THEAMMAN
MESSAGE
the royal aal al-bayt institute for islamic thought
2008 • Jordan
THEAMMAN
MESSAGE
the royal aal al-bayt institute for islamic thought
2008 • Jordan
© , TheRoyal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Jordan
CONTENTS
Introduction v
TheAmmanMessage
TheThree Points of theAmmanMessage
GrandList of Signatories
FrequentlyAskedQuestions
INTRODUCTION
TheAmmanMessage started as a detailed statementreleased the eve of the th of Ramadan /
th November by H.M. King Abdullah II binAl-Hussein inAmman, Jordan. It sought to declarewhatIslam is and what it is not, and what actions representit and what actions do not. Its goal was to clarify to themodern world the true nature of Islam and the nature oftrue Islam.In order to give this statementmore religious author-
ity, H.M.KingAbdullah II then sent the following threequestions toof themost senior religious scholars fromall around the world representing all the branches andschools of Islam: ()Who is aMuslim? () Is it permissibleto declare someone an apostate (takfir)? () Who has theright to undertake issuing fatwas (legal rulings)?Based on the fatwas provided by these great scholars
(who included the Shaykh Al-Azhar; Ayatollah Sistani
v
and Sheikh Qaradawi), in July , H.M. KingAbdullah II convened an international Islamic confer-ence of of the world's leading Islamic scholars‘Ulama) from countries. In Amman, the scholarsunanimously issueda rulingon three fundamental issues(which became known as the ‘Three Points of theAmmanMessage’):
. They specifically recognized the validity of all Mathhabs (legal schools) of Sunni, Shi‘a and IbadhiIslam; of traditional Islamic Theology (Ash‘arism);of Islamic Mysticism (Sufism), and of true Salafithought, and came to a precise definition of who is aMuslim.
. Based upon this definition they forbade takfir (dec-larations of apostasy) betweenMuslims.
. Based upon theMathahib they set forth the subjec-tive and objective preconditions for the issuing offatwas, thereby exposing ignorant and illegitimateedicts in thenameof Islam.
TheseThree Points were then unanimously adoptedby the Islamic World’s political and temporal leader-ships at the Organization of the Islamic Conferencesummit at Mecca in December . And over a period
vi
of one year from July to July , theThree Pointswere also unanimously adopted by six other internatio-nal Islamic scholarly assemblies, culminating with theInternational Islamic Fiqh Academy of Jeddah, in July. In total, over leadingMuslim scholars world-wide—as can be seen on this website [click here to seethe entire list]—unanimously endorsed the AmmanMessage and itsThreePoints.This amounts to a historical, universal and unani-
mous religious and political consensus (ijma’) of theUmmah (nation) of Islam in our day, and a consolidationof traditional, orthodox Islam.The significanceof this is:() that it is the first time in over a thousandyears that theUmmahhas formally and specifically come to such a plu-ralistic mutual inter-recognition; and () that such arecognition is religiously legally binding on Muslimssince theProphet (maypeace andblessings beuponhim)said:MyUmmahwill not agree upon an error (IbnMajah,Sunan,Kitab al-Fitan,Hadithno.).This is good news not only for Muslims, for whom it
provides a basis for unity and a solution to infighting, butalso for non-Muslims. For the safeguarding of the legalmethodologies of Islam (the Mathahib) necessarilymeans inherently preserving traditional Islam’s internal‘checks and balances’. It thus assures balanced Islamic
solutions for essential issues like human rights; women’srights; freedom of religion; legitimate jihad; good citi-zenship of Muslims in non-Muslim countries, and justand democratic government. It also exposes the illegiti-mate opinions of radical fundamentalists and terroristsfrom the point of view of true Islam. As George Yeo,the ForeignMinister of Singapore, declared in the thSession of the U.N. General Assembly (about theAmman Message): “Without this clarification, the waragainst terrorismwouldbemuchharder to fight.”Finally, whilst this by the Grace of God is a historical
achievement, it will clearly remain only principial unlessit is put into practice everywhere. For this reason, H.M.King Abdullah II is now seeking to implement it, Godwilling, through various pragmatic measures, including() inter-Islamic treaties; () national and internationallegislation using the Three Points of the Amman Mes-sage to define Islam and forbid takfir; () the use ofpublishing and the multi-media in all their aspects tospread theAmmanMessage; () instituting the teachingof the Amman Message in school curricula and univer-sity courses worldwide; and () making it part of thetraining of mosque Imams and making it included intheir sermons.God says in theHolyQur'an says:
There is no good in much of their secret conferencessave (in) whosoever enjoineth charity and fairnessand peace-making among the people and whoso doeththat, seeking the good pleasure of God, We shallbestow on himavast reward. (Al-Nisa,:).
