Lord Sheikh on Muslims, Extremism and Islam

Lord Sheikh on Muslims, Extremism and Islam

At the House of Lords

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom delivered a speech in the House of Lords in which Her Majesty said that measures will be brought forward to promote social cohesion and protect people by tackling extremism. There was discussion and debate on this speech at the House of Lords. Lord Sheikh and Lord Ahmed among others participated in this debate and discussion. I had the opportunity to interview Lord Sheikh on Islam, Muslims and Extremism. Lord Sheikh from the Conservative Party focussed on several points about the Muslim community.

Positive aspects of the Muslim Community

Lord Sheikh first of all mentioned the positive aspects of the Muslim Community. He said, “There are more than 3 million Muslims in the United Kingdom, and they have contributed significantly to Britain in all walks of life. We must remember and respect the positive aspects of British Muslims. There are Muslim philanthropists and entrepreneurs, and we also have successful Muslims in the professions, politics, academia, in the media and on the sports field. Having said that, I realise that Muslims are going through a critical phase, and there are problems associated with some sections of the community.”

Criticism against Muslims based on misunderstandings

Lord Sheikh mentioned about some criticisms against the Muslim Community which are deliberate and based on misunderstandings. He said, “Muslims have been severely criticised in some quarters. Some of the criticism is not at all justified but is either deliberate or based on misunderstandings. We have been and are subjected to Islamophobia in some parts of the media and by a few politicians and organisations—I believe they have their own agenda. The attacks on us are now regular, and some people feel that it is fair game to have a go at Muslims.

Rise of Islamophobia

Speaking about Islamophobia, Lord Sheikh told me, “We are suffering weekly attacks. The problem is: there is a tiny minority; we accept that we are all painted with the same brush. Though Islamophobia is coming in different shapes and in different forms and we are all sufferings. Some of it is hate crime; some of it is discrimination, some of it is quite overt actions; somebody is wearing niqab or hijab or somebody in beard or skull cap; so this is happening.”

Lord Sheikh also mentioned, “Islamophobia can arise because of two reasons: It is deliberate, because people have their own agenda. Secondly it is misunderstanding. People do not understand the other religions. It is up to us to tell everybody what are our ideas regarding Jihad, about Suicide bombing; about rules of engagement in Islam. Islam does not permit forcible conversion; it is in the Qur’an and it is up to us to tell the world what Islam is all about. I am a Muslim leader and it is up to us, one of us to tell about Islamic principal values. Islam is a religion of peace and we need to tell.”

Muslims are integrating 

Lord Sheikh is a patron of six Muslim and non-Muslims organisations. He founded and chair of the Conservative Muslim Forum. He was approached by several Muslim leaders to look at the current problems affecting the Muslim Community. Lord Sheikh did some research and mentioned just three findings. He said, “Some 75% of Muslims believe that they are integrating into British society, whereas only 47% of British people opine that they are doing so. Muslims in Britain are overwhelmingly young, and the performance of some Muslims at schools is low. Some 46% of British Muslims live in the most deprived 10% of areas in the United Kingdom.”

Lord Sheikh told me, “70% Muslims believe that they are integrating into the main society. Yes, this is the statistics; they feel that they are integrating. There are quite a large number of Muslims who feel they are British; but on the other hand, the British don’t feel that we are integrating. I honestly believe; you can be a British and you can be a Muslim. Likewise, you can be a British and you can be a Jew. You can be a British and you can be a Buddhist. You can be a British and you can be Christian. So we can do that and the great thing about this country is this that this country allows to practice religion; there is no restriction on the women; they can do and wear whatever. But in certain other countries there are restrictions.”

Lord Sheikh identified five issues

Lord Sheikh have travelled recently to various parts of the country, identified a number of issues and prepared a report. He said, “Over the past year I have travelled to various parts of the country and talked to leaders of mosques, imams, heads of community centres and members of the community. About two weeks ago I was the keynote speaker at a gathering of more than 2,000 Muslims in Birmingham, many of whom spoke to me afterwards. I have now identified a number of issues, which total 23 points, and have prepared a report on them. I do not have time to mention them all today, but I will state five—radicalisation, education standards, lack of engagement with the young, deprivation, and the Prevent strategy not being effective.”

Muslims feel the Government have

not engaged with them

Lord Sheikh mentioned in his speech he have been asked by several Muslims to make it known to the Government that they have not engaged adequately with the community. He said, “I, too, feel that that has been lacking. We feel that the Government should do more to interact with the right people, look at the various problems and help the community to take positive actions.”

“In addressing the problems we need the involvement of the Muslim community, the Government, the police, schools, local authorities and the relevant agencies. We are trying to raise awareness that there is also an onus on the Muslim community to be honest and realise that there are problems, and to take positive actions to remedy the issues as part of a holistic approach in conjunction with others,” said Lord Sheikh.

Lack of Communications

Lord Sheikh told me in my interview with him, “Lack of communications with the Muslims is undoubtedly happened. Look; for example, they talk to some people; some people have got their own agenda. There is not enough interaction between the Government and the right people There are some very very good people; not the extremists; we are not extremists”

Community have to take the responsibility

Lord Sheikh also told me, “Yes, we have to take responsibility. For example, we must tell the youngsters what is Islam all about; we must interact with the young; and this is lacking in some sections and in some Mosques. I would like to have every Mosque at least to have one youngsters and one woman on the board so that we can interact with the young people. The Sermons, I believe, have to be in English wherever it is possible. I have been in Mosques where I don’t mind Imams speaking in Bengali; Gujarati or Urdu; but you could have another Imam who could speak in English. Khutba must cover what is happening in the world now and telling the Islamic point of view.”

Radicalisation

While assessing radicalisation, Lord Sheikh mentioned in his speech at the House of Lords that it has been brought about partly by the actions of the West. He said, “In assessing radicalisation we must realise that this has been partly brought about by the actions of the West, including the United Kingdom, overseas. The action of a tiny minority of the young in being radicalised could be born out of frustration, but we must do what we can to allay these feelings.”

Lord Sheikh mentioned first about the invasion of Iraq. He said, “When the United Kingdom, together with the United States, decided unilaterally to invade Iraq, there was no adequate plan for action to be taken after Saddam Hussein was toppled. A vacuum was created that led subsequently to violence, death and destruction, and to al-Qaeda in Iraq taking root in the country. It also created a severe rift between the Sunnis and the Shias.”

