(NAPSA)—A moderate version of Islam is proving to be a keyelement of a successful approach to keeping religious extremism in check. That’s the word from Morocco, a country that has had success in containing religious extremism by addressing the underlying causes of radicalization and by expanding and strengthening its own open, more moderate form of Islam. Therise of religious extremism is an important issue in theaftermath of the political and social changes that have come to be known asthe Arab Spring. Recently, King Mohammed VI was asked bythe leaders of several African countries to provide train- ing in Morocco for hundredsofreligious leaders (imams) and preachers (morchidines and morchidates) from Mali, Libya, Tunisia, Cte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, the Mal- dives and Nigeria. In May, a key step in establishing this program was taken when the King launched the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, Morchidines, and Morchidates in Rabat, welcoming students from Morocco, Africa and the Middle East to promotereligious moderation and tolerance in the region, andinstill a culture of understanding and dialogue across faiths. As early as 2006, as part of a comprehensive “counter-radicalization” strategy following the 2003 Casablanca bombings, Morocco began to train morchidates, or female preachers. In addition to counseling against extremism throughreligion itself, the objective of the strategy was to provide \ ee Morocco’s King Mohammed VI meets with a number of preachers who have been trained to counter the appeal of religious extremism. more empowerment and economic opportunities, including for youth. The morchidates are trained to work with imams in mosques and communities across Morocco, pro- viding counsel and “spiritual security” to counter the potential appeal of extremism. The program was recognized as “pioneering” by the U.S. State Department’s 2009 report on terrorism. Duringhis visit to Morocco last April, Secretary of State John Kerry praised King Mohammed VI and Morocco for “playing an essential leadership role” in the region, noting that Morocco “plays a very important role in facing extremism, and it also disseminates cooperation with African countries in the religious domain at a moment where Africa needs this spiritual support to face terrorism based on these values, the valuesof tolerance.” This information is conveyed by Beckerman on behalf of the Government of Morocco. Further information is available at the U.S. Departmentof Justice.
