North African Religious Leaders Fight Fanaticism in Sahel
North African religious leaders have convened in Algeria to discuss ways to resist fanaticism in the Sahel region, writes Kaci Racelma.
The fight against terrorism is a task that should be carried out not only by the security services, but also involve civil society in its call to bring about peace, tolerance and respect for others.This is the message proclaimed by scholars, preachers and imams who traveled from around the Sahel region to take part in the founding congress of the League of Sahel Ulemas based in Algiers.
Scholars, preachers and imams from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Algeria met in the Algerian capital to study the scourge of religious extremism, its causes and ways to effectively put an end to it. It is clear that scholars from the Sahel have always been against fanaticism, just as they have continuously been supporters of peace, love and tolerance, due to its significance in Islam.
The participants, who steadfastly oppose religious extremism and support the Maliki rite, have openly attacked the religious extremists and followers of "destructive thought, which has recently become widespread in the Sahel region and tarnished the image of Islam and Muslims."
The founders of the League of Sahel Ulemas plan to spread a culture of tolerance and peace and the rejection of religious extremism across the Muslim world. The call for religious unity and territorial integrity as well as respect for others goes against jihad for the "cause of Allah," which was decried by the meeting's participants, who are fully devoted to spreading the teachings of Islam in order to counter religious extremism.
