Yahoo – AFP,
18 Nov 2014
 |
Fuad Nahdi
(front row centre) addresses members of the Church of England's
Synod in
central London, on November 18, 2014 (AFP Photo/Leon Neal)
|
London
(AFP) - A British Muslim addressed a Church of England synod for the first time
on Tuesday in a discussion with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby on the
suffering of religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.
Fuad Nahdi,
head of Radical Middle Way, a think tank involved in inter-faith dialogue,
recited an Islamic prayer and greeted the Anglican gathering with the words
"salaam aleikum" (Peace be with you).
Nahdi
branded violent Islamist jihadists as "idiots" and condemned
discrimination against Christians, but said that Muslims who did not adhere to
extremist ideologies had suffered in greater numbers.
"The
persecution of Christians in Iraq and Syria is heinous and totally unacceptable
to any sane human being. But we should not forget that the Muslims have borne
the brunt of these extremists," he said.
"Thousands
if not tens of thousands have died in the past couple of years and they will
continue to die if we pretend to ignore it," the Kenya-born campaigner,
who was dressed in a blue robe and cap, told hundreds of assembled delegates.
He also
spoke about growing anger among young Muslims in Britain in reaction to
criticism that they face because of the actions of extremists they have nothing
to do with "thousands of miles away".
"All
the pressure on us is to try and justify things that are unjustifiable,"
he said, calling for peaceful existence and joint "fight against
ignorance" by Christians and Muslims.
In an
article in The Guardian newspaper out on Tuesday, Nahdi wrote: "I hope my
presence as the first Muslim to address the General Synod shows that followers
of these great religions can be allies".
The Church
of England is the mother church of the global Anglican Communion, which has
some 80 million followers in over 165 countries.
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“. New Tolerance
Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.
Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."
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