A DECLARATION OF EUROPEAN MUSLIMS*
BY
MUSTAFA CERIĆ
GRAND MUFTI OF BOSNIA

The tragic events of 11th September 2001 in New York, 11th March 2004 in Madrid and 7th July 2005 in London leave no one indifferent. Muslims around the world, especially, have been shocked by the fact that the perpetrators of these terrorists attacks claimed to have acted in the name of Islam. No reasonable person can accept that such violence against innocent people be carried out in his/her name. So, Muslims across the globe have condemned the terrorist attack in New York, the massacre in Madrid and the terror in London in the strongest terms possible.

But, many people say, that is not enough. Muslims should do more to persuade European public opinion that their faith is worthy of respect and that their stay in Europe is welcome.

Leaving aside those in Europe who will remain Islamophobic in all circumstances, Muslims must realize that a general feeling about their faith in Europe nowadays is not favorable. European Muslims must take the issue of violence in the name of Islam very seriously not because some people hate Islam and Muslims, but because the act of violence, the act of terror, the act of hatred in the name of Islam is wrong. It is against Muslim beliefs. It is against Muslim interests in the world, especially in Europe.

European Muslims must develop a program for anti-violence. They must fully and unequivocally proclaim to the whole world the non-violent nature of their faith and teach their children that the right way to success in this world and to salvation in the hereafter is not through argument of force, but through force of peaceful argument.

European Muslims must develop a program for anti-violence. They must fully and unequivocally proclaim to the whole world the non-violent nature of their faith and teach their children that the right way to success in this world and to salvation in the hereafter is not through argument of force, but through force of peaceful argument.

European Muslims must come out with a clear Declaration to the European union, to the Muslims who live in Europe and to the Muslim World as a whole.

The European Union

The Declaration of European Muslims to the European Union should contain a clear message that European Muslims are fully and unequivocally committed to the rule of law, to the principles of tolerance, to the values of democracy and human rights, and to the belief that each and every human being has the right to five essential values: the value of life, the value of faith, the value of freedom, the value of property, and the value of dignity.

Having introduced their commitments to the European Union, the European Muslims have the right to express their expectations in the Declaration such as: the institutionalization of Islam in Europe; the economic development of the Muslim Community so that it may have full spiritual and cultural freedom and independence; the development of Islamic schools capable of educating European born Muslims for the new challenges of European society; the political freedom that will enable European Muslims to have their legitimate representatives in European state parliaments; a relaxation of European migration policy which has become very restrictive towards Muslims recently; opening the way for Muslim law to be recognized; and the protection of European Muslims from islamophobia, ethnic cleansing, genocide and the like.

The Muslims who live in Europe

The aim of the Declaration of European Muslims to Muslims who live in Europe is equally important for the clear and unequivocal articulation of their Islamic identity and European citizenship. First of all the Muslims who live in Europe must realize that freedom is not a gift to be given by anyone. Muslim freedom in Europe must be earned. And the Muslims’ overall status must be recognized in spite of xenophobic opposition.

Of course, with freedom comes responsibility. So, those who are ready to take responsibility deserve freedom. Despite the fact that European Muslims do not enjoy full freedom from fear and poverty in Europe, it is more appropriate for them now to speak about their responsibilities in the European economical, political and cultural life, Muslims who live in Europe will earn their right to freedom. Hence, the freedom of European Muslims will not be somebody’s mercy, but a possessed value which can neither be denied not be taken away.

The most important statement that should be contained in the Declaration to Muslims who live in Europe is their obligation to present Islam to the western audience as a universal Weltanschauung, and not as a tribal, ethnic, or national culture. Muslim cannot expect Europeans to appreciate the universal message of Islam if they are constantly faced with an ethnic or national face of Islam. European Muslims can demonstrate to the European public the universalism of Islam, but they can also show that Europe is a good place for Muslims themselves to discover the power and beauty of the universality of Islam.

Muslims should be honest and confess that it is in Europe that many of them have discovered Islam in a totally different way from their homeland because it is here in Europe that they meet their fellow Muslims from other parts of the Muslim world and thus begin to appreciate the diversity of Islamic experience and culture. Muslims who live in Europe have the right, indeed the duty, to develop their own European culture of Islam, as the result of the interaction between East and West. This new renaissance, will lead humanity to a better and safer world.

The Muslim World

Although the nation of globalization is somewhat vague, its impacts is felt almost everywhere in all fields of life: political, economic, cultural and religious. The idea of global awareness should not be strange to Muslims. In essence, Islam is a universal faith and a global phenomenon. It would have been fully appropriate if the Muslims had come with an agenda of a globalization in terms of a global freedom and security because Muslims are scattered almost everywhere on the Globe and so their freedom and security are of a global importance.

However, Muslims have failed to come with a genuine idea of globalization, and in addition they are in general unable to live in a global world. Muslims have no global strategy; they have no global mind or mentality; they do not even have a global calendar to save them from an embarrassing confusion about the date of Ead al-Adha. Above all, and most unfortunately, they have an image of threatening the freedom and security of the world; they have the stigma of global terrorism.

It is because of the stigma of Islamic terrorism from which Muslims are unjustly suffering today that a Declaration of European Muslims to the Muslim Word should be worked out in order to emphasize the importance of a change from a negative global image to a positive global image of Muslims, especially in matters of their faith.

The center of Islam should take the lead in providing global guidance in practical matters of our universal faith; in global issues of our time; and in global dialogue with our neighborhoods.

But before the presentation of the text of these three Declarations, some explanations are needed in order for us to know as to the Muslim understanding of Europe, their feeling about Islam in an European environment, and their opinion as to their belonging to the Muslim World (The Ummah).


I EUROPE

Europe is neither Dãru-l-islãm – the House of Islam nor Dãru-l-harb – the House of War. Europe is Dãru-l-sulh – the House of Social Contract. Europe is not Daru-l-islam because Muslim Law cannot be fully implemented. Europe is not Daru-l-harb because some aspects of the Muslim Law can be implemented.

The land of Europe is Dãru-l-sulh because it is possible to live in accordance with Islam in the context of the Social Contract ‘as the principles that free and rational persons concerned to farther their own interests would accept in an initial position of equality as defining the fundamental terms of their association. "

It is not difficult to prove that the idea of a Contract, social or otherwise, is a legitimate one. We have plenty of doctrinal and historical documents, which indicate to the concept of Sulh (peace, [re] conciliation, settlement, accord, contract) as an opposite to the concept of Harb (war, warfare, fight, combat etc.).

