The erudite scholar Abdullah Ibn Bayyah, vice chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, pointed out the characteristics of terrorists and summarised them in three points. He mentioned that they have characteristics that are condemned and rejected by the shari`ah. These are extravagance, extremism, and adoption of strict positions. Ibn Bayyah said that Islam has forbidden extremism in religion; namely, to go to extremity. He quoted the hadith reported by Ibn `Abbas that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said “Beware of extremism in religion. Extremism in religion brought destruction to those who were before you.”

He also forbad extravagance which, just like extremism, is to exceed the limits in words or deeds. In the hadith reported by Ibn Mas`oud we read “Perished be the extravagant!” He said it three times. These three terms denote being away from moderation in thought and speech. This goes contrary to the methodology of moderation and leads to fanaticism and bigotry which are synonymous with extremism and fundamentalism.

Three sides:

Ibn Bayyah discussed the three sides that are directly responsible for the prevention from and the cure of such deviant thought. These are the family, the educational institutions, and the media. He said that the family is the first environment that affects the behavior of young people. Thus it has a significance role in good upbringing which saves children from intellectual and behavioural deviation. Intellectual conceptions are known to move one’s will which soon turns to be practical behavior translating the thought into practice.

He added: Family has a gear responsibility to amend the defect and fill the intellectual gap which the youth suffer from in the age of globalization and flow of exciting thoughts that exhaust the soul, display crimes, and magnify murder and fighting. Ibn Bayyah laid emphasis on the role of the family and said that every family has to teach its children how to distinguish truth from falsehood and darkness from light.

Family plays a significant role in the prevention and cure. When a child is seen to have a feeling of aversion to the society and isolation from the community, the family has to set him on the right path seeking the help of specialists to treat him before it is too late and before he is lost in the corridors of darkness.

Ibn Bayyah talked about the role of the educational institutions and said: They have an effective role in crystallising the conceptions that form the wills of individuals and groups. The more positive, effective and pioneering these institutions are, the more they become able to bring up a generation of leaders and positive and rational individuals; and their students will entertain more intellectual and psychological immunity.

One the other side, the more the educational process fails and the deficiency in presenting the correct ideas and information is, the more loss and failure the graduates will suffer, which will make them more susceptible to deviant ideas and to get involved in the criminal endeavors and futile practices. He said that the educational system from the elementary to the university level, including technical institutions, is responsible for a task that can be described as the task of communicating with the psychological and emotional realm of the student.

Ibn Bayyah talked about the third side defining it as written, audible, or visible national journalism. This side is concerned with daily treatment of events to present, comment on, explain, and direct them. He described its role as decisive, because news has become like daily food for people. He said: But the situation of the national journalism has become very difficult due to the torrential flow of information that includes good and evil, truth and falsehood.  He described this as a mixture that makes the recipient live in a whirlwind of frustration and sometimes of fallacies. But the intelligence of a journalist together with his sincerity to his religion and nation and his abilities and talents enable him to deal with his audience and to ensure success in the ruthless media competition.

Briefly, these three sides, in addition to the role of mosques and intellectual and cultural meetings in social clubs, can form a harmonious system with multiple tools and techniques that have one goal and end to convey the proper message and correct concepts to the youth in order to rectify their behaviour and set aright their inclination and to guide those who went astray to the right way. This is the gain we should aim at in order that the whole ummah should benefit and the youth should succeed.

Ibn Bayyah concluded his speech saying: There are two authorities in this regard. The first is fiqh academies and fatwa institutions that have to refute deviant thoughts and extreme trends and rebut false fatwas and the sophistry of muftis. The second is the authorities whose role in this issue does not differ from their role in all criminal issues as their task is to protect the society from crime and criminals through searching for criminals and collecting evidences to brought criminals to justice.