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January 3, 2006
Top British Muslim Slams Civil Partnerships
Topics: Understanding IslamWhen it gets right down to the basic beliefs and principles of various "mainstream" faiths - excluding their radical fringes, "moderate Muslims, Christians, and Jews can find more common ground on social issues than differances. Take for example two unheralded but important recent events that have occurred in the Muslim world.
First it was the Muslim Advisory Council in Australia recognizing that that presently, there is no control over radical imams, that they have no idea what the credentials of the imams are, what their qualifications are, or what it is they are preaching in the name of Islam - and taking steps to reign-in the radical clerics by establishing codes of conduct, guidelines and controls. Now, from Britain. If for real, and if adequate guidelines and controls are actually established, It sounds like top mainstream Muslim leaders would be establishing some form of governing body that would be the early beginings of what occurs within the heirachy of "mainstream" (Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, etc.) Christian churches.
Now, Sir Iqbal Sacranie, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, has apparently "sparked anger" by condemning civil partnerships and describing homosexuality as harmful and that same-sex relationships risk "damaging the very foundations of society."
Although some Brits may be "angry" over his comments, the Catholic Church, as well as most Protestant and Jewish leaders would find little to disagree with on the issue.
"This is harmful," he said. "It does not augur well in building the very foundations of society - stability, family relationships. And it is something we would certainly not in any form encourage the community to be involved in."
Speaking on BBC Radio Four's PM programme, Sir Iqbal underlined the importance of tolerance. But asked if homosexuality itself was harmful to society he said: "What is not acceptable, there is a good reason for it. Each of our faiths tell us that it is harmful and I think, if you look into the scientific evidence that has been available in terms of the forms of various other illnesses and diseases that are there, surely it points out that where homosexuality is practised there is a greater concern in that area."His statements are well in line with Christian teaching, and importantly, coming from the mouth of the top Muslim leader in Britain - we are hearing words of moderation and tolerance (something we haven't often heard from Muslim leaders):
"We tolerate each other," he said. "We may not be happy with the views being expressed by others. But the difficulty comes in that at the end of the day we are human beings."These are two small but important events from Muslim leaders of two different nations - both toward tolerance and moderation. Maybe there's hope after all, for moderate Muslims to begin speaking out more often and more forcefully!He said opponents of civil partnerships had the right to speak out against them. But those who supported them also had a right to be heard.
Now, if we could only join together and beat this curse on civilization called radical Islam. As Abdurrahman Wahid says, "We must now set aside our international and partisan bickering, and join together in order to confront the terrible danger that lies before all of us - our civilization depends upon it."
With that in mind, it's comforting to have indications that we stand a chance of setting aside such differences, and to have an occasional reminder that all people of faith have good reason to seek common ground in overcoming some of the negative aspects of an ever-more secular world.
Posted by Richard at January 3, 2006 5:32 PM
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