The terrorist attacks in Paris and Jakarta and the recent arrest of ISIS-leaning Bangladeshi nationals in Singapore clearly highlights the enduring pervasiveness of the ISIS ideological threat. Reclaiming Islamic intellectual traditions will be critical to deal with the threat.

Increasingly, ISIS terror attacks are commanding the centre stage of global politics and international relations. This concept of terror in the name of Islam has overwhelmed the perceptions of Islam in many ways.

A root cause of Islamist terrorism is the current intellectual crisis in the Muslim world. Returning to the Islamic intellectual traditions will be critical to counter ISIS narratives and extremist ideas in general.

… Mohamed Bin Ali is Assistant Professor with the Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. He is also a counsellor with the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG).