ISTANBUL — A two-day conference on challenges
facing Muslims in Europe wrapped up late Sunday, July 2, with calls
for both governments and Muslims to bridge a widening gap.
The 11-point Topkapi Declaration, read out by Grand
Mufti of Bosnia Mustafa Ceric, stressed that Islam's presence in
Europe is not new but rather a historically long and culturally rich
one.
"Muslims have played an important role in the
transfer and production of knowledge to and in Europe," read the
document.
It asserted that Muslims are obliged by Shari`ah to
be low-abiding and have a duty to promote social harmony and good
relations with their fellow compatriots.
The declaration, however, made it clear that like
fellow citizens European Muslims have the right to criticize, dissent
and protest.
Internationally renowned British Muslim singer Sami
Yusuf opened the closing ceremony with a song on Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him).
The two-day conference, themed Muslims of Europe:
Challenges and Opportunities, brought together a galaxy of Muslim
thinkers, scholars and leaders from all over the world.
Its main aim was to look at some of the most
pertinent issues that face European Muslims and their societies,
including integration, citizenship, identity, Islamophobia and media
representation, faith and its public role, and combating extremism.
The conference was arranged by a steering group
representing a number of major European Muslim organizations and
figures.
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Yusuf opened the ceremony with a song on Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). (IOL picture)
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The conference declaration stressed that terrorism
in all its forms is an affront to the whole of humanity.
"Under no circumstance does Islam permit
terrorism and the killing of civilians," it insisted.
The declaration urged Muslims to work harder to
uproot terrorism.
But, the declaration also had a strong message to
European governments.
Condemning spiraling Islamophobia and all forms of
discrimination, it urged European governments to promote inclusiveness
and dialogue.
Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Secretary General
of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), has encouraged
Muslims to lobby for laws similar to the US hate crime act that would
make it mandatory for a government to collect statistics on hate
crimes.
Muslims have been disturbed by a rise in
Islamophobic crimes in a number of European countries.
The Topkapi Declaration also underlined the need to
work harder and more consistently to eliminate the injustices and
grievances that have contributed to the hopelessness and despair of
many Muslims and peoples across the world.
In its latest report on the so-called war on
terror, the British parliament's influential Foreign Affairs Committee
said on Sunday, July 2, that international conflicts, such as the
situation in Iraq and the occupied Palestinian territories, breed
feelings of injustice in the Muslim world which can boost support for
terrorism.
A recent global poll by the American Pew Research
Center indicated that the presence of US forces in Iraq weigh heavily
on the US image in the Muslim world as well as in Europe and Japan.
Another Pew survey also indicated a widening
confidence gap between the west and the Muslim world with the two
sides attributing negative traits to the other.
Palestine
In addition to the declaration, the conference
issued a separate statement about incessant Israeli aggressions
against the Palestinian people.
"Whilst this conference was about Muslims of
Europe we felt it was impossible to ignore the recent events in
Palestine which, as citizens of Europe and beyond, we condemn
unreservedly," read the statement.
"Those of us present in this Muslims of Europe
conference call for the immediate cessation of the bombing of
infrastructure and civilian targets and the withdrawal of Israeli
troops."
The statement called upon European governments to
exert all efforts to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian people.
Israel has so far carried out more than 60 aerial
attacks on the impoverished Gaza Strip since Tuesday, June 27, while
artillery units have shelled more than 1,000 rounds against the
impoverished territory.
About 5,000 troops and columns of Israeli tanks are
stationed on the Gaza border in the largest Israeli offensive since it
pulled out of the tiny coastal territory last September, ending a
38-year-occupation.
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The conference demanded the immediate end of Israeli bombing of infrastructure and civilian targets. (Reuters)
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Heba Raouf Izzat, an Egyptian political theorist
and expert, said there are lots of challenges facing Muslims in Europe
and also a lot of opportunities.
"I believe there are more opportunities for
Muslim youth to become active and engaged in negotiating lots of
rights and also understanding some of the complex dimensions of
specific maps."
Tariq Ramadan, one of Europe's best-known Muslim
intellectuals, welcomed the conference outcome, albeit with some
reservations.
"It is a very broad one; there is nothing
specific you can say it is right or wrong," he told
IslamOnline.net, referring to the 11-point declaration.
"I think it is broad enough to please
everyone," said Ramadan who teaches at England's Oxford
University and has been a lecturer of Religion and Philosophy at the
University of Fribourg and the College de Saussure, Geneva.
The 41-year-old scholar cited many positive
elements in the declaration, especially the emphasis on the shared
responsibilities of Muslims and European governments.
"We tell our fellow citizens that we are
richness to our countries and richness to the future of Europe and we
have also to listen to the potential contributions and not to be
obsessed by real and marginal problems."
Addressing the conference on Saturday, July 1,
Swiss-born Ramadan called on Muslims to become more involved in
mainstream European society and to be more ready to criticize
themselves.
"We have to practice self-criticism for our
own sake, not to criticize Islam, but to criticize our behavior."