The very idea of Islam is peace with God, with His Messenger, and with the rule of law: God does call to the House of Peace…(Qur’an, 10:25). The servants of al-Rahman are those who walk on the earth in humbleness, and when the Ignorant address them, they say, ‘Peace”! (Qur’an, 25:63).

It is in the spirit of these Qur’anic verses that the Messenger of God (peace is upon him) had made treaties with the Bedouins at al-Hudaybiyya, with Jews and Christian at al-Madinah, and with the neighboring kings of Abyssinia, Persia and Byzantium. The Rightful Califs have faithfully followed the example of the Messenger and, in turn, they have been followed by the good Muslim rulers throughout the history of Islam as well. This historical fact of the Social contract, which has been initiated by the Muslim good will towards other nations and religions, has been well documented by Muhammad Hamidullah.

As we have said, we have no difficulty in proving the validity of the theory of Contract because we can safely claim that it is a genuine part of an overall Islamic doctrine and history. Our difficulty lies, however, in the lack of a genuine concept of the Social Contract that could be applied in the context of a European environment that would guarantee the decent status of Islam as a way of life and of Muslims as citizens of Europe.

First, we have to understand Europe as the house of Peace, not the House of War.

Second, we have to know what are the issues that should be included into the framework of the Social Contract.

And, thirdly, we have to set up an organization or institution that can represent both Islam as the world religion and Muslims as good citizens of Europe.

We should say that a Contract is the dictate of reason, whereas a Covenant is the will of heart/faith. Hence, we define the Muslim as a man with an allegiance to God as an act of the will of his heart/faith; and we define the citizen as a man with a duty to the state as an act of the dictate of his reason.

By the Covenant man gives his heart to God and receives Inner security; by the Contract he gives his reason to the state and receives Social Security as an inhabitant of a city or town. A citizen is entitled to the rights and privileges of freeman, he is a member of a state, a native or naturalized person who owes loyalty to a government and is entitled to protection from it of his life, religion, freedom, property and dignity.

Europe as the House of Contract opens the way for a sincere dialogue not only with Christians as such, but also with the European society as a whole:

Invite (all) to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and good preaching; and argue with them in ways that are the best. For your Lord knows best who have strayed from His Path and who received guidance. (Qur’an, 16:25).

This Qur’anic principle assumes that the dialogue among religions and cultures must be contextual, equitable and meaningful; it must be scholarly, objective and comprehensive. But to achieve this level of discourse with the European society, we must understand its contemporary philosophy, culture and politics. Its philosophy is based on the logic of rationality and science. Its culture is derived from the history of Christianity. And its politics is conceived of the nation of the survival of the fittest.
Let us be clear here: understanding is not accepting. On the contrary, non-understanding leads to the acceptance of the things that should be rejected by the spirit of the Covenant as well as to the rejection of the things that should be accepted by the force of the Contract.

Furthermore, the ignorance of the reality of the European society in its different dimensions makes us unable to distinguish good from bad a useful from harmful European productions, which are available to our use. It seams that Europe has more knowledge about Muslims than willingness to accept them, whereas the Muslims have less knowledge about Europe than the readiness to accept it. This is the basic difference between European approach to Islam and Muslim approach to Europe, i.e., the European lack of will to accept Muslims as they are and the Muslim lack of knowledge of Europe as it is. Europe is ready to tolerate Islam in its house, but it is not ready yet to accept the Muslims in its political, social and cultural life. On the other hand, the Muslims are ready to accept Europe as it is, but are not doing enough to increase their knowledge about the European political, social and cultural environment that would change their position in the European society.

If we accept the concept of the House of Peace as our concept for Europe in terms of the true Muslim as a good European citizen, then we should know what are the issues which must concern us to make the concept practical. We should know what are the issues that create a kind of tensions between European Muslim ness and citizenship? Are they political or economical; cultural or religious? It is correct to say that the issues are all of that.

Politically, the Muslims in Europe must know what their human rights are in terms of the representation of their community. They must insist on the removal of the prejudices towards Islam and Muslims that exist in the general European public created by the biased Media and supported by some political establishment. Islamophobia is a result of political and cultural intolerance and hatred.

We must teach Europe to accept the Muslim values and to appreciate the sweat of Muslim workers and intellectuals in building a prosperous and free Europe. It is not only historically that Europe owes to the Muslims for its freedom and prosperity, but also it is the contemporary Muslim contribution for its development that gives us the right to say that Europe owes us very much.

Economically, we must demand the equal chance for an economic growth of the Muslim European community.

Of course, the economical issues are very much connected with the issue of education, which must be our foremost concern. In a broad sense of the word education designates the totality of influences that nature or other men are able to exercise either on our intelligence or on our will. It includes all that we ourselves do and all that others do for us. It includes even indirect effects on the character and faculties of men produced by things having quite a different objective: by laws, by forms of government, the industrial arts, and even by physical phenomenon, independent of human will, such as climate, soil, and locality.

This definition of education reminds us of the fact that we must know: first, what are the things that we should do to be able to exercise on the intelligence and the will of our children; second, we must be aware of the things that others do to influence on the character and the faculties of our children; third, we must be familiar with the laws and forms of European governments that indirectly shape the minds of our children; and, fourthly, we must recognize the physical phenomenon of Europe so that we may appreciate the economical and cultural needs of Muslim European community. For, before asking others to do their part for us, we must ourselves do our part in education. We must set up a clear and comprehensive educational program that should be based both on the fundamental principles of the spirit of our faith as the act of our will and on our fundamental rights and duties as European citizens. It is exactly in the reconciliation of these two demands that I see the need for a development of the concept of Dar-l-sulh that should be applied in Europe.

As to the religious issues, they are dependent much on the solution of the above-mentioned issues of politics, economy and culture. Our religion is our way of life. Therefore, the religious issues cannot be left isolated from our life. The building of a mosque in Europe is a religious issue, but it cannot be maintained without an economic ability of the Muslim Community; and it does not serve the purpose without proper educational facilities.

The Muslim affairs in Europe should not be limited to the religious issues. They should be extended to the social issues as well. Our religion should be treated as natural and legal as any other religion in Europe in accordance with the freedom of one’s conscience. Unfortunately, Islam has not been naturalized in Europe yet. It still has a status of a stranger or a special status that is tolerated, but not accepted as an equal representative of the overall European spiritual heritage despite the fact that it stands today as the second religion to Christianity in many European countries.

The European Muslim today is facing great difficulties in preserving their identity because of the lack of will in some European governments to regulate their religious needs and social rights. They are expected to be integrated into the European society, very often, to the extent of losing their Muslim identity. Generally, from the European Media one gets the impression that for a Muslim to be a good European citizen is to deny his Islamic origin or face the charges of anything that is happening in the Muslim world as his own guilt.