Then, Lord Sheikh mentioned, as for example, about Libya and Afghanistan. He said, “We bombed Libya without an adequate plan to be implemented after Gaddafi was got rid of. We invaded Afghanistan without realising the consequences. In future, the United Kingdom must have an adequate plan and think of all the consequences and implications before glibly invading any territory.”

Double Standards in Gaza and Palestine

Speaking about the issues of Gaza and Palestine in the House of Lords, Lord Sheikh said the double standards. He said, “We also have double standards when looking at the issues of Gaza and Palestine, and this is causing disquiet among Muslims. We need a more balanced and equitable approach to these issues, and we could begin by recognising Palestine as an independent state.”

ISIS doings are not at all Islamic

Referring to the ISIS barbaric actions, Lord Sheikh mentioned those doings are not at all Islamic. He said in his speech at the House of Lords, “Over the last year we have seen the rise of ISIS—or Daesh, as I prefer to call them. What they are doing is not at all Islamic, and their interpretation of our glorious religion is totally wrong. It is imperative for the imams, Muslim leaders and parents, together with everyone in the community, to explain to the young the true values of Islam. In order to combat radicalisation, we must also use social media effectively to block information that unduly influences young people, and to convey the true message of Islam.”

Islam does not permit terrorism.

While talking about combating radicalisation, Lord Sheikh categorically declared that Islam does not permit terrorism. He said, “Both the media and politicians should not refer to terrorism as Islamic, because Islam does not permit terrorism. They must use appropriate language. The word jihad is misused, as jihad involves internal and external struggle to do one’s utmost for good.”

Extensive and balanced research

needed to combat extremism

While talking about measures to be undertaken to combat extremism, Lord Sheikh suggested an extensive and balanced research needed. He said, “In deciding on measures to combat extremism, we must undertake extensive and balanced research. The Government must understand the challenging issues facing the Muslim community. The Prevent agenda has created some problems and needs to be reappraised. Some have even described it as toxic. Sometimes, the Government are ill advised in taking action. For example, I was told that the letter written to mosques in January of this year by the right honourable Eric Pickles was not well received by some members of the community.”

The Government must win Muslims’ support

Lord Sheikh agreed with the government on counter-extremism measures and wanted the Government to win the support of the Muslim community. He said in his speech, “I agree that counter-extremism measures must be firm, but they should not be fierce and should not alienate the community. The Government must win the support of the Muslim community and must not be seen as the big brother wielding a stick. Otherwise, we will get a negative reaction.”

“We must also respect freedom of speech, as we in this country take pride in our democratic values. The Muslim community will listen and take appropriate action, as part of the holistic approach we need to implement,” said Lord Sheikh.

Undertake adequate research and

consultation with the community

“I understand that measures may be introduced such as banning orders, extremism disruption orders and powers to close premises,” said Lord Sheikh and suggested, “before any powers are approved and implemented, adequate research and consultation with the community should be undertaken. The community will co-operate if there is appropriate engagement. We need to be very careful before interfering or applying any form of restriction on the activities of Muslim charities, which do very valuable humanitarian work across the world.”

Looking at other issues: education of the young

Lord Sheikh also mentioned about the need of looking at other issues concerning the community, including the education of the young and deprivation. He said, “I will be taking part in the proceedings on the proposed legislation and will make suggestions where I feel that these are appropriate.”

Lord Sheikh elaborated to me what he meant by looking at other issues. He told me, “The situation is this that the 40% of Muslims live in areas in deprived areas. So what we want to do is to regenerate those areas. Create jobs for the Muslims. We can look at the deprived areas and see how we can generate by giving incentives and by encouraging people; by giving loans to people. This is what I like to say; I would like to see more regeneration. I said here some 40% of the British are living in most deprived areas.”

British Values are similar to our values

“I like parents; give the children well-rounded education; send them to schools; undoubtedly private education private tuition too and then teach them Islamic values; the two must go hand in hand,” Lord Sheikh told me in an interview and added, “To certain extent, British values are similar to our values. The thing is: the Muslim values don’t mean that our youngsters should go on Friday night and Saturday night get drunk; and start fighting. We should get to make sure that children behave properly; parents have got to make sure that.”

Islam Middle East Peace and Japan - A European Perspective

Islam Middle East Peace and Japan -

A European Perspective

Dr. Mozammel Haque

 Lord Nazir Ahmed, one of the earliest Muslim members appointed to the Britain’s House of Lords, was invited by Universal Peace Forum (UPF)-Japan which conducted the fourth Japan-Europe Forum recently. Hundreds of citizens and experts in Kobe, Fukuoka and Tokyo listened Lord Ahmed discourse on Middle East Peace and Japan’s Role- A European Perspective.

A special leadership forum was also convened at the international conference hall affiliated to the Diet (Japan’s parliament). It was attended by some 80 individuals including a dozen Diet members, scholars, media personnel and religious figures. They heard Lord Ahmed's discourse on Islam, analysis on ISIS and the needs for the UN reform.

Emphasizing importance of the Forum, President of the UPF-Japan, Dr. Eiji Tokuno, explained that peace and stability of the Middle East constitutes Japan's vital national interest, as nearly 90 per cent of the country's energy supplies come from that tension-filled region.

Appreciating decade-long support of Lord Ahmed for the UPF projects in Britain, Europe and the world including the Middle East Peace Initiative, Dr. Yong Cheon Song, Chairman of UPF's Japan Region, introduced Lord Ahmed as a Muslim with European perspectives.

Lord Ahmed on Islam

Lord Ahmed explained that Islamic teaching forbids the killing of the innocent including children and women, even in a war situation. He said that Qur’an advises "Make peace among brothers!", indicating mediation between conflicting parties and peacemaking as essential duties of Islam. Quoting a Qur’anic verse "There should be no compulsion in religion!" he suggested not to argue on faith but respect others' belief.

Given these Islamic tenets, ISIS which threatens the world with its rampant atrocities has nothing to do with Islam, he declared. He even pointed out that ISIS abuses religious sentiments and dogma to justify their political objectives.

Genesis of ISIS

Speaking about the ISIS, Lord Ahmed mentioned, “You have the ISIS that had actually started in Syria, gaining small victories and taking over certain areas and tribes. These ruthless people have nothing to do with Islam nor Muslims. I can tell you that the overwhelming majority of one and a half billion Muslims do not endorse the ISIS. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, set out rules of engagement in a war. The worriors cannot touch women or children nor can they kill innocent persons. You cannot even cut trees!”

