Islam and Muslims in Korea

Islam and Muslims in Korea

Dr. Mozammel Haque


Seoul: Korea: I came to Korea during November 2010 and prayed my Eid-ul-Adha prayers at the Seoul Central Mosque, Korea. Of course, I also met the Imam of the Mosque as well as the President of the Korean Muslim Federation. During Friday Jumaah prayer after the Eid, I had the opportunity of meeting with Muslim brothers of various nationalities living in Korea.

There are 40,000 Native Muslims in a total population of 42 millions living in the Korean Peninsula with some 220,000 kilometre territory extending southward from the north-eastern section of the vast Asian continent. The northern border is mainly with China but also borders on Russia to the northeast. Though Korea has been having some link with Muslims from the earliest period, Islam, as a religion reached there in very recent times.

Presence of Islam in Korea
Though modern Muslim minority community in Korea was formed after the Korean War (1950-53), the relations between Muslims and Koreans can be traced back to the 9th Century or earlier. The history of Muslim connections with Korea can be initially divided into two periods: i) ancient and ii) modern. There were three stages of Muslim relationships with the Koreans in the pre-modern period.

Firstly, according to Korean chronicle and Arab scholars, the first verifiable presence of Islam in Korea dates back to the 9th century during the period of Unified Shilla dynasty with the arrival of Persian and Arab navigators and traders. According to numerous Arab and Muslim geographers, including the 9th century Muslim Persian explorer and geographer Ibn Khurdadhbih many of them settled down permanently in Korea, establishing Muslim villages. Further suggesting a Middle Eastern Muslim community in Shilla are figurines of Royal guardians with distinctly Persian characteristics. Later, many Muslims intermarried with Korean women.

Arabs came for the first time in 1024 in Korea. According to Korean history of the Koryo Kingdom, a group of some 100 Muslims, including Hasan Raza, came to Koryo in September of the 15th year of King Hyonjong (1024) and another group of 100 Muslim merchants came the following year.

There are more detailed and interesting accounts on Muslims living in Shilla in the several writings of such scholars as Ibn Rustah, Masudi Al-Idrisi and others. There are definitive accounts of the advent of Muslims into the Korean Peninsula 150 years prior to Sino-Korean historical records. Many Arab merchants came to Korea during the 11th century on a large scale trade mission, who might have been following their own religious rites, such as praying, fasting and have pursued their own customary tradition during their stay in Korea. But there was no evidence that they resided permanently in Korea or began spreading the message of Islam in this period.

Second in line came Muslims when the Mongols controlled Korea in 1270. Many Muslims, who had wielded power in most policy-making and administrative posts under the Mongol regime, came to Korea. During Mongol rule in Korea the Mongols relied heavily on Uyghurs to help them run their vast empire because of Uighur literacy and Uighur experience in managing extending trading networks. At least two of them settled down in Korea permanently and became the progenitors of two Korean clans. During the Koryo dynasty, particularly the Yuan intervention to Koryo (1270-1368), many Muslims, mostly Central Asians, settled down permanently. They took up positions not only as officials of the Koryo court but as private traders in almost every corner of the country. They formed their own communities in the Koryo capital and celebrated their festivals and maintained their religion, Islam, too. They built a Mosque called “Ye-Kung”, whose literary meaning is a ceremonial hall.

One of those Central Asian immigrants to Korea originally came to Korea as an aide to Mongol princes who had been sent to marry King Chungnyeol. Goryeo documents say that his original name was Samga but, after he decided to make Korea his permanent home, the King bestowed on him the Korean name of Jang Sunnyong. Jang married a Korean and became the founding ancestor of the Deoksu Jang clan. His clan produced many high officials and respected Confucian scholars over the centuries. Twenty-five generations later, around 30,000 Koreans look back to Jang Sunnyong as the grandfather of their clan. They are aware that he was not a native of Korea. Many believe that he was an Arab-Muslim. However, there is no evidence of Islamic influence on Deoksu Jang family traditions.

The same is true of the descendants of another Central Asian who settled down in Korea. A Central Asian (probably a Uyghur) named Seol Son fled to Korea when the Red Turban rebellion erupted near the end of the Mongol’s Yuan dynasty. He, too, married a Korean, originating a lineage called the Gyeongju Seol that claims at least 2,000 members in Korea today but shows no special signs of Muslim influence.

The continuation of Islamic religious activities was threatened by the Royal decree in 1427 which prohibited the performance of Islamic rites and the wearing of traditional dress and headgear. The newly established Chosun dynasty (1392-1910) was no more receptive to foreign cultures, including Islam. The assimilation policy of the early 15th century virtually obliterated most of the traces of the Islamic presence in old Korea. Therefore, Muslim settlers in Korea who had secured quite high social and economic positions, shed gradually their native attire, customs and rituals to which they adhered for about 150 years.

Islam in Modern Korea
In modern history, the spread of Islam and the development of Muslim community in Korea started with the Turkish troops serving with the United Nations forces during the Korean War in early 1950s. This phase of history can be classified into three periods: the first period from 1950 to 1960, the second from 1960 to 1980 and the third from 1980 to the present.

i) During the first period (1950-1960), the Korean Muslim community appeared in 1955 with another group of Turkish Muslim soldiers who had participated in the Korean War (1950-53) under the banner of the United Nations. The Turkish soldiers, besides their duties to defend peace and freedom, propagated their religion which paved the way for the beginning of a new era for Islam in Korea.

Among these Turkish soldiers, Abdulgafur Karaismailoglu, who was an Imam of the Turkish brigade, started teaching Islam to those Koreans only who visited the Turkish army camp at first and to general publics in Korea through public lectures. From September 1955, they initiated a wide range of Islamic activities in Korea. As a result of his efforts, some Koreans gathered around him evincing keen interest in Islam. Abdullah Kim Yu-do, Umar Kim Jin-kyu, Muhammad Yoon Doo-Young were the first generation of Korean Muslims who converted to Islam inspired by the Turkish Imam Abdulgafur.

For more effective Islamic learning and teaching, new Korean converts established the Korea Islamic Society in September 1955. Almost every weekend they would invite Karaismailoglu and organize Islamic lectures in Seoul, through which many Koreans took the opportunity to learn the basic teachings of Islam. As a result, 10th June, 1955 witnessed the mass conversion to Islam by 57 Koreans at once after an impressive Islamic lecture of Karaismailoglu.

This occasion became a turning point in the spread of Islam in Korea. In April 1956, “Chung Jin Madrasa” was established in the military barracks, where secondary education and Islamic lessons were imparted to the poor children who could not enter the regular school because of economic difficulties. The Korea Muslim Society grew large enough to become the Korea Muslim Federation in 1967.

In July 1956, Karaismailoglu was replaced by a new brigade Imam named Zubeyir Koch who came to Korea just after graduation from Imam Hatip (Khatib) High School in Turkey. Building on the base laid by the previous Imam, the young Imam initiated energetic Islamic Da’wah work through mainly holding conferences and establishing personal contacts. He also succeeded in building a temporary Masjid at the big military camp in Seoul with a minaret, which is recorded as the first Masjid in Korea. In the opening ceremony of the Masjid, another 58 Koreans accepted Islam. Till the Imam’s departure in July 1957, the number of Muslims in Korea reached 208.

ii) During the second period (1960-1976) till the 1960s, the relations were mainly built with the South-East Asian countries like Malaysia and Pakistan. Particularly Tunku Abdul Rahman, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, extended generous support for building a Mosque in Seoul. Another important figure to be mentioned here is Maulana Sayyid Muhammad Jamil, the then President of the Qur’an Society of Pakistan. In 1967, the Korea Islamic Foundation was officially registered and recognized as the representative of Muslim Community in Korea.

By the middle of 1970s, Islam saw a new era of rapid expansion in Korea when economic ties with many Arab and Islamic countries became prominent and opened their doors to the Korean Muslims. Some Koreans working in Saudi Arabia converted to Islam, when they completed their term of labour and returned to Korea, they bolstered the number of indigenous Muslims. The Seoul Central Mosque and the Islamic Centre was finally built in Seoul’s Itaewon neighbourhood in 1976, which is the symbol of Korea-Arab cooperation. At the same time, as the continuation of the Korea Islamic Society, the Korea Muslim Federation has emerged as unique and legal unified body for Islamic propagation in Korea.

Mosques in Korea
There are six Masjids in Korea: Seoul Central Mosque, Pusan al-Fatah Masjid, Kwang Ju Masjid, Jeon Ju Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Masjid and Anyang Rabitah Masjid. The Seoul Central Masjid and Islamic Centre was built at the site of 1,500 sq/m which was donated by the Korean government in May, 1969 and was opened on 21st May, 1976. It was later enlarged to a three-storey building in December 1991 with financial support from Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah.

Muslim Community and
Da’wah Activities
The main Da’wah activities consist of undertaking translation and publication of Islamic literature; organizing regular Islamic seminars and conferences for non-Muslims; opening Arabic course free of charge; setting up Sunday Madrasahs for Muslim children; arranging training programme for Muslim leaders and sending students to Islamic institutes in Islamic countries.

The Korean Muslim Federation made efforts to translate and publish books on Islam. In July 1976, the series of 17 booklets were published in Korean language and distributed free of charge. “The Muslim Weekly News” and “Al-Islam” ) (bi-monthly and bi-lingual magazine were published for informing Da’wah activities of the Federation. and “Korea Islam Herald” are published and distributed in and out of Korea. “The Korea Islam Herald”, a bi-monthly and bi-lingual newspaper was first published in June, 1967. A Korean scholar also translated the Tafsir of Holy Qur’an into Korean Language.

