Rabat – The Mohammedia League of Ulemas, Morocco’s highest body of islamic scholars, has announced that it will in the coming days launch a series of seminars and lectures around Morocco to combat religious extremism and hate speech.
The program will include various creative and professional programs in addition to the regular lectures and seminars, the League said, adding that activities would be inclusive of all education levels and will also include individual programs.
Notably, some of the seminars will focus on topics such as digital rhetoric and radicalization, as well as the academic, psychological, and sociological dimensions of religious extremism and how to fight it.
The initiative is part of a greater strategy in Morocco to fight extremism. Moroccan prisons for instance have announced that they are implementing special methods centered around education and social training to rehabilitate convicts on charges of terrorism and violent extremism.
For prisoners who have a past with extremism, Morocco’s General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR) said it would organize academic, social, and cultural training events for convicts in the hopes of easing their reintegration into society.
The prison programs are supported by the Mohammedia League of Scholars, the United Nations, and the Japanese government.
Close to 48,000 prisoners have benefited from the program, said DGAPR authorities earlier this month.
Moroccan prisons also make use of the Moussalaha (reconciliation) program, which has been working for more than 10 years to rehabilitate and reintegrate prisoners.
Read also: Moussalaha: Morocco Renews Stance Against Terror Threats, Extremism
The program has three main pillars: reconciliation with the self, with the religious text, and with society.
Since its launch, 156 prisoners have benefited from this program and have been released.
The Mohammedia League of Scholars was founded in 2006 with the goal of disseminating religious tolerance and preventing the spread of radical Islamism, by training a new generation of Imams and scholars.
In late 2021, the League hosted the International Conference for Strengthening Youth Ability to Combat Violent Extremism and Terrorism, with participation from experts from the Arab World and the West.
