• I think it’s important for theories in books and articles to be supported by real life experiences

• Learning more about what life is like for young Muslim men will help more people to understand their current situation

• There are several community groups and organisations in the UK, one of which is STREET, working hard to engage, inspire and be positive role models to Muslim youth. Their work needs to be acknowledged

The St Andrews students, who are all doing a masters degree in international relations and terrorism, wanted to learn more about Muslims growing up in the inner city.

I structured my lecture to look at three concepts I’ve developed and their effectiveness in drawing young Muslims into extremism:

1. Intellectualisation - this is when educated Muslim extremists recruit other intellectuals to their cause by putting their emotions to the side and using reasoned and rational arguments.

    

   • Bilal Abdulla and Kafeel Ahmed, the doctor and engineer who drove a jeep into the terminal of Glasgow airport in 2007, are both products of intellectualisation.

    

2. Social deprivation - this is when some individuals don’t have the same conditions of life as most people. This might be because they don’t have access to the products, services or standards that they need to play the roles, have the relationships and behave in the way expected of them by society.

    

   • Richard Reid, the British man who tried to blow up a passenger plane in 2001 with a shoe bomb, was socially deprived. He had been a young offender, spent time in various prisons and converted to Islam while in jail.

    

3. Isolation - individuals who are detached from other people and spend a lot of time by themselves can be easy targets for extremism. Terrorists can give these loners a sense of purpose by training and preparing them on specific roles.

    

   • Nicky Reilly, a British convert to Islam who has Asperger Syndrome (a type of autism), was groomed over the internet by two Muslim men and persuade to carry out a suicide bombing of a restaurant in Exeter.

    

I’m pleased to say that the lecture was very well received, and one of the key things that students found useful was hearing about the practical approaches to encouraging Muslim youth away from extremism.

Shaun Danquah