Common Word Conference,
Cambridge 12/10/08
Cambridge 12/10/08
Islam and Modernity,
London 04/04/07
London 04/04/07
Wilton Park Speech,
UK 02/21/07
UK 02/21/07
Building Bridges of Understanding,
Cambridge 06/11/06
Cambridge 06/11/06
“A Common Word” Conference
A Speech given by HE Dr. Ali Gomaa the Grand Mufti of Egypt
Cambridge University
Oct. 12, 2008
To begin with, allow me to express my gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Rowan Williams for his kind invitation to attend this historic meeting, which coincides with the launching of the Common Word initiative last year. We have read your response to the Common Word, an initiative that I consider to be an historic event and a promising step toward understanding, love, and peace, and your response is proof of the sincere commitment on your part to peace, love, and the welfare of humankind.
Your message includes several opportunities for a fruitful partnership and contributes to the start of a new era where religious tolerance prevails. For, despite the differences of belief between us, the great similarity that brings us together is love of God and love of neighbor, which is the basis of the Common Word initiative.
It is clear from your response that you are fully prepared to enter into dialogue on a profound level. For our part we would like to tell you that we share your willingness for dialogue and that we take this great deal of common ground to be a foundation for promoting respect and understanding that will in turn lead to a deepening of our relationship. We hope this conference will result in new, practical, and groundbreaking recommendations.
We have come from diverse backgrounds and traditions, but there is a shared value that has brought us together: the honest commitment to deepening the dialogue between us, and advancing the understanding and cooperation between our two great faiths – Christianity and Islam.
Effective communication is our powerful tool for containing and managing crises. By understanding our respective viewpoints, we can locate the common ground from which to move toward a commitment to the goal of living peacefully in our international community.
If we consult the Quran and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad in seeking a basis for engaging in dialogue, we will find that, even concerning the origins of creation, things were based on dialogue in accordance with the will of God. We find that when their Lord commanded the angels, who were created with a disposition for obedience, they engaged in a dialogue with God. Dialogue represents a kind of exploration and a request for clarification. This is an important principle of dialogue. When I sit with somebody else I want to discover them, I want to seek out that which is common between us, I want to correct some of the conceptions I have in my mind about them resulting either from history with its accumulation of events, from reading books by others who have criticized and refuted them, or from some other source. I want to know the truth. When I listen, much of the ice melts away. When we agree on language and terminology, much of our disagreement melts away. This is true to the extent that the famous Muslim scholar Ibn Hazm said that if we are precise with our terminology and agree upon it, three-quarters of the differences between the Earth's inhabitants will end and we will discover that there are much wider areas of agreement and similarity between myself and another than areas of disagreement.
If we consider the dialogue between the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his relatives in Mecca, in al-Taif, during the Treaty of al-Hudaibiya, between him and the Jews of Medina, between the delegations that came to him, or between him and the kings to whom he sent messengers and letters, if we examine these negotiations and dialogues we will discover that we possess a great treasure that outlines the principles of dialogue between ourselves and others. This in a world where we live in a continuous proximity, where barriers have been lifted through communications, transportation, and modern technology, where everyone has become integrated with everyone else, where ideas have flooded in from everywhere and we have come to live in a world referred to as a small or global village. Every action now in any place will affect others either positively or negatively. As we are witness to the current economic crises, we can see that it is not something isolated to North America or Europe. Rather, it is a global crisis that touches everyone, everywhere. The Common Word gives us a platform from which we can come together to stop and reverse such terrible events for the benefit of mankind. Isolation and seclusion are no longer an option. The only choice is to live together on this Earth. So what should we do? We must engage in dialogue and lay down foundations for it as God intended.
When we began engaging in dialogue more than a quarter of a century ago, we found different misconceptions in people’s minds. There were those who thought that dialogue meant a religious debate that was about preaching one's faith until the other person entered into their religion. According to these people the purpose of dialogue is to come together, discuss, and engage in dialogue so that one of us can defeat the other and have them change their faith. We told those people time and again, "The place for this is certain kinds of academic settings, not conferences wherein we seek common ground and cooperation" We want to listen in order to correct misconceptions, to dissolve the ice, to find what is common, and to cooperate for the sake of worshipping God, engaging in positive development, and purifying the human soul. Therefore, we do not advocate public debates that fuel provocative emotions among followers of both religions. We reject this constant provocation that generates hatred and accordingly instability and division among the citizens of one nation. We assert that academic debate must be between scholars and take place in academic institutions, not in the haphazard way that it sometimes occurs.
Today, in this meeting, we hope to transcend the concept of dialogue and find partnership. We want to begin to administer practical programs based on the concept of collaborative work. We need academic cooperation in the area of civil society and non-governmental organizations for the sake of comprehensive development and in order to establish a just and permanent peace in the world, for the sake of eradicating and controlling disease, ignorance, and the unrest that claims human lives.
We have a long way ahead of us, but the potential for cooperation between the two parties is vast. We ask God to bless our efforts and to grant us strength and courage so that we can enjoy the peace that we are all striving to attain.
A Speech given by HE Dr. Ali Gomaa the Grand Mufti of Egypt
Cambridge University
Oct. 12, 2008
To begin with, allow me to express my gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Rowan Williams for his kind invitation to attend this historic meeting, which coincides with the launching of the Common Word initiative last year. We have read your response to the Common Word, an initiative that I consider to be an historic event and a promising step toward understanding, love, and peace, and your response is proof of the sincere commitment on your part to peace, love, and the welfare of humankind.