With the economic boom in the Middle East in 1970s, many Koreans advanced to Islamic countries and became much interested in Islam there. Responding to a need of Da’wah to them, the Korea Muslim Federation established its branch and Islamic Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in March 1978 with the help of Sheikh Omar Abdullah Kamel. Regular Islamic lecture and education were given to non-Muslim Koreans in the Jeddah Islamic Centre. As a result, about 8,000 Korean workers embraced Islam up to now. In July, 1979, another branch was also established at the Zaharah camp of Samho Construction Co in Kuwait. Mr. Sulaiman Lee Haeng-Lae (Imam of Seoul Central Mosque at that time) was dispatched in order to preach Islam to Korean workers in Kuwait; as a result, about 3,000 Korean workers became Muslims up to June 1984. Indonesia branch was also opened in 1982.

Korea Muslim Federation concentrated its Da’wah activities on Islamic education and research. Seminars and lectures on Islam were frequently held at the Conference Hall of Seoul Central Masjid. These academic activities about Islam reached the summit when the International Islamic Seminar was held in August 1997 with the financial support of Rabitah al-Alam al-Islami, Makkah. More than 100 Muslim scholars including 20 foreign Muslim scholars participated in this Seminar and had a lively discussion on the subject of “Islam and East Asia – History and Cultural Harmony”. During the Seminar, the Opening Ceremony of Korea Institute of Islamic Culture (KIIC) was also held.

Prospects of Da’wah in Korea
In Korea, full freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution. It can be said that the Korean government is not so much hostile toward Korean Muslims and acknowledges their contribution to the national cause.

Much importance is accorded to education by the Korean authorities. More than 98% of total population in South Korea is literate. The establishment of 200 Universities in a country like Korea with its very limited area, points to the great zeal of the Korean community towards education.

Performing Hajj
Korean Muslims don’t neglect their duty of Hajj. Umar Kim Jin-Kayo and Sari Such Jung-Kill had carried out the Hajj for the first time in 1960 and became the first Korean Haji. Hajj delegation was organized and dispatched to Saudi Arabia every year, including 132 Muslims in 1978 and 104 in 1979.

Madrasah Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz
In October 2000, Prince Sultan ibn Abdul Aziz, the present Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia visited Seoul Central Masjid and donated 300,000 dollars for establishing Madrasah, which was opened in the Islamic Centre of Seoul Central Masjid in October 2001.

The Islamic Centre is currently giving lectures on Qur’an, Arabic and English language, plus education about Islamic spirit practice with 15 students in each lecture. The final goal is to lay the groundwork of the Islamic Education Institute in Korea by activating the ongoing Madrasah, the afternoon school.

The Korea Islamic University
Responding to an urgent need for an Islamic Educational Institution to serve the top-level Islamic Da’wah in East Asia, the plan to found the Korea Islamic College has been shaping up since the late 70’s. In May 1977, Sheikh Abdullah Ali Al-Mutawwa from Kuwait visited Seoul Central Masjid and proposed the establishment of a Korea Islamic College.

Furthermore, Prince Naif ibn Abdul Aziz, the then and also present Minister of Interior of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, then Malaysian Prime Minister showed great concern on the University project with financial donation. In 1980s, Choi Kyu-Ha, the former President of Korea visited Saudi Arabia and they came to an agreement to cooperate in establishing the Korea Islamic University. The Koran government accordingly donated the site of 430,000m for Korea Islamic University, and in 1982, the 1st Joint Committee was held in which details of the agreement are reached. However, the Korea Muslim Federation is working on the project on a somewhat reduced scale for Da’wah College due to such various reasons as budget shortage.

Establishment of Muslim Cemetery
The absence of a Muslim cemetery is another difficulty faced by the Muslim community. According to the Islamic law interment is indispensable and any Muslim society should prepare his own Muslim cemetery. In Korea, most of other religious societies like Christianity had their own cemeteries. Muslim society in Korea, however, had no cemetery. The establishment of Muslim cemetery has been a long dream of Korea Muslims, but it was difficult due to financial shortage. His Excellency, Abdul Razzaq, the Qatar Ambassador to Korea showed deep concern on this question from 2002. As a result of his noble effort, Qatar government decided the financial support for the site of Muslim Cemetery in Korea. In August, 2004, Korea Muslim Federation purchased the land site of 3,800m and established Muslim Cemetery.

Korean Muslims have also established Halal butcher shop at the Seoul Islamic Centre in 1983 in order to facilitate the growing tendency for Halal food among them.

Imam of Seoul Central Mosque
The present of Imam of the Seoul Central Masjid is Abdur Rahman Lee, Ju-Hwa who embraced Islam in 1984 when he was students of physics at college and after that he went to Saudi Arabia to study, first, Arabic language and then degree in Usul-al-Deen. He had a Bachelor Degree in Usul-al-Deen from the Islamic University of Madina and now pursuing his doctoral thesis on regional studies from the Korean University. He was married in 1989 and has three children. His eldest son, who was born in Madina, Saudi Arabia, went for Hajj during November, 2010.

Conclusion
Though modern Muslim community in Korea has passed half a century since the seed of Islam was sowed in Korea about 150 thousand Muslims are walking on the path of Allah the Almighty with 9 Masjids, 4 Islamic Centres and more than 60 Musalla, under the Korea Muslim Federation, which is a unique and legal integration body for Islamic Da’wah in Korea.

Islam spreads, not by Force, but by Good Behaviour

Islam spreads, not by force
but by good behaviour

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Islam spreads, not by force as alleged, but by good behaviour, Akhlaq in Arabic. You can win hearts by sweet words, not by harsh words which destroy your credibility because unkind words hurt the hearts of the people which you are keen to win. Da’wah is not as simple as people consider it so; because it is something to deal with heart, feeling, love, affection and psychology. One can knock down the house of friendship in one second which has taken years to build. That’s why, the small piece in the human body, the tongue, is very important in the whole body; it can take you to the Heaven or drop you in the Hell-fire.

There is one person, I know, though he is a scientist by profession, loved by everybody, from the King at the top to the man on the street, the poorest of the poor, at the bottom, due to his Akhlaq. People say about him that “he is a Rajul Saleh, the good man.”

He is Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef, Professor of Geology, at King Abdulaziz University, former President of King Abdulaziz University, ex-Secretary General of the Muslim World League (Rabita Al-Alam Al-Islami), former Deputy Chairman of the Majlis-e-Shoura of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and presently, the President of the World Muslim Congress and Secretary General of the International Islamic Council of Dawah and Relief (IICDR). He travelled most of the countries of the world; met and discussed many issues with the Vatican Pope and with the Secretary General of the United Nations. This is the Akhlaq we have to cultivate.

I used the word, Akhlaq, in the beginning; because it is a word which stands for a very wide and broader meaning. It conveys the combination of the words, gentle tongue, soft heart, fellow feeling, love and helping attitude, in short, good conduct and good behaviour. There is a proverb in English, courtesy costs nothing. This is one thing which we have to learn when we want to do Da’wah.

However, Da’wah is still considered to be the responsibility of every person, in the narrower sense of the term, which means you have to call people to do good deeds and restrain people from doing harmful or wrong deeds. In that sense, no doubt, Da’wah is easy but it involves many things such as negotiation, communication and engagement and to do this sort of things one needs proper education, training and experience. That’s why, one of the speakers at a recently held international Da'wah Conference at Hilton Paddington, Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick emphasised on three things: Talim, Tablig and Tatbiq. Basic knowledge on Qur’an and Sunnah and some education and training is essential which requires at least spending some of their time on that. Not only that, it also needs some training on how to communicate with wisdom, tact and patience.

After saying all this as an introductory remark, I would like to report what the most distinguished and renowned scholars of the world have to say about engagement and how to do Da’wah and what are the essential requirements and mechanism of Da’wah. Before I start to report that, I must have to say and acknowledge my gratitude to Sir Iqbal Sacranie without whose efforts, it is quite impossible for me to report this. So I am grateful to him. I expect our younger generation to learn from their elders.

Sir Iqbal Sacranie
While speaking about the issue of engagement, Sir Iqbal Sacranie, the former Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain and presently Chairman of Muslim Aid, said at an International Da’wah Conference in London on 16th of January, 2011: “I will talk on the policy of engagement as a part of the work related to Da’wah. The very basic concept of engagement within the Muslim community and outside must always be paramount in ensuring it meets the criteria of the message of Holy Qur’an and supported by the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him). i.e. the Qur’an and Sunnah need to be the pivotal in that engagement. Once this is being clear then I think it is sufficient to meet, to discuss with any part of the society.”

Mentioning about the Muslim population of the UK which is about 3%, just over 2.5 million and the responsibility to convey the Message of Truth, of Islam to the wider community, to the wider society, Sir Iqbal enquired, “How can it be done?” and replied, “Of course this evening we are listening the distinguished scholars and they will go into depths. We are going to hear from them the key topics – how it is being done effectively in different parts of the world or in the West and in the Muslim countries.”

Muslims have been living in this country for the last 40 years and some of the brothers would have experienced in some way or other that we are not being recognised as who we are; of our faith; said Sir Iqbal while mentioning about the issue of identity and added, “We are usually being recognised as non-White persons, as part of the Black community; as part of the Asians, of the Sub-continent. But the issue of faith does not come in; that is realised much earlier just before the formation of the Muslim Council of Britain, i.e. look as we are. But how one judges a person; the one’s actions, the one’s deeds; but what motivates this actions or deeds; but, of course, the issue came in, it’s the issue of faith.”

“Faith plays a key role in terms of how you behave in the society and how you interact and what benefit you want to achieve for the welfare of the society at large." said Sir Iqbal and mentioned, “Surely, it was about time to reflect and it is crucial that the recognition of faith comes in. And that was the question of religious affiliation.”

