'Tolerance to be instilled in youth to combat extremism': Sheikha Lubna

Dubai - She added in a fast-changing world, values should not be taken for granted.

Values of religion should be instilled in children to avoid their exposure to extremism, said a UAE Minister during the second day of the World Government Summit on Monday.
Speaking at a session, Sheikha Lubna Al Qassimi, Minister of State for Tolerance, said parents should not take religion by text and verses, but take its values and present it "beautifully" to the future generations.
"All religions have certain values and spirituality, and what we see today is Islamic curriculum being delivered without the spirituality and values. Today, when you talk to your children, instill those values," said Al Qassimi.
She added in a fast-changing world, values should not be taken for granted. "[Values] are inherent, but today even values are unfortunately changing along with other political, economic and environment changes."
With the modern world that is marked by its flow of information, today's children are more independent than the past, which prompts to new tools of teaching. Therefore, Al Qassimi urged institutionalising tolerance for the youth who "are the core of everything we do."
Speaking at the same session, Omar Ghobash, UAE Ambassador to Russia, said he wrote Letters to a Young Muslim for his children to address unanswered questions about approaching religious texts. "When I was 15, [I was trying] to live in modern world while given 7th [Islamic] century perception tools through which i had to analyse the world, which was very difficult," he said. "In 2016-2017, I found there was not much progress done in bridging this gap." Ghobash highlighted the importance of mosque sermons in promoting positive thinking. "The sermons in the emirates no longer have aggression and hate, which I remember clearly in the 80s and 90s - it drove people away from mosques." Al Qassimi agreed, saying that people in the past carried their political agendas and biases when they came to UAE. "Islam today has been hijacked. The only way to do it is divert back to the roots and to start with sermons," said Al Qassimi.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai