Religious extremism harms Islam, experts
Morocco-Regional, Religion, 5/12/2004

Experts meeting here in a seminar to discuss "extremism and its manifestations in the Moroccan society," were unanimous in underlining that religious extremism harms Islam and its humanitarian values.

The seminar is organized by the Commission of Intellectual and Spiritual values of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco.

Pr. Abbas Jirari, member of this academy said this meeting, held a year after the terrorist attacks in Casablanca (May 16), aims to shed light on the causes and consequences of religious extremism " particularly in light of false allegations against Islam."

The Casablanca blasts killed 45 people including the 12 suicide bombers and injured many others.

Quoting excerpts from the Hadith (Prophet's teachings), Jirari said Islam banishes all sorts of extremism.

Echoing him, Pr. Abdelhadi Boutaleb said extremism climaxes when it changes into violence and resorts to terrorism.

For Said Bensaid Alaoui, Dean of the faculty of Letters (Mohammed V university), extremism is "linked to ignorance" and is bred by other factors such as poverty, exclusion and deprivation.

Mohamed Kettani, also member of the academy, blamed most of the Islamic countries for not having, after their independence, well managed religious matters and by not referring to the genuine teachings of Islam.

Other experts focused their presentations on the role of the media in dealing with religion and also on the "misuse of the freedom of speech, provocations, morale and corruption."

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