After narrating the long story about the immense discussions, deliberations, meetings and conferences, Sir Iqbal mentioned, “The one aspect which became so important is to address the need of understanding of what the faith is all about.”

After narrating the whole story of the recognition of faith as a fact, Sir Iqbal said, “The message coming out is that through that engagement, through the wider society, through the people of power whether the Government, the Councils or the people of other faiths; once you could mention them that our faith is not a religion that causes harm but a religion that is for the betterment of mankind and how that is come in.”

The next question which Sir Iqbal mentioned which is absolutely important, which I have mentioned in my introductory remarks “that is absolutely vital and that is the message the way we convey ourselves; the behaviour. The time God Almighty told Moses when you meet Pharaoh you have to be conveying the Message of Islam to be very gently and in proper manner. The tradition of the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he was with the Jews and the Nasarah how did he engage to convey the message across. These are the practical examples that one’s beliefs is important for us putting into our daily lives when we engage.”

“At the present time we are experiencing the concern that we see from certain sectors from the media, from the neo-con the extreme brand is to denigrate deliberately our faith by coming up with the examples of the situation of Denmark, of Cartoons, some articles that vilify our beloved Prophet; they come with different ideas and games,” mentioned Sir Iqbal and said, “This is the time Insha Allah, the Message of Deen has come out with very positive way and constructive way as we see through IERA. This will automatically bring out the better understanding.”

Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick
The next speaker, renowned Da’wah worker, spoke extensively on how to engage. Dr. Abdullah Hakim, Historian, Lecturer and Media Consultant, said, “It is an invitation; it is just giving of a message, it may be a discussion, or but no one understands that is coming out from the field and really looking back at the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and those great duwat of Islamic history it is that the Sheikh has said that Da’wah is encouraging people to goodness and guidance; calling to the good and forbidding the evil in order that you manage yourself to get the best and would be happy and enjoy the life of this world and the Hereafter.”

Foundation of Da’wah laid by the Prophet
(Peace be upon him)
“So really Da’wah is not just a specific engagement, it is a whole process and we need to be giving it to look Da’wah as a process and the best example of that is our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). So we got from the Seerah and from a series of Duwat who led all the people of Da’wah coming from Madinah,” mentioned by Dr. Abdullah Hakim and said, “They were engaged in three major activities: right from the beginning. This is the establishment of the foundation of this encouragement.”

Dr. Abdullah Hakim mentioned, “The first great activity done by the Prophet (peace be upon him) was the establishment of the House of Allah and by establishing the House of Allah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was establishing, we will call today, the all-purpose Islamic centre. So within this structure there was not only Islamic prayer but there was education, there was dialogue, there was engagement, there was even political town hall meeting going on within this structure. So the essence of Da’wah is coming out of the House of Allah the Almighty which is the centre of the community.”

“The second great activity done by the Prophet (peace be upon him) was to strengthen the relationship of the believers one to another. This is really important, because people who enter Islam need to enter into community where there is Islam and brotherhood. So the Prophet (peace be upon him) established this relationship between the believers and bringing them together; they shared their livelihood, they shared their lives. So they became living collectively, they could take in people who were coming from outside,” mentioned Dr. Abdullah Hakim.

Dr. Abdullah Hakim continued, “The third major activity was strengthening the relationship between Muslims and people of other faiths; and Prophet (peace be upon him) laid down in this case the Covenant of Madinah and this was the first time that a powerful majority group recognised the relationship of minority people within the structure. So the people of other faiths, the Jews of Madinah was allowed to stay within their religion and they were part of the society with their rights and responsibilities like the Muslim themselves.”

So with these three great activities, Dr. Abdullah Hakim maintained, the Prophet (peace be upon him) established the basis of this encouragement of humanity looking first to the Creator within ourselves and then keeping that relationship with other faiths.

While narrating how the foundation of Da’wah laid by the Prophet (peace be upon him) Dr. Abdullah Hakim also mentioned that there is another definition of Da’wah which is “Da’watul Islamia”. “It is something, the real Da’wah; the process of Da’wah the whole picture is to spread the message to the people, to teach them what it is and to put it into practice in real life. So it is not just words; education involved in it; it comes into culmination through practical application in life itself,” said Dr. Abdullah Hakim.

Mentioning the background of Da’wah, Dr. Abdullah Hakim said, “The Prophet (peace be upon him) sent companions for Da’wah. In his Farewell Pilgrimage Sermons at Arafat over 100,000 people, Prophet (peace be upon him) was telling them those are present ‘you should take this message to those who are absent’. So most of his Companions died outside Hejaz. They spread Islam to different parts of the world. This was not done intellectually. It was an engagement; an interaction with society.”

Spread of Da’wah to al-Andalus
Then Dr. Abdullah Hakim narrated his recent experience of the discovery of the spread of Da’wah and which is one of the best example for Europe itself. He found this recently in another journey that took him to Andalus, to Spain and Portugal. He stated, “That the leader of Muslims in North Africa, Musa ibn Nusseir, responded to the call of the monotheistic Christian people and Jewish people who were being persecuted in the Iberian Peninsula. He responded to this call and Tariq ibn Ziyad went across and engaged with those who were in oppression and became victorious. As Tariq and Musa went through the country the people opened up their doors. No resistance; historians looked at why is this?”

“It is not because of large army; it is not because of terrible weapons; it was because they were establishing justice; they were lowering taxes; and they were also recognising people from where they were. So the Jewish people were allowed to stay on their faith. Christian people were allowed to stay on their faith; and what is interesting of this point of history is that it is about 40 years period of total freedom inside the Iberian Peninsula the people have not known for centuries,” mentioned Dr. Abdullah Hakim and said, “Within that 40 year period people realised that they needed direction; they really needed to understand what are the message they brought to us; who are the people who are leading Islam and this is where the great leaders claim should be recognised, should be written in golden letters in our history, is Abd-ar Rahman ibn Mu’awiyah ibn Hisham.”

Abd-ar Rahman ibn Mu’awiyah ibn Hisham was the last of the great Umayyyad’s leaders whose mother was from North Africa from Berber people. Dr. Abdullah Hakim said, “When we look at his life, we find during his period that he ruled he was able to not only establish Islam as a way of life; but thousands of people actually embraced Islam on his hands. And I was shocked to find out at the society that majority of people who accepted Islam and was practising Islam in al-Andalus; they were not Berbers, they were not West Africans, they were European peoples who embraced Islam.”

Tabliq, Taleem and Tatbikh
The question then comes why they embraced Islam? Why they changed their life-styles? Dr. Quick said, “Remember the principles, Tablig, Taleem and Tatbikh. It is reported that he did not locked himself away at the palace; he would go down to the streets and would feed the poor, would interact with people; he would attend funeral prayers, he was concerned with the people within his society itself and one of his first acts was to bring water into the city.”

“Abd-ar-Rahman made his capital Cordoba and one of his first acts was to bring about water into the city. Through the use of aqueducts he brought in water, which developed irrigation and he begun to change the quality of lifestyle of the people. The presence of running water, of fresh water is crucial point in raising the standard of living of people of any society,” said Dr. Quick and mentioned, “It is also reported that following this he negotiated with the Christian people of Cordoba. He did not take over their Cathedrals that used to be the temples; he bought the Cathedrals for 100,000 dinars. He bought from Christians who allowed him to establish in other places the places of worship in the other parts of the city. He lifted taxes of the people within the society; established Masjids as an educational centre and a spiritual centre. It is interesting because this man was penetrating inside. This is the real Da’wah.”

The next major act he did is through education. “Abd-ar-Rahman established educational institutions for young people in society; he tried to help all young people in the society to learn to read, write and study arithmetic and also those who were Muslims and those who were interested to study the Qur’an and Hadiths. So education was encouraged,” said Dr. Abdullah Quick and mentioned, “He also encouraged trades. People should learn trades and he increased types of trades that the people were learning. Not only the normal trade that we get in the society, but he introduced paper-making; glass-blowing, porcelain development and weaving. He took the society into another stage and gave opportunity to the people of employment.”

Welfare of the People
Dr. Abdullah Quick said, “Purification of water; education, employment, selfless leader who would come down and engaged with people. We find that he developed beautiful gardens, he opened up public baths; he established Madrasahs within the society. We find following this, he also engaged in mass agriculture. So he encouraged Muslims to be involved in agriculture and they studied lands and introduced those fruits and vegetables which would be suitable for the climate of al-Andalus. He also introduced peaches, pomegranates, grape fruits. So the society begun to bloom; he raised the status of the people and they were being engaged in another level.”

“He did not compel the Christians or the Jews to accept Islam. As one of the followers of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) he developed toleration. It is reported that this was one of the greatest periods of Jewish literature. The great Jewish scholar, Mamum Maimonides, lived during this period. The Christian Kings and Queens sent their children to Toledo, Granada, Seville, and Cordoba; for higher education and through this higher education and advancement made by Muslims during this period, Europe actually became renaissance. We understand now with the re-analysis of history this was not actually the dark ages of Europe; it was actually the golden age,” said Dr. Abdullah Quick and added, “This is not Moorish history in Spain; it is European history; and it is important for us to understand that many of the great scholars of the period would have accepted Islam, not through compulsion but through upgrading their lives.”

Dr. Abdullah Quick also mentioned, “Islam was spread by people showed a superior form of living; highest standard of living; tolerance of other people; God-consciousness in the time when people were losing their faith. So this is a beautiful example of Da’wah in its essence. Remember the first definition, when you look at the word Khair in Arabic, goodness; it is not goodness that is something which is opposed to bad. It is the general welfare of the people. So we understand from this that the process established by the Prophet (peace be upon him) which was taken on by the scholars, by activists, by great leaders moving to the outer world. This is the real process of Da’wah. This is the process whereby the words become actions; people begin to see that the problems they are facing in the society at their pointed time can be solved by submission to the Creator of the Heavens and the earth.”

