Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • News
  • Features
  • Comment
  • Store
The Arab Daily News

The Arab Daily News

Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem

  • About
    • About
    • Our Writers
    • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
    • Book Store
    • Contact
    • Submit Book Reviews, Press Releases
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Corrections Policy
    • Profile on Ray Hanania
    • Submit Press Release
  • Features
    • Food
    • Book Review
    • Humor
    • Movies
    • Travel
  • Arab Stores Targeted
  • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Heritage America resources
    • Directory
      • Groups & Organizations
      • Mosques, Churches
      • Restaurants
      • 2008 & 2014 Arab Media Directories
    • National Arab Heritage Month
    • Video: Chicago Arab History
    • Video: Photo Array of Chicago Arabs
    • Overview of Arabs in America
    • Hanania standup comedy
    • Arabs on the Titanic
    • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Podcast Info
    • Hanania Podcast intro
    • Live Arab Radio
  • Your Views
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Toggle search form
  • Arab Democratic Club Feb 12, 2023 Forum & Brunch flier
    Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12 American Arabs
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Dr. Manal Fakhoury has been elected to the position of Chair of the National Board of Directors, and that attorneys Spojmie Nasiri of California and John Floyd of Texas have joined the organization’s National Board.
    CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd American Arabs
  • AHRC Executive Director Imad Hamad
    AHRC: Honor Dr. King Day with Civility, Unity, and Action American Arabs
  • Citgo Gas Station and Quik Mart at 3759 W. Chicago Ave in Chicago ordered closed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot because a street gang member with an AK-47 killed someone in front of the store. Only Arab and Muslim stores are being closed by the Mayor
    When Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot targeted Arab businesses in 2021 and 2022 Activism
  • Hussam al-Mayman, The Mayman Show, podcast Arab News
    Arab News launches third season of The Mayman Show podcast Arab News
  • State Rep. Cyril Nichols interviewed on live Arab American radio in Detroit with host Ray Hanania Friday Dec. 9, 2022
    Nichols discusses need to improve Arab-Black relations in Chicagoland American Arabs
  • Voting sticker issued to voters in Cook County elections in 2016. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Gov. Pritzker Announces Six Appointments to Boards and Commissions — no Arabs included American Arabs
  • Closure notice posted on the doors and windows of Arab American businesses during Mayor Lori Lightfoot's closure of Arab owned stores in June - Sept. 2021. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Pritzker again ignores needs of Arab businesses in latest appointments Activism
  • Arab American Democratic Club (AADC) official candidate endorsements for the November 8, 2022 General elections.
    Arab American Democratic Club issues endorsements for Nov. 8, 2022 Cook County Illinois elections Activism
  • Arab Democrats urge NO VOTE on Gov. J.B. Pritzker re-election bid Activism
  • Assyrian American GOP issues endorsements in Nov, 8, 2022 elections
    Assyrian American GOP group endorses candidates in Illinois Activism
  • Abdullah Hammoud, elected Mayor of Dearborn Nov. 2, 2021. Photo courtesy of Abdullah Hammoud Facebook Page
    AHRC’s 2022 Spirit of Humanity Gala a Great Success American Arabs
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts Arab World
  • Rep. Cyril Nichols to be feted by supporters at fundraiser Saturday Oct. 22 Activism
  • Stand up For Human Rights website, United Nations
    UN experts condemn Israel’s ‘sadistic’ punitive measures against French-Palestinian rights defender Salah Hammouri Activism
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque Istanbul, Turkey

Edjteehad in the West: fighting Islamic extremism

Posted on February 2, 2015August 20, 2019 By Abdennour Toumi No Comments on Edjteehad in the West: fighting Islamic extremism
SHARE ...
          
 
  

  • Tweet

By Abdennour Toumi

Abdennour Toumi
Abdennour Toumi

Ankara – Turkey — The recent attacks in Paris are but one act in a series of serious threats posed by “homegrown” radicalism from young immigrant Muslim dissenters. This menace has forced Western domestic intelligence to deal with a case that demands vigilant law enforcement on one hand and a general review of Muslim leaders in the West on the other. There is a pressing need to initiate and educate these young devoted Muslims and inform the majority of their fellow citizens in the West regarding the virtuous values of Islam.