THEAMMAN
MESSAGE
THE AMMAN MESSAGE
I , the Compassionate, theMerciful. Peace and blessings upon His chosenProphet, and upon his household, his noble blessed
companions, andupon all themessengers andprophets:GodAlmighty has said:O humankind! We created you
fromamale and female, andmade you into peoples and tribesthat youmayknoweach other.Truly themost honored of youbeforeGod is themost pious of you. (:)This is a declaration to our brethren in the lands of
Islam and throughout theworld thatAmman, the capitalof the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is proud to issueduring the blessed month of Ramadan in which theQur’an descended as guidance to humankind and as clarifi-cations for guidance and discernment. (:)In this declaration we speak frankly to the [Islamic]
nation, at this difficult juncture in its history, regardingthe perils that beset it. We are aware of the challengesconfronting the nation, threatening its identity, assailingits tenets (kalima), andworking to distort its religion and
harm what is sacred to it.Today the magnanimous mes-sage of Islam faces a vicious attack from those whothroughdistortion and fabrication try toportray Islamasan enemy to them. It is also under attack from somewhoclaim affiliation with Islam and commit irresponsibleacts in its name.This magnanimous message that the Originator—
great is His power—revealed to the unlettered ProphetMuhammad—God’s blessings andpeace uponhim, andthatwas carriedbyhis successors and themembers of hishousehold after him, is an address of brotherhood,humanity and a religion that encompasses all humanactivity. It states the truth directly, commands what isright, forbids what is wrong, honors the human being,and accepts others.TheHashemiteKingdomof Jordanhas embraced the
path of promoting the true luminous image of Islam,halting the accusations against it and repelling theattacks upon it.This is in accordance with the inheritedspiritual and historical responsibility carried by theHashemite monarchy, honored as direct descendants ofthe Prophet, the Messenger of God—peace and bless-ings upon him—who carried the message. For fivedecades, his lateMajesty KingHussein BinTalal—Godrest his soul—demonstrated this way with the vigorous
effort that he exerted. Since the day he took the flag, HisMajestyKingAbdullah II has continued this effort,withresolution anddetermination, as a service to Islam, forti-fying the solidarity of . billionMuslimswho compriseone fifth of humanity, preventing their marginalizationor extrication from themovement of human society, andaffirming their role in building human civilization andparticipating in its progress during ourpresent age.Islam is founded upon basic principles, the funda-
mentals are attesting to the unity of God (tawhid Allah);belief in the message of His Prophet; continuous con-nection with the Creator through ritual prayer (salat);training and rectifying the soul through the fast ofRamadan; safeguarding one another by paying the almstax (zakat); the unity of the people through the annualpilgrimage (hajj) to God’s Sanctified House, [perfor-med] by those who are able; and [observing] His rulingsthat regulate human behavior in all its dimensions. Overhistory these [basic principles] have formed a strong andcohesive nation and a great civilization. They bear wit-ness to noble principles andvalues that verify the goodofhumanity,whose foundation is the oneness of the humanspecies, and that people are equal in rights and obliga-tions, peace and justice, realizing comprehensive secur-ity, mutual social responsibility, being good to one’s
neighbor, protecting belongings and property, honor-ing pledges, and more.Together, these are principles that provide common
ground for the followers of religions and [different]groups of people. That is because the origin of divinereligions is one, and Muslims believe in all Messengersof God and do not differentiate between any of them.Denying the message of any one of them is a deviationfrom Islam. This establishes a wide platform for thebelievers of [different] religions to meet the other uponcommon ground, for the service of human society, with-out encroaching upon creedal distinctions or uponintellectual freedom. For all of this we base ourselvesuponHis saying:
