Questionable Motives

August 13, 2010

What kind of example is this for muslims?

Filed under: Canada,commentary,Faith,Islam,Religion — tildeb @ 6:59 pm

A terrific starting position, as it turns out (but in need of some clarification and refinement). I’ve added some bold.

From the Canadian Council of Imams come this seven part declaration:

We, the imams who have signed below, hereby affirm and declare the following fundamental points:

1. We believe in the oneness of Allah (God) and in the oneness of humanity and that all the Messengers of God, including the final Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), have taught human beings how to come closer to God and closer to one another. Islam is a religion of nature and humanity, one that teaches that a person cannot be a good Muslim until he/she becomes a good human being. All human beings are equal, and all of them are the children of Adam and Eve (peace be upon them). The best Muslim is the one who is good to his/her family and neighbors and one who avoids harming others with his/her hand or tongue.

2. We believe in peaceful coexistence, dialogue, bridge building, and cooperation among all faiths and people for the common good of humanity. Islam does not permit the killing of innocent people, regardless of their creed, ethnicity, race, or nationality. The sanctity of human life overrides the sanctity of religious laws. Islamic rulings do not – and should not – contradict natural laws. Islam is a religion that promotes peace, justice, equality, dignity, and freedom for all human beings.

3. We believe in the preservation of all the necessities of life. Islam upholds the sanctity of religion, life, intellect, family/society, and property.

4. We believe that the well-being of our fellow citizens is the well-being of Muslims, and that the well-being of Muslims is the well-being of our fellow citizens. Being law-abiding people is part of the Islamic practice, and following the pristine teachings of Islam leads to good citizenship.

5. We believe in gender equity and each man and each woman’s divine right to education, social contribution, work, and treatment with respect and dignity. Men and women complement each other, and healthy relationships between them are essential to a healthy society.

6. We believe that it is the right of every individual adult person to determine for themselves their conduct towards and within their society (for example, in matters of dress or good manners), and their personal conduct in matters of faith and belief as well, as long as their conduct does not threaten the common good. Likewise, we believe that every society must be allowed to express and celebrate humanity’s profound cultural diversity, as long as the expression of that diversity does not include the compulsion of any individual to violate their own human rights, or their personal values, or their human nature, or otherwise threaten the common good of all people.

7. We believe and strongly encourage Muslims to seriously engage in civic life and contribute to their communities and society as much as they can.

Islam must evolve into accepting these tenets as central to practicing muslims it if it is to mature into a responsible modern religion.



4 Comments »

  1. It will take more than words to convince the world that they actually believe this.

    Comment by misunderstoodranter — August 14, 2010 @ 2:58 am | Reply

  2. Yes it will. But it’s a good start and I’m all for supporting these 40 imams to preach accordingly. It should not be a hard sell to the home crowd but I would like to see these imams take on the many guest speakers, who tend to be much more fundamentalist, in public debates about the role of islam. Now let’s see if this happens and they put their actions behind these words.

    Comment by tildeb — August 14, 2010 @ 10:18 am | Reply

  3. Hmmm, all that comes to mind is “Wolves in sheep’s clothing”.

    Comment by Titfortat — August 14, 2010 @ 2:10 pm | Reply

  4. Hi Tildeb.
    It sounds good on paper.

    The question I would like to ask is which law are they referring to be law abiding.

    Comment by Craig Benno — August 15, 2010 @ 5:52 am | Reply


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