IN HIS OWN WORDS
Do we need “A Common Word”?
31 October 2008
Published in Daily News Egypt
By Ali Gomaa
Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt, spoke at Churchill College, Cambridge University on Oct.12. The gathering was organized by the Radical Middle Way, a Muslim grassroots initiative articulating a mainstream understanding of Islam, in partnership with the Cambridge University Islamic Society. This is an excerpt of his speech:
I greet you all with the greeting of Islam: peace be with you all.
I would like to present you with some statistics from the Quran and the Sunnah (the traditions of the Prophet Mohamed). The Quran has roughly 6,000 verses. Three hundred of those verses address matters of law — roughly 5 percent.
Read More...
By Ali Gomaa
Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt, spoke at Churchill College, Cambridge University on Oct.12. The gathering was organized by the Radical Middle Way, a Muslim grassroots initiative articulating a mainstream understanding of Islam, in partnership with the Cambridge University Islamic Society. This is an excerpt of his speech:
I greet you all with the greeting of Islam: peace be with you all.
I would like to present you with some statistics from the Quran and the Sunnah (the traditions of the Prophet Mohamed). The Quran has roughly 6,000 verses. Three hundred of those verses address matters of law — roughly 5 percent.
Read More...
The Meaning of Jihad in Islam
21 July 2007
Published in The Washington Post
By: Ali Gomaa
Within Islam the term jihad refers to a large category of meanings. Today, however, there are attempts to isolate this term to only one form of jihad to the exclusion of all others. This includes a conception of jihad that at best refers only to armed struggle, and at worst to a barbaric form of warfare that seeks to destroy whatever peace may still remain in the world. This could not be farther from the concept of jihad as understood by Muslims throughout history and the world over. For Muslims, jihad is much more than armed struggle against an enemy from the outside for it includes constant struggles within both oneself and one’s own society. When jihad actually does take the form of armed struggle, Muslims are aware that it can only be done for the sake of a just cause.
Read More...
By: Ali Gomaa
Within Islam the term jihad refers to a large category of meanings. Today, however, there are attempts to isolate this term to only one form of jihad to the exclusion of all others. This includes a conception of jihad that at best refers only to armed struggle, and at worst to a barbaric form of warfare that seeks to destroy whatever peace may still remain in the world. This could not be farther from the concept of jihad as understood by Muslims throughout history and the world over. For Muslims, jihad is much more than armed struggle against an enemy from the outside for it includes constant struggles within both oneself and one’s own society. When jihad actually does take the form of armed struggle, Muslims are aware that it can only be done for the sake of a just cause.
Read More...
Partners in Humanity
05 December 2006
Published in Common Ground News Service
By: Shaykh Ali Gomaa
Cambridge, UK - The rise of extremism in the Muslim world has led to the widespread view of Islam as a religion of violence, retribution and war. This is in complete opposition to the truth of our religion and, on behalf of the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Muslims who are ordinary, peace-loving, decent people, I want to repudiate the actions of a misguided criminal minority.
Firstly, they contradict the central theme of peace in Islam. Peace is the greeting of Muslims amongst themselves, the last word spoken by a Muslim in his prayers, one of God’s names, and one of the names for Paradise.
Secondly, the Qur’an permits freedom of belief for all of mankind by saying, “To you is your religion and to me is mine.”
Read More...
By: Shaykh Ali Gomaa
Cambridge, UK - The rise of extremism in the Muslim world has led to the widespread view of Islam as a religion of violence, retribution and war. This is in complete opposition to the truth of our religion and, on behalf of the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Muslims who are ordinary, peace-loving, decent people, I want to repudiate the actions of a misguided criminal minority.
Firstly, they contradict the central theme of peace in Islam. Peace is the greeting of Muslims amongst themselves, the last word spoken by a Muslim in his prayers, one of God’s names, and one of the names for Paradise.
Secondly, the Qur’an permits freedom of belief for all of mankind by saying, “To you is your religion and to me is mine.”
Read More...