In this case Muslim leaders in the West need to open the gate of Islamic jurisprudence (Beb el-Edjteehad) as an opportunity to explore this field of Islamic doctrine (el-Feq’h el-Islamee) and tackle the issue of jurisprudence.

In recent years this so-called “homegrown” terrorism has become all too real. Western authorities have shown themselves on guard realizing that the threat from radical Muslims is on the rise in the West. 

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque Istanbul, Turkey
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque Istanbul, Turkey

For instance, in 2008 some Somali-American youths traveled from Minnesota to Mogadishu to join a radical group (Echabab movement) in Somalia. In 2009 Nedhal Hassan, an American army major, was charged with the killing of 13 soldiers and wounding of 32 others at Fort Hood, Texas. Then there was the attempted car bombing in Times Square which failed in 2010. In March 2012, Mohammed Merah initiated a series of three gun attacks targeting French soldiers and Jewish civilians in the cities of Montauban and Toulouse in southwestern France. In total seven people were killed, and five others wounded, four seriously. After a 30-hour siege the perpetrator was shot and killed by police in an apartment in downtown Toulouse.

This tragedy ended not unlike the Paris attacks whose perpetrators vanished only to be surrounded later by police in a warehouse in Paris suburbs. None of these events are isolated. Though Muslim radicalism is operational and in some cases organizational at the domestic level, it is connected to global radicalism. It demonstrates a “militancy” evolution launched on the premise of a global operation designed to recruit and carry out suicide attacks in the West, which in general, is the provenance of el-Qa’eda’s franchise and the ISO’s militant retaliation on Western targets.

Islamic Mosques photo
Minaret of a Mosque

The domestic radical Muslim phenomena represents a serious and expanding challenge for Western intelligence and Muslim community leaders as well. How does one know whether a person is a radical or not? For instance, recent cases in the U.S. have shown that these radicals are highly educated and derive from a middle-class family milieu living in the suburbs of American cities. Nonetheless, terrorism experts and domestic intelligence officials have warned about the threat posed by “homegrown” Muslim radicals of U.S. citizenship. They have cited examples from Britain’s experience, based on a combination of intelligence and cooperation from the local Muslim community in the U.K. before and after the London Metro bombings of 2005.

Some analysts believe Muslims in the U.K. are better integrated, educated and wealthier than their counterparts in France. Similarly, they believe that America’s “melting pot” of ethnicities and religions offers protection from internal radical strife.  However, a new generation is emerging among the Muslim communities in the U.S., particularly radical young men using a simplistic justification for their acts derived from current U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa, and being indoctrinated by radical preachers on YouTube and on-line chat rooms. 

These modern tools are the extension of global terrorism by such means, so the “homegrown” terrorism becomes “glocal” (globalization with local considerations) as Dr. Mathieu Guidère defines it. U.S. officials have acknowledged the need to address the radical question posed by young American Muslims, and in 2011 the White House added combating homegrown terrorism to its national security strategy, a strategy that places law enforcement and close intelligence attention on suspected radicals.

In this context, the united efforts of FBI agents and local law enforcement, through outreach to the local Muslim community, were successful in preventing an attempted bombing of a public event in Portland, Oregon, by Mohammed Mahmoud in 2011. It is vital that Muslim community leaders control the message and avoid such reckless activities of the young who are putting an end to their dreams by their own hands.

A man holds a pencil in the air as he stands in front of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral in Paris to observe a minute of silence on January 8, 2015 for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7 which left at least 12 dead and many others injured. France observed a minute of silence Thursday, broken only by church bells, in honour of the 12 people killed by apparent jihadists at a magazine known for publishing cartoons deemed offensive to Islam. At midday (1100 GMT), crowds of people stood silently in public squares, schools and outside official buildings. Bells tolled at Paris' Notre Dame cathedral and in churches across the country. AFP PHOTO / MATTHIEU ALEXANDRE
A man holds a pencil in the air as he stands in front of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral in Paris to observe a minute of silence on January 8, 2015 for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7 which left at least 12 dead and many others injured. The magazine was known for publishing cartoons deemed offensive to Islam. Bells tolled at Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral and in churches across the country. AFP PHOTO / MATTHIEU ALEXANDRE

Muslim Imams should focus their Friday Khotba (sermon) on the life of the Prophet Mohammed (Esseera Enabaouia) because these young people seem lost in the message that they bear and the faith in which they believe. The Prophet Himself, prosecuted by Mecca’s politics and financial establishment, sought refuge. He sent his companions to Ethiopia for a time before He received the revelation to immigrate to Medina.  

