Mohammed Hashas - AlJazeeraTalk - Morroco
 Dr Tariq Ramadan believes that there is no Moslem society that could be taken as a model; nor does he say that he has a model ready to follow. Instead, he suggests clues based on Koran, the Sunnah, and the Islamic heritage at large. It is here that his project starts to take shape. Since it is not possible to introduce in details the points he raised in the two lectures in a short article like this one and in dealing with a big project like this one, I prefer to sketch out his main ideas as follows:
• The world is suffering from identity crisis that basically stems from spiritual emptiness; Islam is the remedy; contact with the Other should take place so that the message of Islam could be well conveyed at an age when Islam is considered an enemy; the universality of Islam does not aim at engendering enmities;
• Diachotomities like ‘the land of Islam’ (دار الاسلام) and ‘the land of war’ (دارالحرب) should be shattered in this globalized age;
• There is no harm in using terms that were not found in the Islamic diction till recently (like the word ‘democracy’ which is the equivalent of الشورى in Islam; the term ‘democracy’ is more useful and meaningful than ‘shoracracy’ as some do like to say).
• Shari’a (الشريعة) is ‘a way’ of perception, of seeing the world; wherever is goodness, it should be sought even from non-Moslems, because المؤمن أينما وجدها فهو أحق الناس بها' ضالة الحكمة'’
• There is no European [or America, Latin, Asian] Islam; there is ONE Islam;
• Those who go to politics dogmatically, they fail methodically; politics behoves knowledge of the world;
• Koran, Sunnah, and Knowledge of the world is what makes good perception and good judgement; knowing the books alone is not enough, nor knowing the world alone is; they are complementary, and any failure to make a link with the world at its stage in history with what might a divine text (Koran) could have said about it leads to bad judgements and misinterpretations of this text;
• Real scholars descend to the street and listen to the lay man;
• Scholars alone are not responsible and in charge of everything in society; the masses have responsibilities as well;
• Education, social justice, dignity, respect, solidarity, dedication, professionalism, and care for (the education of) women make a harmonious and strong society;
• Networking and mastery of foreign languages helps a lot;
• Local cultures, literatures, and arts are part of the whole body in a real Moslem society; they should be encouraged;
• Confidence in Islam along with its ethics, values, and morals should be stressed, studied, taught, and internalized; they make the universality of Islam...
What is left? Acts...Deeds...Does not the proverb say ‘deeds, not words’? I have always believed that projects start with complete faith in the idea, and with this project it all starts with the last element(s), which I have deliberately left to the end in the list above: ‘Confidence in Islam along with its ethics, values, and morals.’
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- Line 3:...nor does he say = nor does he believe
- الحكمة ضالة المؤمن اينما وجدها فهو احق الناس بها - حديث شريف-
- faith in the idea = faith in ideas
Thank you. The reporter.