Your message includes several opportunities for a fruitful partnership and contributes to the start of a new era where religious tolerance prevails. For, despite the differences of belief between us, the great similarity that brings us together is love of God and love of neighbor, which is the basis of the Common Word initiative.
It is clear from your response that you are fully prepared to enter into dialogue on a profound level. For our part we would like to tell you that we share your willingness for dialogue and that we take this great deal of common ground to be a foundation for promoting respect and understanding that will in turn lead to a deepening of our relationship. We hope this conference will result in new, practical, and groundbreaking recommendations.
We have come from diverse backgrounds and traditions, but there is a shared value that has brought us together: the honest commitment to deepening the dialogue between us, and advancing the understanding and cooperation between our two great faiths – Christianity and Islam.
Effective communication is our powerful tool for containing and managing crises. By understanding our respective viewpoints, we can locate the common ground from which to move toward a commitment to the goal of living peacefully in our international community.
If we consult the Quran and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad in seeking a basis for engaging in dialogue, we will find that, even concerning the origins of creation, things were based on dialogue in accordance with the will of God. We find that when their Lord commanded the angels, who were created with a disposition for obedience, they engaged in a dialogue with God. Dialogue represents a kind of exploration and a request for clarification. This is an important principle of dialogue. When I sit with somebody else I want to discover them, I want to seek out that which is common between us, I want to correct some of the conceptions I have in my mind about them resulting either from history with its accumulation of events, from reading books by others who have criticized and refuted them, or from some other source. I want to know the truth. When I listen, much of the ice melts away. When we agree on language and terminology, much of our disagreement melts away. This is true to the extent that the famous Muslim scholar Ibn Hazm said that if we are precise with our terminology and agree upon it, three-quarters of the differences between the Earth's inhabitants will end and we will discover that there are much wider areas of agreement and similarity between myself and another than areas of disagreement.
If we consider the dialogue between the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his relatives in Mecca, in al-Taif, during the Treaty of al-Hudaibiya, between him and the Jews of Medina, between the delegations that came to him, or between him and the kings to whom he sent messengers and letters, if we examine these negotiations and dialogues we will discover that we possess a great treasure that outlines the principles of dialogue between ourselves and others. This in a world where we live in a continuous proximity, where barriers have been lifted through communications, transportation, and modern technology, where everyone has become integrated with everyone else, where ideas have flooded in from everywhere and we have come to live in a world referred to as a small or global village. Every action now in any place will affect others either positively or negatively. As we are witness to the current economic crises, we can see that it is not something isolated to North America or Europe. Rather, it is a global crisis that touches everyone, everywhere. The Common Word gives us a platform from which we can come together to stop and reverse such terrible events for the benefit of mankind. Isolation and seclusion are no longer an option. The only choice is to live together on this Earth. So what should we do? We must engage in dialogue and lay down foundations for it as God intended.
When we began engaging in dialogue more than a quarter of a century ago, we found different misconceptions in people’s minds. There were those who thought that dialogue meant a religious debate that was about preaching one's faith until the other person entered into their religion. According to these people the purpose of dialogue is to come together, discuss, and engage in dialogue so that one of us can defeat the other and have them change their faith. We told those people time and again, "The place for this is certain kinds of academic settings, not conferences wherein we seek common ground and cooperation" We want to listen in order to correct misconceptions, to dissolve the ice, to find what is common, and to cooperate for the sake of worshipping God, engaging in positive development, and purifying the human soul. Therefore, we do not advocate public debates that fuel provocative emotions among followers of both religions. We reject this constant provocation that generates hatred and accordingly instability and division among the citizens of one nation. We assert that academic debate must be between scholars and take place in academic institutions, not in the haphazard way that it sometimes occurs.
Today, in this meeting, we hope to transcend the concept of dialogue and find partnership. We want to begin to administer practical programs based on the concept of collaborative work. We need academic cooperation in the area of civil society and non-governmental organizations for the sake of comprehensive development and in order to establish a just and permanent peace in the world, for the sake of eradicating and controlling disease, ignorance, and the unrest that claims human lives.
We have a long way ahead of us, but the potential for cooperation between the two parties is vast. We ask God to bless our efforts and to grant us strength and courage so that we can enjoy the peace that we are all striving to attain.
Islam and
Modernity
A Speech Given by the Grand Mufti of Egypt Dr. Ali Gomaa
Lancaster House, London, U.K.
June 4, 2007
Almost two years ago the citizens of London were victims of a great atrocity. Those who perpetrated those crimes would like you to believe that they were inspired by the religion of Islam. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is nothing in Islam that could ever justify these blatant acts of aggression. Islam calls on Muslims to be productive members of whatever society they find themselves in. Islam embodies a flexibility that allows Muslims to do so without any internal or external conflict. This is why we see a vast variety of cultural, artistic, and civilizational phenomena all of which can be described as Islamic ranging from the Taj Mahal in India, to the winding streets of Fez, to the poetry composed by English converts that represents not only the rigor of English verse, but also encompasses the beauty of Islamic piety.
