Deradicalization is about much more than just religious scripture

An emphasis on counterterrorism and deradicalization by successive administrations in Canada has putthe country's Muslim minority under consistent scrutiny.

The rise of Daesh in the Middle Eastandhigh-profile terrorist attacks in Ottawa, Parisand Brussels haveshifted public opinion in a way thatputs the onus on western Muslims to prevent "their own people"from committing such acts.

• Ottawa shooting: Canadian Muslims denounce attacks

This unfair logic has prompted an array of responses from Canadian Muslims;including that of someMuslim religious leaders,who've tried to solve the problem of youthradicalization by promoting deradicalization clinicsor ideological detox programs.

Canada's most recent iteration of this idea comes from the Council of Canadian Imams (CCI), aninfluential organization that represents a significant number of Canadian Muslim religious leaders.

In 2016, thegroup announcedthat it wants to set up three deradicalization clinicsin Toronto and nearby communitiesbyfall. They've yet to disclose how such a clinic will operate but have announced that their methodwill be a "holistic"one that incorporates mental health practitioners andsound theology.

Not a new idea

The idea of Muslim-led deradicalizationclinicshas a history in Canada that goes at least as far backas the Toronto-18 case of 2006, when over a dozen Muslim Canadian men were arrested for planning tohatch a bomb plot.

Some have since been convicted and the fear of homegrown radicalization has neverleft the Canadian public.

An undercover mole in the Toronto-18 case, Mubin Shaikh,emerged as a popular Canadian experton deradicalization.Hepromoted a method of ideological detoxthat mirrors the 12-step programused by Alcoholics Anonymous.

Other proponents of similar ideas who rose to a comparable level oftemporary national prominence include Ahmed Amiruddin of theAl-Sunnah Foundation (now ostensiblydefunct) and MuhammadRobert Heft of Paradise Forever, an organization focused on caring for Muslim converts.

All of them stressed deradicalization in a way that portrays the problem as both preventable and curable throughsound theology.Upon closer examination, their work with youth resembles that of a counsellor.

Some who came tothem displayed genuine signs of violence, though most didn't.

A good majority of cases involveddisobedient children who were afflicted with a wide range of social problems, includingbullying andbrokenhomes. ISIS-like ideology seemed to bean afterthought.

Missing the point

The real danger of radicalization deserves attention from the Muslim community and its leaders, whohave been tripping over themselves since 9/11 to condemn every major act of terrorism committed by avery small minority who kill in the name of Islam.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) andthe Islamic Social Services Association (ISSA) even jointly unveiled a United Against Terrorismhandbookin Winnipeg two years ago.

But the way theCCI and other individuals orgroups try to treatthis problem will directly affect howsociety seesindividual radicalization and whetherMuslimspose a threat.This is dangerous ground.

The minute details of individual radicalization are still unknown to researchers, but a consensus hasemerged in the past decade or so that those who decide to carry out lone wolfattacks or join Daeshdo so after a number of life circumstances come together in a perfect storm-like situation.

What thesecircumstances are and how they come together differ from one person to the other, but all do so in away that makes the individual particularly susceptible to extremist rhetoric, either online or in real life.

In other words, radicalization is about much more thanideology and theology.

Deradicalization that focuses on using the Quran or scripture to "cleansea mind infectedwithjihadism"implies that the problem is caused primarily by a misinterpretation of Islamic scripture, andtherefore can be cured or even prevented by the dissemination of better religion.

This appraisal of theproblem goes against several years' worth of studies in North America, Europeand elsewhere thatstress social circumstances and anger at Western foreign policy as major factors that contribute to aperson's road to violent extremism.

A dangerous narrative

Moreover, the decontextualized way in which deradicalization efforts are presented to the public oftenexaggerates the problem's size.

North Carolina's Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Securityreports that 28 Muslims were involved in terrorism plots on U.S. soil in 2015.This is an increased numberfrom previous years, but it still pales in comparison to the numberof people who're involved inshootings, murdersand other fatalities that don't involve religion at all.

Canadian numbers are even smaller, but the disproportionate amount of noise made in the aftermath ofterrorist attacks around the world puts an abnormal amount of strain on the Muslim community.

This isan old story, but Muslim leaders who try to make it all about theology and scripture don't seem to belearning the broader lesson here.

Any successful effort in Canada to curtail extremism will take a commitment that goes way beyond theMuslims. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies will have to earn the trust of community memberswho are close enough to the ground to notice problems.

Spaces that allow youth to vent theirfrustrations in a productive way have to be constructed, and portrayals of Muslims as ticking time bombs muststop.

Steven Zhou is a Toronto writer who has experience in human rights advocacy. He has worked forHuman Rights Watch, OxfamCanada and other NGOs.