Muhammad Bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, Minister of Justice and member of the Board of Senior Ulema, has called for a “correction in misunderstandings of takfeer and jihad” in order to counter extremism and terrorism. Speaking to Al-Watan Arabic daily in an interview published Monday, Minister Al-Issa described the persons charged with such a mission as “Muslim scholars, educators and specialists”. “The ways to counter extremist and terrorist thought are through conferences, symposiums, international agreements, mosques and preaching, and the work of Al-Munasaha,” Al-Issa said, in reference to the Kingdom's Al-Munasaha advisory program for the rehabilitation of terrorists. He also noted the part played by the King Abdul Aziz National Center for Dialogue in promoting the culture of dialogue. “Terrorism does not differentiate between the large and small,” Al-Issa said, and cited the words of King Abdullah during his speech at the opening of the 2005 Riyadh conference on combating terrorism, saying, “terrorism, when choosing its victims, does not distinguish between cultures or religions or organizations, and the cause is because it belongs to no religion and is loyal to nothing”. “Terrorism has become an international issue with everyone collaborating to fight it,” Al-Issa continued. “The Kingdom has made significant efforts and taken many political, religious and security to fight it and its sources and to strengthen society's intellectual security through tolerance, understanding and constructive dialogue.” Minister Al-Issa was speaking to Al-Watan ahead of his participation Tuesday in the conference on terrorism and extremism being held in Madina in which he was scheduled to chair a discussion session on diagnosing and dealing with terrorism.