This flexibility is not just present in the cultural output of Muslims. It is an integral part of the Islamic legal tradition as well; in fact you could say it is one of the defining characteristics of Islamic law. Islamic law is both a methodology and the collection of positions adopted by Muslim jurists over the last 1,400 years. Those centuries were witness to no less than 90 schools of legal thought, and the twenty-first century finds us in the providential position to look back on this tradition in order to find that which will benefit us today. This is one of the first steps in the issuing of a fatwa.
Fatwas represent the bridge between the legal tradition and the contemporary world in which we live. They are the link between the past and the present, the absolute and the relative, the theoretical and the practical. For this reason it takes more than just knowledge of Islamic law to issue a fatwa. A Mufti that does not know the contemporary world in which he/she lives is like a person who has the ability to walk and might also have the ability to run. However, they move through a dark path without a light in their hand. It is possible that they will make it, but in most cases they will fall and perish. Muftis must also have an in-depth understanding of the world in which they are living and the problems that their communities are facing. When those who lack these qualifications issue fatwas the result is the extremism we see today, the kind witnessed on 7/7. We have to be clear about what is at stake here. When each and every person’s unqualified opinion is considered a fatwa we lose a tool that is of the utmost importance to reign in extremism and preserve the flexibility and balance of Islamic law.
This flexibility is present in the Islamic political sphere as well. But this is a point that is often missed. Many assume that an Islamic government must be a caliphate, and that the caliph must rule in a set and specific way. There is no basis for this vision within the Islamic tradition. The caliphate is one political solution that Muslims adopted during a certain historical period, but this does not mean that it is the only possible choice for Muslims when it comes to deciding how they should be governed. The experience that Egypt went through can be taken as an example of this.
The period of development begun by Muhammad Ali Pasha and continued by the Khedive Ismail was an attempt to build a modern state. This meant a reformulation of Islamic law. This process led Egypt to become a liberal state run by a system of democracy without any objections from Muslim scholars. Muslims are free to choose whichever system of government they deem most appropriate for them.
The principles of freedom and human dignity for which liberal democracy stands are themselves part of the foundation for the Islamic worldview; it is the achievement of this freedom and dignity within a religious context that Islamic law strives for.
The world has witnessed tremendous change over the last two hundred years. This change came in the form of new technologies and political ideologies. There were also new developments in communications allowing us to be aware of what is happening in nearly every part of the world the instant that it occurs, whereas in the past it would take months if not years for even the most urgent news to spread. This wave of change has caused a complete alteration of nearly every aspect of our lives. It is this modern occurrence that presents the greatest difficulty to Muslim jurists and Muftis. In the past there was little alternation of the way things worked and progressed. Even when things changed it was slow and isolated to a handful of fields. The change of the past two hundred years, however, has made it necessary to re-examine how everything works. Meaning that the way in which Islamic law is applied must take into account this change.
The flexibility and adaptability of Islamic law is perhaps its greatest asset. To provide people with practical and relevant guidance while at the same time staying true to its foundational principles, Islam allows the wisdom and moral strength of revelation to be applied in modern times. It is through adopting this attitude towards the Sharia that an authentic, contemporary, moderate, and tolerant Islam can provide solutions to the problems confronting the Muslim world and the West today. Muslims must hold fast to this tradition in order to stand in the face of those who would use our religion for their own agendas.
Thank You
A Speech Given by the Grand Mufti of Egypt Dr. Ali Gomaa
Lancaster House, London, U.K.
June 4, 2007
Almost two years ago the citizens of London were victims of a great atrocity. Those who perpetrated those crimes would like you to believe that they were inspired by the religion of Islam. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is nothing in Islam that could ever justify these blatant acts of aggression. Islam calls on Muslims to be productive members of whatever society they find themselves in. Islam embodies a flexibility that allows Muslims to do so without any internal or external conflict. This is why we see a vast variety of cultural, artistic, and civilizational phenomena all of which can be described as Islamic ranging from the Taj Mahal in India, to the winding streets of Fez, to the poetry composed by English converts that represents not only the rigor of English verse, but also encompasses the beauty of Islamic piety.
This flexibility is not just present in the cultural output of Muslims. It is an integral part of the Islamic legal tradition as well; in fact you could say it is one of the defining characteristics of Islamic law. Islamic law is both a methodology and the collection of positions adopted by Muslim jurists over the last 1,400 years. Those centuries were witness to no less than 90 schools of legal thought, and the twenty-first century finds us in the providential position to look back on this tradition in order to find that which will benefit us today. This is one of the first steps in the issuing of a fatwa.
Fatwas represent the bridge between the legal tradition and the contemporary world in which we live. They are the link between the past and the present, the absolute and the relative, the theoretical and the practical. For this reason it takes more than just knowledge of Islamic law to issue a fatwa. A Mufti that does not know the contemporary world in which he/she lives is like a person who has the ability to walk and might also have the ability to run. However, they move through a dark path without a light in their hand. It is possible that they will make it, but in most cases they will fall and perish. Muftis must also have an in-depth understanding of the world in which they are living and the problems that their communities are facing. When those who lack these qualifications issue fatwas the result is the extremism we see today, the kind witnessed on 7/7. We have to be clear about what is at stake here. When each and every person’s unqualified opinion is considered a fatwa we lose a tool that is of the utmost importance to reign in extremism and preserve the flexibility and balance of Islamic law.
