Hey, what a great idea! How come nobody thought of this before? The blandly offered recommendation here raises one simple question: if all that has to be done to stop jihad terror groups is offer Muslims the correct interpretation of Islam, why isn’t it being done? Why is there no mosque or Islamic school anywhere that has any program designed to teach Muslims why they should avoid the understanding of Islam represented by al-Shabaab and other jihad terror groups?
“Panel: Defeat Al-Shabab With Correct Interpretation of Islam,” VOA News, August 30, 2015:
The dissemination of the correct interpretation of Islam is one way Islamic scholars could help defeat al-Shabab, according to a VOA panel discussion held Saturday in Nairobi.
Panel members agreed an ideological war, combined with military power, must be waged in the fight against the militant group.
Some panel members voiced concern that the way Kenyan security forces treat some communities is resulting in young people turning to al-Shabab.
One panel member spoke about allegations of extrajudicial killings by the Kenyan forces….
Panel members included Gamal Hassan, Somalia’s ambassador to Kenya; Abdikadir Ore Ahmed, a lawmaker from Wajir in the ethnic Somali northeastern region of Kenya; Dr. Abdirahman Baadiyow, an Islamic scholar and politician; Asha Abdalla, a former lawmaker and activist; Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdi, author; and Professor Abdiwahab Abdisamad of Nairobi University.

Alarmed Pig Farmer says
This august group of experts needs to define exactly what the word “correct” means in this context.
The only hope I get out of this confab is that they could go all interfaith and dialog on out to clerics from other religions. Then they might get an inkling of what is meant by the concept of “correct.”
But the one thing that gives me the comfort of normalcy here is that this useless piece of sub-worthless offal of a meeting is that it was paid for by the U.S. taxpayer. Now *that* feels normal.
Know Thy Enemy says
They will be milking the stupidity of non-Muslims further and will demand funding so that the imams can concentrate full-time concocting the “correct interpretation of Islam.” And of course as you noted, this “correct” Islam will be taught to non-Muslims in interfaith dialogues!
….. And we thought Muslims were low IQ inbreds. Maybe we should know our enemy better.
Shane says
Jihadists are interpreting Islam correctly! It is not the violent Muslims who are perverting Islam, but the peaceful Muslims who are perverting Islam.
silvergreycat says
They need to contact Dr. Bostom… http://www.andrewbostom.org/blog/2008/02/02/sayonara-sharia-japanese-lessons-lost/
pdxnag says
How is Islam like debt? They are both simultaneously the cause and remedy of a malady.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
And after a certain threshold they can no longer be paid.
KrazyKafir says
Pablum for western dhimmis.
Jay Boo says
Maybe they are spinning this line to temporarily hinder Obama, the UN, and the rabid Western news media from frothing at the mouth with appeasement.
RCCA says
IOW, the cowards will save us. No wonder that strategy doesn’t gain much traction.
BenDavid says
It shows that Obama recently visited Kenya …
Michael Copeland says
Let them tell us all the “correct interpretation” of:
“Kill the unbelievers wherever you find them”,
That is Koran 9:5, part of Islamic law, from the latest complete chapter of the Koran, which abrogates all the peaceful verses elsewhere.
Tough one, that.
Jaladhi says
Ah, the correct interpretation of Isam will defeat jihad!! Hmmm, … are they serious or just seriously fooling the kuffar knowing fully well it is the correct interpretation of Quran that is fueling the jihad!! The poor kuffar has no idea how theseMuslims are working to kill him and take over his country!!
American says
The panel is correct in that an ideological war is needed in addition to the militaristic war. However, the ideological war can’t be to win fanatics over with a “correct” version of Islam – success can only be achieved with the elimination of Islam. So long as any Muslim believes that the Qur’an represents the word of God, the Qur’an will be followed and the violence will continue.
gerard says
The problem is Islam. Islam is the problem.
“success can only be achieved with the elimination of Islam.” Exactly so!
Islamic violence cannot be solved by tweaking Islam. That’s just window-dressing.
This panel and many others still don’t/won’t/can’t diagnose the problem.
Clearly the answer won’t come from them.
