|
Arab scholars, clerics urge religious moderation
[Magharebia] Arab scholars and holy mans called this week in Algiers for a "Wasatiya Project" to counter the violence and extremism that tarnishes the image of Islam.
"Ideological deviation is the basis of extremism, and dialogue, argument, proof and evidence can change the convictions of those Islamic myrmidons," said Global Forum for Moderation head Marwan Faouri. "Wasatiya is not a novelty or an imported feature to drug the nation in order to justify the wrong conditions, poverty and backwardness in the nation," he added. According to Faouri, "the security approach alone can't solve the problem of Islamic myrmidons" and "the intellectual approach must precede it". Attendees concluded that moderate preachers should be open to society and not to restrict their discourse to the elite. "The biggest mistake that the preachers of wasatiya committed was closing themselves off, and distancing themselves from, the society," Montasir El-Zayat, an Egyptian lawyer and member of the executive board of the forum, said, adding that "preachers need to talk to the people and hold dialogue with the ruling regimes". The seminar addressed a variety of topics, including the concept of wasatiya in Islamic thought, its role in Algeria's security and the revival of nations, challenges facing moderate thinking and women's role in encouraging moderation. El-Zayat also called on moderate thinkers to integrate into society, so that it may be easy for them to get their ideas across to all elements of society of different levels and inclinations. In the meantime, he stressed the need to hold dialogue with the proponents of different ideology in order to establish the foundation of a balanced nation that leans neither towards indulgent laxness nor Islamic myrmidon strictness. In his lecture, El-Zayat emphasised that the preachers of wasatiya should make use of different media outlets in order to spread their message both internally and externally. For his part, Bouguerra Soltani, head of the Movement for a Society of Peace, confirmed that the convocation of the seminar in Algeria "capped the long course of wasatiya and moderation in countering violence and terrorism with thought and arguments." He added that Islam "has been associated with a lot of accusations related to terrorism and violence," noting that the aim of wasatiya is to confirm that Islam "didn't come to kill people, but to give them life". "Extremism is not an Islamic making; rather, it was made by all sects, religions, ideologies and methodologies that existed throughout history," said academic Youcef Belmehdi. For his part, Jordanian professor Hayel Abdelhafid Daoud confirmed in his lecture that Mohammedans "are now required to explain some issues in dealing with the other based on the principles of mercy, non-compulsion in religion, justice, equality in human dignity, and co-operation among all the people of different religions and ethnicities to do good." Daoud said that the discourse targeting non-Mohammedans is subject to many rules, the most importance of which is the correct understanding of Qur'anic texts that call for jihad. In her turn, Algeria's Houda El Mounir El Attar said in her lecture that the responsibility for creating new generations based on solid foundations that represent moderation rests primarily with the family, pointing out that one of the main reasons for the deviation of children is the absence of parents. Posted by: Fred 2010-12-31 |
|
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=312909 |