Islam has gems of Wisdom
Dr. Abdullah Quick said, “As a basic, the Talim, Tablig and Tatbikhs, spreading the message to the people; getting them to understand, educating them, opening up our doors, providing resources to the society to understand what Islam really is and finally the Tatbikhs, that is practical application of Islam in dealing with the real problems of the societies. Today’s world is going through tremendous crisis, we are in economic recession; we are facing with our families, alcoholism and illegal drugs destroying our population. Racism is on the rise; confusion is alive within people on the concept of Creator; there is rise of magicians; there is rise of cults in societies; there is spiritual vacuum; and so Islam has gems of wisdom. And it is really for Muslims for those who are holding this message, these beautiful gems of wisdom, to first put into our own lives and then encourage people, not through force but through active sincere engagement.”

Launch of a Report on Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Hate Crime

Launch of a Report on Islamophobia
and Anti-Muslim Hate Crime

Dr. Mozammel Haque

The Report on “Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Hate Crime: UK Case Studies 2010” was launched under the auspices of Cordoba Foundation at the London Muslim Centre, London, on Tuesday, 23rd of October 2010. This is the second research of the European Muslim Research Centre (EMRC). Though it is a report, it is quite substantial report. This Report on Islamophobia was sponsored by Al-Jazeera Centre for Studies at Doha, Qatar. Its representative, Dr. Rafiq Abdussalam who is head of Research at the Al-Jazeera Centre for Studies at Doha, came straight from Doha, Qatar, to attend the launch of the Report.

Dr. Rafiq Abdussalam
Dr. Rafiq Abdussalam, who is head of Research at the Al-Jazeera Centre for Studies which is a Think-Tank related to Al-Jazeera Network, said, “We are sure that the European Muslim Research Centre is doing a great job not only for the Muslim community but also for the whole of Britain, a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society and I think this institution is doing a great job at the right time mainly in the context of Islamophobia, the rise of discrimination, the rise of hate, rise of Islamophobia.”

Dr. Abdussalam also maintained, “I think the EMRC is doing an excellent job for the co-existence; for building bridges between religious society and the minority and for the cosmopolitan Britain.”

Professor John Esposito
The next speaker, who has flown a few hours ago from Washington DC, was a very well-known scholar. He delivered a keynote speech at the meeting. He is Professor John Esposito, a University Professor and Director at the Georgetown University. He is Professor of Religion and International Affairs and Islamic Studies at the Georgetown University and the founding Director of the Muslim-Christian understanding. He specialised in Islam, Political Islam and the Impact of Islamic movements from North Africa to South East Asia. Professor Esposito is the recipient of the American Academy of Religion Award 2005 for the public understanding of religion and the Pakistan Quaid e-Azam Award for the outstanding contribution in Islamic Studies; in 2003.

Islamophobia – its background
Professor Esposito started with comparing the word Islamophobia in USA with that of UK, vis-à-vis media in UK and USA. He said, after the 9/11 incident, what I notice with major American media, with those people saying to me how this happened? “This whole idea of Islamophobia? It is unlike in UK where the phrase Islamophobia was used first in 1997. Islamophobia was first major used in media until 2001 when Time Magazine asked whether America was Islamophobic?.”

Islamophobia – a Social Cancer
But talking about reality, Professor Esposito said, “This study shows very very clearly that one can no longer deny actually the existence of the problem which I call the social cancer in Europe; the Americans call Islamophobia. But the extent to which it functions in our society, I think, what is important today is not just talking about new entry of immigrants, political parties in terms of constituencies, that in fact, as a result of presence of Islamophobic language, political commentators. It becomes part of our popular culture.”

Media coverage of Islamophobia
Referring to the coverage in the media of the Islamophobic statements, actions, hate crimes etc, Professor Esposito said, “it is not documented in many places; in America major media has not covered the denunciation of the action terrorism, following 9/11 or 7/7, right down even today; the major events such as the imams message or the common word; you do not get such kind of coverage.”

So what is the problem? “The problem is that the media gives coverage of “the existence of Muslim extremism; the existence of all Muslims terrorists; but what happened is a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the population of the Muslims in the world is simply equated with the popular mentality with a threat that is coming from majorities. It is interesting about this that when you look at the actual coverage which I am doing as I do prepare very carefully,” said Professor Esposito.

The Islamophobes
Talking about how the reality is unfolded, Professor Esposito said, “If you really take a look at the reality: how the reality is unfolded? The Islamophobes, the political commentators etc. and my beloved Melanie Phillips and so many others and so Daniel Pipes in America etc, - they can say what they want to say and it’s reported and most of all it’s not contextualize. No one say, wait a minute; let’s take good look at the person or what their track records in term of what they are saying about Muslims; what is their backgrounds? How true it is?”

Media coverage of Gallup World Poll
Professor Esposito mentioned that there has been significant polling done as now in Europe and in America and spoke particularly about the Gallup polling. “Gallup not only studied in Europe but it studied in America. And we can face of so too often like Islam is particularly violent religion; most Muslims are not loyal; Most Muslims are not integrated etc. One can lay out hard data to demonstrate; but yet that data is more often that does not come true.”

Professor Esposito also questioned about the coverage of that message such as: the message extremists they issue false fatwa begin by this what does the mainstream Islam represent? And on the other hand, what would be an extreme interpretation and who can legitimately give fatwa and who cannot give fatwa and then you can have for the first time in the history the common word because of the globalisation and the communication ability to mobilise Muslim religious leaders across the world against the state of that. But how much coverage occurs of that?”

On the other hand, Professor Esposito mentioned, “you can have the most Islamophobic statements made some of which has no basis in reality; who make statements by people who does not represent the entire community, or anybody, but that will make the headline.”

To challenge the reality, to face the fact
“So the part of our challenge today is to face the fact by them,” said Professor Esposito and maintained, “We now have to challenge the society, to face the fact. This is something; and does affect both the image of the west and which can be exploited by terrorists overseas as well as within America. And equally, my point of view, it does affect the civil liberty of a significant portion of our population, something that we like to look on other way.”

Educated people
“I am very happy to be here but the reality is wherever I am either in Europe or in America; it is not the question of the media that is here; it is the question about media that are not here. It is not the question about the people or the audience or their profile or whether they are here; the question is the people or the audience that are not here,” said Professor Esposito and added, “Until we respond to Islamophobic attacks or statements, do we realize that the hate speech does lead to hate crimes.”

Peter Oborne
The next speaker was Peter Oborne who is the Daily Telegraph’s chief political commentator; a prolific political commentator, television presenter and author of the Rise of Political Lying, published in 2005; the Triumph of Political Class in 2007

Continental attack on Islam and Muslims
Oborne said, “Europe has an ugly history of taking out, of manifesting its socio-economic problems by attack on minorities and it does seem to have no question of minorities being chosen.” Continental Europe’s choice of minority attack is now Islam and Muslims.

Britain has fabulous history of tolerance
Oborne then referred to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s remarks and said, “I think Angela Merkel’s remark was chilling deeply coming through the record Germany has in its treatment of minority. It is not just there. We have got episodes in Greece. We have got in Spain and I take comfort, being living in Britain. We have. Fabulous history of tolerance, freedom of liberty; of welcoming minorities. So I do feel we will not follow Europe down the ugly path of, may be, the intense path; but I do think, nevertheless, there are dangerous things happening in Britain too.”

Problem of media narratives
Referring to the Report which is voluminous, Oborne said, “That is why this volume is extremely valuable and an extremely important and I think we have to be alert, we have to educate, as John Esposito has said. I agree that the commentaries the newspapers, the journalists, there is a problem of media narratives. The British press is not really interested in this subject. I can put this What John Esposito is saying is like creation of stereotypes, the vilification of minorities, the use of language is very curious, it appears from nowhere. Extremists, radicals. But it is an odd word.”

We need to find out why
Oborne also said, “I was very distressed by the failure of Sayeeda Warsi. She has done a very good thing, wonderful thing as a first Muslim cabinet minister as a matter of pride I think I do. But the fact that she was asked to or told by the Downing Street not to attend the Global Peace and Unity Conference here few weeks ago, was bad. We need to find out why not.”

Foreign policy
“Anybody, who does not, anybody who does speak out, who does celebrate their identity; celebrate their religion; is somehow treated as Britain shameful doctrine; very shameful doctrine because it is so powerful; it is very powerful in the press. It is very hard to confess; but it is very un-British. Sorry un-British. We have a fabulous record over the centuries enabling different races to celebrate themselves and there is liberal authoritarianism, as no history of Britain and we are total country; we have to make this argument. I am going to stop.”

Dr. Robert Lambert
Dr Robert Lambert, one of the authors of this report; the co-Director of the European Muslim Research Centre at the University of Exeter and a part-time Lecturer at the Centre for Studies on Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews, said, “The evidence on which we report on specific threats to Muslims; violent threats by then relatively young man, is overwhelming and compelling and yet probably for the reason we heard from both of our previous speakers; we will have to do more to prove it,. We will be publishing further report next year, I think, we will have specific report on threat to mosques. I think; violent to mosques and Muslim/Islamic institutions in this country is a serious issue, is a priority research concern for us. In our recommendation, we say to the Government, we say to the police chief. This has to be taken seriously.”

Some dreadful accounts
Dr. Lambert narrated some dreadful authentic accounts. He said, “Some of the Muslim elders lost some of their whole life savings into the building and running fair local Mosques. And they have suffered intimidation, torture, solitary attacks. In many cases they have big attacks; petrol bombing; mosques have been seriously damaged and in other cases, they had on-going vandalism. In many mosques they have given up. Fixing the windows. You know, look what the point is for them up.”

