Jordan Times
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Scholars gather to tackle
takfiri ideology
By Mahmoud Al Abed
AMMAN — Some of the Islamic world's leading
clerics and intellectuals met yesterday in an effort to define practical ways to
counter extremist ideology and promote Islam as a religion of moderation and
tolerance.
The conference, entitled: “The Practical Role of the Moderate Current in Reform
and the Revival of the Umma,” was inaugurated by HRH Prince Ghazi at the Palace
of Culture.
For three days, participants from the Muslim world and Muslim communities in the
West will study ideas such as establishing an international assembly to promote
Islam as a religion of moderation, compassion and tolerance.
At the opening ceremony, Marwan Faouri, president of the Moderation Assembly for
Thought and Culture, described the event as the first of its kind and one that
is designed to yield practical mechanisms to clarify the tainted image of Islam
and refute the arguments of extremists.
He said the effort is a continuation of His Majesty King Abdullah's campaign to
reintroduce Islam to the world as a faith of moderation, understanding and
dialogue.
Faouri, whose agency organised the conference, cited the Amman Message and the
International Islamic Conference hosted here last summer as landmarks in the
campaign against extremism and takfiri ideology, whose advocates label Muslims
as apostates merely for differences in opinion.
Saadeddine Othmani, secretary general of Morocco's Justice and Development
Party, said the world now recognises the moderate stream in the Islamic world,
which seeks reform in the fields of education, politics, culture and thought,
while encouraging dialogue and interaction with the rest of the world.
“The moderate stream,” he said, does not mean surrendering to those who attack
the umma (nation), but embraces a positive approach that turns threats, such as
globalisation, into an opportunity to interact with the world.
Speakers insisted that moderation is the essence of true Islam.
“Islamic creeds require us to accept the other, to respect all prophets and to
refrain from taking extremist approaches,” said Ahmad Kubaisi, a leading Iraqi
scholar.
He expressed his total rejection of the sectarian fighting in Iraq “at a time
when we need to join efforts to unify the nation, build the country and confront
the takfiri ideology.”
President of the Higher Shiite Council in Lebanon Sheikh Abdul Amir Qablan said
the Prophet Mohammad was the first to call for moderation, a concept “that is
synonymous to integrity, balance and respect of the other.”
Sudanese Awqaf Minister Issam Bashir echoed the same ideas, saying the
envisioned reform should seek to block attempts by those who take advantage of
the differences between Muslim sects to destroy the entire fibre of the umma.
Organisers said participants would decide practical steps to establish the
proposed Global Forum for Moderation in Islam, which was first suggested at a
conference the Moderation Assembly held in Amman in the summer of 2004.
This international forum and its partners would carry the banner of moderation
in Islam and promote tolerance and democratic pluralism, in addition to
establishing distinctions between legitimate resistance and terrorism.
Participants in this week's meeting are also expected to endorse a plan to
establish an international satellite channel that campaigns for a moderate
Islam.
Both plans, they said, intend to “dry up the springs of extremism and defend the
name of Islam against unjust campaigns.”