![A traditional mud structure stands in the Malian city of Timbuktu May 15, 2012. Al Qaeda-linked Mali Islamists armed with Kalashnikovs and pick-axes began destroying prized mausoleums of saints in the UNESCO-listed northern city of Timbuktu on June 30, 2012 in front of shocked locals, witnesses said. The Islamist Ansar Dine group backs strict sharia, Islamic law, and considers the shrines of the local Sufi version of Islam idolatrous. Sufi shrines have also been attacked by hardline Salafists in Egypt and L](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2012/q4/RTR34EV0.jpg/RTR34EV0.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=p0ECOj-S)
Hedieh Mirahmadi, JD is the president of the World Organization for Resource Development and Education (WORDE), an educational organization whose mission is to enhance communication and understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim communities and to educate the public on the difference between mainstream Islamic beliefs and radical ideologies.
![A traditional mud structure stands in the Malian city of Timbuktu May 15, 2012. Al Qaeda-linked Mali Islamists armed with Kalashnikovs and pick-axes began destroying prized mausoleums of saints in the UNESCO-listed northern city of Timbuktu on June 30, 2012 in front of shocked locals, witnesses said. The Islamist Ansar Dine group backs strict sharia, Islamic law, and considers the shrines of the local Sufi version of Islam idolatrous. Sufi shrines have also been attacked by hardline Salafists in Egypt and L](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2012/q4/RTR34EV0.jpg/RTR34EV0.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=p0ECOj-S)