According to media reports, Iran’s government is arranging a meeting of Islamic scholars from different corners of the world who would sit together to tell Muslims of the world about the menace of IS and show its true picture. Islamic scholars from different sects have been invited in this meeting as IS has emerged as a threat for all the Muslims, without any discrimination of sect.

News about the increasing influence of IS in a number of Muslim countries of the region has also emerged as a matter of concern for the public and governments of these countries. Indian government banned the foreign travel of a number of young Muslim citizens who were suspected to go abroad and join IS militants in Iraq. In the same way, there were reports in the Afghan and international media that pamphlets were distributed in the bordering areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan in which youngsters were asked to join the lines of IS for Jihad. These pamphlets were especially distributed in the remote and bordering towns of Afghanistan as pamphlets were published in both the national languages of the country, i.e. Dari and Pashto. There were also reports that large numbers of similar pamphlets have been distributed in a number of Afghan refugee settlements in Pakistan.

It is unanimously accepted that IS is one of the worst forms of radicalism and extremism and its only purpose of existence appears to be destruction. It is the reason why, it has not gained the acceptance among the majority of public and they don’t accept them as representative of the Muslims which they keep claiming. The videos and photos being circulated in the social networking sites like Facebook, Youtube and others have given birth to a kind of perception where people find this extremist group not parallel with the teachings and true identity of Islam. The reports that the group was founded by a number of international players of the world to meet their objectives and it is still funded by some international powers have made people reserved and concerned about this militant group. Its acts of terrorism and mass genocide and mass destruction of the shrines and other holy sites of Islamic saints and elders have added to the public anger against them. However, the group acquired for itself the name of ‘Islamic State’ and then ‘Islamic Caliphate’ to win the support of the large number of Muslims of the region. This tactic is not new that many groups use the name of Islam in order to bring about their own dangerous ambitions.

In the presence of such facts, it is of no surprise that the intellectual class and the majority of the educated members of almost every society are against this group. This is the case in the urban areas and cities of our country but it is not necessary to be the case with the villagers and dwellers of far-flung remote areas who have very less access to the actual sources of news and information. At the same time, they are under the strong influence of the local religious scholars who become much emotional with such bombastic claims as made by IS. There are reports that majority of the religious scholars of the remote areas are very much impressed from the motto of IS and they are much delighted that long-awaited and ideal caliphate of Islam has been established in Iraq and Syria and they feel their religious duty to put their share in their religiously important work. It is the reason why, they not only rear a soft corner for the group but they are also increasing the public acceptance of the group.

In the light of above facts, any kind of activity of IS to increase its influence in the region would be successful in the remote and far flung areas of the country. IS would never dare to initiate any such campaign in cities where civil society and media is much aware and educated people are also able to distinguish between the good and the bad. Similarly, the security forces are also alert and active enough to get into action against any such propaganda group. However, in the villages and remote areas, the situation is absolutely different. There, public awareness is very low and people blindly believe in and follow the sayings of religious scholars who can easily become the victims of the shining image of IS. Similarly, the security forces are not so strong in these areas that they should be able to take any action against any local or foreign group that should be busy in propagation of IS.

If this propagation is left unnoticed, it would provide our foreign enemies with a golden opportunity to hire more and more people in the name of Islamic caliphate to destabilize the country and disrupt the general order and security in the country. Most definitely, when these motivated youngsters, being under the strong spell of the magic of IS, will not be able to reach Iraq and Syria to join their fellows, would definitely open a line of terror acts against our security forces. In this way, our enemies would be able to meet their objective of keeping the country backward.

It is also needed that Afghan government and media should also take similar initiative because majority of our people have great regards for religious scholars and their words carry much importance for them. A meeting of important religious scholars can be arranged in this regard and the findings of this important meeting of scholars can also be given much coverage on the state-owned and private media. This would be an important step towards curbing this evil before it gets its roots here.