This flexibility is present in the Islamic political sphere as well. But this is a point that is often missed. Many assume that an Islamic government must be a caliphate, and that the caliph must rule in a set and specific way. There is no basis for this vision within the Islamic tradition. The caliphate is one political solution that Muslims adopted during a certain historical period, but this does not mean that it is the only possible choice for Muslims when it comes to deciding how they should be governed. The experience that Egypt went through can be taken as an example of this.
The period of development begun by Muhammad Ali Pasha and continued by the Khedive Ismail was an attempt to build a modern state. This meant a reformulation of Islamic law. This process led Egypt to become a liberal state run by a system of democracy without any objections from Muslim scholars. Muslims are free to choose whichever system of government they deem most appropriate for them.
The principles of freedom and human dignity for which liberal democracy stands are themselves part of the foundation for the Islamic worldview; it is the achievement of this freedom and dignity within a religious context that Islamic law strives for.
The world has witnessed tremendous change over the last two hundred years. This change came in the form of new technologies and political ideologies. There were also new developments in communications allowing us to be aware of what is happening in nearly every part of the world the instant that it occurs, whereas in the past it would take months if not years for even the most urgent news to spread. This wave of change has caused a complete alteration of nearly every aspect of our lives. It is this modern occurrence that presents the greatest difficulty to Muslim jurists and Muftis. In the past there was little alternation of the way things worked and progressed. Even when things changed it was slow and isolated to a handful of fields. The change of the past two hundred years, however, has made it necessary to re-examine how everything works. Meaning that the way in which Islamic law is applied must take into account this change.
The flexibility and adaptability of Islamic law is perhaps its greatest asset. To provide people with practical and relevant guidance while at the same time staying true to its foundational principles, Islam allows the wisdom and moral strength of revelation to be applied in modern times. It is through adopting this attitude towards the Sharia that an authentic, contemporary, moderate, and tolerant Islam can provide solutions to the problems confronting the Muslim world and the West today. Muslims must hold fast to this tradition in order to stand in the face of those who would use our religion for their own agendas.
Thank You
Wilton Park
Speech
Wilton Park February 21, 2007
The
greater goals of Islam are to preserve and
protect life, the intellect, religious belief,
human dignity, and private property. For us,
as Muslims, these rights have been elevated to
sacred duties, such that no one can deny or
forfeit them, even if they were to claim that
it is their right to do so. And these goals
and values form the foundation of liberal
democracy.
We have to make an essential distinction between Islam and the way Muslims practice it. The application of Islam by the ignorant, however pious they may be, does not reflect the truth of this religion. The pure, authoritative interpretation of Islam is the only benchmark by which we can evaluate the actions of Muslims.
For this reason we need to take our understanding of Islam from those who are qualified to interpret it – and there are clear, unambiguous standards for those who are qualified to interpret Islam – and not from anyone who simply practices Islam, no matter how pious he or she is. Unfortunately, the western media has unknowingly promoted extremism by labeling any and all religious opinions as ‘fatwas’, to the point that the word itself now has an evil connotation. In reality, nothing could be farther from the truth. A fatwa can only be issued by trained scholars. Calling every opinion a ‘fatwa’ has given unseen aid to extremists and terrorists. Opinions delivered by unqualified Muslims have been given strength and foundation by this grand title. If these statements were defined as personal opinions, they would not have as much impact on the general public nor would they receive public support.
Throughout its history, Islam has never been a theocratic state. Rather, Islam created a paradigm for a non-ecclesiastical political system that adheres to the tenants of religion and acts in accordance with its ethical values and its prohibition of corruption. An indication of this is that over the past hundred and fifty years Muslims have accepted the implementation of democracy as a system to ensure justice, political participation, multi-partisanship, a division of the branches of government, and checks and balances. With the support of qualified Islamic scholars Muslims around the world chose to establish republics and constitutional monarchies, and institutional states and constitutional states without thinking they had thereby discarded Islam.
We can say that the principles shared by the West and the Muslim world, remain today. This underlying reality, however, has been obscured by political and economic interests that exacerbate the differences between the Muslim world and the West and cover over the values and principles they share. We can work toward changing this state of affairs through transparency, dialogue, mutual interest, and sincere cooperation for the improvement of all humanity.
I have come to England many times before in coordination with the Anglican Church, Cambridge University, and the British Government in order to build this bridge between the Muslim world and the West, which I hope we can construct for the sake of our children and our grandchildren.
I hope event will be a beginning, and not an end in itself. One of the ways to achieve this is to begin a translation project on both sides between Arabic and English through which we can get to know each other, and by allowing each side to express its self clearly free of accusations. Will we awake one morning to a world in which peace has taken the place of bloodshed, mutual cooperation has taken the place of hegemony, and transparent honesty has taken the place of deceit? We certainly hope so, and it is towards this end that we are working.
Wilton Park February 21, 2007
We have to make an essential distinction between Islam and the way Muslims practice it. The application of Islam by the ignorant, however pious they may be, does not reflect the truth of this religion. The pure, authoritative interpretation of Islam is the only benchmark by which we can evaluate the actions of Muslims.
For this reason we need to take our understanding of Islam from those who are qualified to interpret it – and there are clear, unambiguous standards for those who are qualified to interpret Islam – and not from anyone who simply practices Islam, no matter how pious he or she is. Unfortunately, the western media has unknowingly promoted extremism by labeling any and all religious opinions as ‘fatwas’, to the point that the word itself now has an evil connotation. In reality, nothing could be farther from the truth. A fatwa can only be issued by trained scholars. Calling every opinion a ‘fatwa’ has given unseen aid to extremists and terrorists. Opinions delivered by unqualified Muslims have been given strength and foundation by this grand title. If these statements were defined as personal opinions, they would not have as much impact on the general public nor would they receive public support.