Themessenger believes in what has been revealed untohim from his Lord as do the believers. Each onebelieves in God andHis angels andHis scriptures andHis messengers. We make no distinction between anyof His messengers—and they say: “We hear, and weobey. [Grant us] Your forgiveness, our Lord. UntoYou is the journeying.” (:)
Islam honors every human being, regardless of hiscolor, race or religion:We have honored the sons of Adam,provided them transport on land and sea, sustained them
with good things, and conferred on them special favors abovea great part of our creation. (:)Islam also affirms that the way of calling [others] to
God is foundeduponkindness andgentleness:Call to thepath of your Lord with wisdom and a beautiful exhortation,anddebatewith them in thatwhich ismost beautiful (ahsan).(:) Furthermore, it shuns cruelty and violence inhowone faces and addresses [others]:
It is by some Mercy of God that you were gentle tothem. Were you severe—cruel hearted—they wouldhave broken away from you. So pardon them and askforgiveness for them and consult with them in the con-duct of affairs. And when you are resolved, put yourtrust in God; truly God loves those who trust [inHim]. (:)
Islam has made clear that the goal of its message isrealizing mercy and good for all people. TheTranscen-dent has said,We did not send you [Muhammad] but outof mercy for all creatures. (:) And the ProphetMuhammad—blessings and peace upon Him—said,“TheMerciful has mercy upon those who are merciful,bemerciful to those on earth,Hewho is in heavenwill bemerciful unto you.”Islam calls for treating others as one desires to be
treated. It urges the tolerance and forgiveness that ex-press the nobility of the humanbeing:The recompense foran evil is an evil equal thereto, but who forgives and recon-ciles, his recompense is fromGod. (:)Good and evil arenot equal.Repelwithwhat ismost virtuous.Then he betweenwhom and you there is enmity will be as if he were an inti-mate friend. (:)Islam confirms the principle of justice in interacting
with others, safeguarding their rights, and confirms thatone must not deny people their possessions: And let notthe hatred of others make you swerve to wrong and departfrom justice. Be just: that is closer to piety; (:) God com-mands you to return trusts to their owners, and if you judgebetween people, you shall judge with justice; (:) So give[full] measure and [full] weight and do not deny the peopletheir goods, and work no corruption in the land, after it hasbeen set right. (:)Islam requires respect for pledges and covenants, and
adhering to what has been specified; and it forbidstreachery and treason: Fulfill the covenant of God whenyou have entered into it, and break not oaths after they havebeen confirmed and you have made God your surety; trulyGodknowswhat you do. (:)Islam recognizes the noble station of [human] life, so
there is to be no fighting against non-combatants, and no
assault upon civilians and their properties, children attheir mothers’ bosom, students in their schools, norupon elderly men and women.Assault upon the life of ahuman being, be it murder, injury or threat, is an assaultupon the right to life among all human beings. It isamong the gravest of sins; for human life is the basis forthe prosperity of humanity:Whoever kills a soul for otherthan slaying a soul or corruption upon the earth it is as if hehas killed the whole of humanity, andwhoever saves a life, itis as if has revived thewhole of humanity. (:)The primordial religion of Islam is founded upon
equanimity, balance, moderation, and facilitation: Thushave we made of you a middle nation that you might be wit-nesses over the people, and the Messenger a witness overyourselves. (:) The Prophet Muhammad—peaceand blessings upon him—said: “Facilitate and do notmake difficult, bear good tidings and do not deter.”Islam has provided the foundation for the knowledge,reflection and contemplation that has enabled the cre-ation of this deep-rooted civilization that was a cruciallink by which the West arrived at the gates of modernknowledge, and in whose accomplishments non-Muslims participated, as a consequence of its being acomprehensive humancivilization.No day has passed but that this religion has been at
