Ighsaan Taliep – IPSA Dialogue An Ethical Vision for the Role of Religion in South Africa
AI: Summary ©
The leaders of the upcoming national holiday are discussing the importance of achieving spiritual guidance of God through their faith and belief in God through their faith and guidance. The importance of morality and acceptance in sharia law is also emphasized, particularly in relation to poverty and inequality. The Sharia is a way to promote humanteenth edition and empower people to live their lives in a sustainable way, which is a fundamental belief for the restoration of human society. The belief system is based on the presence of faith and not the lack of it, and is a way to promote humanteenth edition and empower people to live their lives in a way that is sustainable.
AI: Summary ©
Moderated
membership
fellow panelists will present here this evening, our honored and
respected leaders in society, beloved fathers and mothers
present brothers and sisters in islama great to all, assalamu,
Alaikum and Peace and blessings of God Almighty on your own,
the
motivation for the program here this evening, I'd just like to, in
My capacity, put some context to that
our
role as faith communities in the future of our country is
essential. It is imperative. It's important
we know that the religion, as our panelists have indicated, is a
bridge, and at other times it causes bloodshed.
We believe that God Almighty, in his wisdom and his infinite
wisdom, had
sent his revelations. He sent His messengers, and all of it by its
own plan for the guidance of magic.
At IPSA in particular, we have embarked upon
the development of research programs for our students,
and one of the areas of research that have been identified is the
area of interfaith dialog and peace study,
and we inshaAllah, by the Grace of Allah, grace of God, endeavor to
take this platform and take it forward with a view of coming out
with pieces of research
publication that will inform those processes for our students,
especially at the postgrad level, as well as how it filters down
into the undergrad level. And so the ethical vision for the role of
religion in our country is the question which we felt we should
get ourselves talking around as people of faith, faith leaders in
our community, for we have, I think, a burden of responsibility
on our shoulders at this juncture in our history, probably at a
higher level than other members of society,
ethical outcomes in the interpretation of Scripture
is not axiomatic.
This sounds peculiar. It sounds ironic,
but the eighth century scholar even came of Jersey. He stated
the Sharia, or Islamic law,
in its entirety, is about wisdom and achieving the welfare or the
maslaha of humankind and people in this life and the next.
It is based, in its entirety, on justice, mercy and goodness.
Thus any ruling or edict that replaces justice with injustice,
mercy with its opposite, the common good with corruption
or wisdom with nonsense, can never be part of the Sharia or Islamic
law, Despite attempts to interpret it like that.
In Islamic philosophy, the operationalization of ethics in
edict and conduct are prophet to be guaranteed within the framework
of the higher purposes, or the
second objectives of God's revelation is guidance for all
humanity,
and establishes the unity of humanity, the human race, to
emanate from one single soul,
And the soul emanates from God, as we've heard there about everything
Stated differently,
the Quran establishes our humanity as semicon, a
prerequisite
to be recipient of divine guidance.
It follows, therefore that faith communities should incessantly
collaborate to protect
the humanity of people, for without humanity, there will be no
divine grace,
and we have had a discourse that emanated around the Muslim world
with this topic called Al insania, Hobbit at the UN
confirming humanity before religiosity.
It is telling that Islamic philosophy elevates the
preservation of life as one of the foremost purposes of Revelation,
and they are main references, which tonight is not what we want
to share.
Further to the process of our humanity, God confers each soul
human dignity. Karama
as a God given right
semicon on to human dignity is the legal and moral prescription of
discrimination that erodes human dignity
as a nation and as a community, we know that we still struggle with
the remnants of 350 years of oppression based on racial
discrimination.
The prophetic example to Muslims is too forceful to be overlooked.
Hence we find that sometimes we formally eschew racism, yet
essentially we are compromised.
This is a major objective
to be systematically championed in all faith communities,
abject poverty,
inequality, joblessness,
prophetic teaching can lead to this
belief was the adage of Prophet Muhammad.
It is therefore no longer acceptable for welfare operations
to overlook the essential need for the restoration of human dignity
through poverty alleviation interventions. It
is once again telling that not only is the preservation of human
dignity per se, but also the preservation of income or
livelihood, Mao
elevated as one of the higher purposes of the Sharia.
And again,
there's this let me perhaps reference this particular
prophetic teaching, because we all know it by heart, yet we recite it
in a very narrow fashion, at variance with the teachings of
former scholars in our tradition. So we know that again, the whole
requirement of faith
the Prophet peace be upon him denied the presence of faith
within a person who does not love for his brother or sister that
which he loves for himself.
And the scholars were at pains to confirm that it is not your
brother in faith or sister, but in humanity.
So the way we do charity, the way we do welfare,
we need to critically introspect
and
so to ourselves as a Muslim community,
we found the emergence of a shattering discourse
of toxic charity
and toxic dower mission work,
this has been emerging from among
nascent and young Muslim communities
in our country.
Rectification hearing is sometimes non existent and sometimes
painfully slow.
However, the recognition for designing ethical interventions
that promote human dignity and financial empowerment is gaining
somewhat
of traction,
an important, divinely ordained mechanism for social harmony and.
Cohesion
is interfaith relations as well as intra faith relations,
and one of the mechanisms that this
engagement hinges on is the acknowledgement and the
recognition of the God ordained principle of free will on this
earth,
freedom of choice,
freedom of conscience,
the Quranic phrase, Larry qradhafi, demons, there is no
compulsion in the affairs and the matters of faith,
and so
it is intertwined and timed up into the God given right to human
dignity. We have this god given freedom of conscience, which
equally allows us to speak our minds yet never infringe the human
dignity of the Abu
to Muslims, again, the higher purposes of the Sharia guarantees
freedom of conscience in the very first degree have the deen
Allah lays down his divine law on Earth. And Prophet Ryan referenced
this early on when he said that God Almighty, in his law that
applies on this existence here in this world, keeps a certain group
of people in check by virtue of another group of people. And that
had that not been the case, he says, You have found the
destruction of monasteries and of churches and of synagogues and of
mosques, wherein the name and the remembrance of God is upheld as
the Quran promotes diversity as an inner feature of creation
and a cause for reflection on the infinite power of the Creator.
Diversity in faith, nations, tribes, cultures, tongues,
pigmentation is his design
and faith communities in South Africa find a largely enabling
constitutional environment to foster and cultivate these values
in society. There are also areas of tension which we have no option
but to engage and navigate within an ethical framework with
patience, respect and tolerance. Finally,
for religious responses to fulfill an ethical role with integrity, it
must not necessity provide solutions that are realistic and
relevant to society, to address an intellectual and leadership crisis
in our community. And so it has been confirmed and is common
cause, that faith communities have a vital role to play in political,
social and economic transformation of the country and in bringing
about reconciliation between blacks and whites, between
different tribes and different faiths religious leaders must have
a vision of a humane and just South Africa in which human rights
and civil political and economic rights are not only enshrined in
their constitution, but are observed and practiced in everyday
life.
I thank you, sir.