Sumber: Sheikh Ali Gomaa - Grand Mufti of Egypt
The greater goals of Islam are to preserve and protect life, the intellect, religious belief, human dignity, and private property. For us, as Muslims, these rights have been elevated to sacred duties, such that no one can deny or forfeit them, even if they were to claim that it is their right to do so. And these goals and values form the foundation of liberal democracy.
We have to make an essential distinction between Islam and the way Muslims practice it. The application of Islam by the ignorant, however pious they may be, does not reflect the truth of this religion. The pure, authoritative interpretation of Islam is the only benchmark by which we can evaluate the actions of Muslims. For this reason we need to take our understanding of Islam from those who are qualified to interpret it – and there are clear, unambiguous standards for those who are qualified to interpret Islam – and not from anyone who simply practices Islam, no matter how pious he or she is. Unfortunately, the western media has unknowingly promoted extremism by labeling any and all religious opinions as ‘fatwas’, to the point that the word itself now has an evil connotation. In reality, nothing could be farther from the truth. A fatwa can only be issued by trained scholars. Calling every opinion a ‘fatwa’ has given unseen aid to extremists and terrorists. Opinions delivered by unqualified Muslims have been given strength and foundation by this grand title. If these statements were defined as personal opinions, they would not have as much impact on the general public nor would they receive public support.
Throughout its history, Islam has never been a theocratic state. Rather, Islam created a paradigm for a non-ecclesiastical political system that adheres to the tenants of religion and acts in accordance with its ethical values and its prohibition of corruption. An indication of this is that over the past hundred and fifty years Muslims have accepted the implementation of democracy as a system to ensure justice, political participation, multi-partisanship, a division of the branches of government, and checks and balances. With the support of qualified Islamic scholars Muslims around the world chose to establish republics and constitutional monarchies, and institutional states and constitutional states without thinking they had thereby discarded Islam.
We can say that the principles shared by the West and the Muslim world, remain today. This underlying reality, however, has been obscured by political and economic interests that exacerbate the differences between the Muslim world and the West and cover over the values and principles they share. We can work toward changing this state of affairs through transparency, dialogue, mutual interest, and sincere cooperation for the improvement of all humanity.
I have come to England many times before in coordination with the Anglican Church, Cambridge University, and the British Government in order to build this bridge between the Muslim world and the West, which I hope we can construct for the sake of our children and our grandchildren.
I hope event will be a beginning, and not an end in itself. One of the ways to achieve this is to begin a translation project on both sides between Arabic and English through which we can get to know each other, and by allowing each side to express its self clearly free of accusations. Will we awake one morning to a world in which peace has taken the place of bloodshed, mutual cooperation has taken the place of hegemony, and transparent honesty has taken the place of deceit? We certainly hope so, and it is towards this end that we are working.
Wilton Park Speech
Wilton Park February 21, 2007
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