A leading Muslim cleric and senior member of the world’s largest Muslim organisation has claimed ‘Islamophobia’ is not caused by racism, but rather, it is the result of Islamic extremism and terrorism throughout the world.

Yahya Cholil Staquf, the secretary-general of Indonesia’s Nahdlatul Ulama movement, claimed in an article for the Daily Telegraph, it is “factually incorrect” to link the definition of the word “Islamophobia” to racism, and called it “counter-productive” to do so.

“The truth, we recognise, is that jihadist doctrine, goals and strategy can be traced to specific tenets of orthodox, authoritative Islam and its historic practice. This includes those portions of sharia that promote Islamic supremacy, encourage enmity towards non-Muslims and require the establishment of a caliphate. It is these elements — still taught by most Sunni and Shiite institutions — that constitute a summons to perpetuate conflict,” he wrote.

Staquf went on to explain, the traditional Islamic teaching that “Muslims and non-Muslims are and shall remain in a state of permanent conflict, until the end of time (according to Islamists) or the disappearance of Islam (according to advocates of a counter-jihad).”

“If Muslims do not address the key tenets of Islamic tradition that encourage this violence, anyone — at any time — can harness them to defy what they claim to be illegitimate laws and butcher their fellow citizens, whether they live in the Islamic world or the West. This is what links so many current events, from Syria to the streets of London,” he said.