Throughout its history, Islam has never been a theocratic state. Rather, Islam created a paradigm for a non-ecclesiastical political system that adheres to the tenants of religion and acts in accordance with its ethical values and its prohibition of corruption. An indication of this is that over the past hundred and fifty years Muslims have accepted the implementation of democracy as a system to ensure justice, political participation, multi-partisanship, a division of the branches of government, and checks and balances. With the support of qualified Islamic scholars Muslims around the world chose to establish republics and constitutional monarchies, and institutional states and constitutional states without thinking they had thereby discarded Islam.
We can say that the principles shared by the West and the Muslim world, remain today. This underlying reality, however, has been obscured by political and economic interests that exacerbate the differences between the Muslim world and the West and cover over the values and principles they share. We can work toward changing this state of affairs through transparency, dialogue, mutual interest, and sincere cooperation for the improvement of all humanity.
I have come to England many times before in coordination with the Anglican Church, Cambridge University, and the British Government in order to build this bridge between the Muslim world and the West, which I hope we can construct for the sake of our children and our grandchildren.
I hope event will be a beginning, and not an end in itself. One of the ways to achieve this is to begin a translation project on both sides between Arabic and English through which we can get to know each other, and by allowing each side to express its self clearly free of accusations. Will we awake one morning to a world in which peace has taken the place of bloodshed, mutual cooperation has taken the place of hegemony, and transparent honesty has taken the place of deceit? We certainly hope so, and it is towards this end that we are working.
Building Bridges of
Understanding
A Speech by Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt
Cambridge November 6, 2006
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
I am here today in order to try to clear up some of the confusion that exists as to the reality of Islam, the current situation of Muslims in the world, and what the vast majority of Muslims hold to be true. I am here with you today to tackle the issue of terrorism and extremism in order to build bridges understanding between the Muslim world and the West because in this time we live in a global society.
The Islam that we were taught in our youth is a religion that calls for peace and mercy.
There have been, however, those who have taken up arms, killed innocent people, committed atrocities, threatened the public safety, damaged international relations and have thrown Muslim societies into turmoil. Many innocent people have lost their lives for no good reason. The rise of violent extremism in the Muslim world has caused confusion around the world, in both Muslim and non-Muslim societies, causing many to identify Islam with violence. Some commentators from the non-Muslim world have taken the actions of a small but highly visible and disruptive minority of people within the Muslim world to represent the beliefs of the majority of Muslims, claiming that Islam has been a violent religion from the beginning. This view has unfortunately been reinforced through the presentation of Islam in much of the mass media. This view of Islam as a religion of violence, retribution, and war is in complete opposition to the truth of our religion and, on behalf of the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Muslims throughout the world, who are ordinary, peace-loving, decent people, I am here to repudiate the actions of a misguided criminal minority and to refute the allegations leveled against our religion by those who have no true understanding of Islam.
The truth of the matter is that Islam has nothing whatsoever to do with the extremism that has come to be associated with it, to the extent that you can safely say to any terrorist, “you are not from amongst the Muslims.” Terrorists are criminals, not Muslim activists. Their actions are against the basic teachings of Islam: firstly, they contradict the central theme of peace in Islam. Islam, in Arabic, means peace, 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 has permitted freedom of belief for all of mankind saying, “To you is your religion and to me is mine.” Thirdly, the use of violence is prohibited in spreading the faith. The Qur’an explicitly states: “There is no compulsion in religion,” and “Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good counsel and discuss with them in the most kindly manner,” and “God does not prevent you from being kind to those who have not fought you on account of your religion or expelled you from your homes nor from dealing justly with them, indeed God loves the just.” Fourthly – and this is very important – none of these extremists have been educated in Islam in genuine centers of Islamic learning. They are, rather, products of troubled environments and have subscribed to distorted and misguided interpretations of Islam that have no basis in traditional Islamic doctrine. Their aim is purely political and has no
religious foundation. It is to create havoc and chaos in the world. We must stand together as one against these people and not allow them to divide us.
My fear is that these extremists will convince the world that the entire Muslim world is the enemy; that a war on terror is a war on the entire Muslim world and anyone who supports the Muslim world against the prevailing view. I have, through my present position, set out to publish an authoritative picture of Islam which, I hope will give the world a better understanding of and empathy for Islam and the Muslim world and help us all to live together in peace, tranquility, and mutual cooperation.
What we have learned about Islam has been taken from the clear, sober and scholarly understanding of the Qur’an, “O people we have created you from a single male and female and divided you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.” When God said “to know one another” He did not mean in o rder to kill one another. All religions have forbidden the killing of innocents. Rather we have been ordered to cooperate in a constructive manner “And if God did not repel some men by others, then the earth would have been corrupted.”
Who should we trust? Should we trust the extremists or that upon which the entirety of Islamic civilization has been built over 1,400 years? The first Prophetic saying that is taught to a student of Islam is “Those who show mercy are shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Show mercy to those on earth and the One in the heavens will show mercy to you.” There is also the advice that Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin of the Prophet, and one of Islam’s most saintly and revered teachers, gave to the governor he was appointing in Egypt to be good to his people saying, “Do not behave like a wild beast plundering the food [of the people you govern]. Indeed, there are [only] two categories of people: either your brother in religion, or an equal human being. Accidental laxity may come from them, they will make mistakes, and their hands may commit [crimes] intentionally and by mistake. Pardon and forgive them, just as you hope God will pardon and forgive you.”
