
Originally Posted by
Malic
COVENTRY, England — More than 1,000 Muslim teens joined this week the three-day “Al Hidayah" (Guidance) camp in the central city of Coventry, dedicated to shield them against the dangers of extremism.
"I feel it is my duty to save the younger generation from radicalization," Muhammed Tahir ul-Qadri, a 58-year-Sufi preacher, told Reuters.
"We need to prepare them mentally and academically, intellectually and spiritually, against extremist tendencies and radical and terrorist attitudes," he added.
Qadri, who was born in Pakistan but now lives in Canada, is the main draw at the three-day retreat, delivering several lectures and question-and-answer sessions.
His message is about moderation, peace, inclusion and understanding.
"Islam is not a religion of seclusion, it is not a religion of detachment," he told an auditorium packed by attentive young audience.
He urged them to respect followers of other faiths and show the true image of Islam.
Qadri is also preaching them that men and women are equal within Islam.
"What he says is mind-opening, it makes you feel good as a woman," said Sofia Saeed, a 27-year-old legal assistant who traveled from Manchester to attend the camp.
"There's no discrimination here. It makes you feel like a stronger believer, a stronger person," she said, comfortably mixing designer sunglasses with her hijab.
Over the past five years "Al Hidayah" has reportedly grown into the biggest spiritual camp of its kind, with more than 1,200 attendees from a dozen countries.
The campers -- girls and boys wearing traditional dress -- sit separately in the auditorium.
Sufism
Over the past five years "Al Hidayah" has reportedly grown into the biggest spiritual camp of its kind. (Reuters)
Qadri advises the Muslim teens to be careful not to fall into the traps of radical ideologies.
"Any killer of a non-Muslim citizen, he will go to hell,” he hollers, to shouts of approval from his followers.
“Those who are committing terroristic acts from Pakistan and Afghanistan and claiming it is jihad -- they do not know what jihad is. It is forbidden. There will not be janna (paradise) for them."
Jihad is one of the most misunderstood, and abused aspects of Islam.
Muslim scholars concur that the word means "struggle" to do good and to remove injustice, oppression and evil from society.
This struggle should be spiritual as well as social, economic and political.
"We need to provide them with an awakening of the true picture of Islam," says Qadri, the author of more than 400 books on Islamic scholarship and law.
He is a renowned scholar of Sufism who travels the world delivering sermons to Sufis.
His Minhaj ul-Quran organization has spread to 80 countries, from Greece to Fiji, since its 1981 founding.
Western governments keen to tackle the spread of radicalism in their countries have worked with Sufi scholars and tried to emphasize their teachings.
In Britain, home to more than 2 million Muslims, the government at first worked to promote Sufism, supporting the creation in 2006 of the Sufi Muslim Council, a group that took a strong stand against extremism.