It is because of this impression that the state of affairs of Muslims in Europe is not only religious in the sense of an ethical or moral Muslim personality, but in many cases their state of affairs is overwhelmingly political so much that they permanently live under the pressure of fear and uncertainty. Therefore, Islam must be depoliticized in the sense of a universal religion that has as its main goal to teach its followers good behavior in a global society. This, of course, does not mean that Muslims should not be well informed about the politics of that global society. On the contrary, Muslims should be well equipped with the knowledge of a global politics in order to be able to save their religion from bad politicization.

Having said that, we have come to the most important issue of Islam in Europe, namely, the issue of representation and institution. First we have to know that by an approximate estimation thirty millions Muslims live in Europe today. They represent three different groups: 1) indigenous; 2) emigrant; and 3) born. By the indigenous group we mean those Muslims who have a long historical background in Europe such as the Muslims of Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria etc; by the emigrant group we mean those Muslims who have migrated to Europe either as students or workers and have permanently settled mainly in England, Germany and France; and by the born group we mean the young generation that is born in Europe from the Muslim emigrant parents. All these groups have one thing in common, i.e., Islam. They differ, however, in their human experience and their life expectation. The indigenous Muslims have on their back a big burden of history and expect to be supported in their straggle for their religious and cultural continuity in Europe; the emigrant Muslims are making an effort to establish themselves in Europe and expect to overcome the status of an European stranger; and the European born Muslims are in the state of strangle to preserve their Islamic identity in a challenging European political, economic and cultural environment and expect that somebody tells them how to be proud of their faith and their European birth.

What is to be done so that the common value of Islam can become a common ground of all Muslims in Europe? It is now time that we seriously consider the way of institutionalizing the presence both of Islam as a universal religion and Muslims as global citizens. It is clear to everyone that a voluntary representation of Islam and Muslims in Europe is as misleading as anything that is against Muslim dignity and European peace. It is not enough that Europe recognize the presence of Islam in its land. Muslims deserve more than that. They deserve that their presence be legalized in the sense of creating a political and economic climate in which European Muslims can represent themselves through institutions that should have both governmental support and public acceptance. Muslims are very much offended by the insistence of some European Media on the presentation of Islam in Europe by the image of Muslim terrorists.


II ISLAM

There are several reasons why the issue of the status of Islam in Europe is of an utmost importance. The perception that in its self-understanding Europe has been a Christian Continent is not correct. It is a historical fact that many centuries have witnessed not only Muslim but also Jewish people who lived in Europe. Both of them made significant contributions to European life and culture. However, the penetration of Islam into the Balkans and the Iberian Peninsula has left bitter memories of suffering and hatred. Although they have different histories, both Muslim and Jewish Communities were subjects of discrimination and violent persecution that lasted right to our times.

Unfortunately, the Muslims themselves have not always been able to present their case in the manner that is both understandable and acceptable to the European public.

Sometimes, Islam has been presented in such a sophisticated and academically complicated way that the minds of common people hardly can comprehend. And sometimes, Islam has been introduced in such a brutally simplified way that it cannot reach out to the hearts of honest people.

The difficulty of a clear comprehension of Islam and the lack of a direction for Muslims living in Europe create an unnecessary misunderstanding and mistrust between Islam and Europe that often lead to a bitter feeling.

Nevertheless, the future of Europe will be one of many faiths, including Islam. Therefore, the sooner we realize the urgent need to overcome the history of enmity the better for both of Islam and Europe. The Muslims have to give an adequate place in their thought about the European history and the Europeans must realize that Islam has its history in Europe and take into account the fact that many European countries have sizeable Muslim populations. This is the more urgent, as existing prejudices against Islam are continuously nourished by a mix of political events, cultural differences and an active ignorance.

In addition to that, we have to know that religion is not just an abstract idea or a simple belief. Religion is one of very important concrete factors that shape the people’s identities as individual persons and as groups. Therefore, it is our duty to find the way to harness the potential of religions to motivate their believers to strive for peace, justice and tolerance in everyday life situations.

For a long time now, Islam is in focus both in the East and in the West . In the East Islam is a center of attraction and in the West it is a center of attention. The East believes that Islam is the solution whereas the West thinks that Islam is the problem. In the East people claim to defend Islam against its enemies whereas in the West people believe that Islam is threatening their way of life. Hence, Islam has become a magic word of the East in the face of the West; and it has become a big puzzle of the West in the face of the East. It is – indeed – one of the biggest challenges of our times to comprehend the magic word of the East and to appreciate the puzzle faced by the West.

It is not for the first time in history that the West does not comprehend the mystique of the East and vice versa that the East does not appreciate the perplexity of the West. For instance, Alexander the great could have become the future ruler of Asia in the East provided he had been able to untie the Gordian knot by this patience, not by his sword. And the King of Granada in Spain, Hassan bin Ismail, could have built more Alhambras in Europe provided he had appreciated the diversity of European religious and cultural life as his great predecessors had been doing for centuries before him.

Furthermore, it took a long time for Europe to accept the mind of the great philosopher Ibn Rushd, known as Averroës, while the book De I`Ésprit des Lois (The Spirit of the Law) of Montesquieu took a long time to be seriously studied in the East. These historical instances clearly illustrate the fact that the East and the West have always been in a process of a dialectical interaction which often helped them to change the path of history towards better conditions for humanity.

The first historic interaction between East and West had happened in Baghdad and the second in Andalusia. In Baghdad the Muslim Caliph al-Ma’mũn brought the minds of East and West to work out the translation of human wisdom at the time. In Andalusia the western intellectuals had been visiting the Muslim universities to study humanities the result of which was European humanism and renaissance. I believe that we are now at the threshold of the third historic interaction between the East and the West which again has to do with the phenomenon of Baghdad.

Of course, it has not been always easy for the West to understand the spirit of the East. Nor for the East to accept the mind of the West, but in the end the West had no choice but to adopt the faith of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon all of them) that came from the East. In addition, the East could not avoid than path from Might to Right, from Mythology to Science, from Slavery to Freedom, and from the Theory of State to the Legitimacy of State that came from the West.

However, the dialectical tensions between the East and the West nowadays are quite different from previous historical instances. Now the West is not what it used to be: the noncommunist countries of Europe and America, and the East are no longer the communist countries of the Soviet Union. Now the west tends to perceive itself as the non-Islamic countries of Europe and America, and the East is somehow defined as the Muslim countries of the Middle East or as non-Christian countries of the non-Western values. The best example to that effect is the case of Turkey, which is a non-Christian country, and, therefore, it is a part of the West.