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“These terrorists kill people. In Peshawar of Pakistan, for example, 143 children without any weapons in their hands were attacked by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. Some said they had come from the Tribal Area near the border. Wherever they came from, these people killed the innocent children. Just this Friday in Peshawar, they went into a mosque and killed Shia Muslims who were praying,” Lord Ahmed mentioned.

Radicalism in religions

Lord Ahmed said religion was used as a pretext of their oppression and domination. He asked the questions, “Who on earth could think, even if they claim they are Muslims, that they would go into a mosque where people were praying, cold-bloodedly murdering or shooting or blowing them up? Likewise, who would even think of killing these innocent Coptic Christians, who had come from Egypt for jobs in Libya? The ISIS does not yet control Libya, but this shows a sort of mental condition of these twisted people, who use religion as a pretext of their oppression and domination.”

They capture these minorities, these poor people from Egypt. The cold-blooded murder took place yesterday and they played its video on internet of slaughtering them and cutting their throats!

Lord Ahmed said, “These are evil people. I want great Japanese people to understand that Islam does not condone this type of horrific, or any type of terrorist attacks, for that matter. The Qur’an is very clear on this. A Qur’anic verse says: “There is no compulsion in religion.” Another verse says: “You are to your religion, I am to mine”, meaning I have to respect you, whether you are a Buddhist, a Christian, a Jewish or a Hindu. Whatever religion you have, I have to respect you.”

“You see, because of the lack of knowledge, when two innocent Japanese men were slaughtered by the evil ISIS, Japanese people may think whether this religion of Islam had motivated the evil people to kill.” Lord Ahmed mentioned.

Lord Ahmed also said, “I do not blame the religion of Christianity, which is a great, beautiful religion. Nor do I blame Judaism, Buddhism or Islam. It is the perverted minds of certain individuals who want to control people by force and violence.”

“Whether it is Taliban, Tehrik-i-Taliban, Al-Qaeda, ISIS or the Lord's Army in Africa, they are not Muslims in truth. Some people say this is a new challenge of terrorism. Well, ask the Ukraine Prime Minister, and he will tell you that those who are fighting in the eastern region of Ukraine are ‘terrorists’. Are they Christian terrorists? Are these people politically motivated?” Lord Ahmed maintained.

Lord Ahmed also expressed his sympathy, thoughts and prayers for the families of the two victims of the ISIS. He mentioned, “I do not think a nation should change its policy just because of the murder incidents. Those evil people responsible for doing that should be punished and, I am sure, they will be punished.”

Middle East Peace

This was the first actual visit of Lord Ahmed to Japan. While he travelled around the world; Africa, Asia or elsewhere, Lord Ahmed mentioned that he saw “numerous Japanese products such as deluxe cars, superb televisions and excellent electronics. As I am now in your beautiful country, sometimes I found even trains stations cleaner than some hospitals or schools I had visited. The virtues of cleanliness and order are essential in my religion of Islam, too.”

Lord Ahmed said, “I could come to Japan at the invitation of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF). Its Chairman of Japanese Chapter, Dr. Song has already briefed about their great works for peace, most notably in the Middle East.”

Palestinian issue and the Japan’s

peace efforts in the Middle East

Lord Ahmd begin’s his discourse by saying about the Palestinian issue and the conflicts in the Middle East. While dealing with Palestinian issue, Lord Ahmed mentioned his meeting with late Chairman Yasser Arafat together with Dr. Song. “We had the pleasure of visiting the Israeli Knesset (national parliament) and talking with its Speaker. We also spent time in Gaza and at the refugee centers there,” he said.

Concerning Japan's roles for world peace, Lord Ahmed highly appreciated Japan's three-pronged peace initiatives: promoting political dialogue, building confidence and financial and economic assistances for Palestinian people. "Post-war Japan has shown remarkable achievements in helping the developing countries around the world without its own geopolitical interests or military ambition. Japan is thus well qualified to apply its proactive peace-making capacity”, he encouraged the attending Ambassadors for Peace.

On this issue, beginning with thanks to the Japanese government for its efforts, Lord Ahmed said, “Japan has granted the Palestinian people with about 1.4 billion dollars over many years in accordance with its three-pronged policy: political dialogue, confidence-building and economic assistance to the Palestinians. Japan recognizes that a solution can be achieved through the two-state solution with neither side imposing its will upon the other. It also recognizes the rights of refugees to return, declaring the Jewish settlements as illegal on the basis of the 1967 borders.”

“It supports the Arab Peace Initiative. These initiatives are supported internationally, by the masses and by our parliament, which has passed a resolution with a huge majority, as well as by many European countries through resolutions for the Palestinian State.,” Lord Ahmed said.

Current Middle East complexities

Lord Ahmed lamented, “Sadly, while we tried to find a solution for the Palestinian issue, the Arab Spring started in Tunisia on 18th December 2010, then in Libya, Egypt and Yemen. Furthermore, we have seen chaos out of the civil strife in Syria, Bahrain and Iraq. There are numerous issues to be discussed.”

“Everybody wants to find out what is the ISIS. Where did they come? How do they recruit young people? Where are they getting financial and logistic supports? Who is providing arms and ammunitions? Whether has the ISIS the ability to get chemical, biological or nuclear weapons?” Lord Ahmed raised these questions and added, “Internationally, the expectation from the United Nation’s Security Council was much higher than what they had actually delivered on Afghanistan and Iraq. To be honest, the UN has not delivered much for Afghanistan and Iraq. The most powerful military might of the ISAF consisting of 42 countries of the world could not really defeat the Taliban, which still operates in the area. Even the most sophisticated arms of the United States and the NATO could not finish off the problems! And, that was more or less similar in Iraq.”

Speaking about Afghanistan, Lord Ahmed said, “In the case of Afghanistan, you have at least a working government, enjoying popular supports from all sides. Though external politics affected the presidential elections, an agreement has been reached between President Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah.”

Iraq’s sectarian politics

About Iraq, Lord Ahmed observed that Iraq is much more complicated. He mentioned, “You have the Kurdish region in the north, whose interest is represented by the president of the republic. The majority of the population belongs to Shia sect of Islam and is represented by the Prime Minister, formerly Mr. Al-Maliki, recently replaced by a new prime minister. The Sunni Muslims are represented by the Speaker of the Parliament. Such a breakdown of leadership between the Sunnis, the Shias and the Kurds is responsible for what is happening today in Iraq. Of course, in Syria you have the similar problem.”

