Moscow experts call on to consider specifics of Islam in preventing recruitment to IS

Measures to combat radicalization and recruitment of young people into the ranks of the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS), banned in Russia, should be softer and based on the understanding of the specifics of Islam. This was stated by participants of the roundtable held in Moscow on June 27-28.

The participants of the roundtable have come to the conclusion that unreasonable preventive registration at the police stations, criminal prosecution, pressure on Salafis, and impunity of law enforcers provoke radicalization of the youth of Northern Caucasus.

Alexei Malashenko, the chairman of the programme "Religion, Society, and Security" at the Carnegie Moscow Centre, has noted that the IS acts as a political concept of the Islamic alternative.

According to Khabib Magomedov, the chief of the scientific-practical laboratory on combating the ideology of extremism and terrorism, the main factor of the IS influence is in the conflict between Shiites and Sunnis.

The IS positions itself as a religious utopia, confirms Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, the project director for Russia and Northern Caucasus of the International Crisis Group (ICG). According to her, the average age of the IS supporters is 18-25 years old.

Magomed Mutsolgov, the leader of the organization "MASHR" in Ingushetia, believes the main aim of the society, which attempts to prevent radicalization, is to establish a dialogue based on mutual respect.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.