This problem is not going away
Dr. Lambert maintained, “We are actually clear that politicians and senior police officers in this country should have gone to the grassroots level before things get even worse. If you are there going every day to the isolated mosques in the market town in the suburb of the country and you got the English Defence League dropping leaflets into the mosque; you got excrements coming from the letter box; you got pig-heads suddenly arriving over night.”

Dr. Lambert said, “I think, it is fair to say that London is still the target for that kind of media we earlier referred to. Andrew Gilligan will be disappointed if he is not mentioned, again in this context, to mend his business to criticise East London Mosque, Islamic Forum for Europe, London Muslim Centre, anything that has connection where we are today.”

“It is because of the works of the East London Mosque, Islamic Forum for Europe, London Muslim Centre; because of your fantastic youth projects that we have only just begun to highlight in this report. People say why it should be ten-year long. Well, we are not going away. Sure if the problem diminishes within ten years we will be happy to turn our attention elsewhere. But we have to be clear that reductions of hate crime here are the results of partnership work.”

God is Omnipresent in Our Lives and Throughout the Universe

God is Omnipresent in Our Lives
And throughout the Universe

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Whether people believe in God or in the existence of God or not, the divine’s presence is eternal, universal and all-pervading and God will remain timelessly present in our lives and throughout the universe. Having said that, I have to acknowledge that there are some people who question the existence of God, who debated the presence of God. Non-believers or atheists have every right to believe in whatever ism or ideas they wish to believe in. Atheist Christopher Hitchens, terminally ill with cancer, recently challenged the former British Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair to a televised debate in Canada about God.

Before the debate, the Canadian organizer arranged for a poll. The Ipsos poll, conducted in last September, found that Europe was the region most doubtful about the benefits of religion, with just 19% in Sweden agreeing that it was a force for good. At the other end of the scale, in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, it was seen as a positive force by more than 90% of those questioned in the 23-country poll. Within North America, it is reported, there was a pronounced divide. In Canada only 36% agreed with the positive view of religion whereas 64% saw it as a negative force – figures almost exactly the reverse of those in the US.

Televised debate between Tony Blair
and Christopher Hitchens
A Televised debate took place in November 2010 between the former Prime Minister Mr Blair, Catholic convert, and Mr Christopher Hitchens, atheist and columnist. Mr. Blair defended religious faith as a force for good in the world during the televised debate. He argued that faith is a force for good.

During the debate, which was won by him by two to one, Mr. Blair, 57, who became a practicing Christian while studying at Oxford University, said: “It is undoubtedly true that people commit horrific acts of evil in the name of religion. It is also undoubtedly true that people do acts of extraordinary common good inspired by religion.”

Mr. Blair also told the 2,700-strong audience in Toronto, Canada the good done by faith-based organizations, including the millions of lives saved in Africa and care for the mentally ill, disabled and destitute, adding: “The proposition that religion is unadulterated poison is unsustainable. It can be destructive; it can also create a deep well of compassion and frequently does.”

Religious debate panel
In the week that atheist Christopher Hitchens challenged Tony Blair to a debate about God, Anushka Asthana, The Observer’s Policy editor, based in Westminster, conducted a religious debate with a panel of five leading thinkers, asking do we need a deity? The panelists were former Liberal-Democrat MP, Evan Harris; deputy director of the Muslim Institute and freelance journalist living in London, Samia Rahman; Labour MP for Dagenham Mr. Jon Cruddas; former editor of the Catholic Herald as well as former deputy editor of the New Statesman, Cristina Odone and a philosopher AC Grayling who has written a number of articles about the worth of religion including one for the New Statesman entitled The Empty Name of God.

Anushka Asthana enquired what would a world without religion look like? The Observer carried the whole religious panel debate in one of its Sunday issue in the middle of November 2010. Replying to this, Cristina Odone said, “"I must stress here that I embrace the concept of religion as faith rather than simply a structure like the Vatican or a synagogue. When I think of religion I think of the injunctions that it has given its followers. Repair the world, a Jewish commandment. Love thy neighbour as thyself, the most famous Christian commandment. And look upon charity as something that you must do every day that the sun rises, which is a Muslim injunction.”

She also mentioned, “When I think of religion I think of the injunctions that it has given its followers. Repair the world, a Jewish commandment. Love thy neighbour as thyself, the most famous Christian commandment. And look upon charity as something that you must do every day that the sun rises, which is a Muslim injunction. I think without such wonderful exhortations, our spirit would be the poorer and so would our society.”

Jon Cruddas replied, “I agree I think the generic element of all religions is the search for compassion. That’s quite a good departure point in terms of how you live your life..the search for virtue in our world.”

Even Harris said, “the real question is, ‘What would the world be like without organized religion’? Everyone has beliefs – it’s not reasonable to suggest that people wouldn’t have beliefs, mystical or otherwise. I think I’m with John Lennon on this, that it would be much better place in terms of peace.”

Samia Rahman said, “"I see religion and the practice of religion as often an extension of [an] individual's personality and their existing thoughts and beliefs and their characteristics. And so I see this oppositionality between belief and non-belief as almost a moot point. We have shared values. Religion offers many people a framework and a moral compass and they navigate through the framework and through the guidelines that their religion offers them and they come to their own conclusion and their own way of living.

"So I do have difficulty with the dichotomy between belief and non-belief and I think we can look at the intersections and where we do agree and gain something from that, rather than constantly positioning ourselves as the other," she mentioned.

Religion for Peace UK Lecture by
Oliver McTernan at the House of Lords
During the National Inter Faith Week from Sunday 21 to Saturday 27 November, 2010, many events, meetings and seminars were organised by different organisations. The Religion for Peace also organised a meeting at the House of Lords, on Wednesday, 24th of November, 2010 where the Religion for Peace UK Lecture entitled “Has Faith a Role to Play in Shaping Public and International Policy?” was delivered by Mr. Oliver McTernan, Director of Forward Thinking, London.

Referring to The Observer’s Religious Debate on Sunday: “Is religion a force for good or would we be happier without God?” and also a similar debate ran by The Economist online a few weeks ago, Mr. Oliver McTernan said, “Problem I find is the people involved in the public debate often frame their arguments in terms of unhelpful caricatures of the other. As a consequence we very often end up with a clash of perceptions rather than a more insightful understanding of the core issues and legitimate concerns that exist between believers and non-believers.”

“Many secular intellectuals think that the real “clash of civilisations” is not between different religions but between superstition and modernity. This has been the underlining argument of a succession of bestselling books attacking religion and arguing that faith has no place in the public arena—Sam Harris’s “The End of Faith”, Richard Dawkins’s “The God Delusion” and Christopher Hitchens’s “God is not Great—How Religion Poisons Everything”. They argue with such passion that it reflects a religious intensity,” mentioned Mr. McTernan and said, “Another characteristic of such debates is very often a flawed logic: particular episodes or positions too often lead to general conclusions. An element of truth is so often made into the whole truth.”

Mr. McTernan said that if we are to have an enlightened and constructive debate on the role of faith in shaping public policy “we have to understand the motives and the genuine concerns of those who would argue that religion should be relegated to the purely private sphere of life,” he said.

In this connection, Mr. McTernan referred to an article in the Economist published in 2007, where the editor, John Micklethwait argued that part of that secular fury against religion playing any role in the public sphere, especially in Europe, comes simply from exasperation. He quoted, “After all” he wrote, “it has been a canon of progressive thought since the Enlightenment that modernity—that heady combination of science, learning and democracy—would kill religion. Plainly, this has not happened. Numbers about religious observance are notoriously untrustworthy, but most of them seem to indicate that any drift towards secularism has been halted, and some show religion to be on the increase. The proportion of people attached to the world’s four biggest religions—Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism—rose from 67% in 1900 to 73% in 2005 and may reach 80% by 2050”.

Mr. McTernan continued to quote Mr. Micklethwait who argued that what made their concern even greater is that from a secularist point of view, the wrong sorts of religion are flourishing, and in the wrong places. “In general, it is the tougher versions of religion that are doing best—the sort that claim Adam and Eve met 6,003 years ago. Some of the new converts are from the ranks of the underprivileged (Pentecostalism has spread rapidly in the favelas of Brazil), but many are not. American evangelicals tend to be well-educated and well-off. In India and Turkey religious parties have been driven by the up-and-coming bourgeoisie.”
Mr. McTernan fully endorsed John Micklethwait’s analysis

“One of the main obstacles that prevents a more enlightened public debate on the role of faith shaping policy is the gap in understanding exists between the western political/social thinking and the diverse faith communities within Europe. The post enlightenment social/political mindset is profoundly secularist and as such only reluctantly tolerates religion provided that it is seen as a purely individual and private affair. On the other hand believers feel themselves under attack and retreat into uncompromising hard line positions on social and moral issues,” said Mr. McTernan and added, “It has been said that the combination of Westphalia and the Enlightenment have been ‘a double whammy for religion’”.

Mr. McTernan also said, “The Enlightenment, the secularists argue, challenged the old religious certainties, making science the new paradigm of understanding the world. Religion lingers on as a comforting myth for those who need support in times of personal crisis but having been relegated from the mainstream to the backwaters it has ceased to have any impact on the social or political life in modern society.”

Mr.McTernan mentioned, “Thinkers like Marx, Freud and Durkheim who helped to shape modern political and social theory were greatly influenced by the projection theories of the Greeks that saw the gods as nothing other than an objectification of human needs and desires. Religion they argued is a social construct, the product of particular social conditions which when changed will eradicate the need for religion. Marx looked on religion as an economic tool, an ideology that legitimised social oppression. For Freud it was a psychological illness that perpetuated the need for security. For Durkheim it was society worshipping itself.”

