age of Muslims requires adopting their methods of communication, such as Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media.
Extremist groups rely on the misinterpretation of Islam to further their cause. If the next generation of Muslims is armed with the facts about their religion, they will be ready to fight those who distort the truth of the Quran.
