'ISIS is not the problem' says escaped Christian convert thrown to dogs

A Christian convert who suffered torture and thrown to dogs said miseducation and the silence of moderate Muslims, not the Islamic State, should be blamed for radical terrorism.

Rev. Majed El Shafie, president and founder of international human rights organization One Free World International (OFWI), believes that the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) terrorist group should not be solely blamed for the random acts of violence happening across the world today.

"ISIS is not the problem, before them it was Al-Qaeda, before them it was Hezbollah and Hamas and before them there were other organisations," Shafie told Express.co.uk in an exclusive interview.

He cited at least one factor that perpetuates the survival and formation of various extremist groups, especially in the Muslim world.

"The dilemma facing Islam is not the rise of extremism but the silence of moderate Muslims," he said. "They have to speak up and say they have hijacked our religion and they'd to prove it."

"We cannot afford to be silent," Shafie added.

The 39-year-old activist believes education holds the key to a lasting solution for world peace.

"The problem is the ideology of the extremists and the Muslim community has to work with us," continued Shafie. "There needs to be a big focus on education."

The Muslim-born Egyptian converted to Christianity in 1998 and subsequently condemned to death by the Egyptian government for his Christian movement and evangelism. He described the different methods of torture and abuse that he suffered from the jail guards, including electrocution. He also considered it a "miracle" when sets of dogs thrown to maul him left him unscathed.

He only found freedom when he managed to escape after authorities placed him under house arrest.

While Shafie continues to help those persecuted religious minorities, such as the Yazidi people, Coptic Christians in his home country face ongoing persecution. Coptic Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria recently met with Egyptian leaders to urge national unity in the light of the growing unprovoked sectarian attacks against the Copts. He cited a report that revealed 37 incidences since 2013 or an average of one attack per month.