“If this is the historical and philosophical framework that shapes current western social political thinking the simple message people of faith need to get across today is that religion matters and needs to be recognized as a genuine motivator in their lives and needs to be respected as such,” said Mr. McTernan and added, “This can only be achieved if there is a major paradigm shift in the way in which the secular and religious worlds relate to one another.”

Referring to our contemporary multi cultural faith society as Britain is today, Mr. McTernan said, “religious leaders need to challenge the fears and prejudices that have so often driven the relationships between the diverse traditions as well as the wider society, leading to suspicion and at times negative perceptions of one another, and to focus within their respective faith communities on those teachings that at least implicitly acknowledge the right of others to believe and to act differently. To uphold and to defend the right of others to make truth claims, different from their own, and to act upon them, provided that these are not detrimental to the rights and well being of others, would be a significant step in addressing the clash in understanding that now exists between believers and wider society.”

Mr. McTernan said, “The prime purpose of religious dogmas, worship, laws and community is to enable people to discover the transcendent – the divine presence- in the midst of the contemporary human experience. These are props, as it were, that are meant to point the way or sharpen our awareness of God’s presence in our lives. Only when people reach the mystical level of belief are they able to deal with the plurality of life without feeling threatened.”

Mr. McTernan maintained, “The political decision makers also need to reassess the marginalized role relegated to religion in the past. There is a real and urgent need to pay genuine attention to the religious values and concerns that shape people’s political thinking and actions.”

“That said I believe it is equally important that the political decision makers respect the boundaries between secular and religious life. No government should presume the right to interfere in matters of belief or to promote one theological interpretation to the detriment of others. These are internal matters of faith and should be respected as such,” said Mr. McTernan and added, “In Britain recently we have witnessed a deeply worrying trend with government ministers openly promoting what they judge to be a ‘moderate’, and therefore presumably a more politically acceptable, brand of Islam. It is almost as if we are slipping back into a Westphalia mode of thinking that gives the ruler that right to determine the faith and practices of his subjects. This lack of understanding and respect for the need for boundaries on both sides can only cause greater suspicion and tension within a society.”

Mr. McTernan also said, “There is a clear need to promote at every level of political decision making a dialogue aimed at promoting awareness and understanding that can help to reshape the secular mindset that tends to dismiss religion as a backward and repressive phenomenon.”

“Whether we regard ourselves as secular or religious, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or indeed a non believer, we share a common responsibility for the security and well being of the whole of humanity. None of us can afford to ignore the challenge of allowing events on the ground to create the level of polarization that could so easily allow the flawed theory of a clash of civilizations becoming a reality. At the global and national level we need to create space for a real and genuine dialogue,” said McTernan.

Mr. McTernan mentioned, “Our Western secularist way of thinking has great difficulty in comprehending how religious belief can profoundly shape peoples’ political and social values as well as their identity. In the West we have grown to separate a spiritual identity from a communal identity. The ‘believing but not belonging’ phenomenon observed by the American social scientist Robert Putnam is inconceivable within most of the religious traditions represented here tonight.”

McTernan said, “To believe is essentially to belong to a community. Any outside interference therefore in the community’s structures or governance risks being perceived as an attack on the faith itself. The failure to give sufficient attention to this fundamental fact that faith and community cannot be separated can lead to the deep suspicions of a government’s intentions. The boundaries between the responsibilities of government and the responsibilities of the faith community need to be recognised and respected by both sides.”

Celebration of National Inter Faith Week

Celebration of National
Inter Faith Week

Dr. Mozammel Haque


National Inter Faith Week took place in England and Wales from Sunday, 21 November to Saturday, 27 November, 2010. It is the second year that this Week was held to strengthen good inter-faith relations at all levels; increase awareness of different and distinct faith communities in the UK, in particular celebrating and building on the contribution which their members make to their neighbourhoods and to wider society, and increase understanding between people of religious and non-religious belief.

National Inter Faith Week
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG), Eric Pickles, kicked off the National Inter Faith Week by urging everyone to get involved in inter-faith activities and make connections with people of different beliefs. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said, “Inter Faith is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the fantastic practical work of faith communities – and also to recognise that it’s when they pull together in a shared endeavour that they can make the biggest difference in their community.”

“Collaboration builds stronger understanding and helps people to concentrate on the values they hold in common – without ever losing their unique strengths,” Pickles said.

As well as aiming to strengthen bonds between people of different faiths, Inter Faith Week also sought to increase understanding and collaboration between people of religious and non-religious beliefs.

The Rt. Revd Dr. Alastair Redfern and Dr. Manazir Ahsan, Co-Chairs of the Inter Faith Network for the UK, said, “Good inter faith relations and practical cooperation between different faith communities are vital to the wellbeing of our society in the UK. Faith communities have enormous amount to offer to their local communities and to national life: working both independently and together in ways which respect their distinctiveness.”

“Inter Faith Week shines a light on the rich possibilities of mutual engagement and offers a chance for encounter, learning and practical engagement. We are delighted that hundreds of organisations, such as faith groups, schools and institutions of further and higher education, local authorities and emergency services are planning events,” they said.

Events and Projects
Among the events and projects being arranged to mark the Week were: dialogues and debates; school activities and youth faith forums; inter faith football; exchange visits between places of worship of different faiths; faith and social action projects; special focus events on topics such as faith in the workplace, faith and family; aging and spirituality, spirituality and health, faith and disability, faith and the Big Society, freedom of speech, and compassion and social justice.

It also included a national photography competition, plays, arts and music festivals; story telling evenings; faith trails and interfaith walks visiting different places of worship; an interfaith exhibition on science and religion; bring and share meals and ‘faith and food’ events; inter faith salsa; youth evening exploring faith and diversity through film and tree planting.

ICC hosted and MINAB celebrated
National Inter Faith Week
The Islamic Cultural Centre (ICC) hosted and the MINAB (Mosques & Imams National Advisory Board) organised an Inter Faith Seminar entitled “Faith & Phobia in Modern Britain” which was held in the Library Hall of the Islamic Cultural Centre, London, on Sunday, 21st of November, 2010.

Fuad Nahdi, the Executive Director of the Radical Middle Way and a Senior Fellow at the Muslim College, London, was the keynote speaker. Besides the keynote speaker, the meeting was also addressed by Revered Canon Guy Wilkinson, the Secretary for Inter-Religious Relations to the Archbishop of Canterbury; Rabbi David Hulbert, Rabbi of Bet Tikvah Synagogue, Berkingside; Sudarshan Bhatia, President of The National Council of Hindu Temples and Harmander Singh, who was awarded an Honorary Fellowship for outstanding achievements in community development and champions a range of issues concerning injustice, identity and social policy.

While opening the Seminar, Dr. Ahmad al-Dubayan, the chairman of the MINAB’s Inter Faith Committee and the Director General of the Islamic Cultural Centre, said, “It’s great privilege and honour for me, for MINAB and the Islamic Cultural Centre. It is a day actually, when we talk about dialogue, interfaith, connections, relations and we believe these are really very important. Dialogue and relations between the faith followers is of course not something new. I am sure that in the histories of all the religions we will find many examples of relations, dialogue and connections between the faith communities.”

“But nowadays it is more important, I believe, than any other time in the past. Why?” enquired Dr. al-Dubayan and immediately replied, “Because the world now is of course attending a new history with advanced technology, more connections, more communications, and the societies now are more closer and getting closer day by day, more than any other moment in history. With more connections and more relations, of course, there is always understanding, and good relations are really needed. I think this is really a moment and this time we need to establish something for the future now.”

While speaking about the importance of religion in the present century, Dr. Al-Dubayan mentioned, “Many political analysts have made reports and books have been written, all saying that it will be next century that we can call “The Century of Religion”. Since the last decade of the last century, of course, everybody has realised that the issue of religion has been raised everywhere in the world.. Many countries and nations are starting to get back their identities and to think again about their faiths and their religions. This means that religion is really coming back to play its role in society and communities everywhere. I believe also the Church and the Vatican can talk about this point because they ask for more of a role for religion within societies and communities in the world.”

“But when we talk about religion, we must also say which religion and how we build interfaith discussions and dialogue for followers. There is a lot of understanding but also a lot of misunderstanding, a lot of interpretations and a lot of misinterpretations around us, in all the faiths and in all the communities, mentioned Dr. Al-Dubayan and said, “These interpretations and misunderstandings never really move from the path unless we have positive dialogue among the followers, trying to get rid of some of the stereotypes and the pressure of history, by starting a new era, a new time rather than being caged by history.”

Speaking about the role and importance of Media, Dr. Al-Dubayan mentioned, “When we talk about interfaith dialogue, only a few religious people are talking about it, such as Imams, Priests, Rabbis and Monks. But now interfaith is an issue of Media and this is good and bad at the same time. It’s good because it brings interfaith to the fore and into the public as an issue for everybody to think about. But at the same time it’s very very bad because the Media has become recently the only source of how we understand others as a reliable source. Muslim communities have really suffered a lot, perhaps more than anyone else in the Media because of interpretations and misquotations and trying to represent it as Islam.”

Dr. Al-Dubayan said, “if we, alongside the other faith followers, do not try really hard to raise our voice, there will be no way in the futurev for better understanding and for better light to come to our homes.”

Speaking about MINAB as the biggest organisation in the Muslim community in the UK, Dr. Al-Dubayan mentioned, “It’s really been a mission from day one to concentrate and give dedication to the interfaith relations; to always open doors and ways for others, to listen to them and give them a chance to listen to the Muslims.”

Dr al-Dubayan hoped this event today is a “step in the right direction to do more work and create more chances to think about interfaith dialogue.”

