they are verdicts spoken in the language that the people would understand, in those media channels that the right group would tune into and understand. I ask you the question: Why alienate the message of such people? Why not use these Muslim scholars that are credible in the eyes of the Muslim masses to achieve the common goal of prevention.” 168. Sheikh Chowdhury then explained that the Muslims’ fight against terrorism was not new. He cited the intellectual battle fought by Muslims 1,400 years ago in the conflict between the terrorist Khawarij sect and the companions of the Prophet Mohammed. Sheikh Chowdhury continued: “This [intellectual battle] continued throughout the ages – where independent Muslim scholars presented the best defence against distorted terrorist ideologies. Today, this is also seen as the manner in which Saudi Arabia has tackled their terrorism problems by putting independent credible Muslim scholars at the forefront in the intellectual battle for disproving terrorism. By equating these Muslim scholars representing orthodox Islam with religious extremism, the war on terror will lose its greatest ally in this long drawn saga.” 169. Sheikh Chowdhury then turned to consider the case for broader, social causes of extremism and terrorism: “If we make a search for the causes of extremism and terrorism, some suggestions come to light, such as social injustice or terrorist ideation or political disenfranchisement. But not all people who suffer from these disillusionments become terrorists. The stronger argument is that these conditions are merely the fertile plain, but the common pathway or the motivating context for raising terrorists is through ideological persuasion. It is this ideological distortion that is the cause of extremism and violence perpetrated in the name of Islam, and it is best tackled by those who are most qualified to deal with it.” 170. Sheikh Chowdhury then turned to elucidate his central thesis: “The best strategy for prevention is to dismantle terrorist ideologies using the same Qur’an and the same narrations of the prophet that are misunderstood by them. This is a task that can only be accomplished by established independent credible Muslim scholars. The war on terror therefore is as much a war on ignorance and misguidance, as much as it is a war against the terrorists themselves. Modern anti terrorism strategies need to do more to tackle the greatest draw card for extremism – that of the terrorist ideology. This is an intellectual academic 38