PUTRAJAYA, July 9 — Malaysia is facing a serious threat of jihadist movements actively seeking recruits among the country’s youths, putting the burden on the government to broaden the limited interpretation of jihad adopted by terror cells, Khairy Jamaluddin said today.
But the Youth and Sports Minister reminded young Muslims that the “true jihad” lies in bettering themselves as individuals instead of taking up arms in support of terrorist movements in the Middle East.
“We are monitoring this, not just my ministry but the ministry of education as well. We want to make sure we are able to convince our young Malaysians that this is not the way to pursue whatever ideals that they have,” he told journalists after the launch of the second round of the Perdana Fellowship programme.
Police have been on alert over the past month, following a string of news reports claiming that Malaysians have taken up arms and joined armed conflicts in the Middle East.
Among the more prominent Malaysians who signed up with a militant Islamic group involved in the ongoing Syrian conflict is politician Lotfi Ariffin, previously a member of Islamist party PAS’s Dewan Ulama or scholar’s wing.
He is said to have also convinced musician Ali Ukay, a former drummer of a 1990s Malay rock outfit, to join in the Syrian battle.
The authorities are currently on the looking for an Islamic studies lecturer from Universiti Malaya, along with four others on suspicion of being recruiters for Islamic terrorist organisations.
Khairy today said he understands the urge among Muslim youths in Malaysia to act on their desires to achieve their “ideals about the Muslim world”, but stressed that waging war is not the solution.
“For many of them, they see this as one outlet for them to do something, to contribute to the Muslim world.
“We have to tell them there are many different ways to contribute to the Muslim world, including education, economic empowerment... these are the more important things.
“So we need to shift the narrative from one of a jihad that is based on terrorist activities, based on war, to the true jihad which is economic empowerment, education and capacity building,” he said.