war against extremism, radicalism and fanaticism, forthey veil the intellect from foreseeing negative conse-quences [of one’s actions]. Such blind impetuousnessfalls outside the human regulations pertaining to reli-gion, reason and character. They are not from the truecharacter of the tolerant, acceptingMuslim.Islam rejects extremism, radicalism and fanaticism—
just as all noble, heavenly religions reject them—con-sidering themas recalcitrantways and formsof injustice.Furthermore, it is not a trait that characterizes a particu-lar nation; it is an aberration that has been experiencedby all nations, races, and religions.They are not particu-lar to onepeople; truly they are a phenomenon that everypeople, every race and every religionhas known.We denounce and condemn extremism, radicalism
and fanaticism today, just as our forefathers tirelesslydenounced and opposed them throughout Islamic his-tory.They are the ones who affirmed, as do we, the firmandunshakeableunderstanding that Islam is a religionof[noble] character traits in both its ends andmeans; a reli-gion that strives for the good of the people, their happi-ness in this life and the next; and a religion that can onlybe defended in ways that are ethical; and the ends do notjustify themeans in this religion.The source of relations betweenMuslims and others
is peace; for there is nofighting [permitted]when there isno aggression.Even then, [itmust bedonewith] benevo-lence, justice and virtue: God does not prevent you, asregards those who do not fight you in religion’s [cause], nordrive you from your homes, from dealing kindly and justlywith them: truly God loves the just; (:) Then if theycease, let there be no aggression, save against the oppressors.(:)On religious and moral grounds, we denounce the
contemporary concept of terrorism that is associatedwithwrongful practices, whatever their source and formmay be. Such acts are represented by aggression againsthuman life in an oppressive form that transgresses therulings of God, frightening those who are secure, violat-ing peaceful civilians, finishing off the wounded, andkilling prisoners; and they employ unethical means,such as destroying buildings and ransacking cities: Donot kill the soul that God has made sacrosanct, save for jus-tice. (:)Wecondemn thesepractices andbelieve that resisting
oppression and confirming justice should be a legitimateundertaking through legitimate means. We call on thepeople to take the necessary steps to achieve the strengthand steadfastness for building identity and preservingrights.
We realize that over history extremism has beeninstrumental in destroying noble achievements in greatcivilizations, and that the tree of civilization witherswhen malice takes hold and breasts are shut. In all itsshapes, extremism is a stranger to Islam,which is found-ed upon equanimity and tolerance. No human whoseheart has been illumined by God could be a radicalextremist.At the same time, we decry the campaign of brazen
distortion that portrays Islam as a religion that encour-ages violence and institutionalizes terrorism. We callupon the international community to work earnestly toimplement international laws and honor the interna-tional mandates and resolutions issued by the UnitedNations, ensuring that all parties accept them and thatthey be enacted without double standards, to guaranteethe returnof rights to their [rightful] holders and the endof oppression.Achieving this will be a significant contri-bution to uprooting the causes of violence, fanaticismand extremism.The way of this great religion that we are honored
to belong to calls us to affiliate with and participate inmodern society, and to contribute to its elevationand progress, helping one another with every faculty [toachieve] good and to comprehend, desiring justice for all
peoples, while faithfully proclaiming the truth [of ourreligion], and sincerely expressing the soundness of ourfaith and beliefs—all of which are founded upon God’scall for coexistence and piety. [We are called] to worktoward renewing our civilization, based upon the guid-ance of religion, and following upon established prac-tical intellectual policies.The primary components of these policies comprise