In addition, there is a perception in the minds of a many western intellectual that Islam is today what communism was yesterday to the West: the big obstacle, nay, the real threat to the way of western life and civilization. Some people in the West believe that the dialogue between Islam and the West is a waste of time and, therefore, the only way for the west to deal with Islam and Muslims is the argument of force, not the force of argument.

On the other hand, there are people in the East who believe that the West is an old enemy of Islam and so the Muslims should fight the West. According to their logic, there can be only the dialectical opposition between the two.

Our difficulty in facing the above views lies in the fact that those who promote the idea of religious and cultural conflict take Islam as their starting point for their idea of the Clashes of Civilizations. They forget, however, that Islam is not communism and that the Muslim World is not like the former Soviet Union.

Islam is the way of life that is compatible with the way of common reason and human decency both in the West and in the East. In addition, the Muslim World is a great diversity of nations and cultures, which is united by the idea of human goodwill in both the East and the West.

Based on what has been said so far one tends to believe that Islam is a victim both of the East and the West. Why is it so?

Firstly, because the East is too weak to live up to Islamic ideals such as freedom, democracy and human rights; and the West are too arrogant to recognize the Islamic sincerity in morality. Secondly, Islam is a victim both of the East and the West because the East is too narrow-minded to allow the universal spirit of Islam to prevail over the tribal mentality; and the West is too xenophobic to recognize the fact that Islam is its neighbor to stay.

Unfortunately, the extreme views of some people, both in the East and the West, reduce Islam to their likening and thus suffocating both Islam as a faith of freedom of good choice (Arabic (ikhtijar) freedom of good choice as opposed to freedom of evil choice) and Muslims as freedom loving people. They forget, however, that Islam is not reducible to any particular race, color or nationality and that the Muslims are eligible to have God given freedom, decent democracy and legitimate human rights. The Muslim people should not be treated as immature children who cannot bear the responsibility of freedom, the challenge of democracy and the legitimacy of human rights.

No, it is not true. Islam has never been the reason for the suspension of freedom. On the contrary, Islam has taught the humanity that there shall be no compulsion in religion. There shall be freedom in religion because the lie cannot be imposed and the truth needs not the force. So the question is now: Who is imposing the lie and who needs the force for the truth? Obviously, those who believe that Might makes Right tend to impose the lie and those who think that they have the right to play the role of God tend to enforce only their Truth.

Once again, Islam is used and misused both by the East and by the West. Why? Firstly, because the East claim to defend Islam, but, in fact, the East uses (or misuses) Islam to cover up its own shortcomings. Thus, the bitter truth is that Islam is used to defend Muslims rather than the Muslims being in service to defend Islam by their good examples. As to the West, it is also using (or misusing) Islam to show to the western audience that the enemy has been found and that the world should trust western heroes who are in search of weapons of mass destruction.

And, secondly, Islam is used and misused both by the East and the West in order to demonstrate that Islam, as a way of life or more than one billion Muslims around the world, is the obstacle on the way to a better relationship between the East and the West. The people in the East who believe that there should be no dialogue with the West say that the West is a devil, therefore, those who live in the West are doomed to go to hell. And to prove that they use – indeed they misuse the name of Islam.

Similarly, some people in the West believe that Islam, as an idea that came from the Orient, is not acceptable to the Occident simply because it is an oriental idea. They do not want to know, however, that thanks to the very idea of Islam their own cultural heritage from Greece had been saved as well as their own religion had been strengthened by the Islamic conformation of the validity of the divinely inspired books such as the Tawrat (Torah) and the Injil (Gospel). So, the people in the west who have hard time to cure themselves from the disease of xenophobia use – indeed – misuse Islam to promote Islamophobia in the West.

We are – indeed – in desperate need like never before to say that Islam is beyond the East and the West. Why? Firstly, because Islam is both faith and religion; culture and politics; people and land; East and West. This dual meaning is inseparable from the full meaning of Islam because Islam is a deep faith of the individual heart and a recognizable religion of the collective conscience; it is a unique culture of the world and a real politics of the Globe; it is a large number of people around the world and a vast land in the heart of the Planet; Islam is an inerasable sample of the East and an inevitable presence in the West.

Secondly, Islam is beyond the East and the West because of the Qur’anic verse that says: You should know by now that it is not the Right Way only to face your faces towards East and West. But the Right Way is for you to have trust in God, and in the Day of accountability, and in Angels, and in the Book, and in the God’s Messengers.

It is the Right Way also that you spend your property for your kin in need, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the freedom of slaves. Also, the Right Way is to hold fast to prayer, to observe prescribed charity, to honor the contracts which you have made, to be firm and patient in hardship, and to overcome times of fear. Such people, says the Qur’an, are on the Right Way to the truth and they are close to God. (Qur’an; II, 177, our translation/interpretation).

Thirdly, Islam is beyond the East and the West because Jews, Christians and Muslims share the belief in One God who created us all from a single soul then scattered us like seeds into countless human beings; they share the same father Adam and the same mother Eve; they share the air they breath and the rise of the Sun they see every day; they share Abraham’s faith and Noah’s Ark for salvation; they share the love for virgin Maryam (Mary) and the respect for her son Isa (Jesus); they share the true stories about Moses and his divinely guided people around the Sinai dessert; they share the clear word of the Holy Qur’an and exemplary life of the Messenger Muhammad (a.s); and they have no choice but to accept the Ethnics of Sharing as the right way towards a better future for all. Based on what it has been said, it is obvious that Islam will stay beyond East and West. The East will continue to claim the ideals and the West will face the realities of Islam that the European Muslims should seek their place to stay in Europe.

While Islam is beyond the East and West, the Muslims are not. They are neither beyond, nor between the East and the West any more. They are now in the midst of all of this and all of that. Of course, the European Muslims have the right to hold fast to the ideals of the East, but they have the obligation to face the realities of the West as well.

It is not only that the realities of the West are merciless, but also the ideals of the East are not anymore the same. In fact, the European Muslim is now in a position to articulate some ideals of the East which one day might become the realities both of the East and of the West. This is – indeed – the most challenging mission for today’s Muslims – to be an avant-garde in promoting good and preventing evil. This is also the right way for the Ummah to regain dignity at a time of despair. Here is the power of the moral teaching of Islam – in its broad moral view which comes from the idea of promoting good and preventing evil, the idea from which may be derived the following moral imperatives:


First: Read and Learn!

