Role and problems of emigrants

Islam, the universal religion, was meant to be a Mercy for all mankind in all ages, providing the spiritual and moral basis and responding to all issues of life in all generations. It called for rational and scientific thinking to address the issues of each stage which means that every generation has to study the various cultural, social, political and security aspects of his age to address the challenges that face the ideology of Islam, as well as its principles, rules, laws and methods, so that one could study the various means of confrontation to these challenges, and devise the right strategy to address them.

In the light of this, we meet with the new generation whether in its active movement or its withdrawal from the confrontational front, its racial and sectarian decisions, its cultural and political diversities and its security situation… This generation ought to study thoroughly its position from the various polarizing international axis, or in the other diverging sphere in the life of nations that might be contradictory to the Islamic beliefs.

There should be aa major plan for a leading role that converges all the various Islamic resources in a complementary process...

We should concentrate our thinking on the various Islamic aspects: The spiritual that elevates the nation’s united spirit and draws it near to God and more open on life and more committed to our responsibilities, so that the nation will act in a unified way, with each individual sacrificing for the society… The cultural aspect that builds for the mind the intellectual base to produce a creative and positive thinking that would enrich and strengthen life, and make the Muslims more aware and more capable of holding their responsibilities in supporting the right, freedom and the good… The social aspect that emphasizes the integration of all its resources in serving its vital causes… The security aspect which resorts to planning for its defense and Jihadi movement in a rational and thoughtful way that does not resort to improvisation or emotional reactions.

It is natural that this generation should assume its leading role in the internal status of the Islamic front with its diverging society whether on the sectarian, racial, national or political levels to try to establish an Islamic unity based on trying to meet on points of intersection… Such an endeavor would start by knowing one another to reach a mutual understanding and cement the agreement on the points they agree upon. A spiritual and cultural climate wound be produced; one that would turn into a state of dialogue that is based on rational subjectivity which recognizes the other without any emotional reaction or ill temperament. The dialogue will be based on using the best words and resorting to the best means, for kind and good words would turn an enemy into a friend or at least create an atmosphere of mutual understanding.

Such a commitment to solving the internal problems and challenges should drive the generation, and especially its leading vanguard, to study the points of weakness and those of strength in an effort to benefit from the points of strength and turn the points of weakness into points of strength. It is the internal gaps that enable the counter-elements to play a role in destroying all what the nation has built.

We need open minded, conscious and responsible leaders who surpass the traditional way of looking at things from a narrow angle, and adopt that methods that open up on the entire world in its relations with the Islamic reality and the challenges it presents. It should also be concerned with the relations of the Islamic nation with the other nations… in an interactive manner that preserves the Islamic identity which does not - in its cultural nature-prevent any integration with others, that would create favorable conditions to present Islam in its civilized image that is based on the mind as an original factor for knowledge, and responsibility, and on science to discover the secrets of life and the universe and to improve it on the basis of the universal laws of the cosmos and the laws of history with respect to man, and on the Islamic Sharia laws which embeds the ability to study the texts and reach independent judgments, thus creating a jurisprudent multiplicity.

In this way the text too would also be moving with time and circumstances, i.e. with life. It is not as though the text is fixed or constant while life is changing No that text too has a changing content while its concepts are constant.

Let us take the example of the concept of justice, while this concept is constant its applications are wide enough to address all rights of humans, animals and the environment in all times and places.

We call upon the new Islamic generation to live its age…

We want them to understand the mentality, methods and aspirations of their time, so that they would talk to others in a wise way.

The prophetic traditions says: “We, prophets, were commanded to talk in as much as their minds (conceive)”, thus suggesting that those who struggle for the cause of Islam in any time or place should understand the collective mind and issues of those around them so that we would avoid giving them a distorted idea about us, or giving us a distorted idea about them.

We would like to stress also the importance of the Islamic personality which we develop through our general education of the nation.

It should remain clear and distinct away from any ambiguity, and confusion so that we would be meeting others on clear grounds without any intermingling or confusion between our beliefs and theirs, especially with the counter-attack on Islamic thought and doctrine that is being launched by forces of aggression as well as the international arrogance.

