Tantawi: Jihad is Purely Defensive
Freedom of Religious Belief Intrinsic to Islam
Al-Sharq al-Awsat reports that the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar Seminary in Cairo, perhaps the foremost Sunni Arab authority, has issued a statement that jihad or "holy war" was legislated in Islam for the defense of the persons and honor of Muslims, and is not to be used as a threat or a form of aggression against the innocent.
Dr. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi called for the correction of false Western ideas concerning Islam, especially the notion of "jihad."
The remarks came in a closing session of a joint Muslim-Christian Dialogue Committee between al-Azhar and the Anglican Church in the UK.
Grand Sheikh Tantawi denied that there is any clash of civilizations or religions, affirmed that members of the religions cooperate with one another, and mere difference in religion does not prevent that.
He quoted the Quran verse, "There is no compulsion in religion," saying that it demonstrates that freedom of belief is delegated (to human beings), and any practices that contradict that principle are considered departures from true Islam.
I couldn't find an English account of all this easily on the Web. If any Anglican readers know of a Website for it, I would appreciate the link.
posted by Juan Cole @ 9/05/2006 12:11:00 AM
|
Facebook
5 Comments:
"He quoted the Quran verse, "There is no compulsion in religion," saying that it demonstrates that freedom of belief is delegated (to human beings), and any practices that contradict that principle are considered departures from true Islam."
- So is he saying that Saudi Arabia, with absolutely no freedom of religion, is departing from "true Islam"?
- Since humans are supposedly free to choose to believe, is rejection of Sharia within the ambit of "true Islam" ?
I don't know what Egyptians are like, but endless watching of Pakistani TV channels reveals to me that they are more worried about image than solving real problems. The quoted statement sounds more like an image-saving statement than having any real substance.
Arun, as a Muslim I can tell you the Saudi government is hypocritical and un-Islamic. There's a reason their rulings are given no weight by the worldwide Muslim community, and if it wasn't for Mecca and Medina in its borders, the country would be nothing more than another Yemen.
I can tell you that many people feel sincere about the quoted statement above, and the people like Bin Laden who claim to practice Jihad is something that bothers Muslims, including me. Stop accusing Muslims of insincerity.
Prof. Cole,
Thank you for this. I don't think there was any English version of it, but I posted one:
http://www.johnmitchell.org/blog/2006/09/sheikh-of-al-azhar-jihad-initiated-for.html
Prof. Cole,
Thank you for this. I don't there was any English version, but I posted one:
http://www.johnmitchell.org/blog/2006/09/sheikh-of-al-azhar-jihad-initiated-for.html
From Arun:
"So is he saying that Saudi Arabia, with absolutely no freedom of religion, is departing from "true Islam"?
Saudi Arabia promotes a form of strict Islam called, "Wahhabism", this is not pure Traditional Islam.
"Al-Qaida sympathisers regard the traditional Sunni muftis and imams, not only as politically spineless, but as heretical. Mainstream imams, including those trained in the UK’s 16 Muslim seminaries, follow traditional Sunnism, while al-Qaida is rooted in Wahhabism, the eighteenth-century reform movement of central Arabia. Strict Wahhabis consider the theology and piety of mainline Sunnism to be kufr (disbelief). Hence Wahhabi radicals have not hesitated to kill Muslims, including senior scholars; indeed, Muslims have always been al-Qaida’s principal victims.
Wahhabism represents a sort of Islamic Reformation: scripturalist, literal-minded, hostile to the veneration of saints and to philosophical theology. Hence Wahhabi zealots are no more likely to heed the voice of the muftis than, say, Cromwell would have been responsive to the entreaties of the Pope as his Puritan armies laid waste to Ireland."...
"Wahhabism was generally loathed in the Islamic world when it made its first appearance in the eighteenth century. The collapse of Ottoman power during the First World War allowed it to assert itself and, amid scenes of shocking massacre, the Holy Cities were annexed. In the late twentieth century, the explosion of oil wealth allowed Saudi Arabia to export this same puritanism to the outside world." from Islam's 'Heart of Darkness' by Abdal Hakim Murad
- Since humans are supposedly free to choose to believe, is rejection of Sharia within the ambit of "true Islam" ?
There's no compulsion in religion means just that. God gave humans a choice, to either know and worship Him, or not to.
Post a Comment
<< Home