Read and learn in the name of God who has created.
It means, then, that the revelation of the Qur’an did not begin with the imperative of faith, but with the imperative of knowledge.

God Almighty did not ask Muhammad, a.s., to believe, but He, has asked him to read and learn what and how to believe. This is so because man is born with faith. There is no need; therefore, to ask man to believe is that is already in his soul. But there is a need to remind man that he ought to read and learn what is in his soul. So, man needs knowledge with faith as well as faith with knowledge. And here is where both East and West need Islam to teach them: the East to practice knowledge and the West to appreciate the faith.

Second: Believe and work hard

Those who believe and work hard deserve God’s forgiveness and a great reward.

Man neither live in a pure spiritual world without matter, nor in a pure material world without spirit. The secret of success is that man unites in himself these two values: his spirit and his body. In other words, the purpose of man’s life is in the activity of his spirit, and that is his faith, and in the activity of his body, and that is his hard work. The Muslims will regain their dignity if they learn how to make balance between these two forces of progress: the faith of heart and the work of hand.

At the moment there is a big discrepancy between the Muslim heart and the Muslim hand; there is a big gap between Muslim faith and Muslim work. There is no Muslim dignity unless this gap is overcome in such a way that the faith of heart and the power of mind work together.

Third: Be pious and respect your parents

God almighty has prescribed that you worship none expect Him and that you do good to your parents

This Qur’anic emphasis on the relationship between the worship of God and the respect for parents has a strong message both to the East and the West.

The message to the East is not to concede to the pressure to give up on the family values; and the message to the West is to stop the hazardous game with the future of humanity. The institution of family tradition has no alternative. The issue of the family values is not only a moral demand of human society, but also an existential condition of humanity.

The attempt to break the common law of family life is equal of an attempt to break the common law of the nature of the sun-rise from the East.

Fourth: Be honest and fight for your rights

You ought to be engaged in the effort to the way of God courageously and honestly
The success here and the salvation in the hereafter do not come by themselves. One should go after his/her success. One should fight for his/her rights here and now. Also one should work for the salvation in the hereafter; one should deserve God’s mercy.

The difference between the East and the West is in that the East believes more in God’s mercy than in hard work, whereas the West relies more on hard work than on the mercy of God.

Fifth: Be aware of tomorrow

Let every one, male and female, see what he/she is doing for tomorrow.
In this verse of the Holy Qur’an there is a clear proof that we have the right, nay the obligation, to plan our future and to believe that our future may be better than our past.
It is really peculiar how some came to the idea that the Muslim future is hopeless and so the hope is only in the Muslim past as a way of life and a goal of history. This idea has no foundation in Islam. It is not only that God teaches Prophet Muhammad, a.s., that “your future will be better than your past”, but also the common reason tells us that we cannot change our past, but we can, with God’s help, shape our future.

So, we are not responsible for the past Muslim history, but we are responsible for the future Muslim history. That is a past nation. It belongs to it what it has earned by itself and to you belongs what you have earned by yourselves, Qur’an. So, the Muslims should not be afraid to think about their future in the same way as they should not be possessed by their past. The Muslims have future because they have faith in God. And they have faith in God because they believe that the truth and justice will prevail.

III THE UMMAH (THE MUSLIM WORLD)

The Ummah is the Universal Muslim Community tied with the bond of faith in One God and the last prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him). The Muslims believe that the Ummah is a legitimate heir of the successive revelations of God from Adam through Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus to Muhammad (peace be upon all of them). Islam is an inclusive religion by the fact that it recognizes of the existence of other religions. It is, therefore, an Islamic duty upon each and every Muslim male and female to promote mutual respect among all faiths. Therefore, by its nature Islam is a global religion.
Although the notion of globalization is somewhat vague, its impact is felt almost everywhere in all fields of life: political, economic, cultural, and religious. To the Muslims the idea of a global awareness should not be a strange thing. In its essence, Islam is a universal faith and a global phenomenon. It would have been fully appropriate if the Muslims had come with an agenda of a globalization in terms of a global freedom and security because Muslims are scattered almost everywhere on the Globe and so their freedom and security are of a global importance.

However, it is not only that Muslims have failed to come with a genuine idea of globalization, but they are, generally speaking, failing now to live a global world. Muslims have no global strategy; they have no global mind and head; they have no global calendar to save them form the embarrassment of the confusion about the date of Eid al-Adha. Unfortunately, they have the image of threatening freedom and security of the world; they have a stigma of global terrorism.

It is because of these images and stigmas from which Muslims are unjustly suffering today that a Declaration of the European Muslims to the Muslim World should be worked out in order to emphasize the importance of a need for a change from a bad global image to a good global image of Muslims, especially in matters of their faith.
The center of Islam should take the lead in providing global guidance in practical matters of our universal faith; in global issues of our time; and in global dialogue with our neighborhoods.

As a Muslim of European origin and as a European of Muslim faith I expect from my fellow Muslims, wherever they may be, to prove to the world whorl that Islam is both sincere faith and rightful religion; that it is both attractive culture and peaceful politics; that it is both good people and rich land; and that Islam is both the wise man of the East and the rational man of the West.




(TEXT)
A DECLARATION OF EUROPEAN MUSLIMS

Expressing the sense of the European regarding the attack in New York in September 2001, the massacre in Madrid in March 2004, and the bomb explosion in London in July 2005.

Whereas on 11th September 2001 thousand of men and women who had worker at the World Trade Center in New York were killed by a terrorist attack, and on 11th March 2004 hundreds of people who had traveled by a train in Madrid were massacred, and on 7th July 2005 in London many innocent passengers were victims of bomb explosions in London, and whereas all these acts of violence against humanity have been attributed to “Islamic terrorism”,

Whereas following the New York attack, the Madrid massacre and the London bombing the European Muslims live under the heavy pressure of a collective guilt for “Islamic terrorism”

Whereas following the New York attack, the Madrid massacre and the London bombing the European Muslims live under the heavy pressure of a collective guilt for “Islamic terrorism” which is constantly being propagated by some politicians and media;

Whereas the European Muslims believe that there is no collective guilt, but an individual responsibility;

Whereas the European Muslims suffer from Islamophobia due to an irresponsible coverage of the Muslim issues in Europe by some media;

Whereas the European Muslims love freedom for others as they love it for themselves and appreciate citizenship and human rights in multicultural societies;

Whereas the European Muslims would like to raise their children in peace and security with other religious communities in Europe on basis of “Ethics of Sharing”,.