Who should we trust? Should we trust the extremists or the freedom of choice and belief that Islam has enjoined upon us? The Qur’an says, “Truth comes from God, whoever believes let them believe and whoever does not, let them not believe,” even when debating with others the Qur’an says, “Indeed we or you are surely guided or in manifest error.” One of the problems faced by religious communities today is the issue of authority. In both Islam and other religions we are witnessing a phenomenon in which laypeople without a sound foundation in religious learning have attempted to set themselves up as religious authorities, even though they lack the scholarly qualifications for making valid interpretations of religious law and morality. It is this eccentric and rebellious attitude towards religion that opens the way for extremist interpretations of Islam that have no basis in reality. These interpretations have been made in reaction to political crises, injustices, poverty, and frustration but have no foundation in the truth. Our role as religious leaders who have spent our lives carefully studying religious exegesis is to re-establish authority with those who are in true possession of knowledge.
The source of and justification for much of the extremism and political violence across the Muslim world and beyond is the tragedy of Palestine, which has not been resolved for the last 60 years. We need to understand this complicated situation in order to end the daily bloodshed on both sides. Egypt was quick to answer the call to peace nearly 30 years ago, but to this day we have not arrived at true peace as a result of the intransigence of all parties. Let me be clear by reiterating that Islam is utterly against extremism and terrorism but unless we understanding the factors that have led to terrorism and extremism we will never be able to eradicate this scourge. This must be understood in order to build a better future that can bring an end to this grave situation that is destroying the world.
For over a thousand years ordinary Muslims have worshipped God, engaged in developing their society, and have sought to cultivate good moral character. This is made clear in the Qur’an which says, “I have not created man and Jinn except to worship Me.” “He caused you to dwell on earth and to develop it.” “He is successful who has purified [the heart and soul].” There are more than 6,000 verses in the Qur’an, only 300 of which are related to legal matters; the rest deal with developing good moral character. Likewise there are over 60,000 Prophetic traditions and sayings of which only 2,000 are related to legal matters; the rest deal with developing good moral character. For Muslims the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is described is being a mercy sent from God to mankind.
From my long study of Islam and its history, I can attest that the history of Islam is free of ethnic cleansing, religious inquisitions, and forced conversions. This may seem contrary to the popular contemporary view of Islam but it is an opinion that has been confirmed by a study carried out by Richard W. Bulliet who demonstrated that while the body politic of Islam spread quickly, it took hundreds of years for populations to convert to Islam. Therefore, in reality the faith of Islam was spread by love, intermarriage, and family relations, not by the sword. We all need to learn from history and build a world for our children and grandchildren and call people to work for the betterment of their societies in a manner in which all are given their due respect and recognize their duties to one another. This is what we have understood from personal freedom. Can we achieve this? The hope that we can, serves as my inspiration, and I pray that you join me in this so that we can realize these goals.
Many people have raised the issue that there are certain verses in the Qur’an that allow Muslims to protect themselves when they are attacked. This is something that can be found in every religious law and civil code, and more recently we find it being sanctioned by the Geneva Convention. The Qur’an says: “Fight in the way of God against those who fight against you, but avoid aggression for God does not like the aggressor.” “But if they cease then God is Forgiving, Merciful.” This statement has been repeated many times throughout the second chapter of the Qur’an and forms the basis for the Islamic law of warfare, which is only for the purpose of repelling an attack and protecting one’s self, one’s home and family. There is another issue concerning how people understand jihad, which is, unfortunately, now one of the most familiar Islamic terms in the west. The
Arabic word Jihad in Islam refers to the struggle against one’s lower self. The meaning is fundamentally spiritual, referring to the purification of the heart, which was described by the Prophet Mohamed as The Greater Jihad, the highest and most noble meaning of the term. The permission for Muslims to struggle against and to ward off aggression has been described as the Lesser Jihad. This greater jihad gives Muslims the ability to struggle with and to ward off aggression The Prophet said “The best form of jihad is a true word in the face of a tyrant.” Jihad is also used in Islamic discourse to describe the hajj of women to Mecca as it is a hardship for them. However, extremists have misused the word jihad and, unfortunately the mass media, being ignorant of Arabic and the subtlety of the term has now reduced the word to meaning terrorist violence and this has worked to the advantage of the extremists. The widespread and unchallenged interpretation of any kind of violence against non-Muslims as jihad has confused ordinary Muslims around the world.
We see ourselves as a people who have absorbed a multiplicity of civilizations; we have been exposed to and assimilated the great civilizations of the Persians, Indians, Chinese, and Greeks into our cultural and intellectual life, and we benefited from all of them as well as contributing to them. Islamic civilization places people above buildings and worshippers above places of worship. This humanitarian and cosmopolitan worldview does not allow us to consider ourselves as superior to other people. We are proud of our civilization, but we do not reject other civilizations, rather all who work towards the constructive development in the world should be considered as our partners. Since our civilization is concerned with humanity it brings together both the spiritual and the material. We do not hate life nor do we seek to create social imbalance, and anyone who engages in this has gone against the teachings of our religion and what we have been taught of good moral character.