Lord Ahmed touched upon three things: He mentioned, “One is the overall divide in the Muslim world between Shia and Sunni sects of Islam, right from Afghanistan, Pakistan to Lebanon through Syria, Iraq, Iran and Yemen. There is a real issue of poverty and youth unemployment, which is over 50% under the age of 30. That is one of the core issues motivating the uprising with the cry for change owing to the failures of dictatorship, the sheikdom or the kingdom in solving those problems. You see the acute divide between the super-rich and the poor in these countries.”

“Second, resources in this region are another issue. Of course, I am talking about oil. Those countries which have oil have billions or trillions of dollars in cash, which could not provide jobs, though. In Libya, whilst late Colonel Gaddafi spent 20 billion dollars 15 years ago in the biggest man-made river project, bringing water through deserts into Tripoli, Misurata and other areas, he could not provide jobs nor prosperity for his people. Thus, resentment and frustration prevailed within his country,” Lord Ahmed mentioned.

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Lord Ahmed continued, “Third point is the regional conflict over borders. No matter whether they are natural frontiers or the legacy from the Ottoman rule or demarcations made by the western colonial powers; whether it was right or not, fabricating some of these areas and putting them together by force, these borders are not working effectively today.”

Crisis in Syria

Speaking about Syrian crisis, Lord Ahmed said, “When the uprising started, a lot of people in the west very simplistically thought that, by supporting Al-Nusra Front or the Syrian Resistance Army or other opposition groups, you can overthrow the Assad regime fairly easily. Unfortunately, it did not happen, because the international players themselves played politics. Russia has a vital military base in this region. Their naval fleet would not be able to operate if the current Syrian regime falls. China had played politics, too. Had you seen some measure of unity at the UN Security Council, things would have been different. But, it was too weak to be effective. Since the problems of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Security Council became weak because the real decisions were taken outside this international body.”

UN reform a must

As for an international response, Lord Ahmed expressed hope for the United Nations as a viable mediator between various parties of conflict in the Middle East. However, the five, nuclear-powered permanent members of its Security Council abuse their veto powers, making this international body paralyzed. "The UN has become so outdated that its reform is indispensable. If the UN advocates democracy to its member states, why doesn’t it apply democracy in its own system?” he said.

Lord Ahmed argued in favour of UN reform. He said, “the so-called P5, namely; the five permanent members of the Security Council including my country of UK, needs to be reformed. I think the basis of just having nuclear weapons back from 60 years before should not be the basis of the Security Council today. Otherwise, the nuclear club should include India and Pakistan as these two nations have nuclear weapons. Also, it could include Iran and South Africa.”

“Japan does not possess a nuclear weapon but retains the nuclear technology. Why not Japan, which is the third strongest economy in the world? Why cannot Japan have a permanent seat at the Security Council?” Lord Ahmed questioned.

Lord Ahmed also maintained, “there are many arguments you can adopt to reform the Security Council. More importantly, even the UN’s General Assembly and the role of the UN itself, in terms of policing some of these horrible conflicts, need to be reformed. In connection with my country of birth, the issue of Kashmir needs to be resolved. While the UN maintains the oldest observers along the separation between India and Pakistan, it has not been able to resolve the issue.”

Lord Ahmed also argued, “There are many other disputes on which the UN could facilitate dialogues and discussions between countries concerned. I have been involved in such discussions at the highest level. Even the UN’s Deputy Secretary General visited the parliament very recently, and I discussed in a very open forum. He said that, in order to bring two sides to a table, you need two sides to agree on something.”

Lord Ahmed observed, “In case we have a powerful Security Council which would not veto on the Palestinian issue, or would not veto because of their own interests, even on Syria, then you could have a better outcome through a fair and equitable way of dealing with these problems. The failure at the Security Council in finding solutions for some of these problems, as well as disintegration of the states concerned, are very big factors.”

Japan’s roles in peace-building

Referring to peace-building role of Japan, Lord Ahmed said, “I think, Japan has a very important role in building peace around the world, playing an important role in peace-building in the Middle East, just like the UPF doing an important work at the United Nations in bringing interfaith communities together, whether it is in London or New York.”

Lord Ahmed concluded by saying, “I guess Japan is trusted around the world. I believe the main ingredient for any peace-making efforts is trust. People trust those who are doing something to build peace. I love American people, but I have to say that I do not think many people could actually trust the US administration in peace-building.”

:The Middle Path of Islam - Between Rejection and Extremism

The Middle Path of Islam:

Between Rejection & Extremism

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Shaykh Fadel Soliman of the Bridges Foundation was talking about Wasatiyah and first of all, he explained what is wasatiyah. He said, “Wasatiyah is the distinguishing feature of this Ummah. Wasatiyah in English can be translated to moderation. It can also be Middle Path; it can also be balance life and balance understanding.”

Talking about the importance of Wasatiyah in Islam and in the life of Muslims, Shaykh Fadel mentioned, “Wasatiyah in Islam starts from Aqidah. All through the Fiqh, all through the Islamic rulings, all through how Muslims should see his religion itself; should be also in the Wasati way.”

While explaining how Islam put emphasis on Wasatiyah or moderation, Shaykh Fadel gave example. He said, “Muslims neither see Jesus as a liar nor as God nor as an imposter but rather in the middle between the extremes. Muslims neither see celibacy as a form of righteousness nor do they accept unlimited sexual practices; but rather in the middle between the extremes. Muslims neither see religion as just spiritual communication channels with Allah or God nor do they see it just as a dry set of rules and laws for their daily activities but rather in the middle between the extremes.”

Two verses in the Bible

Shaykh Fadel told about his student life when he was confronted with confusion and came across Christian students who had questions about two verses of the Bible. He narrated the story. He said, “I am a graduate of a Catholic school. I learned in a Catholic school for 12 years and I always saw my Christian colleagues and friends wondering about two verses in the Bible; that was always their questions: which verse should we take and apply as Christians; this is their question. There was one verse that is in the Old Testament which says ‘an eye for an eye’ and ‘a tooth for a tooth’ which means they were allowed to take their revenge as long as they were wronged. And the other one can be considered the concept of forgiveness of the Jesus Christ peace be upon him. It says, ‘Turn the left cheek when they slap on the right cheek’. And they always said those two verses are contradicting. Do we take our revenge or should we forgive? And the answer was always – no. As Christians, we should forgive. This is the New Testament. The New Testament abrogates the Old Testament.”