Communities Secretary hosted
Inter Faith Week Reception
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles hosted a reception for faith leaders and faith-based community activists to mark Inter Faith Week (22-27 November) on Thursday, 25th of November, 2010 at Admiralty House, London. The reception provided an opportunity for Ministers, members of faith communities and local activists to network, strengthen relationships and forge new links with one another.

The reception was addressed by Rt. Revd Dr. Alastair Redfern Bishop of Derby, the Co-Chair of Inter Faith Network for the UK, reminded by saying that this faith is collateral and we contribute to the society for its development. “Let me tell you the faith landscape is a very complex society. Therefore we have to work hard for the betterment of the society,” he said.

Dr. Redfern mentioned, “We have national network, regional network and of course, we have lot of local activities. Recently, National Inter Faith Week, which the Government is again supporting,. is an opportunity to make all kinds of witnesses to be made; all kinds of relationships to be explored; and all kinds of engagements with the local communities and the focus of this particular gathering is to celebrate the local work and offering some interfaith works.”

Dr. Manazir Ahsan, the Co-Chair of the Inter Faith Network for the UK, while addressing the reception, said, “This is the second celebration of the Inter Faith Week. Last year, we had very colourful seminars, conferences, courses along with interfaith dialogues and so on and so forth. This year as well I am grateful to CLG and particularly the Secretary of State Eric Pickles, for hosting today. There are varieties of activities taking place and I am delighted to say that some of them have already participated and others I am looking forward to see. These include the meetings, seminars, workshops and exhibitions and exchange of visits between places of worship and faith and food events and interfaith learning events and schools; faith trails and interfaith works, arts and music activities and civic events and etc.”

Dr. Ahsan also mentioned, “This celebration is not only a one week celebration. This gives us an opportunity to explore how we can engage in more work. The work has been done locally, regionally, nationally and even internationally so important that we learn lessons and we try to support them.”

Dr. Ahsan also said, “The spiritual wealth which the faith communities have if we gather together they can do wonders indeed. I hope, our gathering this evening will be a great source of inspiration for all of us, for all faith groups and we will like another pledge that we will one to one work together, whatever challenges we face , whatever opportunities we encounter and I do hope that we work together and in fact then we will achieve our goal.”

Dr. Ahsan also mentioned that we are going to listen not only lectures , especially the input of the younger generations which is very important and I believe there are three or four members from Liverpool, and they will be able to give us a wonderful experiences of interfaith works.

Communities Minister
The Communities Minister, Andrew Stunell, mentioned that during the Week he had the opportunities to take part in number of interfaith events and observed, “They are all of high quality and great interest to me.”

The Minister also mentioned that we are looking at various opportunities to work with faith groups as being some kind of problem-solving forums. “We are very keen to make sure that those links are strengthened and we have very positive relationships with you and elsewhere.

Speaking about engaging fully with the faith groups, the Minister said, “We want to show very clearly that we do appreciate the works the faith groups do.” He also added, “It is not just the Churches, Mosques or Synagogues or Temples; it’s the people go to them and make contribution to the civic society and we hope that to be valued, appreciated and developed. So we are looking forward to develop that relationship between the government and the faith communities.”

“Of course, faith communities do a tremendous amount of spiritual work for their local communities. Of all the work you do individually as individual or religious institution, we can get more, we can do more; or we would be more effective being together,” Mr. Andrew Stunell, M.P. said and added, “We need to share our understandings, we need to share our experiences, and develop, knowledge and friendship with each other. But it is also very important indeed that we work together in our approach in society and the government together is very keen indeed to help you to play an active party what we call it a Big Society.”

Speaking about the Big Society, the Minister said, “We have got a Big Society in places. But what the Big Society is all about? - The best of society in civic action. We do available and active throughout the country. It is about to make sure that every community can prosper; every community can sense participation and fulfil it.”

“So Inter Faith Week is a very opportunity to celebrate the work you have done. It is going two years and done excellent work and looking forward what happened in the future. It gives chance to recognise our common values and develop partnership and get on with things together and I am looking forward very much to see some of the presentations which will follow illustrate and give us few surprise to the future,” the Minister concluded.

Interview with Communities Secretary
I have the opportunity to interview Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, M.P. who said, “I was brought up in a large Muslim community in the area. I do not believe that certain bombers; they are not typical of your children, not typical of Muslim with whom I grew up with, still common friends.” The Communities Secretary also mentioned, “What we have to concentrate now is that we have to look to those things which unite us.”

“If we see every Muslim as a potential terrorist, that route leads to madness,” observed Communities Secretary.

“Big societies take part in faith communities, but goes beyond that faith communities;” said the Communities Secretary in an interview with me and added, “I want to tap into the pastoral side of the religious communities and to try and get into a kind of inter lapping way in which we can address a number of social issues together.”

Replying to my question about Big Society, Communities Secretary Mr. Pickles, M.P. said, “Our role is to look to the pastoral side and also to remove boundaries and barriers; and barriers to cooperation, barriers to creativity.”

“We want to ensure that your whole creative efforts can go into those things that they are important in the pastoral side about delivering and sister helps to the wider community and in particular to the vulnerable world,” said the Communities Secretary.

MCB celebrated Inter Faith Week
The Muslim Council of Britain held a Seminar on Inter faith dialogue and engagement on Wednesday 24th November at the House of Lords in Westminster as part of the National Interfaith Week 2010 celebrations. Dr Manazir Ahsan, Chair of the Inter Faith Relations Committee of MCB stated that “Partnership should not be only face to face and side to side, but heart to heart as well”.

Lord Sheikh of Cornhill, who hosted the event, said “Let’s have a nice civilised discussion and dispel misunderstanding”. He highlighted the importance of inter faith interaction and went on to say “I believe there is more similarity than difference between faiths”

Mr Brian Pearce, Former Director of the Inter Faith Network for the UK expressed his deep appreciation of the Muslim Council of Britain’s commitment and contribution to inter faith work. He also commended MCB’s excellent brochure ‘Celebrating Faith’ publicised to mark the event and the week. His talk was followed by a speech by Mrs Trupti Patel, Vice Chair of the Hindu Forum of Britain who said “Treat as you would like to be treated and respect as you would like to be respected. Let us work together and let us pray together, let us accept what God gave together”.

Professor Tariq Ramadan ended the evening by delivering the keynote speech on “Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) Role in Inter Faith Relations”. He highlighted many occasions during the Prophet’s (pbuh) time where he showed equality and fairness in diversity. The Prophet (pbuh) “taught us about diversity”. Tariq Ramadan stated that “Through this life, tolerance is not enough, tolerance is a rational positioning. The very meaning of tolerance is suffering the positioning of the other” (For the elaborate keynote speech of Professor Tariq Ramadan on Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) Role in Inter Faith Relations, see the earlier despatch in this blog).
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Dr Harriett Crabtree, Director of the Inter Faith Network, who rushed all the way from North England to join the meeting, highly commended the MCB’s contribution in the Inter Faith Field.

Farooq Murad, the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain said “Creation is the family of God. We need to take care of all the things as it is very much our responsibility”. He encouraged discussion as a ‘faith community’ and added “Lets work together on all our communities”. He stated, “Let us all close our eyes and realise one thing, that we are all part of the same family”.

To commemorate the event, the MCB launched a special publication under the title, Celebrating Faith, which highlights the MCB’s continuous work towards developing inter faith relations and also includes narratives of MCB affiliates about their contribution towards inter faith activities.

Role of Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him in Inter Faith Relations

Professor Tariq Ramadan on Prophet
Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) Role in
Inter Faith Relations

Dr. Mozammel Haque

On the occasion of Inter Faith Week 2010, The Muslim Council of Britain’s (MCB) Interfaith Relations Committee celebrated the week by organising a meeting at the House of Lords on Wednesday, 24th of November, 2010 and Professor Tariq Ramadan was invited as a keynote speaker to lecture on “Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) Inter Faith Relations”.

Dr. Tariq Ramadan is a Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. He has been involved in interfaith dialogue for 25 years and he is among the leading Islamic thinkers in the West, with a large following around the world. Professor Ramadan has written an exceedingly beautiful book on the life of the blessed Prophet, entitled The Messenger: The Meanings of the Life of Muhammad (Penguin: London, 2007).

Messenger’s life
Professor Ramadan at the very beginning of his speech said that for us, as Muslims, it is very important to come back to the essence of religion and for us, the best example is our Messenger, Peace be upon him. He said, “For us, as Muslims, the best example is the Messenger peace be upon him and to come to this essence is to come to the Seerah which is not only the verses of the Qur’an and the message but the way he understood and implemented during his life. For us, all the Muslims, the Messenger’s life is an example, and we have to follow up the footsteps of the Messenger, to be witnesses; because at the end of the day he said something which is important.”

Faith should be visible
“We are all talking about faith; we are all celebrating faith; it is important. We very often speak about faith is something which is in our hearts;” said Professor Ramadan and added, “but when you follow the Messenger faith should be visible; it should be visible. Prophet came with revelations to make faith visible into our understanding but also of behaviour. So this is why it is important for us to understand that.”

Final message, diversity is our faith, our destiny
Professor Ramadan mentioned, “From an Islamic viewpoint, it is very important to understand what he said about the previous scriptures, about the previous Messengers and messages. The final Messenger is saying that it is not the only message; the final message and the Messenger respects all the Messengers. This is something which is central to the last Messenger who is telling you that you have to deal with diversity. Diversity is your faith; diversity is destiny and after diversity you have to learn first to understand and know yourself and to know the other. The verse quoted here means, ‘We made you tribes and nations for you to know each other.’”

