One of our correspondents shares his experiences of working with the Crescent International and what it has contributed to creating awareness about regional as well as global issues. After writing for ICIT’s publication, Crescent International, since 2009, one of our journalists decided to share his understanding and experience of working with the oldest surviving Islamic publication on current affairs.
1The Gauteng Muslim Shurah Council (GMSC) wishes to extend an invitation to take in an interactive inaugural Conference on ‘Social Justice’ which will Inshallah be held in Daveyton.
The takfiri phenomenon that has erupted in the Middle East and parts of Africa is the creation of the imperialists and Zionists and their puppets in the Arab world. Addressing the issue, the Rahbar Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei asked the assembled scholars to deconstruct this latest menace to unity in the Muslim world.
The Islamic World Peace Forum take an exclusive interview with Zafar Bangash, Islamic movement journalist and commentator in Toronto, Canada and the Director of the The Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT), to ask about some concepts considered as the keywords and basic ideas in this regard...
While many Muslims talk about unity, their starting point is often flawed. It begins at the point where the other side is tolerated but not accepted as equally legitimate.
While the overwhelming majority of Muslims (67 percent) want unity in the Ummah, a small disruptive minority is determined to create chaos. To confront such divisive tactics, Iran’s Majma at-Taqrib organized an international Conference in Tehran to bring ulama of all Schools of Thought onto a common platform to strive for unity.
Islam enjoins unity among Muslims while allowing for differences of opinion. Such differences, unless expressed with the requisite civility, can easily lead to serious problems, even violent conflict as witnessed in places like Iraq, Pakistan and Syria.
Pakistan has been gripped by sectarian violence for decades but in recent times, it has become more vicious. Committed Muslims, representing “Shi’is” and “Sunnis” from many parts of the world gathered in Turkey to work toward ending this unnecessary conflict in the Ummah.
Muslim unity cannot be achieved through slogans. It requires practical steps, the first being each side showing respect to the other and being sensitive about what concerns them most.
Praying to Allah for His help in these trying times for Muslims.
Islamic activists, scholars and intellectuals gathered in Tehran for the annual Islamic Awakening conference.
Unity seems to elude Muslims but can they not learn from the geese and how they help each other?
We, “all of us Muslims” have to start saying we are “Muslims.” As the Almighty Allah (swt) states in ayat 33:5, 9:11, 49:10, a Muslim is a brother to a Muslim.
For many Muslims and Islamic activists around the world, in so many different places and fields of work, the unity of the Ummah is a basic premise of everything we do. At the same time, differences of understanding, approach and methodology are inevitable in a global Ummah of more than 1.5 billion people.
In recent years rapid rapprochement has occurred between Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq. The US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) political triumph in Turkey, and Bashar Assad’s succession of his father, were a series of events that brought these countries together.
On the side line of the summit of the Forum for the proximity of the Islamic Schools of Thought held in Tehran in autumn 2010, Taqrib News Agency the subsidiary to the Forum got the opportunity to meet with Imam Muhammad al-Asi and ask him for the answer to some questions regarding Shia and Sunni relations, the Muslim Image in the US and the mosque which was supposed to be built two blocks away from the site of 9/11 called Ground Zero. Following is the script of our interview with him.
Do people think or reckon or figure that they are going to be left alone just to say “we are Mu’minin without being subjected to the tests of the times and the pressures of the powers that be or without being placed in difficult position life? (Surah Al Ankabut verse 2) This is a question. Do people think this is the case? The question infers that this is not the case. You’re not expected by Allah to mumble the words of iman and then carry on without the challenges/difficulties that you will encounter in life. Before we jump to the conclusion, Muslims who commit themselves to Allah there-by becoming Mu’minin do so with an air of innocence. No one becomes a Muslim with a hot head on the first day- that doesn’t occur. When we become Muslims we do it with an open heart and a relaxed mind. There’s no fanaticism/intimidation/hostility about Islam. We acquiesce to Allah. But when we do this according to its principles/meanings, we can’t expect to be left alone.
Having diagnosed the condition of the Islamic world as one suffering from political divisions, economic disparities, cultural parochialism and sectarianism, the author calls for a return to the Islamic concept of ta’aruf—i.e., the mutual familiarity and acceptance of all Muslims within the ummah. Four broad areas to implement ta’aruf are explored including education, travel, the Hajj and language. The article concludes with some political and economic recommendations to pave the way for Islamic solidarity.
(Paper presented at the Islami Wahdat Conference, Tehran) The unity is one of the most important value not only of Islam but of all other religions as well as of man-made secular ideologies. It is considered as a fundamental building block in human and social relations without which no higher purpose or lofty goal can be achieved. This is recognized and acknowledged by all of humankind.
There are some elements and definitions in this presentation that have to be clarified. For a long time now, words have been used in an absent minded way; and clichés have taken on a life of their own. I would like to be conscious and thoughtful about what I am saying when we are speaking about an “Islamic Ummah”, “strategies” and “unity.”
