Ulama to help reform former Abu Sayyaf bandits

From the Philippine News Agency (May 15): Ulama to help reform former Abu Sayyaf bandits

Muslim clerics and scholars (ulama) have vowed to help former members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) become productive citizens.

Alih Aiyub, Ulama Council of the Philippines secretary-general, said Monday efforts are underway to help reform the ASG members who surrendered to the government.

Aiyub said they will help in the “aspect of psychological” needs of the former Abu Sayyaf members.

“Our approach will mainly (focus) on the debriefing process, especially in the orientation and reeducation,” Aiyub said.

He said they are looking at various mechanisms where the Ulama can play an active role in the fight against radicalism and extremism particularly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), where there is a heavy presence of the terror group. Aiyub said the ASG surrenderers, who numbered to 50 individuals, can “effectively convince those active members to turn in themselves" and become productive citizens.

Aiyub, however, admitted that the long-term solution to counter and totally eradicate terrorism is a challenging task.

During the summit, the Ulama council has issued a declaration against terrorism, saying that “It is Haram (forbidden and unlawful) to use Islam to justify or legitimize violent extremism and terrorism.”

The Ulama also challenged themselves “to reeducate our constituents to rediscover our Islamic faith for justice, compassion, harmony and peace.” “It is imperative upon us all to cooperate and collaborate with the stakeholders in preventing and countering violent extremism and terrorism in its many forms and manifestations,” the declaration said.

To operationalize the declaration, among the efforts are to adopt a uniform or central theme of Khutbah (sermon) and reform curriculum in Islamic schools.

“We are coming up with uniform Khutbah, especially during dhuhr (noon) congregation prayer on Fridays,” Aiyub said, adding that “there should be a standard messaging on the Khutbah, so that there will be no hate speeches.”

During the summit, the workshops were focused on seven thematic concerns since there are different dimensions of the drivers and causes of terrorism.

Aiyub said these include the issues of poverty, political, socio-cultural and injustices.

Efforts are also underway to reach an agreement with different line agencies on how to “spread the message of peace and harmony.”

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php/articles/987828