(I offer this as an analogy to what el-Ansar (protectors) offered the Prophet and his companions when they arrived in Medina). 

This historical element in the founding of the Islamic nation and state is a very important one to teach young Muslims, especially those living in the West, to let them understand that the West is still only at Medina’s stage…

Muslim leaders in the West should introduce a sociological approach to the founding of the Islamic nation and state established by the Prophet and his companions in Medina and introduce an educational curriculum in accordance with the socio-culture of the Western societies in which they live.

For instance, some Western countries welcome and embrace Islam and offs their support to Muslim communities. Germany is a clear example of reaching out to the local community in the aftermath of anti-Muslim sentiment. Americans also showed their support for the Somali community after the attempted terrorist act in Portland. Soon it is to be hoped the French will recover from the 2015 attacks and show their kindness again, but it all takes time.

In sum, Muslims can practice their faith in the West without paranoia, guilt or fear because they live in countries with laws and accountability. Muslims should urge their leaders to unite and initiate Edjteehad in order to curb these activities that are being committed by self-destructive individuals who believe it is even a sin to live in the West but who ignore the greatest sin of all by hijacking a religion that prohibits any harm to living things, even an oak tree.

Related articles
  • What is al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula?
  • Renewed call for stripping jihadists of citizenship
  • Giuliani blisters Obama’s ‘cowardice and weakness’ on ‘radical Islam’

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Abdennour Toumi
Follow me:
Abdennour Toumi
Abdennour Toumi:
- France correspondent for The Arab Daily News.
- www.bareed-areej.com Editor-in-Chief
رئيس تحرير مجلة بريد الأريج
- Political consultant at IMPR a Think-Tank based in Ankara, Turkey.
- Member at the European Observatory for Arabic Language Teaching based in Paris, France.
- Affiliated with Sociology of Islam Journal and contributor at Middle East Studies / International Studies, Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies Center, Portland State University in Portland, OR.

EDUCATION: Diplôme des Études Approfondies (DEA) in Political Science from Toulouse University I, France. Master’s degree in Law from Algiers University, Algeria.

Email im at: nourhty@gmail.com
Abdennour Toumi
Follow me:
Latest posts by Abdennour Toumi (see all)
  • The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Is the Neither-Peace-nor-Security As-sumption Dominating Again? - June 7, 2021
  • Algeria: “I Can See Clearly Now” - August 5, 2019
  • Majesty Mohammed VI and General Gaïd Salah Tear Down This Wall! - July 29, 2019

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
          
 
  
 
          
 
 Tweet 
Abdennour Toumi, Arab World, Bloggers, Christian & Muslim, Commentary, religion, Spotlight Tags:Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Anwar al-Aulaqi, Barack Obama, Charlie Hebdo Magazine, cnn, extremism, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fort Hood, Islamic State, Ismaic Terrorism, Nidal Malik Hasan, Paris attacks, United States

Post navigation

Previous Post: Setting the record straight: Saudi women’s oppression
Next Post: Egypt and the need to overcome Radical Islam, a 1984 re-do

Related Posts

  • Palestinian refugees fleeing Israeli and Zionist violence during Israelis war against Palestinians in 1947-1948
    Response to COVID-19 in Wavel Palestinian Refugee Camp Arab World
  • Congressman Keith Ellison
    The Hypocrisy of the anti-Trump haters American Arabs
  • Abdul El-Sayed with members of the Michigan Women's March in 2017. Photo courtesy of El-Sayed's Facebook Page.
    El-Sayed eligible to continue run for Michigan Governor American Arabs
  • Podcast: Larry Derfner of 972Mag.com on Israeli elections Arab World
  • Mahmoud Abbas, president of the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 22, 2016
    Salvaging Israeli-Palestinian Peace Arab World
  • Israel and Palestine play high stakes soccer Arab World

