AUG 30 — Malaysia strongly condemns the actions of the Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and Iraq. The IS’ actions of launching a series of massacre in the name of Islam have shocked the world, particularly Muslims, and created panic. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak thus called on the international community to take a concerted action to prevent more violent attacks from the terrorist group.

So far, only two Muslim-majority countries have come forward to condemn the IS’ actions. In addition to our country, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the President of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, called earlier the terrorist actions of the IS “embarrassing” to Islam and urged Islamic leaders to unite in tackling extremism.

Like Indonesia, our country faces ideological influence and threat brought by the IS. It is estimated that about 2,000 Indonesians have been captivated by the terrorist group and went to Iraq and Syria to join the so-called jihad. Although our government has identified the IS as a terrorist group, and taken actions to arrest those engaged in terrorist activities in the country, there are still many Malaysians who have joined the jihad overseas under the influence of the group. It is learned that so far, at least 50 Malaysians have taken part in the jihad for IS. Once they return, they will sure bring dangerous influence.

Sunni Muslim extremists started to conquer new territories with brutal means to establish a cross border “Islamic state”. It has even captured in videos the moments when people, including physically weak women, were killed. A recently revealed video showing how they beheaded a US reporter has triggered a global outrage.

These terrorist attacks and massacres have completely gone against civilisation and humanity, and are against the values and ethics of Islam. Such inhuman behaviours in the name of Islam are undoubtedly a kind of harm to the reputation of Islam.

The IS has sounded an alarm for world government’s heads and Muslim leaders. Particularly Muslim-majority countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, leaders should step up the efforts of reviewing policies to curb and prevent religious extremism, as well as strengthen supervision and movements of Islamic extremists in the country. The active countermeasures of Indonesia is worthy of our reference, such as the Indonesian government has taken actions to tackle religious extremism, preventing it from spreading in Indonesia. The Indonesian nationality of 34 Indonesians verified to have joined the jihad in Iraq and Syria will be revoked.

Our government must stop the IS extremism from sprouting or spreading and clearly state its stand of strictly prohibiting religious extremism. Politicians should be cautious with their words and deeds to avoid a slip of the tongue and mistakenly praise the actions of religious extremists. Perkasa Negri Sembilan chief Ruslan Kassim’s remark of threatening a beheading punishment for those who insult the royal sovereignty and Islam could be easily seen as a move of supporting Muslim extreme groups. It is dangerous, and unwise. — mysinchew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.