Catholic methods of examining scripture could help tackle radicalization in Islam, a leading Jesuit academic has said, after it was revealed an Irish citizen was captured having left Ireland to fight for the so-called Islamic State.

Originally from Belarus, Alexandr Ruzmatovich Bekmirzaev (45) was arrested by the Kurd-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) just before the New Year. He holds an Irish passport and was being closely monitored as a suspected Islamic extremist by the Garda Special Branch before he left the country in 2013 and travelled to Syria.

Roehampton University’s Prof. Michael Barnes SJ told The Irish Catholic that de-radicalization strategies that treat people such as Mr Bekmirzaev as if they are mentally ill or brainwashed are “barking up the wrong tree”, and that solutions to extremism need to be sought within Islam itself.

Trinity College lecturer and Muslim scholar, Dr Ali Salim of the Islamic Cultural Centre, said that tackling extremism is down to education. “The way we counter radical thinking is by education, we educate our community here about their religion and the spirit of peace in their religion,” he said.

Source: The Irish Catholic