Many Muslim youths keen on jihad with Isis, says Abim
Lee Shi-Ian, The Malaysian Insider
The topic of doing jihad with the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) has become popular of late, with Malaysian youths asking many questions about the group, says one of the country’s largest Muslim organisations.
Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) president Amidi Abdul Manan said the group has observed greater interest in the activities of Isis and the Middle East during their events, adding that the youths were well educated, came from homes which many would deem normal, with some having tertiary education.
It defied conventional thinking that those who had gone off to take up arms in the name of religion were products of religious schools in the country, as many assumed, he added.
However, Amidi said Malaysians who had gone to join Isis had been led astray by a skewed interpretation of jihad and this was something the organisation wanted to correct at its meetings.
He said it had come across local youths who had ties with jihadist groups abroad and Abim had notified the authorities about them.
“From what we have learnt, Malaysians who wanted to join Isis are first sent to other countries to undergo basic training, including handling weapons.
“Once they have completed their training, then they are sent to wherever Isis needs their services,” Amidi told The Malaysian Insider, adding that this involved a lot of clandestine activity.
He said these people did not really understand the definition of jihad which embraces a wide concept beyond the stereotype of armed struggle or holy war.
“This sort of thinking is not Malaysian in nature, it has been influenced by clerics from war-torn countries such as Palestine and Afghanistan,” he said.
“In Arabic, jihad means doing things to the best of your ability, and it can be applied to politics, society and even economics,” he said.
Amidi said Muslims should know the background of various teachings on jihad instead of just swallowing knowledge without thinking.
He also stressed that the teachings of Islam did not include Jihad al-Nikah or “conjugal jihad”, and that women had far more critical and distinguished roles than that.
“During times of war, women were expected to nurse the wounded, take care of food and supplies and the armoury,” Amidi said.
“Their roles were not relegated to that of a prostitute or comfort woman,” he said, adding that Islam did not portray women as objects to be used to satisfy lust or sexual desires.
“The Isis interpretation has led to women being used to satisfy the sexual desires of their fighters,” he said.
