Muslim Scholars from West Africa, Middle East, Join Fight against Extremism

Nouakchott: Some 1,500 Islamic scholars from West Africa and the Middle East have sent an appeal to defeat religious extremists. During a four-day conference that ended in Nouakchott, they encouraged Muslim youth to follow the example of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) by embracing tolerance and rejecting extremism.
As Mauritanian Islamic Affairs Minister Ahmed Ould Ahel Daoud said in his opening address, “Ideological deviation is still one of the most dangerous diseases threatening society.”
“Defeating those who embrace extremist ideology will be possible only by walking in the path of Prophet Muhammad because religious extremists are ignorant and illiterate,” the minister told participants of the 27th international symposium, organised by Mauritania’s Islamic cultural organisation.
“What we are now seeing, in terms of the unprecedented rise of extremism and terrorism, is because of the wrong interpretation of the concepts of Islamic Sharia, which is characterised by tolerance, recognition and acceptance of all other communities and religions,” Ould Ahel Daoud added.
The killings, wars and tragedies taking place in the name of Islam were mainly due to misinterpretation of the religion, agreed Sheikh Mohamed El Hafedh Ennahoui, who heads the conference organising group in Mauritania.