I visited London two years ago and encouraged the British government to facilitate Muslim participation in the mainstream and support existing and ongoing efforts in the Muslim community to that end. Islam needs to be presented in a deeper and more complete way and to be presented with more sensitivity and objectivity in both the media and the educational curriculum in order to reflect Britain’s true multicultural character. The issue of British Muslim disenfranchisement needs to be seriously addressed, as well as the establishment of a British based authority for Muslims in Britain to turn to along the lines of Al-Azhar. There is no more powerful a weapon against extremism than correct education and the recognition on all sides that British Muslims and Non-Muslims belong to this country just as Muslims and Non-Muslims belong to the world. I believe that these recommendations were approved of at the time I made them, however I find it necessary to repeat them again today in the hopes that you will assist me in making them a reality.
Thank you for your kind attention.
A Speech by Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt
Cambridge November 6, 2006
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
I am here today in order to try to clear up some of the confusion that exists as to the reality of Islam, the current situation of Muslims in the world, and what the vast majority of Muslims hold to be true. I am here with you today to tackle the issue of terrorism and extremism in order to build bridges understanding between the Muslim world and the West because in this time we live in a global society.
The Islam that we were taught in our youth is a religion that calls for peace and mercy.
There have been, however, those who have taken up arms, killed innocent people, committed atrocities, threatened the public safety, damaged international relations and have thrown Muslim societies into turmoil. Many innocent people have lost their lives for no good reason. The rise of violent extremism in the Muslim world has caused confusion around the world, in both Muslim and non-Muslim societies, causing many to identify Islam with violence. Some commentators from the non-Muslim world have taken the actions of a small but highly visible and disruptive minority of people within the Muslim world to represent the beliefs of the majority of Muslims, claiming that Islam has been a violent religion from the beginning. This view has unfortunately been reinforced through the presentation of Islam in much of the mass media. This view of Islam as a religion of violence, retribution, and war is in complete opposition to the truth of our religion and, on behalf of the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Muslims throughout the world, who are ordinary, peace-loving, decent people, I am here to repudiate the actions of a misguided criminal minority and to refute the allegations leveled against our religion by those who have no true understanding of Islam.
The truth of the matter is that Islam has nothing whatsoever to do with the extremism that has come to be associated with it, to the extent that you can safely say to any terrorist, “you are not from amongst the Muslims.” Terrorists are criminals, not Muslim activists. Their actions are against the basic teachings of Islam: firstly, they contradict the central theme of peace in Islam. Islam, in Arabic, means peace, 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 has permitted freedom of belief for all of mankind saying, “To you is your religion and to me is mine.” Thirdly, the use of violence is prohibited in spreading the faith. The Qur’an explicitly states: “There is no compulsion in religion,” and “Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good counsel and discuss with them in the most kindly manner,” and “God does not prevent you from being kind to those who have not fought you on account of your religion or expelled you from your homes nor from dealing justly with them, indeed God loves the just.” Fourthly – and this is very important – none of these extremists have been educated in Islam in genuine centers of Islamic learning. They are, rather, products of troubled environments and have subscribed to distorted and misguided interpretations of Islam that have no basis in traditional Islamic doctrine. Their aim is purely political and has no
religious foundation. It is to create havoc and chaos in the world. We must stand together as one against these people and not allow them to divide us.
My fear is that these extremists will convince the world that the entire Muslim world is the enemy; that a war on terror is a war on the entire Muslim world and anyone who supports the Muslim world against the prevailing view. I have, through my present position, set out to publish an authoritative picture of Islam which, I hope will give the world a better understanding of and empathy for Islam and the Muslim world and help us all to live together in peace, tranquility, and mutual cooperation.
What we have learned about Islam has been taken from the clear, sober and scholarly understanding of the Qur’an, “O people we have created you from a single male and female and divided you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.” When God said “to know one another” He did not mean in o rder to kill one another. All religions have forbidden the killing of innocents. Rather we have been ordered to cooperate in a constructive manner “And if God did not repel some men by others, then the earth would have been corrupted.”
Who should we trust? Should we trust the extremists or that upon which the entirety of Islamic civilization has been built over 1,400 years? The first Prophetic saying that is taught to a student of Islam is “Those who show mercy are shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Show mercy to those on earth and the One in the heavens will show mercy to you.” There is also the advice that Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin of the Prophet, and one of Islam’s most saintly and revered teachers, gave to the governor he was appointing in Egypt to be good to his people saying, “Do not behave like a wild beast plundering the food [of the people you govern]. Indeed, there are [only] two categories of people: either your brother in religion, or an equal human being. Accidental laxity may come from them, they will make mistakes, and their hands may commit [crimes] intentionally and by mistake. Pardon and forgive them, just as you hope God will pardon and forgive you.”
Who should we trust? Should we trust the extremists or the freedom of choice and belief that Islam has enjoined upon us? The Qur’an says, “Truth comes from God, whoever believes let them believe and whoever does not, let them not believe,” even when debating with others the Qur’an says, “Indeed we or you are surely guided or in manifest error.” One of the problems faced by religious communities today is the issue of authority. In both Islam and other religions we are witnessing a phenomenon in which laypeople without a sound foundation in religious learning have attempted to set themselves up as religious authorities, even though they lack the scholarly qualifications for making valid interpretations of religious law and morality. It is this eccentric and rebellious attitude towards religion that opens the way for extremist interpretations of Islam that have no basis in reality. These interpretations have been made in reaction to political crises, injustices, poverty, and frustration but have no foundation in the truth. Our role as religious leaders who have spent our lives carefully studying religious exegesis is to re-establish authority with those who are in true possession of knowledge.