This attack might have an impact on the views of the peoples that are subjected to this campaign, which might isolate us from the other nations whom we have to rely n our scientific and economic needs which could affect our welfare on all levels.

Based on this analysis, we concluded that we have to present the glorious realistic image of Islam in a very careful and vigilant manner. We should reject all negative acts, especially those of terror that target civilians whether in Islamic or other countries. These explosions kill and wound civilians in cases while there is no grand scale war or where there is no legal rights of self-defense. We have to engage in a dialogue with those parties that were influenced by the arrogant media about the issue of fighting for the cause of liberation and independence, and convince them through a civilized logic that it is not a form of terrorism for it is an act of liberation to the nation and the territories as well as a struggle for the cause of human rights. If this war of liberation involves the unavoidable death of civilians it is something that is justified by all civilizations and by all trends whether religious or secular.

Our responsibility lies in acting in an objective rational manner that knows how to reach the minds and hearts of others.

And if the Muslims live, as in your case, in non-Islamic countries, like the United States, then they have to be good and peaceful citizens if they have acquired the nationality and good guests if they have not.

In both cases, they should share the American people their concerns whether economic, developmental, human rights, preserving the general security of the people, and confronting terrorism… This will make you acquire your human and civil rights. It will also promote and enhance your Islamic existence, since you would have a positive influence on the political decisions, and help create a public opinion that supports our just causes.

It will also enable you to confront all aggressive campaigns against Arabs and Muslims that are launched by several lobbies.

Your responsibility is to gain the people to the cause of the Islamic call and to the rational and conscious movement that wants to base the call on wisdom, preaching and arguing in the best possible way.

Islam calls on us to turn our enemies into friends, and to gain all people to our side, as friends and not enemies. This is the logic of the Islamic active call.

In this context, we have to engage with the Islamic movement on issues like; The Islamic call, the Islamic movement, tolerance, violence, openness. We also have to develop, humanize and rationalize the Islamic action, since a role model is more influential than calling by words, for it presents Islam in action and not in mere words.

In this respect, we have to engage in political action in all immigrant countries, and especially America, which has the power to decide on many issues in the world. But this should rely on extensive and precise study of specialists to determine the nature of political participation and the methods or means that ought to be adopted.

On another level, we also have the duty to present the civilized Islamic view regarding women and the nature of their relations with men that is organized by moral values, which are also realistic both in practice and theory. We also have a duty to present the general Islamic judicial framework for the family, as the social cell that builds the societal personality of the individual, and the spiritual source that nurtures the emotions of childhood and the aspirations of the youth and that provides the emotions that makes the humanitarian, and Fills his heart and spirit with all the tranquility they need.

To accomplish this task, we have to monitor the negative acts that certain ignorant commit by practicing violence against women or children, or by preventing any freedom of thinking and developing an independent personality by imposing patriarchal dominance. We have to try to eliminate such negative attitudes so as not to let others tend to believe that this dark image is the image of the family in our society.

Finally, there are many values that we have to emphasize and call for in our conference and societies to facilitate common understanding and reach unified opinions.

1- Unity as the basis for building closer relations and strong ties among all religious sects. We should meet on Islam, the faith and the fundamentals of Sharia, and resort to dialogue on the details we differ about on the basis of the Holy Quran that commands us to “ refer to Allah and the Messenger” in all our differences. Then we have to uphold the political unity of all Islamic parties and trends, and try to establish a common elationship between those who think of the interests of the Islamic nation-state and those who put the interests of individual, countries first, so that one would complement the other in planning and in execution…

2- objective and rational dialogue that studies all issues in a calm and loving manner in order to reach positive results.

3- Staying away from violence and relying on leniency in all internal affairs, while resorting to self-defense and to defend the land and the nation in the face of all who impose violence, injustice and occupation on us, by means of realistic methods that solve the problem and does not aggravate.

4- Islamic brotherhood as the basis of internal relations especially on the battlefront.

This is what I wanted to raise in your conference and call you to think about hoping for your organization as well as the Conference all progress and prosperity, as well as openness on Islam and Muslims in what establishes justice for all mankind and ensures good for all humanity.

The letter of the religious Authority Sayyed M. H. Fadlullah to the annual conference of the Jammaa Islamyia in the US and Canada (December 2003).