Professor Ramadan also mentioned, “In between the conflict and knowledge there is humility. Diversity to understand that you do not understand the whole truth. Truth does not belong to you but you belong to Truth. You are trying to express the Truth. You can get that understanding from the very beginning and it is very important thing. Then also for our consistency out of this behaviour to get another understanding what the message is saying about other traditions; for other religions and for other messengers, it is very important.”

Tolerance is not enough
Professor Ramadan said that when he went through Prophet’s life and he wrote Book on “The Messenger: The Meaning of the Life of Muhammad”, he just realised two or three things which he put into two main important lessons; “first one is that through this life what you get is that tolerance is not enough; tolerance is a rational positioning; is that I tolerate your presence with my mind because I have no means to remove you from the picture and the very essence of tolerance is suffering of the presence of the other.”

Accept the Will of God
“This is the very meaning of tolerance from the Islamic viewpoint; you will find exactly the same in Christianity, in Judaism, in Hinduism and in Buddhism. You have to even accept beyond that,” said Professor Ramadan and added, “The acceptance is to accept the Will of God and God wants the diversity. He wants the diversity as your destiny; so you have to go from acceptance towards respect and the difference between acceptance and respect that you have to personally committed to this presence of the other, meaning respect is based on the knowledge of the other.”

Knowledge, listening and talk
It is important to understand every single step of the Prophet’s life. Professor Ramadan said, “It is not only to accept what God is showing but your deep acceptance through the spirituality to go towards knowledge, to know the other and to know the other is not for you to talk only but is for you also to listen, based on knowledge; listening what the people has to say. Dialogue is not I talk and you listen that talk; but I will listen.”

We have a message, There is one God
Professor Ramadan reminded the stories of Moses. According to the Qur’an, when Moses is facing the Christians, they are asking him: are you going to speak first or us? Show me what you have to say. Professor Ramadan said, “Even in the dialogue, the very beginning is to listen. So we get this overall understanding. When we come to the life of Messenger here we have message and we have behaviour. We have a way of dealing with it; we have a witness of this; we have an example and we have a model. What is important here is for us, that the Prophet peace be upon him was repeating and that comes a new message, what was coming before and for us the essential thing that was there that there is one God, the one God, it is the central, the Tawheed. This is why it is understood Ahlul Kitab, the people who were following Book that was revealed, are following this very message that there is one God.”

There is meaning in our life
“And there is one God means that there is meaning in our life. Professor Ramadan wanted to stress on this. He said, “Very often in our interfaith dialogue, Islah, life has a meaning. We are coming from God and to Him we are going back; so it means that we have a responsibility to keep this meaning. When Prophet peace be upon him came to Madina, what he did in Madina? In Madina when he was dealing with society is not just doing the is doing in the night is to change during the day. So there is a connection here between the spirituality and faith in action.”

Seerah of the Prophet – humility
What teaching we get from diversity? From this diversity what should we do and why it is important? Professor Ramadan said, “The first teaching of diversity that we had is the important of Seerah of the Messenger, the Prophet peace be upon him is really humility; is at the same time to belief that you have the Truth and you follow the Truth; because you are the believers and that this is the Truth that He is the Truth. So following something that I deeply belief in Truth but the Truth is telling me there are other religions and the other ways; so you have to deal with this diversity that it will help you to be better yourselves.”

“Someone telling us I am not learning despite of respecting, despite of their differences because they are different, your differences help me to be better. So the fact that you are helping me to know who I want to be,” said Professor Ramadan and added, “So the difference is an asset, as it could be if you don’t have faith, if you don’t have some understanding, something could be a liability, a problem and a challenge per se.

Confirmation of faith
Then Professor Ramadan mentioned some of the teachings we learned from the very beginning is that when the Messenger was first trying to get them answer; he left the people and went to Hera and he was asking God to give him an answer. “The first confirmation just after the first revelation that there is something what you are saying right, there is something what you got;” mentioned Professor Ramadan and said, “So confirming the very essence of faith and saying something that you will never and we should never forget, because something you are coming with Truth, as oath and love and you are going to be loved by people. Face animosity, face enemy. We have to be clear on that. We should spread peace knowing that some responses as we can see today are not outgoing with full of love. So this is the starting point.”

Face animosity, face enemy
Professor Ramadan also reminded, “It’s a Christian telling to a Muslim, the last Messenger that the people are going to reject what you are coming with because some people are moved by interest, money, power. Know that your responsibility: if you are coming with meaning is to resist this obsession of power, this idolatry. Idolatry is exacting this. So you got this from the Christian. The Messenger did not understand at the beginning; he said: ‘Are they going to reject me?’ He said, ‘yes, this is the fate of the Messenger.’ So it’s a Christian teaching and just telling that you are following the steps of a long tradition.”

Question of meaning
Then oppression really and eventually came and after the oppression, what did the Messenger say and what did he do? Professor Ramadan said, “Wahi, this revelation, this inspiration coming from God, ‘Go to the Christian ruler; he is working with justice,’ saying to the Muslims it is not a question of love; it is a question of meaning, go and he will protect you; because he is a believer and he is acting as a just ruler.”

Halful Fadul Pact
Professor Ramadan mentioned another agreement, Halful Fadul pact which was made before the arrival of Islam. Professor Ramadan said, “Remember that when after years the Prophet got the revelation he said one day I was in a home and in this home was a jadal; we had a pact - the pact of the future, the Halful Fadul. It was all about justice; it was before Islam; but if now myself as a Muslim, I had to come back to this Pact, I will come back to it; why? Because it was before Islam but it is Islamic principle; telling you that it was not you follow only what is coming from your religion, because some principles are coming from outside; they are rooted in your tradition but coming from other people.”

Principles are principles from wherever they come
“You can find them in Christianity, you can find them in Judaism, you can find them in Jewish, Christian people, Hindu people, Buddhist people and even non-religious people and non-believers sometimes they abide by principles that you will find them what we are losing; this diversity could help you and this is what he was saying about Halful Fadul telling to Muslims: be careful principles are principles from wherever they come,” said Professor Ramadan.

Asking the Christians to come
Professor Ramadan mentioned some of the things which need education and understanding. He said we can get this from the life of the Prophet peace be upon him. He said, “We can get this teaching from his life and then also some of the stories that we had asking the Christians to come and the verse was just quoted now, Ya Ahlil Kitab, O, People of the Book, come to the common world; we have to talk and we want to listen. Then access is this that there is one God; but let us come together. It was said in some of the Traditions that you pray within the Mosque. It was allowed that the prophet and there was discussions mainstream is saying it happened this respect towards Christianity; and look at this because you are referring Khalifa Omar to Jerusalem and al-Quds; he refused to pray in the Church; why?”

Prophet allowed Christians to pray in Mosque and
Omar refused to pray in Church
Professor Ramadan narrated, “The Prophet peace be upon him welcomed the Christians and he let them to pray within the Mosque; but when Omar went to al-Quds he refused to pray in the Church and he said people after me win here and they will agree to destroy the Church; sending the message that we value the very essence of what the Church is, he knew human beings. The human beings are sometimes distorted memory and distorted respect. Here we have again story coming with someone who was Companion of the Messenger and telling us how we have to act and more than that.”

Madina Agreement with Jews – equality
Then Professor Ramadan also mentioned about the Madina Covenant with the Jews. He said, “When the Messenger arrived in Madina and he said to the Jewish tribes that he wanted to come into a common agreement; equality, respecting them; la ikraha fith deen; I am not going to convert people; respect who you are; so we have a common agreement. So this would be something which has to do with the rule of law; that we abide by the same law; same rights and the same duties at the same time.”

Political struggle
“Even after this, in some of the struggles with some of the Christians or Jewish tribes, the Messenger was able to differentiate between political reasons and the essence of mutual respect protecting some of the Jewish tribes while having problems with other tribes but he was not confusing,” mentioned Professor Ramadan and said, “It is very important for us not to confuse political struggle and not respecting the freedom of religion of the other. So I think this is something which is coming from his life and to end with this example in Madina and this is very essence of diversity and equality.”

Self-critical is important
Professor Ramadan said, “Self-critical is important. We are not coming back to the past to forget the failures of the present; we are coming back to the past to know our responsibility to change the present; it is the past to change the present and it is not the past to forget the failures of the present. This is something which is quite important in the critical thinking that is very important as Muslims.”

Secular society
Speaking about secular society, Professor Ramadan said, “We have to reach out, we have a responsibility to reach out within our society and to stop of talking about secular society which is not concerned with religion. Secular society does not mean that there is no religion; secular society means there is a neutral space where we respect each other, it is not disappear. So the people who are transforming a secular society into an ideology of secularism you have to disappear; it is dangerous for all of us.”

Love and Family
Then Professor Ramadan mentioned about his experience in South America when he met people who are connected to the Roman Catholic Church. Professor Ramadan said, “We are talking about love. If you love God, at the end of the verse is, God will love you. When you look at the Messenger and the Prophet, peace be upon him, it is all about loving God. It is just to serve Him because he loves Him. We have to come with this.”

Professor Ramadan also spoke about family. He said, “Come back to the centrality of family and I don’t know what you feel about this; but Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, we all care about the very essence of family life in our society and its future. We are following into the footsteps of people who told them: be careful about your wives, your husbands, your kids.”

Superficial of understanding of Religion
Professor Ramadan mentioned his dialogue recently with someone who wrote a book saying God is not Great. “Which kind of meaning? What are you attacking?” said Professor Ramadan and added, “Sometimes it is very much a question of people of misunderstanding and the very superficial of understanding of religion. People sometimes are rejecting religion because they have a very superficial understanding and we have to come to our principles to say this.”

Final word on Interfaith
Professor Ramadan said the final word on interfaith dialogue is “We have to work on this. Interfaith dialogue is not speaking about the common values, it is to put in the middle, challenges, projects and we have to be involved together and to come us together with our respective values.”