My student, who is a Muslim, frequently expresses radical political views. Should I be concerned?

Ask yourself first of all whether you would be concerned about a student expressing these views who is not Muslim. If the answer is no, then question yourself on whether your worries are being distorted by your perceptions of his faith background.

Holding radical political views is neither unusual nor illegal. Moreover, university years are a time for being open to a wide variety of ideas, exploring and pushing at the boundaries, and espousing alternative views. It is important to have the freedom to do this and to express views openly.

What should arouse potential concern are the methods he is willing to use in order to achieve his political aims. Does he justify or even advocate the use of violence? Under what conditions? If he does justify the use of violence under conditions that seem unacceptable to you, do you think he is someone prepared to put this into action or is it just a position he's adopting? Is he open about his willingness to espouse violent means? Might he be putting himself at risk by doing this? Or might he eventually put others at risk?

Tips:

• Maintain good communication.
• Encourage discussion and debate around issues but encourage high quality. Challenge views or information that seem exaggerated or ill-founded. Encourage research and the quest for ever-more reliable information and knowledge.
• Think how his interests and energy could be channelled in constructive forms of campaigning and protest.
• Be sensitive to situations where he could be manipulated, exploited, or put at risk. Is he aware of any risks that he is running? Does he seem to enjoy taking risks?
• If you feel you need a better understanding of the issues and how to asses situations such as these, you could explore the possibility of discussing the situation with an experienced community member or professional.

Case study

Successful propaganda strategies are best observed by experienced community members who understand all of its religious, political and community contexts and are thereby best equipped to intervene against it.

For instance, one such seasoned community observer has commented on the significance of the propagandist's recurring theme of 'manhood' wherein young, inexperienced and sometimes recently converted Muslims are encouraged to see their strict daily religious practice as but one important half in their new religious lives; the other half is fighting 'the enemy' and the importance of acquiring the prerequisite skills – both mental and physical – to do justice to the task, themselves and their families.

Another has successfully dismantled one of the particular recruitment strategies employed against Muslim youths involved in street crime in London. In this case a successful intervention against al-Qaida propaganda was based more on knowledge and application of local street culture than a developed political or religious rationale. This emerging sense of expert, local and global, specialist intervention against recruitment strategies that are often highly developed in exactly the same areas will become increasingly important in the event of further terrorist attacks in the UK.