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OUR
STATEMENT AND ADVICE
In
the year 2000 Tony Blair at the Eid Party at 12 Downing St.
said, "We have to rectify the false images created by a few."
This is primarily the responsibility of those whose religion
is distorted and misinterpreted to justify actions that sicken
the human conscience and cause revulsion in every decent human
being on earth.
We
expect all British Muslims and non-Muslims to stand together
in opposition to terrorism and to help in safeguarding our
society and country from people who are acting outside the
values of religion and law. Islam shares with Christianity
not only the nobility of the 10 biblical commandments but
completely agrees with the understanding behind the so-called
7 cardinal sins. A Muslim cannot but treat human beings with
dignity and respect due to God's statements in the Quran and
the Prophet's kind behaviour towards all, in light of the
inherent dignity of mankind espoused by Islam. There are many
examples in the Quran and the prophetic traditions that one
can study in this respect to verify this.
To
pronounce the central creed of Islam (shahada) is to act before
God with respect for His creation, because faith (iman) is
actually a public trust (amana). Relations between human beings
are based on respect, trustworthiness and, above all, on an
absolute faithfulness to the agreements, contracts or treaties
which have been explicitly or tacitly made.
Fulfil
(every) engagement, for (every) engagement, will be enquired
into.
[Surah al-Isra 17:34]
Those
who faithfully observe their trusts and their covenants;
[Surah al-Muminun 23:8]
This
is true to the point that if Muslims are unfairly treated
or persecuted in a country with which another Muslim community
has signed an agreement, it is impossible for the latter to
intervene for respect of the contract comes first. This is
clearly stated in the Qur’an.
But
if they seek your aid in religion, it is your duty to help
them,
except against a people with whom you have a treaty of mutual
alliance.
And (remember) Allah sees all that you do.
[Surah al-Anfal 8:72]
The
Quran says, "God forbids you not, with regard to those
who fight you not for (your)faith nor drive you out of your
homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them; for God loveth
those who are just." It is one of the functions of Islamic
law to protect the privileged status of minorities, and this
is why non-Muslim places of worship have flourished all over
the Islamic world. History provides many examples of Muslim
tolerance towards other faiths: when the caliph Omar entered
Jerusalem in the year 634, Islam granted freedom of worship
to all religious communities in the city. Islamic law also
permits non-Muslim minorities to set up their own courts,
which implement family laws drawn up by the minorities themselves.
Within
our free society in Britain of welfare rights, universal suffrage,
equality before the law, freedom of expression and religions,
people of different faiths are not only able to discover the
teachings particular to them but to foster and promulgate
the values inherent in them in a pluralistic, multicultural
environment. Muslims can establish organisations, teach and
promote their faith both with ease and a large degree of respect
and make autonomous representation. Many otherwise non-practising
Muslims rediscover Islam and become committed to it at various
levels in our country at different periods of their age due
to the supportive conditions that prevails in this land. Our
country affords that in principle, as a matter of free choice.
Muslims may face some difficulty in needing to avoid involvement
in activities which contradict their religion, but in the
UK, the majority of such activities which are morally incorrect
in Islam are not imposed on Muslims but are rather legally
allowed, e.g., pre-marital sex or drinking alcohol.
William
Booth, the son of a builder, born in Nottingham in 1829 converted
to Christianity at the young age of fifteen and became a revivalist
preacher. Booth developed strong views on the role of church
ministers believing they should be "loosing
the chains of injustice, freeing the captive and oppressed,
sharing food and home, clothing the naked, and carrying out
family responsibilities."
Each
of these social aims have great significance in Islam and
carry high merits before God. They are deeply encouraged by
both Allah and His messenger Muhammad (may
the peace & blessings of God be upon him) that should
form the bulwark of any Islamic presence in a society. One
needs to only take a cursory look at the rights of neighbours
and treatment of neighbours encouraged in Islam to convince
oneself of this. In Islam, absolutely
no distinction is made between a Muslim and a non-Muslim neighbour.
The
Church of England were at first extremely hostile to Booth's
activities. Lord Shaftesbury, a leading politician and evangelist,
described William Booth as the "Anti-Christ". One of the main
complaints against Booth was his "elevation of women to man's
status". Members of the Salvation Army were imprisoned for
open-air preaching and their support for the Temperance Society
made them the target for gangs of men who became known as
the Skeleton Army.
Muslims
can similarly expect misunderstanding and criticism from their
own faith communities but need to take heart from the blessed
Messenger Muhammad (may the peace & blessings
of God be upon him) who taught us through sacrifice
and selfless perseverence how to reach out to one another
and most significantly, also to the wider community, in justice,
toleration, admiration of good qualities and unstinted benevolence.
He weathered the storm of criticism and opposition with magnanimity
and gracious patience. If Christianity in modern times can
produce the likes of William Booth then every Muslim should
check their heart and see if we are at least as good as him
if not better, being as we claim to be the true worshippers
of Allah in His Oneness.