The source of and justification for much of the extremism and political violence across the Muslim world and beyond is the tragedy of Palestine, which has not been resolved for the last 60 years. We need to understand this complicated situation in order to end the daily bloodshed on both sides. Egypt was quick to answer the call to peace nearly 30 years ago, but to this day we have not arrived at true peace as a result of the intransigence of all parties. Let me be clear by reiterating that Islam is utterly against extremism and terrorism but unless we understanding the factors that have led to terrorism and extremism we will never be able to eradicate this scourge. This must be understood in order to build a better future that can bring an end to this grave situation that is destroying the world.
For over a thousand years ordinary Muslims have worshipped God, engaged in developing their society, and have sought to cultivate good moral character. This is made clear in the Qur’an which says, “I have not created man and Jinn except to worship Me.” “He caused you to dwell on earth and to develop it.” “He is successful who has purified [the heart and soul].” There are more than 6,000 verses in the Qur’an, only 300 of which are related to legal matters; the rest deal with developing good moral character. Likewise there are over 60,000 Prophetic traditions and sayings of which only 2,000 are related to legal matters; the rest deal with developing good moral character. For Muslims the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is described is being a mercy sent from God to mankind.
From my long study of Islam and its history, I can attest that the history of Islam is free of ethnic cleansing, religious inquisitions, and forced conversions. This may seem contrary to the popular contemporary view of Islam but it is an opinion that has been confirmed by a study carried out by Richard W. Bulliet who demonstrated that while the body politic of Islam spread quickly, it took hundreds of years for populations to convert to Islam. Therefore, in reality the faith of Islam was spread by love, intermarriage, and family relations, not by the sword. We all need to learn from history and build a world for our children and grandchildren and call people to work for the betterment of their societies in a manner in which all are given their due respect and recognize their duties to one another. This is what we have understood from personal freedom. Can we achieve this? The hope that we can, serves as my inspiration, and I pray that you join me in this so that we can realize these goals.
Many people have raised the issue that there are certain verses in the Qur’an that allow Muslims to protect themselves when they are attacked. This is something that can be found in every religious law and civil code, and more recently we find it being sanctioned by the Geneva Convention. The Qur’an says: “Fight in the way of God against those who fight against you, but avoid aggression for God does not like the aggressor.” “But if they cease then God is Forgiving, Merciful.” This statement has been repeated many times throughout the second chapter of the Qur’an and forms the basis for the Islamic law of warfare, which is only for the purpose of repelling an attack and protecting one’s self, one’s home and family. There is another issue concerning how people understand jihad, which is, unfortunately, now one of the most familiar Islamic terms in the west. The
Arabic word Jihad in Islam refers to the struggle against one’s lower self. The meaning is fundamentally spiritual, referring to the purification of the heart, which was described by the Prophet Mohamed as The Greater Jihad, the highest and most noble meaning of the term. The permission for Muslims to struggle against and to ward off aggression has been described as the Lesser Jihad. This greater jihad gives Muslims the ability to struggle with and to ward off aggression The Prophet said “The best form of jihad is a true word in the face of a tyrant.” Jihad is also used in Islamic discourse to describe the hajj of women to Mecca as it is a hardship for them. However, extremists have misused the word jihad and, unfortunately the mass media, being ignorant of Arabic and the subtlety of the term has now reduced the word to meaning terrorist violence and this has worked to the advantage of the extremists. The widespread and unchallenged interpretation of any kind of violence against non-Muslims as jihad has confused ordinary Muslims around the world.
We see ourselves as a people who have absorbed a multiplicity of civilizations; we have been exposed to and assimilated the great civilizations of the Persians, Indians, Chinese, and Greeks into our cultural and intellectual life, and we benefited from all of them as well as contributing to them. Islamic civilization places people above buildings and worshippers above places of worship. This humanitarian and cosmopolitan worldview does not allow us to consider ourselves as superior to other people. We are proud of our civilization, but we do not reject other civilizations, rather all who work towards the constructive development in the world should be considered as our partners. Since our civilization is concerned with humanity it brings together both the spiritual and the material. We do not hate life nor do we seek to create social imbalance, and anyone who engages in this has gone against the teachings of our religion and what we have been taught of good moral character.
I visited London two years ago and encouraged the British government to facilitate Muslim participation in the mainstream and support existing and ongoing efforts in the Muslim community to that end. Islam needs to be presented in a deeper and more complete way and to be presented with more sensitivity and objectivity in both the media and the educational curriculum in order to reflect Britain’s true multicultural character. The issue of British Muslim disenfranchisement needs to be seriously addressed, as well as the establishment of a British based authority for Muslims in Britain to turn to along the lines of Al-Azhar. There is no more powerful a weapon against extremism than correct education and the recognition on all sides that British Muslims and Non-Muslims belong to this country just as Muslims and Non-Muslims belong to the world. I believe that these recommendations were approved of at the time I made them, however I find it necessary to repeat them again today in the hopes that you will assist me in making them a reality.
Thank you for your kind attention.