Anti-extremism organization educates on Islam

Mufti Aasim Rashid explains the core teachings of Islam as non-violent.

The audience sat in silence while listening intently to a man who spoke warm words about his religion.

Campaign Against Violent Extremism is an organization dedicated to educating people about the true meaning of Islam. One of their goals is to help people to see that not all Muslims are violent, and Muslims are just like everyone else. On Feb. 14, C.A.V.E hosted an event at Kwantlen Polytechnic University entitled Peace, War, and Islam. Leading the session was Mufti Aasim Rashid.

Rashid is the director and spokesperson of the B.C. Muslim Association, and is regarded as a renowned scholar and speaker for the Islamic faith. He believes that education and knowledge are the keys to building a better world.

Rashid acknowledged that the threat of Islamic extremist groups, such as ISIS, seem to be on the rise. As such, there is a growing fear of the Islamic religion as a whole. This fear, according to Rashid, is born out of ignorance.

“When the light of knowledge enters one’s mind and heart, the darkness of confusion and suspicion, and animosity that arises from [ignorance] begins to dissipate,” he said.

Rashid explains that the core teachings of Islam are the farthest thing away from violence as could be. He compared Islam to our own country of Canada.

“Is Canada a peaceful country, or a warmongering country?” he asked. “Most people would say it’s peaceful. However, we have weapons, and armies, and missiles, and an air force, and a navy.”

With this comparison, Rashid explains that Islam is seen the same way. He said that groups, such as ISIS, are just that: a group. They don’t represent the whole religion.

Rashid did not deny the violent writings that can be seen in the Islamic holy text, the Qur’an. He admitted they were there, but defended them by reminding the audience about violence that has occurred with all nations.

“Everyone has the right to protect themselves,” he said. “The system of Jihad and Islam is your ministry of defence.”

C.A.V.E has directly associated themselves with the RCMP in order to bring awareness to the public. Derrick Gravelle, a representative of the RCMP spoke about the concept of prevention.

In order to identify people at risk, Gravelle urged people to look for changed behaviors. He specifically suggested to look at people who have had a change in friends or people spending lots of time on extremist type websites.

MP Jinny Sims also spoke at the event. She asked for people to forgo judging people based on religious beliefs.

“Don’t blame Muslims for acts of extremism,” she said. “It’s like when five teenagesrs get in  trouble, all teenagers are bad.”

Sims argued that a major factor in negative labels for Muslims is media representation. She said that that media is constantly asking the mainstream Muslim community what they are doing about it. However, she said when Muslims speak out against the extremists, the media doesn’t cover it.

Sims also commented on the allocation of the governmental budget, and how it should focus more on youth aid. She argued that if communities and governments spend more effort on youth, the result will be a more positive change in society.

Each speaker, though talking from different perspectives, presented a similar message. They all talked about the necessity to see past stereotypes.

“We definitely need to learn more about one another,” Rashid said. “That applies to Muslims as well as non-Muslims.”

Rashid’s statement was met with loud applause from the audience. Another moment loud applause happened when when Sims pointed out to a young father and his two boys in the audience.

“Look at this young man and his beautiful two boys,” said Sims. “All he wants is for his children to grow up being treated like everyone else in this country.”

Not everyone was caught up in the hype. Pat O’Connor, a member of the audience, said “The whole event was a whitewash,” and that “Nothing really important was said.”

C.A.V.E plans on holding several similar events in the next few months. They will be held at various university campuses and public libraries.