Whereas Islam teaches Muslims that Jews and Christians are the People of the Book and so all the Jews, Christians, and Muslims should learn how to share their common spiritual roots and their common futuristic hopes without prejudice in order to avoid discrimination, low self-esteem, demoralization, religious and racial hatred, helplessness, lack of control, social avoidance, lack of opportunities, and political underrepresentation;

Whereas Europe is a common continent of many faiths, nations, languages, cultures and customs;

Whereas Europe is proud of its road from Slavery to Freedom, from Mythology to Science, from Might to Right and from the Theory of State to the Legitimacy of State as well as Europe’s commitment to the basic values of Human Rights and Democracy;

Whereas the European Muslims want to be part of a European life and prosperity as well as social, political, cultural and moral development of European societies: Now therefore be it

Declared,

I To the European Union

that it is the sense of the European Muslims that –

1) Europe is the House of peace and Security based on the principle of Social Contract.

2) the land of Europe is the House of Social Contract because it is possible to live in accordance with one’s faith in the context of “the principles that free and rational persons concerned to farther their own interest would accept in an initial position of equality as defining the fundamental terms of their association.” (John Rawls).

3) a contract is the man’s dictate of reason, whereas a Covenant is the man’s will of heart/faith. Hence, the Muslim is a man with an allegiance to God as an act of the will of his heart/faith; and the citizen is a man with a duty to the state as an act of the dictate of his reason. By the Covenant man gives his heart to God and receives Inner Security; by the Contract he gives his reason to the state and receives Social Security as an inhabitant of a city or town. A citizen is entitled to the rights and privileges of freeman, he is a member of a state, a native or naturalized person who owes loyalty to a government and is entitled to protection from it of his life, religion, freedom, property and dignity.

4) the European Muslims are fully and unequivocally committed to the following European common values:

a) the rule of Law;
b) the principles of tolerance;
c) the values of democracy and human rights;
d) and to the belief that each and every human being has the right to five essential values: the value of life, the value of faith, the value of freedom, the value of property, and the value of dignity.

5) as they try to live decent life in Europe, the European Muslims have the following expectations:

a) the institutionalization of Islam in Europe;
b) the economic development of the Muslim Community so that it may have a full spiritual and cultural freedom and independence;
c) the development of the Islamic schools capable of educating European born Muslims for new challenges of the multicultural societies;
d) the political freedom that will enable European Muslims to have their legitimate representatives in the European state parliaments;
e) the relaxation over the European migration policy which tends to very restrictive towards Muslims recently;
f) opening the way for the Muslim law to be recognized in matters of personal status such as the Family Law;
g) and the protection of European Muslims from Islamophobia, ethic cleansing, genocide and the like.

6) the European Muslims are committed to a comprehensive joint program for religious dialogue that will:

a) build awareness of the complexities of the secular context in which religions exist today.
b) promote understanding, respect differences and explore common ground.
c) affirm religious indentities as important instruments to deal with insecurity and conflict, and to learn to respect and live with diversity in situations of conflict.
d) contribute to ongoing discourse on human rights.
e) create an understanding of the ‘otherness’ of the ‘other’ person.
f) show the complex relationship between religion, culture, politics and economics, and to highlights the factors which lead towards positive contributions by religions to common efforts for truth, justice and peace.
g) identify religious principles, moral and ethical values, and norms that are comparable and that can be negotiated for a life together; and those that are distinct to each faith; and to recognize possible differences, tensions and misunderstandings between particular moral and ethical values in different religions.
h) highlight the positive historical experiences and to recall memories of good neighborhood and living together that are also part of Europe’s history.
i) establish a common platform for religious coexistence in the spirit of a good will that can be found in both the Books of God and the hope for our common future.

II To the Muslims who live in Europe

that it is the sense of the European Muslims that –
1) the Muslims who live in Europe should realize that freedom is not a gift given by anyone. The Muslim freedom in Europe must be earned. And the Muslim overall status must be recognized in spite of a xenophobic opposition.

2) the Muslims who live in Europe should be more concerned now about their responsibilities than about their freedoms because by assuming their responsibility in the European economical, political and cultural life, the Muslims who live in Europe will earn their right to freedom. Hence, the freedom of the European Muslims will not be somebody’s mercy, but a possessed value which can neither be denied nor taken away.

3) Muslims who live in Europe should present Islam to the western audience as a universal Weltanschauung, and not as a tribal, ethical, or national culture. The Muslims cannot expect from the European to appreciate the universal message of Islam if they are constantly faced with an ethical or national color of Islam. It is not only that the European Muslims can impress the European public by a universalism of Islam, but also Europe is a good place for the Muslims themselves to discover the power and beauty of the universality of Islam.

4) it is in the West that many Muslims discover Islam in a totally different way from their homeland because here they meet their fellow Muslims from other parts of the Muslim world and thus begin to appreciate the diversity of Islamic experience and culture. The Muslims who live in Europe have the right, nay the duty to develop their own European culture of Islam as a proof of the third interaction between the East and the West and as a need for a new renaissance that will lead the humanity to a better and safer world.

5) the young generation of Muslims who live in Europe should be spiritually strong and intellectually bold to break the Muslim’s own stereotypes about Islam before asking others to change their stereotypes. Muslim youth must take the lead into their future, not to wait for the elders to do their job. The Muslim youth should not be shy to take the lead into a better future of the Muslims who live in Europe.

6) the Muslims who live in Europe should commit themselves to the following imperatives of their faith:

