International Muslim Scholars and Civil Society Leaders Meet in London to Discuss Terrorism and Identity

Scholars and civic leaders from Muslim communities in Russia, the United Kingdom and around the world met in London between 14-16 December 2015 at the Eleventh International Muslim Forum on ‘Religion, identity and politics, and the transformation of values.’ Led by the Mufti of Russia, the conference was held in conjunction with the Religious Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation, Secretariat of the Muslim International Forum, Russia Muftis Council, Religious Board of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia) and Moscow Islamic Institute.

The participants issued the following resolutions.

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful!

London, 16 December 2015 – We, the participants of the 11th International Muslim Forum on ‘Religion, identity and politics, and the transformation of values”, call on the Muslim ‘Ummah’ and people of goodwill to consider the following resolutions that have come out of our conference:

1. – We consider it our duty to express our outrage and complete rejection of the acts of terrorism committed in different countries of the world in the last year in the name of religion. If anyone has used the slogans of Islam, then in actual fact he or she has discredited Islam. We express our sympathy and condolences to all the victims of the ruthless actions of terrorists. The death of each and every person, regardless of their sex, nation or religion, is a tragedy. Those who carried out these evil deeds have earned the disdain of their contemporaries, and also prepared for themselves a pitiful fate in the Other world before the Judgment of the Creator.
2. The very appearance on the cusp of the 21st century of the phenomenon of pseudo-Islamic terrorism is a consequence of multiple and varied transformations in the sphere of values: in religion, politics, and in the self-identity of nations and religions. The international community as a whole and the Muslim community as a part of it need to engage in a deep analysis of these transformations and to work out new mechanisms for harmonizing society and the personality which will be founded on newly conceived traditional values, in particular the values of the “heavenly religions” of the Abrahamic traditions and of humanism.
3. What is needed is not just political and economic, or military and preventive security measures to root out pseudo-religious terrorism: first and foremost we need to work on the education of those layers of society in the different countries where the terrorists are recruiting the cannon fodder for their cause. The appeal of the terrorist ideology can only be overcome through educational work conducted on many different levels both in the countries of the West and in the East, in groups of all different types of religious and belief groups, while taking into account their specific needs.
4. – For Muslims who are working towards spreading humanistic values the most important theses are the following: awareness of the deeply humanistic essence of the Holy Qur’an and appeal to Qur’anic humanism when interpreting social-political and other processes of modernity; overcoming feelings of exclusivism among the madhabs and schools towards people of other faith; the development of a common inter-religious and inter-madhab humanistic dialogue; awareness of the enormous responsibility of the followers of the Prophet Muhammad for the peace and ecological and economic welfare of the planet Earth.
5. – Spreading humanistic values in Muslim communities requires a wholesale reform of the system of religious education to integrate the achievements of scientific and technical progress with the religious teachings. It is necessary to focus attention on shaping the younger generation of the Muslim intelligentsia as well as creating the conditions for its successful integration into the international intellectual elite.
6. Dialogue, better mutual understanding and active cooperation with non-Muslims can be improved by using the international media and specialized publications for academics, religious leaders, and high-ranking figures to disseminate the following tenets about modern Islam: the teaching of the Qur’an does not cause confrontation between its followers and the whole world; the only real alternative to the politics of the confrontational clash of civilizations is deep and comprehensive dialogue; at the same time the defense of traditional religious and ethical values is of high importance for Muslims and believers of the Abrahamic tradition.
7. – The resolutions passed at the U.N. climate summit that took place in Paris in November to December 2015 must be disseminated through the media to all members of the ummah in every country; and scientists in positions of power should implement these decisions. It is crucial to recognize that the ecological catastrophe will primarily hit those regions of the world where our Muslim brothers and sisters are living.
8. – The participants of the conference believe that the further development of Muslim philosophy and humanistic thought, the formation of a Muslim intellectual elite and deeper research into the Islamic tradition will be served by continuing to convene annual international meetings that include leading scholars, experts in the field of state-religion relations, and Muslim clerics, who can share experience and opinions and work together towards solving the challenges confronting our societies.