Shaykh found answers in the Qur’an

Shaykh Fadel said this question is always troubling him too: which verse should they apply? Shaykh Fadel said, “It is not in my Book. It is in their Book. When they read it looks contradicting until I read the Qur’an and the Qur’an explains two verses for me; telling they are not contradicting. Allah the Almighty said, ‘And whosoever takes revenge after he has suffered wrong; against such person, there is no blame; which means there is no blame for someone who decides to apply eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. The next verse said, the blame is only against those who oppress people; so the blame is against the oppressor. So if someone decides to take revenge after he has suffered wrong, there is no blame on him. If someone decides to apply the verse which is in the Old Testament; an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It is also in the Qur’an, no blame on him; the blame is on the oppressor. The third verse said, but whosoever shows patience and forgiveness this is truly recommended by Allah. But if someone decides to turn the left cheek this is recommended by Allah; so both of them are not contradicting.”

Allah loves Forgiveness

Shaykh Fadel said Allah love forgiveness but Allah does not force people to forgive. He said, “Allah says I love forgiveness. But you are allowed to take revenge. And also laws and rules in countries cannot be based on forgiveness. You cannot make law in this country like that. If someone slaps right cheek he does not turn the left cheek but call the police. He does not turn the leftt cheek. The law cannot based on that. The law has to be based on what they call Mosaic Law. An eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth is not a law. But according to this verse of the Qur’an the law has to give the space for forgiveness. So if someone decided to forgive, the law has to allow him to forgive and to release the other man.”

Moderation in the Tradition, from the

Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him)

There are also many examples from the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Shaykh Fadel mentioned about those instances where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) corrected his companions on the matter of extremism. He said, actually there are many examples from the life of the Prophet (pbuh) which corrected extremism brought many of the companions to the middle path, to the wasatiyah path after they were about to follow an extreme  path.”

Shaykh Fadel gave the example of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Aas. He said, “The wife of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Aas complaining against him to the Prophet peace be upon him that Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Aas [one of the four people who were really into the Qur’an so much. He spent all night, most of his time reading the Qur’an and in a continuous state of worship] and the Prophet peace be upon him called him and he did not tell him I am proud of you. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘Your family has rights on you, which means give them time, play with them.’ The Prophet used to play with the family, with the kids, with the wives. Your family has rights on you; and your body has rights on you which means give it some rest; and your guests have rights on you which means don’t stop socialising with people; you are Muslims you are socialising with people.”

Moderation in worship, fasting

Shaykh Fadel also mentioned about moderation in worship, in fasting and in daily life. Shaykh Fadel gave example. He said, “Three men went to the Prophet asking about the amount of worship that he practices and when they were told by the wives of the Prophet; they are like, O, we can do more than this; may be he is a Messenger of Allah, he does not need to worship more, but we can do much more than this. One of them said, ‘I will be celibate and I will never get married all my life for the sake of Allah.’ The other one said, ‘I will not break my fast at any day; I will fast seven days a week until I die.’ And the third one said, ‘I will never sleep at night and I will every night stand up in adoration for Allah and making Qiyam ul Lail until dawn.’ And the Prophet (peace be upon him) brought them and the Prophet did not say I am proud of you. No, he reprimanded them; like he reprimanded Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Aas.”

Shaykh Fadel also mentioned what the Prophet (peace be upon him) told these three people. The Prophet said to them, ‘Wasatiyah is an important value. He told them; look, listen to me; I fear Allah more than you do; and I am the most obedient and dutiful amongst all of you but still I fast and break it. Perform Salah and sleep at night. And I take wives. So whosoever turns away from my tradition, from my Sunnah; does not belong to me. You are not allowed to even worship extremely. Imagine this.” Shaykh Fadel mentioned.

The Prophet (pbuh) said extremist perish

Shaykh Fadel also said, Wasatiyah in itself is a value in Islam. It is a value in Islam. Those three people wanted to do good but extremely. There is nothing good in extreme. Extreme is not good; in everything; it is not good. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘Beware, the extremist perish; the extremist perish; the extremist perish’; he said thrice. It is a message for us. The Prophet (pbuh) warned us from extremism; ‘It can destroy our Ummah. Extremism can destroy our Ummah.’

Wasatiyah is an important value

Shaykh Fadel also observed, “The issue is: we teach our children that self-development is an important value. Cleanliness is a good value. Truthfulness is an important value. Courage is an important value. Similarly, Wasatiyah is also an important value in itself. Being Wasatiyah is an important value and this is something we should plant in the minds and hearts of our children. The problem with Wasatiyah it needs wasatin to promote it; it means moderate people to promote moderation. If you are not moderate you cannot promote moderation yourself. This is an issue actually.”

He said, “Many of us are extreme; not necessarily extreme politically or we go to join ISIS No but extreme in our affairs. If you oppress your wife; if you oppress your husband; if you oppress someone you are extreme. This is how Allah the Almighty call in the Qur’an. He did not call it extreme he call it extravagant.

Allah describes Pharaoh extravagant

 Shaykh Fadel then mentioned about extravagant which means also extreme. He said, “Allah even describes Pharaoh as an extravagant, which means extreme; does not mean extravagant, he is spending too much. No. Indeed, Pharaoh is a tyrant and he is extravagant. It means he is extravagant, it means he is extreme in oppressing people. So this is something very important actually.”

Moderation is the spirit of this religion

Shaykh Fadel mentioned that the spirit of this religion, Islam, is moderation. He said, “Our children should see their elders living in moderation; worshipping in moderation. Allah the Almighty said, ‘I have made you a middle nation.’ This is the spirit of this religion. The spirit of the religion is to be wasati – moderate. This verse is in the Suratul Baqara.You know what’s the number of the verse. Total Baqara is 286 verses divided by two; it is the verse number 143 exactly. Exactly in the middle of the Sura al-Baqara. The challenge of each and every one of us is to be moderate/ wasati all the time. Not to go extreme. It is easy to go extreme – either to the right or to the left. But it is a challenge for every Muslim to be wasati all the time. We have to know that.”