a) Read and Learn! The revelation of the Qur’an did not begin with the imperative of faith, but with the imperative of faith, but with the imperative of knowledge. God almighty did not ask Muhammad, a.s., to believe, but He has asked him to read and learn what and how to believe. This is so because man is born with faith. There is no need, therefore, to ask man to believe if that is already in his soul. But there is a need to remind man that he ought to read and learn what is in his soul. So man needs knowledge with faith as well as faith with knowledge.
b) Believe and work hard! Man lives neither in a pure spiritual world without matter, nor in a pure material world without spirit. The secret of success is that man unites in himself these two values: his spirit and his body. In other words, the purpose of man’s life is in the activity of his spirit, and that is his faith, and in the activity of his body, and that is his hard work. There cannot be Muslim dignity unless the big gap between the faith of heart and the power of mind is closed.
c) Be pious and respect your parents! The Qur’anic emphasis on the link between the worship of God and the respect for parents has a strong message both to the East and the West. The message to the East is not to concede to the pressure to give up on the family values; and the message to the West is to stop the hazardous game with the future of humanity. The institution of family tradition has no alternative. The issue of the family values is not only a moral demand of human society, but also an existential condition of humanity. The attempt to break the common law of family life is equal of an attempt to break the common law of the nature of the Sun rise from the East. No one has been able to change the nature of the Sun rise; no one will be able to break the law of the family life as long as the Sun rises by the will of God Almighty.
d) Be honest and fight for your rights! The success here and the salvation in the hereafter do not come by themselves. One should go after his/her success. One should fight for his/her rights here and now. Also one should work for the salvation in the hereafter; one should deserve God’s mercy. The difference between the East and the West is in that that the East believes more in God’s mercy than in hard work, whereas the West relies more on hard work than on the mercy of God.
e) Be aware of tomorrow! There is a clear proof in the Holy Qur’an that we have the right, nay the duty, to plan our future and to believe that our future may be better than our past. It is really peculiar how some came to the idea that Muslim future is hopeless and so the hope is only in the Muslim past as a way of life and goal of history. This idea has no foundation in Islam. It is not only that God Almighty teaches us that our future might be better than our past, but also the common reason tells us that we cannot change our past, but we can, with God’s help, shape our future. So, we are not responsible for the past Muslim history, but we are responsible for the future Muslim history. The Muslims should not be afraid to think about their future in the same way as they should not be possessed by their past. The Muslims have future because they have faith in God. And they have faith in God because they believe that the truth and justice will prevail.

III To the Muslim World

that it is the sense of the European Muslims that –

1) the Muslim World is a universal Community of Muslims who are brothers by their common faith in One God and the prophethood of Muhammad, peace be upon him.

2) the idea of a global awareness should not be a strange thing to Muslims. It its essence, Islam is a universal faith and a global phenomenon. It would have been fully appropriate if the Muslims had come with an agenda of a globalization in terms of a global freedom and security because Muslims are scattered almost everywhere on the Globe and so their freedom and security are of a global importance.

3) it is not only that Muslims have failed to come with a genuine idea of globalization, but they are, generally speaking, failing now to live a global world. Muslims have no global strategy; they have no global mind and head; they have no global calendar to save them form the embarrassment of the confusion about the date of Eid al-Adha. Unfortunately, they have the image of the threatening, freedom and security of the world; they have a stigma of global terrorism.

4) it is because of the stigma of Islamic terrorism from which Muslims are unjustly suffering today that a Declaration of the European Muslims to the Muslim Word should be worked out in order to emphasize the importance of a change from a bad global image to a good global image of Muslims, especially in matters of their faith.

5) the center of Islam should take the lead in providing global guidance in practical matters of our universal faith; in global issues of our time; and in global dialogue with our neighborhoods.

6) the Muslims, wherever they may be, should prove to the whole world that Islam is both sincere faith and rightful religion; that it is both attractive culture and peaceful politics; that is both good people and rich land; and that Islam is both the wise man of the East and the rational man the West.

7) it is wrong to accuse Islam for the lack of democracy in the Muslim world; it is sin to violate human rights in the name of Islam; it is crime against Islam to tolerate a high rate of illiteracy in the Muslim world and to witness a huge gap between enormously rich and extremely poor people in the Muslim world.

8) the European Muslims have the right and the duty to raise these and other issues which have an impact on the future of their children as they are trying to figure out who they are and what they are supposed to do as Muslims in a European environment.

9) the European Muslims call for a global Muslim Community to take the lead in promoting the peace and security in the world.

10) the Muslim World is a legitimate Ummah that should be capable to carry out the duty of a morally good, rationally balanced, economically just and globally proactive Community which is trustworthy of partnership and friendship everywhere.

***

We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere! Friends are God’s way of care of us!



Proposed ‘Declaration of European Muslims’

The attacks of 7 July in London and its aftermath have created a situation of great uncertainties. Time now demands from Muslims in Europe to deeply reflect on their situation and act with maturity and responsibility.

This evening’s event, an audience with the grand mufti of Bosnia, affirms that the Muslim community is an indispensable part of European society, which is devoted to guarding peace, justice, prosperity and harmonious societal development. As a follow-up to the Grand Mufti’s address, we recommend;

1. That the Muslim community continues to resist every attempt that seeks to associate Islam with the hateful acts of any minority who claim falsely to represent us. Further the Muslim community must resist attempts that are being made to discredit the great religion Islam. In the present uncertainties, we look to all our leaders and scholars for continued leadership and guidance.

2. That on the basis of the Grand Mufti’s address today, constructive discussion and debate needs to take place in order to arrive at a mutually accepted common declaration of European Muslims.

3. To this end, IFE together with other communities and organizations, will initiate a series of discussion forums and conferences in major cities of Europe, in order to deliberate and agree on the above. This should commence with immediate effect.

4. That the Muslim community should work with government bodies and other institution to explore the possibility of institutionalizing the Declaration of European Muslims.

5. IFE exhorts fellow Muslims and other citizens, especially those in positions of responsibility such as the Imams and scholars and the Muslim youth to act responsibly and in the exemplary manner of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).



27 August 2005
GRAND MUFTI OF BOSNIA LAUNCHES ‘EUROPEAN DECLARATION DELIBERATION’

At a packed conference organized by the Islamic forum Europe (IFE), Dr Mustafa Ceric, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, initiated the first of the series of discussions towards formulating a Europe wide ‘Declaration of European Muslims.!

The conference held at the London Muslim Centre on Saturday 27 August came in the aftermath of the tragic London bombings and the subsequent attack on the Islamic faith from elements of the media. Dr. Ceric said ‘the current reality demands that Muslims should do more to persuade the European public opinion that their faith is worthy of respect and that their stay in Europe is welcomed’.

The proposed declaration is addressed to the European Union, Muslims in Europe and the Muslim World. Containing a raft of proposals the Declaration aims to make it clear that Europe is the “Abode of Peace and Security based on the principle of Social Contract” that European Muslims are committed to the rule of law and expect the institutionalization of Islam into the social fabric of Europe.

Addressing European Muslims the Declaration states that their assumption of responsibilities will earn them their right to freedom. The Declaration calls upon the Muslim World to provide guidance in practical matters of faith, in global issues and in global dialogue.

Musleh Faradhi, President of IFE welcomed Dr. Ceric’s initiative saying ‘Working with other organizations, IFE will initiate a series of discussion forums and conference in major cities of Europe, in order to deliberate and agree on the proposals brought today.’

Dr. Dawud Abdullah, Assistant Secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain and Muhammad Habibur-Rahman, former Secretary-General of Islamic Forum Europe also addressed the conference.


