Alwaght | News & Analysis Website

Alwaght- British Muslim scholars and Imams have launched a magazine to counter ISIS terrorist group propaganda, which seeks to draw in young social media users and lure them to join the extremist group.
The new online magazine apart from focusing on combating ISIS, will also spread a moderate and peaceful view of Islam.
The online publication is called Haqiqah or Reality and, according to its website, ImamsOnline.com, aims “to expose the reality behind ISIS.” The site is sleek and heavy on visuals, showcasing a concerted attempt to fight ISIS’s polished and aggressive Twitter, YouTube and web recruitment campaigns.
Editor Shaukut Warraich explained the need for an online magazine.
“The front-line for imams in the 21st century is not the pulpit, it is online, on social media, on YouTube, on Twitter,” he said.
“There is a perception that Islamic institutions are not doing enough to fight against ISIS but this is clearly evidence that imams are coming together to make themselves heard. British imams in particular are saying we are going to take this on.”
The first edition of the magazine was downloaded 75,000 times. The second issue is available from Thursday.
Eight people each day were referred to the UK government’s ed-radicalization program between June and August this year.
Some 700 British citizens are thought to have traveled to Syria to join ISIS terrorist group with almost half of them believed to have returned.
“Any solution to the problem of extremism has to come from the community,” said Qari Asim, senior Imam at the Makkah mosque in Leeds.
“The Muslim community has suffered more at the hands of these extremists than anyone else. It is not in our interests at all to condone what they are saying, it brings our faith into disrepute, it poisons our young people and it fuels anti-Muslim sentiment.”
Writing in the magazine, Mohamed el-Sharkawy, of al-Azhar College of Islamic Studies, says: “Under Daesh [ISIS] rule we have seen indiscriminate mass murder (Muslims and non-Muslims), the killing of imams and scholars that exposed them for the irreligious beings they are, the corruption of sacred laws, the destruction of mosques and places of worship, the unjustifiable enslavement of innocent young girls.
“Time and time again the Qur’an and the prophetic teachings implore us to act in moderation, to act in kindness and with justice. Nowhere in the Islamic tradition do we see any justification for what Daesh are doing.”
Safia Shahid offers “a message to my sisters”, warning young women about the dangers of grooming after the disappearance of several teenage girls, such as the15-year-old friends from Bethnal Green Academy now believed to be married to Isis men in Syria.
“There will be those who will seek to manipulate you by telling you that they know what you are going through, assuring you that they can relate to your innermost feelings and promising you to help you forget your troubles,” she writes. “These ‘mujahids’ prey on your insecurities and try to make you doubt the righteousness of your practice of Islam. Do not be inspired by ISIS’s superficial authenticity; its actions do not represent Islam in any shape or form.”
In April , the EU Commissioner for Justice revealed that thousands of Europeans have traveled to Syria to join ISIS. "At the European level, we estimate that 5,000 to 6,000 individuals have left for Syria, a majority of them, 1,450 people, are French nationals," Vera Jourova told Le Figaro newspaper.