developing methods for preparing preachers, with thegoal of ensuring that they realize the spirit of Islam andits methodology for structuring human life, as well asproviding them with knowledge of contemporary cul-ture, so that they are able to interact with their com-munities on the basis of awareness and insight: Say,“This is my way. I, and those who follow me, call for Godwith insight.” (:); taking advantage of the communi-cation revolution to refute the doubts that the enemies ofIslamare arousing, in a sound, intellectualmanner,with-out weakness or agitation, and with a style that attractsthe reader, the listener and the viewer; consolidating theeducational structure for individual Muslims, who areconfident in their knowledge and abilities, working toform the integral identity that protects against corrupt-ing forces; interest in scientific research and workingwith the modern sciences upon the basis of the Islamic
perspective that distinguishes between creation, life andthe humanbeing; benefiting frommodern achievementsin the fields of science and technology; adopting anIslamic approach for realizing the comprehensive devel-opment that is founded upon [maintaining] the delicatebalance between the spiritual, economic and socialdimensions [of life]; providing for human rights andbasic liberties, ensuring life, dignity and security, andguaranteeing basic needs; administering the affairs ofsociety in accordance with the principles of justice andconsultation; and benefiting from the goods andmecha-nisms for adopting democracy that human society haspresented.Hope lies in the scholars of our Nation, that through
the reality of Islam and its values they will enlighten theintellects of our youth—the ornament of our present ageand the promise of our future. The scholars shield ouryouth from the danger of sliding down the paths of igno-rance, corruption, close-mindedness and subordina-tion. It is our scholars who illuminate for them the pathsof tolerance, moderation, and goodness, and preventthem from [falling] into the abysses of extremism andfanaticism that destroy the spirit andbody.We look to our scholars to lead us in partaking of our
role and verifying our priorities, that they may be exem-
plars in religion, character, conduct, and discerningenlightened speech, presenting to the nation their noblereligion that brings ease [in all matters] and its practicallaws in which lie the awakening and joy of the nation.Among the individuals of the nation and throughout theregions of the world, they disseminate good, peace andbenevolence, through subtle knowledge, insightful wis-dom and political guidance in all matters, uniting andnot dividing, appeasing hearts and not deterring them,looking to the horizons of fulfillment to meet the requi-rements and challenges of the st century.We ask God to prepare for our Islamic Nation the
paths of renaissance, prosperity and advancement; toshield it from the evils of extremism and close-minded-ness; to preserve its rights, sustain its glory, and upholdits dignity. What an excellent Lord is he, and what anexcellentSupporter.GodAlmighty says: This is My straight path, so follow
it. And follow not the [other] ways, lest you be parted fromHis way. This has He ordained for you, that you may beGod-fearing. (:‒)And the last of our supplications is that praise be to
God,Lord of theworlds. (:)�
Amman Ramadan
TheHashemiteKingdomof Jordan November
THE THREE POINTSOF THE AMMAN MESSAGE
( )
() Whosoever is an adherent to one of the four Sunnischools (Mathahib) of Islamic jurisprudence (Hanafi,Maliki, Shafi‘i and Hanbali), the two Shi‘i schools ofIslamic jurisprudence (Ja‘fari and Zaydi), the Ibadischool of Islamic jurisprudence and the Thahiri schoolof Islamic jurisprudence, is a Muslim. Declaring thatperson an apostate is impossible and impermissible.Verily his (or her) blood, honour, and property are invio-lable. Moreover, in accordance with the Shaykh Al-Azhar’s fatwa, it is neither possible nor permissible todeclare whosoever subscribes to the Ash‘ari creed orwhoever practices real Tasawwuf (Sufism) an apostate.Likewise, it is neither possible nor permissible to declarewhosoever subscribes to trueSalafi thought an apostate.Equally, it is neither possible nor permissible to de-
clare as apostates any group of Muslims who believes in
God, Glorified and Exalted be He, and His Messenger(may peace and blessings be upon him) and the pillarsof faith, and acknowledges the five pillars of Islam,and does not deny any necessarily self-evident tenet ofreligion.
