Terrorism caused by extremists, not religious groups
A Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr Rabiatu Ammah, has appealed to the public to disabuse their minds of the notion that extremist practices derive from religious groups.
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According to her, extremists are individuals who put premium on their ideology and in their quest to propagate it, resort to radicalism and terrorism.
That, she said, was an affront to the universal human rights of individuals and therefore urged the public to be mindful of attributing such barbaric acts to religious groups, particularly Muslims.
Dr Ammah made that call at a public lecture organised by a private media organisation, Marhaba Limited, in collaboration with the Ghana Muslim Academy and the Ghana Muslim Students Association.
The theme of the lecture: “Pre-empting Extremism in Ghana,” sought to separate extremist practices from the Islamic religion.
Extremist tactics
Dr Ammah said extremists globally acted behind religion and used religious imagery and vocabulary, as well as tales to achieve their parochial interests, adding that Islam was not exclusive to such attribution.
“The act perpetrated by Taliban, Boko Haram and recently the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are alien to the teachings of Islam,” she explained.
According to her, extremism was incongruous to Islamic teachings which advocated peace and submission to the will of Allah.
Misinterpreting verses
Nonetheless, she said, some individuals were engaged in misinterpreting verses of the Holy Qur’an and teachings of Prophet Mohammed to perpetrate violence against humankind, adding that the Arabic word which was used to connote terrorism does not exist in the Qur’an.
On that score, Dr Ammah entreated individuals to be critical when appreciating diction from scriptures in order not to be swayed by extremist tactics that enticed them to their camps.
Precautions
She advised the youth to be careful in their engagements on social media in order not to fall prey to the belligerent, adding that they might be used as tools to propagate their geo-political agenda.
Commendation
A former Commandant of the Ghana Military Academy Training School, Real Admiral Mohammed Munir Tahiru (retd) urged the organisers of the programme to replicate it nationwide, adding that terrorism was ubiquitous.