Terrorism is the symptom, not disease

Speaking about terrorism and its connection with extremism, Shaykh Fadel said, “Terrorism is not the problem. Terrorism is a symptom of the disease; the disease is extremism. So we don’t deal with the disease; we just deal with the symptom, then we are not going anywhere. There are circumstances; there are issues; they put pressure on every one of us to make him go extreme and his challenge and her challenge is not to go extreme. Victim in the Middle East is victimized by the Middle Eastern brutal regimes.  ISIS is not at all worse than Sisi himself. He killed 2000 in six hours… This is really a pressure on the youth and we really need to find a substitute; we really need to find them away to hell.  But we should not turn our back to this problem, thinking that they will not go extreme. They will go extreme, if you don’t find them another way to help.”

Youth have identity crisis

Talking about youth and extremism, Shaykh Fadel said, “The youth have a big identity crisis. Muslim, born here, for example, from the Bangladeshi background, is neither seen by the wider society as English because of his colour; nor he really feels that he is Bangladeshi like his parent; nor his parent are allowed even by law to give him the discipline that he needs to be a good Muslim. So, there is a big identity crisis in this. So we really need to find the way our sons and daughters are here really integrated into the society like the sons and daughters of the Muhajireen who were integrated into Madinah and they did not have this identity crisis; not happened identity crisis because they lived with the role model.”

Our Role Model is Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

While dealing with the issue of youth and extremism, Shaykh Fadel mentioned about integration and gave example of the Muhajeroun of Madinah who integrated into the new country. He said, “Our role model is Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who was an immigrant; who was dragged out of Makkah as a refugee and went to Madinah and he lived there as an immigrant. He left Makkah with tears in his eyes, saying, ‘O Makkah! Let know that you are the dearest country to my heart’. Here it is open to him to go back and live there; he did not but he stayed back in the new country which he loves so much because it gives him support. It gives him support and he integrated into this new country to such an extent that he said, ‘O Allah! Let know that I love the Ansars and had I not been immigrant I could have been one of the Ansars.  If Ansars walk anywhere I would be walking with the Ansars’”

He also mentioned, “Even in some aspects of his Makkan culture, in order to fit into the culture of the new country without compromising the religion; because religion here comes first. This is moderation; this is wasetiyah.”

Fitting into the culture of the new country

Talking about fit into the culture of the new country, Shaykh Fadel gave an example from the life of the Prophet peace be upon him. He mentioned, “Lady Ayesah was coming back from a wedding. He told her, ‘did you have a fun?’ She said, she had a fun. He told, ‘what did you singing?’ She replied, we did not sing. ‘O come on, you did not sing Makkan. You Makkan should understand that you are not in Makkah anymore. You are here in Madinah and the people of Madinah love singing and why you did not sing for them. And even subject to the song that could have been suitable for a wedding.’ The Prophet told. This is the way of changing the culture in a way that does not compromise the religion. He is the role model.”

Islamophobia is one of the forms of extremism

Speaking about Islamophobia and extremism, Shaykh Fadel said, “Islamophobia. It is one of the forms of extremism. If we want to fight extremism then we need to fight on both sides. One of the good ways of keeping the youth in the wasati path, in the middle path, is to engage them in fighting extremism; so if a young boy or a young girl is since very young age fighting extremism they will not go extreme. And one of the ways is to engage them into activities they can be fighting Islamophobia and extremism. And also one of the good things about that is that when you fight Islamophobia we are removing the fear in the wider society from the Muslim youth; so they may not be marginalised and accepted in the wider society.”

The First Forum of Imams in the UK

The First Forum of Imams in the UK

 Dr. Mozammel Haque

One-day Conference on “The First Forum of Imams in the UK” was organized by the Islamic Cultural Centre (ICC) London in cooperation with the International Masajid Organisation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an Affiliate of the Makkah-based Muslim World League, Saudi Arabia, was held at the Library Hall of the Centre, on Thursday, the 26^th of March, 2015.

The Conference has three sessions besides the Opening session and the Closing session. The conference started with the recitation of the verses from the Holy Qur’an. Dr. Ahmed al-Dubayan, Director General of the Islamic Cultural Centre, London, welcomed the speakers, participants, imams and the audiences. Mr. Khaled Banakhar, Representative of the International Masajid Organisation, spoke about the organization; Dr. Naji Al-Arfaj, Deputy Cultural Attaché of the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau, London, spoke on the Role of Masajid in Islam. Lord Mohammed Sheikh, Peer of the House of Lords, British Parliament delivered the Opening speech at the Opening session.

Session One was chaired by Mr. Khaled Banakhar and Dr. Ahmed al-Dubayan spoke on the topic “Challenges facing mosques & Imams in the West”; Dr. Farooq Murad, Director General of the Islamic Foundation, Leicester, UK, read the paper on “Role of Imams in Combating Islamophobia”; Sir Robin Knowles, A Judge of the High Court of England and Wales,  read his paper on “Legal Aspects of the Imam’s Role” and Dr. Alhagi Manta Drammeh, read his paper on “Mosques and Imams in a Multicultural Society”.

Session Two was chaired by Dr. Mohammad Ahdash. Dr. Muhammad Abdul Bari, former Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain and a trustee of the East London Mosque, delivered a paper on “Maximising the Effectiveness of our Mosques”; Sheikh (Dr.) Omar El-Hamdoon, President of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), London, delivered a paper on “Qualifications of Imams”; Dr. Saeed Alghadie delivered a paper on “Developing Islamic Discourse in Islamic Associations;” and Sheikh Khalifa Ezzat, Imam of the Regents Park Central Mosque & Islamic Cultural Centre, delivered a paper on “The Role of Imams in Interfaith” Arabic).

Session Three was on Workshop.

Opening Session

Dr. Ahmed Dubayan

While welcoming the speakers, participants, Imams and the audience, Dr. Ahmed Al-Dubayan, Director General of the Islamic Cultural Centre, said the subject of Masajid and Imams is very important. He expressed his hope that the conference will “achieve some points of views of our Muslim community to help each other and to put some strategic views ahead for our future generation, Insha Allah.”

While expressing his thanks to the International Masajid Organizations for “giving this chance to work together and to have this remarkable marvelous gathering for discussion about this very important subject, Dr. al-Dubayan said, “It is about the future of the Muslim community in this country and that of Europe and the minorities in the East and the West, because of the work of the Imams.”

Dr. Naji Al-Arfaj

Dr. Naji Al-Arfaj, Deputy Attaché of the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau, London, mentioned about his topic “the Zikr or the inheritance of our Prophet (peace be upon him) as the Imam Huraira told that the people who go to the Masjid to get the part of the inheritance of the Prophet (peace be upon him). So this is the inheritance of the Prophet (peace be upon him) the Masajid.

