State religious departments should work with police to curb spread of IS ideology, senior cop says

SHAH ALAM, Dec 27 — All state Islamic religious departments should work closely with the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) in using the social media to check the spread of the Daesh (Islamic State) militant ideology in this country.

Chief assistant director of the Counter-Terrorism Division, Bukit Aman Special Branch, Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said only the religious departments would be able to clearly explain the teachings of Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah (Sunni) practised in this country and disseminate widely information on the deviant militant ideology through the social media.

He said this was because tackling the problem at the root needed to be intensified due to the seriousness of the militant group in recruiting members, especially among the young worldwide, through the social media.

“In fact, there is a bai’ah (pledge) to join the IS which could be made through the social media and without having to meet face-to-face with members of the militant group.

“This method is seen as making it easier for the IS ideology to spread to members of society and influence the young whose religious knowledge is still shallow,” he said at the ‘Dakwah Series 5 Talk: Extremism and Terrorism, New Challenges of Muslim Youth’, here, today.

Ayob Khan was a panellist at the programme organised by the Malaysia Islamic Youth Movement (ABIM) and Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS).

He said monitoring by police showed how active the IS militants were in using the social media, as about 100,000 pieces of information on their activities were uploaded daily including on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Ayob Khan said all parties should view this issue seriously as the responsibility of combating the spread of the deviant IS ideology was not just PDRM and the religious departments’.

“The family also has an important role to play by monitoring their children’s movements to prevent the young from being influenced by the deviant ideology.

“It is also suggested that neighbours, relatives and friends be wary of behaviour or actions indicating IS militancy leanings and report these to the authorities.”

Describing the threats of the IS ideology and that of other militant groups as not waning, Ayob Khan advised Muslims in this country to uphold the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah teachings.

“Don’t be influenced by certain groups who claim that there is no need or it is haram (forbidden) to follow the mazhab. These groups claim to be Sunni Muslims but reject Ijmak and Qiyas...so check out first,” he said.

Ijmak is the consensus of all believers on the rightness of a belief or practice, while Qiyas is the process of analogical reasoning where Quranic teachings are compared with the Hadith. Through this process, the ruling of the Quran and Sunnah may be used to solve or provide a response to a new problem that may arise. — Bernama