The elephant in the room

I have a lot to say about the weekend's news - the uncovering of a local terrorism plot and related arrests and charges, but I don't have the time to put it all out here on this blog. For now, I will repeat (and add to) what I mentioned to one of Toronto's Muslim religious leaders yesterday after this news conference.

Mainstream Islamic religious groups and organizations have for too long skirted issues and topics that are on young Muslims' minds. Questions like what Jihad is and isn't, what is the Islamic way of dealing with situations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine etc., how does a Muslim in Canada respond to what he sees as aggression against Islam and Muslims elsewhere - such questions are hardly addressed in our mosques and religious gatherings. As a result, the often zealous and emotional young Muslims are left free to find whatever material they can on their own and interpret it how they will. Moreover, it is easy for such people to fall prey to hardline propaganda (easily available on the Internet) that convinces them that our mainstream leaders, by ignoring issues like Jihad, are "sell-outs" who ignore the plight of Muslims around the world and are in bed with "evil, infidel" governments that send troops to invade and occupy Muslim lands. This further serves to alienate them from seeking religious guidance within their community, and pushes them towards irrational and extreme views and actions.

The problem is more complicated than that of course. Exclusivism and ghettoization, both within urban communities and inside universities and colleges (yes, a lot of us have seen it happening), are probable contributing factors. Finally, the media, and of course actual Islamist terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, are not free of blame. Today the word jihad - the label of a legitimate and central Islamic doctrine - is hardly separable from terrorism as far as Western perceptions go. This conflated perspective needs to be corrected, both for non-Muslims and Muslims, and questions that are on everyone's minds need to be more adequately tackled by our religious leaders.