Isabella says
This is simply a diversion. It is like shoveling clouds: you accomplish nothing.
Jay Boo says
Aya Mahana
qedlin says
The title is a fool’s errand. This could be debated for another 1400 years with no result, only another 1400 years of butchery in the name of peace. Fools.
Nathan says
That’s not entirely correct. Yes we can debate if for the next 1400 years, but via violence, butchery and submission…. it will be a mute point.
ie we will all live in an islamic hell hole of fear.
And that’s what they want. War isn’t about how you fight, war is winning, by all means possible.
Matthieu Baudin says
Probably hamstrung by practising Muslims on the advisory panel. Next time it convenes they should include a couple of Apostates from Islam to give it some grit.
Bangu says
Thank you.
dlbrand says
“Defeat al-Shabaab with correct interpretation of Islam.”
Yes, indeed. That ought’a do it. Take for example, Shaykh Abū Mālik Anas an-Nashwān.
“Shaykh Abū Mālik Anas an-Nashwān,” we learn from Dabiq issue 10, ” was born into a wealthy, prestigious family in Bilād al-Haramayn.” And there, in his hunger and thirst to know his din, “he pursued Sharī’ah studies and later left their academies, only to pursue knowledge and action as a murābit at the frontier posts.”
Is not that wonderful?
The source stated goes on stating, “He arrived in northern Afghanistan where he fought with its knights, taught them the religion, and judged between them in accordance with what Allah had taught him.”
Yes indeed, seems the reasonable natural actions of one who has, as noted, “pursued Sharī’ah studies” and done so, with Islam as his din.
Therefore, of small if of any wonder at all, Dabiq provides, this good well schooled on Islam Muslim, “When the spark of tawhīd was lit in Iraq and Shām, he and a group of muhājir brothers rushed to support the Islamic State.”
Rob says
What’s the Islamic penalty for making stoopid remarks?
Bikinis not Burkas says
A better way would be to show that the Quran was the work of Muhammad and it contains many many incorrect facts.
duh_swami says
Allah means what he says and says what he means. Any attempt to ‘interpret’
puts the interpreter in the position of knowing what ‘god’ knows making the interpreter equal or superior. No one is Allah’s superior…I smell shirk, unless this is just some semi-slick taqiyya…So who is wise enough to do this, and why should Al-Shabaab listen?
Cliffhild says
A while ago I recommended the following book:
Catastrophic Failure: Blindfolding America in the face of Jihad
by
Stephen Coughlin
Published by ‘CreateSpace Independent Publishing’ 2015
and in this can be found the reason why some people think that there are ‘incorrect’ interpretations of the Koran: apparently, it is said that Muhammad’s later fierce announcements simply replaced the earlier but gentler ones, the explanation given being that you don’t teach children calculus until they’ve learned to add up. In this way, apparently, Jesus replaced Moses as a prophet of God and Muhammad replaced Jesus and became the Last Prophet.
Steve Brown says
No,no,no,no,no. They mean spread the “correct” interpretation to the infidel. Particularly with the Kenyan security forces. That way nothing is actually done to address the root causes of the problem…
S R Wakankar says
Yes it is necessary to interpret Islam correctly but there are diverse views on this issue.
As an Indian what I feel is that Islam’s message is eternal and universal and Arab Islam is only a brand of it. Nobody can claim MONOPOLY over Islam. It is everybody’s religion or message. My own Indian Islam is non-Arab and its tradition is very very old. The language of Indian Islam is Sanskrit. It is non-Mohammedan/non-Koranic.
But the Saudi/Wahhabi ideology doesn’t believe in all this. For them “Arab Islam is the ONLY Islam” All else is just rubbish and trash. This is the problem.
Janwal Baba says
And the Somali al-Shabaab fellow the Saudi/Wahhabi ideology they wouldn’t listen what the other group says. Just to make things peace and modern can Islam be reformed?
Know Thy Enemy says
If your religion is non-Muhammedan and non-Koranic, then why in the world do you call it “Islam”?? Can’t you think of any other word to name your religion with?
“Nobody can claim MONOPOLY over Islam.”
