Imams' role vital, but left untapped

Imams, who provide religious guidance to local communities, are worldwide considered a key element in the fight against religious extremism. But Bangladesh is not getting the most out of them mainly due to flawed policies, experts say.

Every year, the government is picking some 3,500 imams from across the country for a 45-day training programme. Ideally, this should have been a perfect platform for launching a campaign to check radicalism. But the fact is, though imams are given lessons on a wide range of topics, the issue of extremism gets little focus in the training.

Of the 185 classes, just four to five classes discuss militancy. As a result, the training fails to create any serious impact and to involve imams in the counter-militancy campaign, said some imams and officials of the Islamic Foundation, which organises the training.

Moreover, imams having radical mindsets are allegedly not considered for the programme although, experts say, such imams should be chosen on a priority basis. If these imams with wrong perceptions of Islam are not deradicalised, they will keep misguiding the youths, making the fight against fundamentalism even more difficult.

An Islamic Foundation official who trains imams, said, “In every batch, some misguided or radical imams sneak through the selection process. To them, even watching television or listening to radio is sin, and they forbid their families to watch TV or listen to radio. We can hardly change them with our limited efforts.”

Shamim Mohammad Afzal, director general of the Foundation, said some radical imams might have been left out of the training, but that was not intentional. He, however, acknowledges that such imams should be included in the programme on a priority basis.

'TEACHING NOT EFFECTIVE'

Imams aged between 20 and 50 with “good health and attitude” and having Dakhil (equivalent to SSC) degree are selected by the Islamic Foundation upon a circular. The training takes place at seven divisional offices of the Foundation. Each trainee gets Tk 300 in daily allowance and Tk 800 in transportation cost.

Analysis of the training module shows imams are given lessons on Islamic studies, primary healthcare and family welfare, pre-primary, primary and mass education, agriculture and forestation, livestock and fisheries, science and ICT, environment and social development, an introduction to Bangladesh and the world, and activities of the Islamic Foundation.  

There are also lessons on checking corruption, women and children repression and trafficking, dowry and child marriage, and awareness building against drug peddling, HIV/AIDS and terrorism. In addition, immunisation, disaster management, human development, various phases of Islam in Bangladesh and a brief history of the Liberation War are touched upon.

Instructors and teachers for the training programme are mostly drawn from the Islamic Foundation. Police and army officers, officials from home and religious affairs ministries, teachers of Islamic studies, health officers and agriculturalists give lessons as guest teachers.

Established on March 22, 1975, the Foundation has been training imams since 1979. The issue of militancy was included in the training in 2009.      

Prof Ziaur Rahman, who teaches criminology at Dhaka University, believes that the government is missing out a big opportunity by not using imams in the fight against militancy.

“Such a programme could have been the perfect platform for countering extremism since imams interact with a cross-section of people regularly. But the method of teaching is not effective,” he told The Daily Star.

To him, militancy is such a critical issue that it cannot be eliminated from people's mind just by casually mentioning it. “You have to strike them with logics and references. A trained imam can be a good weapon here. But at the same time, the role of a specialist or even a psychologist is becoming vital in de-motivating radicals,” he observed.

'NO NEED'

But the Islamic Foundation DG feels there is no need for making militancy a separate subject and holding extensive discussions on it.

“Militancy is being discussed with other subjects and with importance. We alert imams about the evil force and ask them to talk against it at various forums, including in Juma sermons,” he said.

However, one official of the Foundation who gives classes, said, “You can't motivate anyone to preach against militancy with only a few classes. A specialised programme, it may be for five days, should be introduced to motivate them.”

He requested not to be named, as he did not want to differ with his boss publicly.

The DG said the main thrust of the programme was to involve imams in socio-economic activities and help them lead a better life. “If they [the imams] understand the real meaning of Islam, they will automatically work against extremism.”

But the facts on the ground are quite different.

Ten imams who took the training over the years told this paper that the issue of militancy was already out of their mind. In contrast, they could very well remember what they learned on agro production, fishery, livestock, poultry and plantation.  

After the training, some of them work for checking repression of woman and children and their trafficking, drug peddling, child marriage, dowry and corruption. But only a small number of them get involved in the campaign against terrorism and militancy. Only rarely, they give sermons against it in Juma prayers and other social gatherings.

'HARDLY REMEMBER ANYTHING'

Muhammad Habibur Rahman, imam of Farajibari Jame Mosque in Jhalakathi, who won the Best (khamari) Farmer Award in 2013, could remember most of the issues he had learnt during the course but nothing about militancy.

Asked why, he said, “Militancy was discussed but not as importantly as other issues. We were asked to give sermons but I could not do it.”

Another imam, Md Ismail Hossain, who too got the Best Farmer Award, can recall hardly anything about militancy. “It came up in the middle of discussions on other issues.”

On Friday, The Daily Star correspondents in Rajshahi, Pabna and Chittagong, who attended the Juma prayers at the local mosques, said there was nothing against militancy in the sermons. The imams in those mosques were trained by the Foundation.

In contrast, Md Bashir Uddin, imam of Fakirpara Jame Mosque in Chapainawabganj, spoke against extremism in his sermon. Interestingly, he did not take the Islamic Foundation training.

Islamic Foundation sources said there are imams who usually speak against militancy, but training has nothing to do with their anti-militancy sermons.

Islamic Foundation's own evaluation reveals that most imams are not playing an active role in combating religious fundamentalism.

Every year, the Foundation identifies three best imams from across the country, 18 from the eight divisions, and 64 from as many districts, evaluating their performance and teachings.

Of the three best imams in 2012-13, one had played some anti-militancy role. The number was seven out of the 18 at division level and 17 out of the 64 at district level. A similar picture emerged the following year, according to Foundation sources.

Md Anisur Rahman of Uttar Sabujbagh Jame Mosque in Patuakhali is one of the few imams taking on extremism.

“In Juma prayers, I explain with references from the Holy Quran and the Hadith that those who kill or create chaos in the society in the name of Islam have no relations with Islam. I tell them Islam does not support anything like this,” he told The Daily Star.

He regularly talks about it at meetings and seminars, explaining what Islam actually stands for, as opposed to the twisted version of it.

LITTLE MONITORING

There is little monitoring to see if imams preach against militancy. All that the Islamic Foundation does is organise a five-day “refresher” programme for the trained imams where the same issues are discussed again. 

Over the years, 27,794 imams got such training.

For its part, the government organises an all-imam conference every year. The prime minister attends the programme as the chief guest, hands over awards to the best imams and asks them to speak out against militancy.

As militancy has become a big headache for the government with targeted attacks and killings of writers, publishers, bloggers and minorities, the home minister and the inspector general of police recently took to meeting imams and other religious scholars and leaders. Such meetings are also being organised in some districts.

These meetings are aimed at involving imams in the efforts to spread the counter-militancy massage and eradicate wrong perceptions about Islam.

Such efforts, however, bring little success, as there is no well-thought-out campaign against fundamentalism with religious leaders playing a robust role. Moreover, there are no deradicalisation programmes centring on various madrasas, particularly the Qawmi madrasas.

As a result, in the fight against extremism the government has to depend almost solely on law enforcers, who can only capture, not cure.