As a journalism student, I worked on an assignment with a small team mapping the gay Muslim community in Toronto.
We spoke to a number of gay Muslims, moderate or “progressive” Muslims sympathetic to the gay Muslim community, as well as Muslim fundamentalists who believe anyone doing anything contrary to Islam should be killed. We heard stories about people forced to flee their countries or face a gruesome death – murder backed by their own families, communities and governments. We also found out that there is a lot more Muslim fundamentalism in Canada than we thought, and that most progressive Muslims would not speak out, fearing the consequences. Even once gay Muslims arrived in Canada, they felt they needed to hide. There was barely anywhere for them to turn.
With so much fear within the Muslim community, those outside of the community have been forced to address the issue. Since there’s no way a community outside of Islam can get Muslim extremists to change their ideology – Islam is the only way for them – this has resulted in war. And while the use of force is sometimes necessary, it only addresses the immediate conflict. But a deeper conflict remains, and the fighting further polarizes the situation.
Speaking to the Muslim community, we found that the main difference between extremists and progressives is interpretation. Progressive Muslims just have a different perspective on Islam. And now there’s a sign of a greater attempt to address this issue from within the Muslim community and spread the peaceful perspective.
A Toronto mosque is offering a “12-step extremist detox program” for radical Muslims that its director says is the first of its kind in Canada.
The Specialized De-radicalization Intervention program is intended to provide “treatment and counselling” to young Muslims sympathetic to the al-Qaeda ideology.
The article goes on:
The program has 12 steps, including: Allah, the Koran and Mohammad; the connections between Islam, Christianity and Judaism; other faiths; Canadian society; and countering extremism through education, public speaking and writing.
An important part of the program involves listening to the youths and talking about the damage caused by Islamist terrorist attacks such as the recent Mumbai massacre and the London bombings, Mr. Shaikh said.
“And we just want to encourage them to be faithful and do not take the law into your own hand, always try to build something rather than destroy something,” he said.
We’ve come a long way as a society. It’s not hard to imagine a time when we’ll all love each other.
Masjid el Noor’s 12-Step Extremist Detox Program:
1 Who is Allah: His Mercy to all.
2 Using verses from the Holy Koran that speak of peace and good conduct.
3 Who is Muhammad: His mercy, kind manner, humble attitude, wisdom, patience.
4 Using hadith: Commentaries that provide ethics and other moral training.
5 Using stories of Companions: A knowledge-based life of academic pursuit.
6 Stories from history: Contexts and underlying factors, not always glory of God.
7 Islamic scholarship: What it seeks for the individual to know, and how.
8 Abrahamic Faith: The interconnectedness of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
9 Other faiths: Common ground, not fighting ground.
10 Open society of Canada: What it means for the majority (how to reconcile dogmatic idealism with pragmatic realism).
11 Seeing the whole as one: Global challenges affecting us all.
12 Advocacy: Actively countering extremist ideology through education, public speaking and writing.