William
Booth was a Christian activist who saw his twin objectives
as the saving of lost souls and righting the social injustices
of his time. He never lost his zeal for the Gospel, his love
of his Lord or his heartfelt compassion for the poor. These
qualities should be the aim and aspiration of all Muslims
- zeal for the Truth, love of God and genuine help for the
poor. This is an extract from his last public address given
on May 9th 1912: While women weep as
they do now, I’ll fight; while little children go hungry as
they do now, I’ll fight; while men go to prison, in and out,
in and out, as they do now, I’ll fight; while there is a drunkard
left, while there is a poor lost girl on the streets, while
there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I’ll
fight – I’ll fight to the very end. Three months after
that speech, on 20th August 1912, William Booth was ‘promoted
to Glory’. To a sincere Muslim who has a modicum of knowledge
of Islam, these words are not only inspirational but echoes
the Islamic ethos of being human.
Anas
reported that everything the Messenger of Allah was asked
in return for embracing Islam, he gave. Once a man came to
the Prophet, who gave him a herd of sheep that filled the
area between two mountains. That man went back declaring,
'O my people! Embrace Islam, for Muhammad gives away like
the one who does not fear poverty.' [Muslim]
We
need to develop more examples of British Muslims like Abdullah
William Henry Quilliam(1856-1932). He accepted Islam while
travelling in Morocco in 1889 and studied the religion at
the University of Fez. Back in England he established a Mosque,
a publishing House, a library, a Debating Society, a School
and an Orphanage in Liverpool. He faced local and national
hostility due to anti-Muslim sentiment and later when war
broke-out. However, he lived up to the true values of Islam
without resorting to what Allah and His Messenger forbade
or hate.
It
is not through accident that the Arabic word rahma,
meaning mercy or the capacity to forgive, comes from the word
rahm meaning a womb. Islamic law draws the radical
conclusion, that God Himself can only forgive offences against
Himself. ‘For transgressions between man and God, repentance
atones. But for transgressions between man and his fellow
man, repentance does not atone until he has obtained forgiveness
from his fellow man.’
The
sin of harming a neighbour is compounded and far more serious,
let alone killing or not preventing a neighbour's death when
one is able to do so.
Muhammad
the Messenger of Allah (may the peace & blessings
of God be upon him) asked the people about adultery,
and they said, "(It is) Haram; Allah and His Messenger
have forbidden it." He said, "Verily, for a man to commit
adultery with ten women would be a lesser sin for him than
if he commits adultery with the wife of his neighbour".
He then asked them about stealing. They said, "(It is) Haram;
Allah and His Messenger have forbidden it." He said, "If
a man were to steal from ten houses it would be a lesser sin
for him than if he were to steal from his neighbour’s house."
[Ahmad]
Thus
it is imperative that Muslims in Britain do their utmost to
cooperate with responsible bodies in the UK to uproot terrorism
and especially such as from those who seek to connect it to
Islam.
Our
history also records the contributions of the Unitarians who
believed that social evils were humanly created, not God inflicted,
and therefore could be remedied by human efforts.
In
the the late 18th and early 19th century, Unitarians were
closely identified with the campaign for social and political
reform. Unitarians such as Joseph Priestley, Jeremy Bentham,
Harriet Martineau, James Martineau and John Stuart Mill were
all advocates of universal suffrage. Other leading radicals
of the period such as Tom Paine and Thomas Muir were described
by their critics as Unitarians. After the publication of Paine's
Rights of Man, religious radicals in London formed the Unitarian
Society to promote the cause of parliamentary reform.
In
the 19th century Unitarians were very active in the movements
for factory reform, public health, prison
reform, temperance, women's rights and the abolition of slavery.
Every single aspect mentioned should naturally appeal to a
true Muslim who seeks virtue in life and not vice because
of the clear prescriptions of Islam. Unitarian reformers included
Edwin Chadwick, Florence Nightingale, Jenkin Lloyd Jones and
Charles Booth.
Islam
stands for uncompromising pure monotheism. If the Unitarians
of our country can rightfully boast of such achievements and
contributions how much more Muslims should aim to excel in
similar endeavours. It is extremely easy to be rightly motivated
if one draws on the unadulterated teachings of the noble Quran
and the way of the Prophet Muhammad (may the
peace & blessings of God be upon him). Evidence
abounds regarding monotheistic persons before the advent of
Muhammad (may the peace & blessings of God
be upon him) who stood up for social justice and against
malpractice in society. Muslims need to reflect on the monsters
within and how we intend to contribute to our country and
society better than our unitarian forbears in the UK.
Muslim
clerics in Britain must not only speak out against terrorism
in this difficult time but do their best to educate those
who listen to them against extremism and distortion of their
faith. We must disassociate ourselves from any organisation
or individual, Muslim or otherwise, which carries out criminal
acts in the name of Islam and help make Britain a better country
for all who live in it - free from the turmoils of violence,
crime and worst of all, religious extremism.
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