[End]



Response to the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Dr. Mustafa Ceric, and the London Declaration of Europe Muslims

There are moments in history that at pivotal, that are uniquely timed to alter the course of human destiny. The global community is now in the midst of such an historic moment, a quintessential juncture in human relations, a propitious opportunity to move the world forward. The formulation of the London Declaration under the capable pin of Dr. Mustafa Ceric of Bosnia is just such a moment. It is this moment, this juncture, this opportunity which we must not let pass without its embrace. We who are on the world stage must not see vanish before us this one grand pause in the unfolding of the world’s destiny; rather, we must step forward and grasp the dynamic potential which lies before us, the potential to make the world whole, the foster brotherhood and sisterhood, to nurture understanding, and to insinuate compassion in all our dealings with each other.

The London Declaration is marked with historic proportions of value and merit, of relevance and timeliness. Not until this moment has the world been readied for such a Declaration. Not until this moment has the human community been shocked into the realization that we are all in this global adventure together, not separately, not apart from each other. The globalization of consciousness has as much been inaugurated by the tragedies of New York, Madrid, and London as by the invention of the microchip. There is no one excluded now from this global community of shared destiny. Dr. Ceric has poignantly demonstrated the inevitability of the Islamicization of Europe and Europeanization of Islam.

As Islam declares in clearer and bolder fashion her rightful place on the world’s stage, the world will necessarily respond with a rightful plea for clarity of purpose, integrity of mission, testimony of commitment to peace and understanding, from the Islamic world. The institutionalization of Islam in the West is only a characteristic of the inevitability of understanding, acquaintance, familiarity, and cordiality shared with the West. With this on-rushing of collegial mutuality will come the banishment from the West of the misplaced hatred, misdirected prejudices, misinformed bias levied by the ignorant, the recalcitrant, and the demented. With this on-rushing of the Islamicization of the West will come a respondent population of well-meaning, well-wishing, well-seeking citizens of good will who desire the unification of the human community.

The clarion call to Islam from those of us in the West who seek her well-being and welcome her into the matrix of Western culture, politics, economics, and education is made in response to the mandate of Islam to serve the world and its people, to offer the gifts of peace and understanding, of furtherance of human well-being, which characterizes the fundamentals of the Muslim citizen in the world. Certainly, Dr. Ceric is quite right in declaring that “understanding is not accepting”, and this would, indeed, be the position of all thoughtful people whose faith of held with respect and passion. The failure of understanding between Muslims and the West, as so clearly identified by Dr. Ceric is the Muslims’ lack of knowledge of the West and the West’s lack of knowledge of Islam.

With effort, with collegiality, with partnership and the spirit of a shared destiny in the world, both Islam and the West can move to higher ground, to a place of mutual respect and genuine friendship, differing, all the while, in their respective understandings of the fundamental nature of the human relationship to the love and knowledge of the transcendent source of our being and doing in the world. The Muslim World must not, however, permit itself to act as if it has no rightful place in the West, as if it is a visitor, an outsider, a pilgrim passing through with no intention of settling down. Muslims living in the West are Western; Muslims living in Europe are Europeans. To claim anything less is to distance oneself from the arena of responsibility, accountability, and respectability. European Muslims are Muslims, nonetheless, but Europeans all the same.

The Westernization of Islam and the Islamicization of the West are two sides of the same challenge, venture, endeavor. The West is the home of millions of Muslims, not visitors, not guest, not pilgrims, but residents, citizen, rightful inhabitants of the West. And by acknowledging this reality, Islam benefits and the West benefits. Naming and claiming ones rightful place in the world empowers one to assume one’s rightful duties, obligations, and commitments. Muslims are here in the West, rightfully, justly, and with every expectation of participating in the well-being of all its citizens. Islam suffers from being misunderstood by misinformed and misdirected members of the Western community. The same can be said of Christians and Jews at one time or another in Western history. It did not stop the Christians and the Jews from asserting their rightful place here and neither will be impede the impede the settlement of Islam as a rightful worldview in the West.

The London Declaration as drafted by Dr. Ceric has made the important point for all to take to heart when he says, ‘We are not responsible for the past Muslim history, but we are responsible for the future Muslim history.” The same must be said by all of us. It is to the future, not to the past, that we look with hope, expectation, and confidence. It is to genuine globalization of consciousness, of community, that we tend towards. Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, is both a sincere faith and a rightful religion; it is both an attractive culture and a peaceful politics; it is both good people and rich land; and, says the Declaration, “Islam is both the wise man of the East and the rational man of the West.”

Now is the time; today is the day wherein those of good will around the world can commence to embrace every avenue of understanding, every venue of instruction, every category of knowledge, which will bring Islam and the human community closer together. The London Declaration is the pivotal document of collegiality, fraternity, and integrity. A debt of gratitude is due to the Grand mufti of Bosnia, Dr. Mustafa Ceric, for the inspired insights shared with the European community in the London Declaration.

Dr. John Morgan, President Graduate Theological Foundation




Introduction by Ambassador Akbar Ahmed to “Declaration of European Muslims”
by Grand Mufti of Bosnia

This document has been long over-due. A clear clarion call to Muslims is much needed; a reminder that Islam is a religion of adl, justice, ihsan, compassion and balance and above all a religion that encourages the pursuit and practice of ilm or knowledge. After all, knowledge is the second most used word in the Quran after the word for God.
In the post 9/11 age in which we live Islam faces many challenges. However this Declaration by one of Europe’s leading intellectuals clearly establishes that Islam has the resilience, the compassion and imagination to meet the challenges. Written by a leading religious scholar who has thought deeply about these issues the Declaration needs to be repeated not only for Muslims in Europe but Muslims generally living in the West – especially those in the United States of America and in the rest of the Muslim world. Its message could not be more important.

I have had the pleasure of meeting the author when he was on a trip to London a decade ago and I still recall a phrase that he quoted. The dilemma he said for Muslims in the Balkans was that to Asians they looked too European and to Europeans they looked Asian. In that sense they were a people in the middle. To me that was the perfect metaphor for Islam itself. Indeed the Prophet of Islam had repeatedly talked of Muslims as the people in the middle. I therefore congratulate the author for reclaiming the middle ground for Islam.

It is for the reason that the Declaration which is more a crie de coeur than an academic thesis needs to be heard. I will quote its last line to underline the importance of its message: “We will take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere”. It is in this spirit of a world community living in the throes of globalization – where societies are juxtaposed, overlapping and sometimes in conflict – that the Declaration assumes such importance. Read it; distribute it; discuss it; and act on it.

Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and Visiting Fellow The Brookings Institution, Washington DC, USA.
January 2006.