(Talk at Tikkun Conference in New York on Sunday, January 20, 2002)
First I would like to thank Rabbi Lerner for his kind invitation to me to participate in this conference and to speak to you this evening. I want to convey to you my best wishes and the best wishes of United Muslims of America, an organization that is dedicated to build interfaith bridges and good relations with all people. We have a number of Muslim participants. United Muslims of America has also sent from Northern California Mr. Iftikhar Hai who is directly involved with UMA’s interfaith relations and activities. We are indeed very interested in building bridges of understanding among all people, particularly with the people of faith and specially Jewish people with whom we have much in common.
I very much like this term “te-kun” “to mend, heal and transform”. This is also the basic theme of Islam. The very name Islam comes from Salam which means “to be intact, unbroken, sound and complete.” The purpose of Islam is to heal the brokenness in our relationship with God as well as with fellow human beings and other creatures of God.
The purpose of religion is to provide identity, to bring integration, mending, healing and transformation. We must transform ourselves from mere self existence to pro-existence, from merely living for ourselves to living for others. We must treat others as we want to be treated by others.
Today we have broken relations, broken hearts, broken trusts and broken homes, broken buildings and towns. We must see how to change this situation. How to bring real Tikkun and real Salam.
September 11th has made us all more sensitive to this brokenness in all of us. A small group of people committed a most horrible crime and created havoc for all of us, for the world. September 11th tragedy was the most horrible in our recent history, but it is not the only problem. There were problems before September 11th and after it. We all have to be concerned with the evil of selfishness, intolerance and violence. Racism, religious prejudices, injustice and exploitation are some of the main problems in the world that we are facing today.
There is a need for a spiritual and moral revival for all of us. I would like to emphasize some core values and commitments of Muslims. It is important that the moderate voices are heard within the community and outside of the community. The more we talk of moderation the more moderation will spread, but if we talk more about radicalism, fundamentalism and extremism then these things will grow.
Core Islamic Values God says in the Qur’an:
O People! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God are the most righteous of you. And God has full Knowledge and is well-acquainted (with all things). (Al-Hujurat 49:13)
…To each among you have We prescribed a Law and an Open Way. If God had so willed, He would have made you a single People, but (His plan is) to test you in what He has given you; so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to God; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which you dispute. (Al-Ma’idah 5:48) 1.There is only one God/Allah who created everything and all people. God is the Lord, provider and nourisher of all of His creation. God is “rabbul ‘alamin” and God is the “Ahsanul khaliqeen” (the best Creator). 2.God created all human beings from one and a single parents: Adam and Eve. All human beings are related to each other and they are the members of one and the same family. 3.Human beings have differences of colors, languages, and races. These differences are not a curse on human beings but they give variety and beauty to human life. These differences are also given for the purpose of identity. “So that we know each other” as the Qur’an says. 4.All human beings regardless of their races, colors, genders or religions are equal and they should be treated with respect and dignity. Human life, freedom and honor should be protected. 5.God sent many prophets and messengers for the guidance of their people at different times and places. Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and upon all the prophets and messengers of God- was sent for the guidance of all humanity. 6.God sent His Prophets and Messengers to establish peace, justice and morality among all human beings. We must work and cooperate with others to establish peace and justice not only for ourselves but for the whole world. The real peace will come when people live with justice and morality. 7.There is no compulsion in religion. No one should be forced by any overt or covert methods to be converted to any faith. Conversion is people’s free choice and every one will be judged according to their knowledge and sincerity. 8.War is not allowed except only in self-defense and in the defense of basic human rights. No terrorism and no killing of any innocent person is allowed in Islam.
These core principles are important for Muslims to understand their relations with others in the world. These principles motivate and inspire Muslims to work for the peace and justice for all people in the world.
Important Issues for our Concern: There are many issues that we can emphasize, but I believe that at this time we should focus on the following problems that are contributing to a great deal of frustration in the world. 1.No to intolerance: We should emphasize tolerance and good relations with all people. We are living in this shrinking world of diverse faiths and cultures. We must recognize the rights of others and treat each person and group with honor and respect. Tolerance should not be just a slogan, but it should be put to practice on all levels. Tolerance must be practiced on the levels of individuals, groups as well as states. It should be a political and legal requirement. Tolerance should be between the members of the same community and same religion, as well as between the people of different faiths and cultures. Tolerance is not the sign of weakness in faith, it is the sign of strength and confidence in faith.
2.No to false propaganda: We emphasize that people must be free to express their ideas and feelings. They should have full right to differ and disagree, but they must express themselves with truth and decency. Dehumanization and daemonization of others, false propaganda and deliberate distortion of others views and traditions must stop. These things create alienation and anger. The media is a powerful tool and it can help in building bridges of understanding and co-existence between various religious and cultural communities. Media and entertainment industry should be careful not to feed people by misinformation and propaganda against other religions and cultures. We must work hard to expose the false propaganda and stand against it. Of course we ourselves should not be engaged in false propaganda against others either.
3.No to domination and hegemony: We should emphasize cooperation and collaboration and must stand against domination and hegemony. Justice, fair dealings, live and let live should be emphasized rather than the push for control and power. We should give a clear message that all human beings should be treated with respect and dignity. No race should enslave other races and no country has a right to dominate the whole globe. Modernization does not necessarily means westernization and globalization should not mean the domination of one group over the whole globe.
4.No to exploitation and extortion: The gap between the have and have-not should be reduced. We must see that all human beings have the opportunity to live with dignity. Deprivation and poverty are main contributing factors for much of the discontent and violence today in our world. Governments are willing to spend billions on weapons, military buildups and wars, but very little for the economic well beings of the poor people in their own societies and around the globe.
5.No to immoral behavior: We should promote ethical and moral behavior in our communities and neighborhood. Honesty, truthfulness, courtesy and kindness should be emphasized. We must promote good family values and must work with others to remove pornography and indecency from the world. We must encourage and support the educational system that promotes openness, dialogue and guards against fanaticism. Our educational system should not teach every view in the absolutist terms. Our students should be taught that there could be various perspectives and one should be open to other points of view. We should also promote human rights of all people, more political freedom, open debates, participatory democracies and representative governments. Hypocrisy and the double standards of the governments, the powerful states and multinational corporations must be exposed and must be stopped.
6.No to violence: We must emphasize to ourselves and to the world that violence is not the way to solve any problem. Violence must be rejected in all forms and by all human beings. Individuals, groups and nations all should learn to solve their problems in peaceful means through dialogues and negotiations. Terrorism and violence against innocent non-combatants and civilians is immoral and evil. It must be condemned wherever it exists. All terrorism whether committed by groups or states- must be eliminated from the world. All weapons of mass destruction from every part of the world must be destroyed. It should be illegal for all nations and countries to invent, produce, sell, buy or acquire such weapons. No nation has a right to own such weapons.
We pray to God to heal our brokenness. We ask God to give us strength and courage to do good to each other and establish an environment of good will and understanding among all human beings.