Jordanian boys gather around an imam at a mosque during a religious class in Amman. The government says it's tackling the contradiction between official anti-extremist policy and what is taught in schools and mosques by rewriting school books and retraining thousands of teachers and preachers. — AP
AMMAN — In pro-Western Jordan, a leader in the fight against Daesh (the so-called IS) militants, school books warn students they risk "God's torture" if they don't embrace Islam. They portray "holy war" as a religious obligation if Islamic lands are attacked and suggest it is justified to kill captured enemies. Christians, the country's largest religious minority, are largely absent from the texts. The government says it's tackling the contradiction between official anti-extremist policy and what is taught in schools and mosques by rewriting school books and retraining thousands of teachers and preachers. Critics say the reforms are superficial, fail to challenge hard-line traditions, and that the first revised textbooks for elementary-school children still present Islam as the only true religion. "Daesh ideology is there, in our textbooks," said Zogan Obiedat, a former Education Ministry official who published a recent analysis of the texts. If Jordan were to be overrun by the militants, a large majority "will join Daesh because they learned in school that this is Islam," he said. Government officials insist they are serious about reform. The rewritten books will teach "how to be a moderate Muslim, how to respect others, how to live in an environment that has many nationalities and different ethnic groups," said Education Minister Mohammed Thnaibat. Thnaibat refused to discuss hard-line passages in the unrevised books, but said there are limits to reform. Jordan is an Islamic country, he said, and "you cannot go against the culture of the society." Success or failure of the effort matters in a region engaged in what Jordan's King Abdullah has framed as an existential battle with Daesh militants who control large areas in Syria and Iraq. Abdullah has emerged as one of the most outspoken Arab leaders urging Muslims to reclaim their religion from extremists. Reform efforts target both schools and mosques. All school books are to be rewritten over the next two years, said Thnaibat. Lesson plans will shift from rote learning to critical thinking, and tens of thousands of teachers will be retrained. Revised books for grades 1-3 are already in use, and 11,000 teachers were given month-long courses to deliver the new curriculum. Among preachers, the government hopes to promote a "moderate Islamic ideology that is in line with our national principles," said the Religious Affairs Minister Haeli Abdul Hafeez Daoud. As part of the campaign, the ministry suspended several dozen imams because of the content of their sermons. The country has only 4,500 preachers for its 6,300 mosques, including many who are not properly trained, creating a vacuum that has enabled extremist lay preachers to step in, Daoud said. Yet a program to retrain thousands has enrolled only about 100 preachers in a three-semester course for which 340 were approached. The spread of extremist ideas has been a growing concern in Jordan since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings and subsequent conflicts involving militants, including in Syria and Iraq. Some argue militancy grows from poverty and unemployment, and that the government has done little to address the root causes. "Extremism does not appear because preachers call for it," said Mohammed Abu Rumman, an expert on militants. "It appears because we have young people who search for identity and revolt against the situation." For now, the anti-extremism campaign is being led by the security forces. Some 300 people are currently in custody in Jordan for alleged Daesh sympathies, including 130 who have been sentenced, defense lawyer Moussa Al-Abdalat said. About half are in detention for expressing support for Daesh ideas on social media, he said. Those convicted of "electronic terrorism" are sent to prison for five to seven years. Critics say these very ideas are taught in Jordan's schools. In mosques, moderate preachers compete with extremist ideas promoted on YouTube and other social media. Ibrahim Nael, an imam in the working class town of Ruseifa near Amman, said he signed up for the government course to be able to deliver stronger religious arguments when debating Daesh sympathizers. "You get lots of young people who are enthusiastic to go and fight in the ranks of these groups in Iraq and Syria, without knowing if these groups are right or wrong," he said. "Lots of people who received my preaching in the mosque changed their minds and cleaned up their confusion." — AP
