Rais Aam: Radicalism a global danger

Jakarta, NU Online
The supreme leader (Rais Aam) of the Indonesia's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) KH Ma'ruf Amin said "both radicalism and terrorism are a global danger that must be tackled through various strategic measures, including media."

According to Kiai Ma'ruf, the radicalization movements have remained rampant due to, among others, the misunderstanding, particularly in defining the term jihad.

He said, jihad did not necessarily mean war. "In fact, efforts to make peaceful social conditions (islahiyyah) in all aspects of life are a jihad that must be done."

"In conditions of war, jihad could mean war. But in conditions of peace, jihad means peace that should be pursued," Ma'ruf Kiai said here on Wednesday (22/3).

In the workshop taking up issues on radicalism and terrorism in cyberspace, Kiai Ma'ruf was of the opinion that radicals and extremists had continued campaigning for jihad that could lead to a possible global war.

Kiai Ma'ruf also explained the radicalization could occur because there had been many, especially young generation, learning Islam from the internet and social media.

"There is someone who has never learn religious teachings, but suddenly he could be radical because he has most of the time learned from social media," he explained.

On this stand, he said that social media had an effective role in spreading radical understandings. "This requires people to be more smart in receiving and digesting information in cyberspace."

"Theologically, Islam is tolerant. We must work together to tackle the problem because social media has so far become very effective in spreading radicalization," said Ma'ruf Kiai. (Fathoni/Masdar)