Actually Dr. al-Arfaj wanted to talk about something “practical”.  He said, “It is indeed the Imam or the Dayee or the head of the organization who can activate Masjid. It is how to make the Role of Masjid active through our efforts. So, we all of us can make a difference.”

Dr. Al-Arfaj suggested five step which makes the Role of Masajid more attractive and how to treat others.

The first step: Dr. Al-Arfaj said, “We need sincerity and specialty; so we do it first of all. We specialized in certain aspects .This is your field; so try your best to be as practical as possible in your field. So you cannot gather in other field other than this Masjid. So we need to be professional and perfect in reaching out to others. This is the first step.”

The second step: Dr. Al-Arfaj mentioned, “We should have strong determination that yes we can make a difference. Why some Islamic centres, some Masajid backward or very lazy, why? So through determination we have to make a difference. The second part of it is management; the big vision. We as a Masjid resources management.  We have resources in the Muslim community; how to manage all these things. I have to talk about many things about management. We have Dr. Ahmed Makhdoum specialized in strategic plan. We can learn from each other, from workshop, from dayee and to support each other. This is the second step.”

The third step, Dr. al-Arfaj mentioned, is “Just be updated. Be updated what is going on, for example, How can we reach out to the youth without using the social media, for example, in our age, in order to reach out to the youth we want to create twitter, face book and others, We need to be updated. This is the third step to be updated.”

The fourth step is counsel in the Islamic centres and Masajid. Dr. Al-Arfaj talked about the first impression about the Islamic centres and Masajid. He mentioned, “Go to the place, for example, the shoes.  Is this the first impression that you like to give to the visitors. How the shoes are spread at the doors and at the gates. That is the First impression. We invite non-Muslims and they walk and step on shoes.”

Dr. Al-Arfaj gave his practical experience. He said, “I went on a couple of years ago. I was in New Zealand. There was a training course; we invited numbers of Church leaders and numbers of synagogues leaders; they came in and they came stepping on the shoes of the Muslims. Putting their shoes on the doors; Wallahe. I cannot forget that impression. They are stepping on the shoes. Is this the good impression? So we need to have this johdah in our services.”

The last step that we need is the Dua.  

Lord Mohammed Sheikh

Lord Mohammed Sheikh, Peer of the House of Lords of the British Parliament, in his Guest of Honour speech at the Opening session of the First Forum of Imams in the UK, explained first the importance of holding this conference at this time. He said, “It is important to hold this Conference as we are going through a critical phase and our glorious religion has been severely criticised in several quarters. In combating this criticism we must be pro-active and reactive and take positive steps as a community.”

“Unfortunately because of the action of a small minority we are all being to some extent painted with the same brush,” Lord Sheikh mentioned and added, “It is therefore imperative that all Muslims irrespective of what school of thought they belong to must take remedial action to dispel misunderstanding of our religion and promote the true message of Islam.”

Problems Muslims face

Lord Sheikh mentioned some of the problems Muslims are facing. He said, “These problems relate to the following issues: 1. Radicalisation 2. Identity crisis. 3. Education standards. 4. Empowerment of women. 5. Deprivation. 6. Low property ownership. 7. Grooming by the Muslims. 8. High population of Muslims in prison. 9. Islamic method of slaughter. 10. Lack of integration. I can talk on every topic at some length but our concentration today is on the issues relating to Imams and Mosques.”

There are nearly 1500 mosques in the United Kingdom and mosques are indeed an integral part of our community.

Talking about problems, Lord Sheikh said, “I believe that sometimes problems arise because non-Muslims do not understand our principles and difficulties arise out of misunderstanding. It is therefore imperative on all of us to explain what the real Islamic principles are. I believe that every one of us whether he is a Politician, Imam or a member of our faith is an Ambassador to promote the true principles of Islam.

Mentioning about the tiny minority among the Muslim community, Lord Sheikh said, “Unfortunately there is a tiny minority who have hijacked Islamic and totally distorted the true principles of Islam. I believe that to some extend the mosques and the Imams do have a role to play to guide our young in the understanding of Islam.”

“Last week I was speaking at a Conference where the other speakers were Muslim and one of the speakers said that it was about time we reformed Islam. My immediate answer was that we cannot reform Islam,” mentioned Lord Sheikh and added, “Our Holy Qur’an contains the words of Allah Subhana wa Taalla which were revealed to our Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) by Angel Jibrael. The Qur’an, therefore, contains words of Allah Subhanaah wa Taalla and we the people cannot change what is written in the Quran.”

Prophet Mohammed peace be upon him said at Arafat :

People, no prophet or apostle will come after me and no new faith will be born. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the QUR’AN and my example, the SUNNAH and if you follow these you will never go astray.

Lord Sheikh said, “We do need our Imams to explain the Islamic principles and tell the Muslims and everyone in the country what the Islamic principles are. Islam clearly forbids forcible conversions and there is no compulsion in Islam.”

Rules of Engagement in warfare

“We need our scholars and Imams to emphasise the true principle of Islam and contradict the wrong impressions given by these fighters in Syria and Iraq. The rules of engagement in warfare were laid down over 1,400 years ago and have been incorporated in the Geneva Convention in the West recently.  The West has learned our principles and unfortunately some of our Muslims have not done so,” said Lord Sheikh.

About the Youth

Talking about the youth, Lord Sheikh said, “We should also explain to our young population the true principles of Islam and here I think the Mosques and Imams have a role to play as these issues can be incorporated in the sermons.”

Speaking about the sermon at the Mosque, Lord Sheikh said, “The total population of Muslims in the United Kingdom is nearly three million and a third of the Muslims are under the age of 15. There is therefore a significant number of Muslims who are young. Most of them are born here and a number of them do not know their mother tongue and the only language they speak is English. It is therefore important that the sermons and speeches in mosques and community centre should be in English as much as possible. Furthermore in the sermons and speeches we should talk about issues which are relevant to the young people.”

Lord Sheikh also mentioned, “I think that every mosque or community centre should have a youth group which arranges activities which are of interest to the young people. They can hold appropriate discussions, have sports facilities, social clubs and have outings. In addition we should engage with the young by perhaps involving them in the strategy of what the mosque should be undertaking.”

