Owning ISIS
First published on 5/7/17 "Wasatiyyah" Definition: "the middle path" or "Ummatul Wasatah" , "an Ummah justly balanced", the name of the May 2017 symposium convened to tackle the ISIS phenomenon in South Africa might have added hype to a phenomenon not really a current crisis in the local Muslim community, and in so doing, also unwittingly took ownership of ISIS - The ISIS "problem" in South Africa was beautifully put to rest - almost entirely debunked as a verifiable non-issue in South Africa by non other than (invited speaker), SA police minister Fikile Mbalule. In fact, the reality of ISIS was hidden in Mbalula's restrained attempt at subtly explaining the nefarious origins of ISIS and the challenges the SA government faces - not of over hyped Islamo-extremist terrorism, but of fighting off pressures of "certain" states who were bent on furthering an obviously deceptive agenda (of which ISIS is but one) and one which t...