Ten leading imams in the UK have joined hands to counter online Islamist extremist propaganda that has led to a number of British Muslims being recruited by the dreaded Islamic State militant group.
The imams — from some of the notorious recruiting grounds for ISIS — condemned Internet companies for letting the web become a “safe haven” for terrorists. The religious leaders represent cities such as london, leicester, leeds, lancashire, the West Midlands and Buckinghamshire.
They warned that the failure to stamp out “readily available” extremist content on social media sites is “undermining” community cohesion. ISIS has used social media to recruit foreign fighters in the Middle East, and for propaganda.
According to The Sunday Times, this group is spearheading a new campaign that allows ordinary Muslims to report extremist websites that carry beheading videos, terrorist training manuals and sermons by preachers of hate.
A new website, called Imams Online, is being backed by both Sunni and Shi’ite imams from communities across the UK to prevent young Muslims leaving their homes to fight in Iraq and Syria.
Shaukat Warraich, editor of the website, said: “From images of terrible violence and murder to preachers sowing the seeds of hatred, each and every example of this harmful content has the potential to hurt us all.
“This is a plea from representatives of all our communities to the public and Internet and social media companies to act to help keep us safe from extremist content.”