Muhammad and Koran already have monopoly over Islam. So when you say you are Muslim or that you follow Islam, people automatically assume that you follow Muhammad and Koran and they are right to do so.
For this reason if your religion has nothing to do with Mo and Koran, you should do everyone a favor and adopt a different name for your religion. No one is going to fall for your deluded version of Islam.
Bangu says
Thank you.
gravenimage says
S R Wakankar wrote:
Yes it is necessary to interpret Islam correctly but there are diverse views on this issue.
As an Indian what I feel is that Islam’s message is eternal and universal and Arab Islam is only a brand of it. Nobody can claim MONOPOLY over Islam. It is everybody’s religion or message. My own Indian Islam is non-Arab and its tradition is very very old. The language of Indian Islam is Sanskrit. It is non-Mohammedan/non-Koranic…
…………………………….
If your “brand” of Islam is non-Mohammedan/non-Koranic”, then what is it based on? Moreover, in what way is it actually Islam?
Also, the idea that this is “indian Islam” is utter crap–Muslims in India have slaughtered up to 80 million Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Christian Indians since they invaded the subcontinent centuries ago, and they continue this butchery today–more victims than in any other nation.
If you want to cobble some non-Islamic “Islam” together and practice it, have at it–especially if it is non-violent.
But don’t lie to us and pretend that this is mainstream Islam *anywhere*–if you do, this is just more whitewash and Taqiyya.
gravenimage says
Kenya panel: Defeat al-Shabaab with correct interpretation of Islam
……………………………….
Uh…right. How is it, then, that every pious Muslim comes up with an interpretation just like that of al-Shabaab–and the Taliban, and Boko Haram, and the Islamic State, and every other violent JIhad outfit?
More:
The dissemination of the correct interpretation of Islam is one way Islamic scholars could help defeat al-Shabab, according to a VOA panel discussion held Saturday in Nairobi.
……………………………….
VOA, huh? That means it is the Americans who are eager to swallow this bs…
More:
Panel members agreed an ideological war, combined with military power, must be waged in the fight against the militant group.
……………………………….
This is true–but it should be championing civilized Infidel values, not pretending that they are actually Islamic…because true Islam will trump this mealy-mouthed whitewash every time.
Moreover, in most cases this is not actually intended to counter Jihad–instead, it is used to lull the foolish Infidels into a false sense of security.
More:
Some panel members voiced concern that the way Kenyan security forces treat some communities is resulting in young people turning to al-Shabab.
……………………………….
How often have we heard *this* crap–that the cause of violent JIhad is any attempt to defend against violent Jihad…
More:
One panel member spoke about allegations of extrajudicial killings by the Kenyan forces….
……………………………….
Certainly, Kenya does not have the same democratic safeguards for human rights that we do in the West. But this same argument is used in the West–that *any* attempt to counter JIhad will just lead to more JIhad.
The message is obvious–the “filthy Infidel” should stop trying to protect Infidels, unless they want to see even more violence…
More:
Panel members included Gamal Hassan, Somalia’s ambassador to Kenya; Abdikadir Ore Ahmed, a lawmaker from Wajir in the ethnic Somali northeastern region of Kenya; Dr. Abdirahman Baadiyow, an Islamic scholar and politician; Asha Abdalla, a former lawmaker and activist; Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdi, author; and Professor Abdiwahab Abdisamad of Nairobi University.
……………………………….
You can see that Abdikadir Ore Ahmed’s main focus is on making sure that Kenya treats JIhad terrorists “fairly”:
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/content/activists-kenya-advocate-fair-treatment-terror-suspects
No such concern for their victims…
“The MP alleges that suspects have been mishandled in the process of fighting terror; a move he cautions may end up, ‘radicalizing youths further.’”
More of the same–don’t fight JIhad, or you will just make it worse for yourselves…,
Professor Abdiwahab Abdisamad has talked about more ‘moderate’ elements in al-Shebaab.
Asha Abdalla has blamed the US for JIhad terrorism in Somalia.
All in all, this panel seems iffy at best…
Angemon says
If only those Christians killed by al-shabab for being Christians knew that all they had to do was to show their murderers how they’re misinterpreting ilam… sarc./ off