About women

Speaking about women empowerment, Lord Sheikh mentioned, “The other important thing in regard to mosques is involvement of women. I am a great believer in empowerment of women and I feel there should be a ladies group in every mosque and there should be facilities for ladies to pray.”

Mosque as venues of integration

Speaking about Mosques, integration and interfaith, Lord Sheikh suggested, “I believe that mosques should become more than place of worship. They must be used as venues of integration for the Muslims. Mosques should have open days as part of wider programme to support interfaith dialogue. Mosques must have programmes where people of other faiths are invited to the mosques.  We should have “Visit my mosque day” periodically where mosques open their door to the general public. Everybody could be invited in and perhaps given refreshments and making everybody comfortable and explain what we do in the mosque.”

“We should make every effort to become part of the community. We must therefore be visible and be seen to do be doing things with members of the wider community,” Lord Sheikh said.

Political participation

Lord Sheikh said, “I would like to say that we should encourage our Muslim community to be involved in the political scene and perhaps encourage them to join a political party of their choice. By doing so there would have a say as to who their next Member of Parliament or Councillor will be.”

“The Muslims represent 5% of the British population and at least 5% of the British Parliamentarians should be Muslims. The total number of Parliamentarians in United Kingdom is 1,450 and we would like to see at least 70 Muslim members of House of Commons and House of Lords. We have the General Election coming up on 7^th May and we should encourage all the Muslims to vote for the Party of their choice,” mentioned Lord Sheikh.

About the training of Imams

Finally Lord Sheikh mentioned about the training of Imams. He said, “I think that some of our Imams do require training in communicating with the congregation and in this regard I am supporting the courses which have been organised by the University of East London for the training of Imams. I am pleased to hear about training courses organised by Mr Khalid Banakhar in Saudi Arabia. I think it would be very useful if these courses could be introduced in the United Kingdom.”

Shari’ah Courts

 Speaking about Shari’ah Courts, Lord Sheikh pointed out, “I have heard criticism of Sharia Courts particularly from the ladies. I am in favour of Sharia Courts but we must arrive at decisions which are fair and equitable to all the parties in the event of matrimonial disputes. The decision should be fair to the man as well as the women.”

Dr. Dubayan’s closing remarks

At the end of the Opening session, Dr. Al-Dubayan made some closing remarks. In his closing remarks, Dr. Al-Dubayan said, “He agreed with all the points Lord Sheikh have raised in his speech about the development of the Mosque.” He said we have to talk about this lack of important things in our organizations before somebody else talk about it.

About ISIS

Commenting on the problem within the Muslim community, Dr. Al-Dubayan said, “These small tiny minority, the individuals, I cannot call them even small minority, those who adopt this cruel racism do not represent Islam as a faith or do not represent the majority of Muslims. Those are their interpretation of faith and this has been condemned by almost all scholars everywhere in the world; and even by scholars, by organizations by everybody. We should also condemn all the evil things done by the ISIS or done by other militias or done by anybody. Any atrocity or killing of innocent people vandalizing properties or destroying any country should be condemned and should not be tolerant with this kind of things.”

Engagement of Women

Commenting on the empowerment of women, Dr. Al-Dubayan said, “I have followed what you have said about the engagement of women. In our Muslim community in the UK the empowerment of women, the role of women is small than it should be. I am talking generally; but there are organizations founded by women doing lots of activities. Remember; I am talking generally now.”

Engagement of Youth

Commenting on engagement of youth, Dr. Al-Dubayan said, “Engagement of youth is a must now. It’s not an option; it is must now. I think I can see there is a movement now in the Islamic organizations towards this area little by little.”

“But we should not forget that Muslim organizations have problems of finance; they have problems of administrations. I want all these developments should take place one day and Insha Allah it is coming. We work together but we should not forget the challenges especially in the finances which are really the Muslim organizations are facing. Muslim organizations till today are really relying on donations,” mentioned Dr. Al-Dubayan and added, “I do not know any Muslim organizations which can put actually plan ahead for two years with a certain budget they have going to have with certain planning action plan. They put plans but they cannot work on the plan actually what they want to do; because they do not have enough budgets or enough finance or financial support; this is something very very important. I am going to talk about this in my paper.”

Encouraging Muslims about elections,

Commenting on casting votes and participate in elections, Dr. al-Dubayan said, “Encouraging Muslims about elections, I think, this is an important action. We talked about it two/three years ago.  We had a talk here about Islam and Democracy. We talked about it and we said in general actually and our Imams have talked about elections in Friday sermons encouraging Muslims to go to vote. We Muslims in this country or in other European countries vote to change to happen.”

“We talked about other minorities who succeeded in things. When they participate they became enter into the political arena; and that’s why they have this success; they have this achievement. So if you want to have change you have to engage also in elections. To stay aside will not bring any change. They wish one day there will be change.  No; you have to engage. You have to engage with media; you have to engage in the political area; you have to engage in the political process of the country; you have to use your right actually as a British citizen; actually as the Lord Sheikh said. This is very very important.

Language issue

Commenting on the issue of language, Dr. Al-Dubayan said, “The issue of language, it is an issue in the Muslim community. Even some minorities, the communities within the Muslim communities they are sometime little bit isolated because of the language.”

English the Lingua Franca for everybody

“I think English is the lingua Franca for everybody in the Muslim community and I think the other languages are going to go away little by little from the area and English is going to dominate the whole and English would be the only language of the Muslim community because the new generation; the sons, the daughters or the children of the Arabs, Pakistanis, Indians, Africans and Asians; they don’t speak Arabic as their fathers do.  They don’t speak Urdu, Sohaili; they do not speak other Muslim languages. They speak English as a first language and then other Islamic languages,” observed Dr. al-Dubayan.

Arabic – the language of the Qur’an

While commenting on the issue of language, Dr. Al-Dubayan emphasized the special importance of Arabic language. He said, “But the other Islamic languages are very important; as literature, as background, as culture. Of course, we should have given some attention paying but also to be in the society, English. Arabic language, of course, has the special importance. This is the language of the Qur’an. So we must have taught Arabic language in all Islamic organizations. We have to support it as much as we can; because it is the access for our children to go to read and learn the Qur’an, the language in which it was revealed; which is very very important. Those who can read Arabic and understand Arabic they know whatever you do in the translation of the Qur’an. The translation which is not the text will lose lot of this sweetness which you see in the Arabic language and you can taste it all if you can master the Arabic language.”