Birmingham: Minhaj-ul-Quran International UK, through its Peace Education Programme, held a training away-day in Birmingham today. The event was entitled How to Prevent Violent Extremism. The purpose was to provide training and education to the participants to prepare them to become peace workers in their communities around the UK. The training covered the causative factors of violent extremism, including the distorted ideology and misinterpretations of Islamic teachings, as well as vulnerability factors such as grievances, alienation and personal crisis. The participants learned about Shaykh ul Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri’s Curriculum on Peace and Counter-terrorism, and how it can be used to counter the ideology and narratives of extremist groups preying on young people, whether in their communities or online. The training included discussion about the Government’s Prevent strategy, including its pros and cons. It concluded by forming various teams to continue the work within educational institutions, mosques and madrassas and other organisations in order to spread awareness and help to safeguard young people from extremism and becoming perpetrators of terrorism and to promote Islam as a religion of peace and love for humanity, for the purpose of societal harmony and cohesion.