On Monday, the Islamic University of Medina concluded the “International Conference on Saudi Efforts to Confront Intellectual Deviations” by coming up with 31 recommendations and proposals, the most prominent of which focused on employing artificial intelligence to monitor intellectual trends and develop a proactive digital system to protect intellectual security.
The conference was held at the King Salman International Convention Center under the patronage of Prince Salman bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Medina region, and with wide participation that witnessed the approval of 56 scientific papers out of 130 working papers presented during 9 dialogue sessions.
The recommendations and proposals included employing artificial intelligence, developing national indicators to measure types of intellectual deviations, creating a unified national database for specialized research, and studying the establishment of a digital system for proactive monitoring of threats to intellectual security, in addition to developing educational curricula, and supporting scientific research and institutional partnerships in the field of intellectual awareness.
The recommendations called for encouraging scientific research specialized in issues of thought and deviance, by proposing to launch a national project to monitor intellectual trends among young people and analyze them using artificial intelligence and big data analysis, and linking their results to educational and media institutions, in addition to establishing research units or scientific committees in universities concerned with digital extremism and content analysis, and conducting periodic studies that follow patterns of thinking, behavior, and national affiliation, with the aim of early preventive treatment.
The proposals also included establishing a unified national database for research on thought, deviance, and extremism, providing peer-reviewed scientific platforms for publishing specialized research and exchanging experiences locally and internationally, developing national indicators to measure types of intellectual deviations in partnership between universities and relevant authorities, and employing them in strategic planning, in addition to studying the creation of a Saudi scientific association and research chairs concerned with studies of intellectual awareness and intellectual issues, and issuing specialized peer-reviewed scientific journals.
The conference recommended studying the establishment of an advanced digital system for proactive monitoring and analysis of threats to intellectual security, which enables early detection of deviant ideas and interaction with them, and proposed the establishment of an interactive electronic educational platform on digital intellectual security in the Arabic language, allowing students to produce positive content and analyze digital content, in addition to investing in data analysis to build cultural content linked to national identity, and supporting innovation in creating meaningful content.
On the educational side, recommendations included developing curricula; To enhance critical thinking and enable students to analyze and examine information objectively, and propose the preparation of a unified procedural guide issued by the Ministry of Education for mechanisms to enhance intellectual security through education, scientific research and community service, and design rehabilitation programs for teachers, preachers, and intellectuals to understand the early indicators of intellectual deviation, and methods of educational and counseling dealing with them.
The recommendations included studying the transformation of the Kingdom’s methodology for legitimate protection from terrorism, extremism, and deviation into academic curricula and courses concerned with legitimate and national policy and its applications in confronting terrorism, and translating the fatwas of the Permanent Committee for Scientific Research and Fatwa and statements of the Council of Senior Scholars related to the prevention of deviation into international languages, and intensifying their dissemination and facilitating access to them.
The conference stressed the importance of developing awareness and positive thinking among young men and women, involving them in field research, supporting initiatives that link the correct doctrine with building a thinking and critical mentality in accordance with the controls of Sharia, developing the critical sense among young people, and activating extracurricular activities, dialogue meetings, and volunteer work related to digital intellectual security.
He also recommended promoting solid legal content in the digital space, raising awareness of the danger of circulating quoted fatwas taken out of context, developing awareness of the importance of verifying legal rulings, in addition to supporting cooperation between scholars and experts in the medical, psychological, economic, technical and social fields, and activating collective fatwas in calamities that require more than one specialty.
The recommendations addressed expanding investment in religious, educational and media platforms to spread the concepts of moderation, moderation and intellectual security, benefiting from the experience of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance in confronting extremist thought, and building strategic partnerships between universities and security, intellectual, advocacy and media institutions to unify and integrate efforts, and link the outcomes of scientific research to educational and media policies.
On the societal side, the conference proposed establishing programs for the intellectual strengthening of community members, deepening understanding of the correct faith and confronting suspicions, and supporting the role of the family in instilling the values of honesty, honesty, tolerance, moderation, responsibility and citizenship, in addition to adopting programs for psychological support in schools and universities, and launching the “Safe Thought Ambassadors” initiative in Saudi universities. To qualify an elite group of male and female students in the skills of detecting suspicions and responding to them using the correct Sharia approach.
The conference also recommended establishing the “Series of Persuasion Skills in Confronting Intellectual Deviations” project, and studying the transformation of the “Yaqin” Committee of the Saudi Scientific Society for the Sciences of Belief, Religions, Sects, and Sects into an accredited national center for research and training, concerned with confronting intellectual deviations and promoting certainty.
The recommendations praised the efforts of the Center for Intellectual Protection at the Ministry of Defense, the Islamic Military Coalition to Combat Terrorism, and specialized bodies in the Kingdom, and called for expanding cooperation and integration with them in confronting intellectual deviations and preventing extremism and terrorism.
She also praised the efforts of the Islamic University of Medina and its role in promoting intellectual awareness, consolidating the approach of moderation and moderation, and confronting intellectual deviations, its scientific, research and awareness programs and initiatives, and the expansion of its graduates in countries around the world, and recommended that the conference topic be one of the main topics in graduate forums. In a way that contributes to spreading awareness of the dangers of intellectual deviations and the approach of centrism and moderation.
The conference’s recommendations confirmed what was included in the statement of Sheikh Dr. Saleh bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan, the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom and Chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars, addressed to the Almoravids and the coalition forces, and the emphasis it included on the protection of the Two Holy Mosques and the holy sites, and the Kingdom’s adherence to the approach of moderation and moderation and the rejection of fanaticism and extremism, and what he stated regarding the Houthi ideology and the associated attacks targeting the security of the Kingdom and the holy sites of Muslims, with the recommendation to publish the contents of the statement, consolidate the legal roots and directives it contains, and enhance awareness. The danger of deviant ideas, and standing with the Kingdom in its efforts to protect the Two Holy Mosques and the holy sites and maintain their security and stability.
The results of the sessions and scientific research, according to the conference’s conclusions, showed the integration of the roles of governmental, educational and advocacy institutions in confronting intellectual deviations and investigation, and benefiting from early monitoring, proactive approaches, legislative and regulatory frameworks, modern technologies and artificial intelligence in the fields of prevention and immunization.
Over the course of the conference, 9 dialogue sessions were held, while the Scientific Committee received more than 130 scientific research and papers from inside and outside the Kingdom, which were subject to scientific arbitration according to academic standards, and 56 of them were approved and published in the scientific record of the conference.
The sessions addressed the causes of intellectual deviations, their effects and ways to address them, the impact of doctrine and fatwa in building awareness and protecting values, the Saudi experience in consolidating moderation, institutional, security and international integration, the role of modern technologies and artificial intelligence, the impact of graduates of Saudi universities in spreading moderation and moderation, developing strategies to combat intellectual deviation and benefiting from the Saudi experience.
