Lagos — Terrorism will continue to thrive until the world is able to engage the tools of enlightenment, behaviour modification and change in attitudes, which, in other words, is education.

Acting Director of the Centre for Literacy, Training and Development for Africa (CLTDPA), University of Ibadan, Dr. Rashid Aderinoye who made the submission at a conference on 'Islam, Terrorism and the Development of Africa' held at the University of Ibadan recently, said, the vision of education as a deterrent to terrorism would be to "promote learning contents that illuminate the minds and enthrone proper understanding of the world around us with a view to eliminating all incidence of terrorism."

Delivering a paper titled, 'Education: A Panacea For Terrorism' Aderinoye quoted the UNESCO constitution which states in part, 'Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.' He also quoted the Bible which says, 'Educate your child so that he can give you the peace of the mind'; a Yoruba adage which says, 'An uneducated child will certainly sell the house we build'; and the Qur'an which declares, 'Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know?'

He observed that "the word terrorism has received an orchestrated attention from the loud minority represented by the West. They identified Islam with terrorism, or in unambiguous sense, a synonym to Islam.

"Muslims who devoted their time to the worship of Allah by observing the five daily prayers and do some superogatory supplications to satisfy their Creator were described as fundamentalists or worst still, fanatics.

"Unfortunately, we Muslims in some parts of the world either accept this or adopt a very weak position and see ourselves as powerless at a time we were referred to as fundamentalists, at another time, fanatics and today terrorists.

"Rather than for all to undertake a programmed educational process through which we will be able to counter this act of the enemy of Islam, we refuse to accept western education which has been used to destroy the legacy of early Muslims."

"Are we not aware of the aim to create suspicion concerning Islam and its values in an attempt to drive people away from its essence and path? Islam was portrayed as a rival to western civilization, particularly after the collapse of communism.

"Basic facts regarding Islam were twisted and non-Islamic values were attributed to it. One of the most significant illusions which are being created about Muslims is that we believe in violence and confrontation and crowning it with terrorism. This misrepresentation is widely and greatly disseminated in the West using all organs of information dissemination including the CNN and the internet.

Even at the national level, he said, "we treat issues of violence with bias, rather than addressing possible causes and sources of oppression and marginalisation which metamorphose into violence. For how long shall we continue to debate, analyse, support seminars and conferences with a view to scaling down terrorism?" he asked.

Aderinoye recalled Archbishop Desmond Tutu's remark at a recent conference in Doha, Qatar, earlier in the year that "the furore over the Prophet Muhammad drawings is a small part of an expanding divide between Islam and the West, or "symptom of a more serious disease." Delegates to the conference, sponsored by United Nations agreed that, the key ways to bridge the chasm were reaching out to young people and providing more education. The Turkish minister of state Mehmet Aydin said "what we face nowadays is not a clash of civilizations but a clash mostly caused by ignorance, arrogance, insensitivity and festering political differences that fuel hostilities".

The beauty of education is further illustrated in the goals and objectives of the Nigerian educational system as reflected in the Nigeria National Policy on Education (1989):

- bringing about a just and egalitarian society

- a free and democratic society,

- a united strong and self-reliant nation,

- promoting the worth and dignity of the individual

- to promote peace and tolerance.

He observed that necessary policies and institutions were put in place to achieve these goals and objectives. One should therefore wonder why the lofty goals and objectives are far from being achieved. But even those set by world bodies are far from being achieved too. For example, the formation of the League of Nation and the end of the First World War in 1948 was to enthrone a peaceful world devoid of wars. Its failure led to the formation of the United Nations. Despite this, violence and crime have been turned into the biggest social and domestic crises in the world.

Some of the remote causes of these, he said, included:

- the availability of weapons of mass destruction

- collapse of social institutions and the disintegration of the family

- widespread unemployment, poverty and other social problems,

- misuse of the mass media in publicizing violence rather than peace,

- lack of religions tolerance and widespread ethnic marginalisation ' and racial discrimination, and above all

- poverty.

According to him, education is a vital tool to illuminate the mind. The mission of the Prophet of Islam begins with the cleansing of the minds of human beings. Thus the revelation of the Holy Qur'an starts with the call on the Prophet to read.

Born into an environment immersed in conflict, immorality, and confusion, he was charged to bring order by using the intellect and contemplation as a means of understanding the universe and consequently to devise ways of relating to this universe through Islamic values and doctrines.

"This is why Islam begins with addressing the mind and engaging the intellect and ends with appraising behaviour and practical application of knowledge gained. Thus it is an embodiment of rhetoric, but a practical 'education'. Mankind is predisposed to the pursuit of knowledge", Aderinoye said.

He went further to say that Islam as a way of life already prepared its adherents for the needs of this world and the hereafter through the provisions of the Qur'an and the sayings and deeds of the prophet, for whoever failed in the utilisation of these as guide certainly has gone astray.

"If this is so", he asked, "Why then should we refer to those who engage in terrorism as Muslims, true believers? Certainly no, they are not and they do not belong to the community of Islam. Where we now have those described as Muslims engaging in acts regarded as intimidating, then the Muslim leaders in that environment (imams, ulama and other intellectuals) have perhaps failed in educating members of their community as expected." Education here, he said, must be based on proper understanding of God, the mission of man on earth and our leader and prophet who was described as an embodiment of excellent examples."

On the way forward, Aderinoye said, education in Islam employs a variety of methods. These include role model, mentoring, preaching, polite deliberation and argumentation, reward and retribution, tales and stories, analogy, review and consideration. These methods still abound all over the world. Provision of positive and constructive education takes place in mosques, congregations, village squares, halls, and individual homes. Thus the five daily prayers, weekly jumaat service, the eid prayers ground, the annual gathering on Mount Arafat, the period of Ramadan, social gatherings of nikah, fidau,aqiqah and other venues continue to serve as channels of disseminating knowledge. These various opportunities need to be used to change attitudes and behaviour, and re-orientate the generality of the Muslims with a view to achieving a peaceful and terror-free community.

He however cautioned that as Muslims are encouraged to seek education, so also do "we need to advocate that those misinterpreting the message of Islam, by working day and night, corrupting the Qur'an and publishing vague Qur'an, should stop as they too can be described as terrorists. Why? They in turn create a tense environment that throws a challenge to Muslims to defend their religion. They insult the Muslims as they ridicule and toy with what they regard as the symbol of their Creator, what they adore, and what they revere."

Aderinoye argued that, contrary to the views held about Islam, "the entire world has gained a lot from the early Muslim scholars in various fields of endeavour. Just take the simple Arabic numerals which are hardly known as a gift from the Arabs.

"We must not forget the contribution of Islam in the history of humanity and especially in the advancement of humanity in such areas as the arts, mathematics and medicine", he added.

Koichiro Matsuura (2003) reminds us of an important fact and he states "remember that it was through Muslim translators and commentators that the west was able to gain access to the sources of its own thinking namely the work of Greek philosophers with special reference to Aristotle.

He said, "We have to accept that education in the absence of world peace remains the only antidote to elimination of terrorism. The only mechanism to dispel the germs of war and sow the seeds of peace is education. This is evident in the application of education in scaling down the spread, the pain and the impact of the most dreaded disease of our time HIV/AIDS. We all know that, no vaccine has been found to cure the disease but the only social vaccine that has so far been found is education.

In conclusion, Aderinoye stressed the need to embrace what he called 'terrorism literacy, drawing attention to the words of A. G. Wells who said, "one day, intellectuals all over the world would find time to discuss the case for peace and tolerance." He further warned that, "it is not the education of children that can save the world from destruction, it is the education of adults."