Ighsaan Taliep – IPSA Dialogue An Ethical Vision for the Role of Religion in South Africa

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.