More Related Articles

Congresswoman BettyMcCollumn on The Ray Hanania Radio Show Sept. 1, 2021 on the US Arab Radio Network sponsored by Arab News Arab Radio looks at American evacuation of Afghanistan to the Taliban Arab News
Old Bridge above the Euphrates in Deir ez-Zor, Syria (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Kurdish reporters killed in eastern Syria Arab World
Grande Poste Algiers, Algeria. Photo courtesy of Abdennour Toumi Algeria: Freedom and Shakespeare  Abdennour Toumi
Salaita hires powerful civil rights legal team, demands reinstatement at UIUC American Arabs
From One Palestinian: Dear Bretha Von Suttner, Wake Up! Bloggers
No Arab-Israeli battle at this year’s Oscars American Arabs

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • Tiktok.com/@RayHanania
    Israeli-push behind effort to ban Tiktok in the United States
    January 19, 2023
  • Ghassan Rubeiz
    To what extent is Hezbollah responsible for the current crisis in Lebanon?
    January 17, 2023
  • Image from Rashid-al-Din Hamadani's "A Compendium of Chronicles. Image courtesy of Wikipedia
    Why allow religious extremists to re-define Islam in the West?
    January 10, 2023
  • CAIR Executive Director and co-founder Nihad Awad
    This Thanksgiving, let’s use our Blessings for good
    November 23, 2022
  • NEWS
  • Arab Democratic Club Feb 12, 2023 Forum & Brunch flier
    Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12
    January 18, 2023
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Dr. Manal Fakhoury has been elected to the position of Chair of the National Board of Directors, and that attorneys Spojmie Nasiri of California and John Floyd of Texas have joined the organization’s National Board.
    CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd
    January 12, 2023
  • AHRC Executive Director Imad Hamad
    AHRC: Honor Dr. King Day with Civility, Unity, and Action
    January 11, 2023
  • Citgo Gas Station and Quik Mart at 3759 W. Chicago Ave in Chicago ordered closed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot because a street gang member with an AK-47 killed someone in front of the store. Only Arab and Muslim stores are being closed by the Mayor
    When Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot targeted Arab businesses in 2021 and 2022
    January 4, 2023
  • NEWSWIRE
  • Arab Democratic Club Feb 12, 2023 Forum & Brunch flier
    Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12
    January 18, 2023
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Dr. Manal Fakhoury has been elected to the position of Chair of the National Board of Directors, and that attorneys Spojmie Nasiri of California and John Floyd of Texas have joined the organization’s National Board.
    CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd
    January 12, 2023
  • AHRC Executive Director Imad Hamad
    AHRC: Honor Dr. King Day with Civility, Unity, and Action
    January 11, 2023
  • Stand up For Human Rights website, United Nations
    UN experts condemn Israel’s ‘sadistic’ punitive measures against French-Palestinian rights defender Salah Hammouri
    October 19, 2022

Creative Commons License
All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Ad-Pantry-essentials.jpg
  • ZiyadBrandLogo-2016BlackRedBackgrnd.jpg
  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Sices-Ad.jpg
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    October 24, 2022
  • Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib, book cover. Photo courtesy of Cune Press
    Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib
    November 1, 2021
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • Hussam al-Mayman, The Mayman Show, podcast Arab News
    Arab News launches third season of The Mayman Show podcast
    December 15, 2022
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    October 24, 2022
  • Comedian Ramy Youssef courtesy of his Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ramysfaceboo/
    “Ramy” cable series melds Arab world reality with every day American life
    October 22, 2022
  • The Ray Hanania Radio Show Live Wed 5 PM EST in Detroit, Washington DC, Ontario and on Thursday in Chicago. Watch the program live at Facebook.com/ArabNews
    Second Season of “The Ray Hanania Show” Arab American radio launches April 6
    April 4, 2022
  • American Arab CHamber President HassanNijem accepts the Proclamation from Chicago Ald. Roderick Sawyer at the Chamber dinner March 30, 2022
    Chicagoland celebrates Arab American Heritage Month
    March 31, 2022
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at Gab.com, MeWe.com and IDobbinate.com, the alternatives to Facebook and Twitter Censorship.

Click here to get information on The Ray Hanania Radio Show and its podcasts

Copyright © 2023 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme