Egyptian Researcher Tareq Abu Al-Saad: Official Islamic Institutions throughout Arab and Islamic World Create Fertile Ground for Extremism, ISIS Does the Harvesting

Egyptian researcher Tareq Abu Al-Saad said that the official Islamic institutions in Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Mauritania, and elsewhere "create fertile ground" and the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis plant the "ideological seeds" of extremism. "And the ones who do the harvesting are ISIS," he said. The bottom line, according to Abu Al-Saad, is that "the ancient traditional Islamic ideas must be cleansed of this." He was speaking on the Palestinian Authority's TV channel on December 8, 2016.

Tareq Abu Al-Saad: "The ideas that are being taught at schools - government schools, private schools, kindergardens, and even Al-Azhar... I'm not talking just about Egypt, but also about Palestine, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and everywhere. These ideas raise within every child a little ISIS member. Each and every one of us Muslims and Arabs is prepared to join ISIS, due to the ideas taught in these curricula. The Arab and Islamic societies, the official religion practiced, a religion that fathers pass on to their offspring, and that is supported by the official institutions... All this prepares society to continue..."

Interviewer: "Intentionally or inadvertently..."

Tareq Abu Al-Saad: "These (institutions) should be asked whether or not it is intentional. I am talking from a scientific and practical perspective. These people prepare the individual to accept these ideas without reservation. If you ask the man on the street, if you conduct a simple survey, in Palestine, in Egypt, in Tunisia, in Sudan, in Mauritania... If you ask them what they think about restoring the Caliphate, they would say: 'I sure hope so...' Ask them what they think about being ruled by Islam, and they will say: 'I sure hope so...' The reason is that they have simplified these notions, and created nostalgia for the olden days of Islam.
 

"The official Islamic institutions have paved the way for this. After the official Islamic institutions create fertile ground, along come the people who sow the seeds... Since Egypt is an agricultural country, I'm talking about a sowing operation. The official state institutions plowed the ground and prepared it. Then came the people who sow these ideological seeds. There are also those who cultivate the seeds, like the Muslim Brotherhood. The Salafis and (their) preachers are the ones who planted the seeds, which give rise to these notions."

Interviewer: "Along with the countries that do it for political and religious purposes..."

Tareq Abu Al-Saad: "And the ones who do the harvesting are ISIS. Some people get out in the middle of the process and do not finish it. There are people who were indoctrinated this way, yet did not end up in ISIS, but they prepare others. If they cannot join ISIS themselves, they prepare others to join ISIS. These matters contain many details, but the bottom line is this: The ancient traditional Islamic ideas must be cleansed of this."