() There exists more in common between the variousschools of Islamic jurisprudence than there is differencebetween them. The adherents to the eight schools ofIslamic jurisprudence are in agreement as regards thebasic principles of Islam. All believe in Allah (God),Glorified and Exalted be He, the One and the Unique;that theNoble Qur’an is the RevealedWord of God; andthat our master Muhammad, may blessings and peacebe upon him, is a Prophet andMessenger unto all man-kind.All are in agreement about the five pillars of Islam:the two testaments of faith (shahadatayn); the ritualprayer (salat); almsgiving (zakat); fasting the month ofRamadan (sawm), and the Hajj to the sacred house ofGod (in Mecca). All are also in agreement about thefoun-dations of belief: belief inAllah (God), His angels,His scriptures, His messengers, and in the Day ofJudgment, in Divine Providence in good and in evil.Disagreements between the ‘ulama (scholars) of theeight schools of Islamic jurisprudence are only with
respect to the ancillary branches of religion (furu‘) andnot as regards the principles and fundamentals (usul) [ofthe religion of Islam]. Disagreement with respect to theancillary branches of religion (furu‘) is a mercy. Longago it was said that variance in opinion among the ‘ulama(scholars) “is a good affair”.
() Acknowledgement of the schools of Islamic juris-prudence (Mathahib) within Islam means adhering toa fundamental methodology in the issuance of fatwas:no one may issue a fatwa without the requisite personalqualifications which each school of Islamic jurispru-dence determines [for its own adherents]. No one mayissue a fatwa without adhering to the methodology ofthe schools of Islamic jurisprudence. No one may claimto do absolute Ijtihad and create a new school of Islamicjurisprudence or to issue unacceptable fatwas that takeMuslims out of the principles and certainties of theShari‘ah and what has been established in respect of itsschools of jurisprudence.
( )
The Official version of the three points of the AmmanMes-sage (see above) was the version signed by most of the sig-
natories listed in the Grand list on the following pages. Thethree points were also endorsed at the Islamic Fiqh Aca-demy’s th session held in Amman, Jordan, on th-thJune . The text had slight variations to the official textyet it followed an essentially identitical form. This is dulynoted as version in the Grand List. The full text is asfollows:
() Whosoever is an adherent to one of the four Sunnischools (Mathahib) of Islamic jurisprudence (Hanafi,Maliki, Shafi‘i and Hanbali), the two Shi‘i schools ofIslamic jurisprudence (Ja‘fari and Zaydi), the Ibadischool of Islamic jurisprudence and the Thahiri schoolof Islamic jurisprudence, is a Muslim. Declaring thatperson an apostate is impossible and impermissible.Verily his (or her) blood, honour, and property areinviolable.Moreover, in accordance with the ShaykhAl-Azhar’s fatwa, it is neither possible nor permissible todeclare whosoever subscribes to the Ash‘ari creed orwhoever practices real Tasawwuf (Sufism) an apostate.Likewise, it is neither possible nor permissible to declarewhosoever subscribes to trueSalafi thought an apostate.Equally, it is neither possible nor permissible to
declare as apostates any other group of Muslims whobelieves in God, Glorified and Exalted be He, and His
Messenger (may peace and blessings be upon him), thepillars of faith (Iman), and the five pillars of Islam, anddoes not deny any necessarily self-evident tenet ofreligion.
() There exists more in common between the variousschools of Islamic jurisprudence than there is differencebetween them. The adherents to the eight schools ofIslamic jurisprudence are in agreement as regards thebasic principles of Islam. All believe in Allah (God),Glorified and Exalted be He, the One and the Unique;that theNoble Qur’an is the RevealedWord of God pre-served and protected by God, Exalted be He, from anychange or aberration; and that our master Muhammad,may blessings and peace be upon him, is a Prophet andMessenger unto all mankind.All are in agreement aboutthe five pillars of Islam: the two testaments of faith (sha-hadatayn); the ritual prayer (salat); almsgiving (zakat);fasting the month of Ramadan (sawm), and the Hajj tothe sacredhouse ofGod (inMecca).All are also in agree-ment about the foundations of belief: belief in Allah(God), His angels, His scriptures, His messengers, andin the Day of Judgment, in Divine Providence in goodand in evil. Disagreements between the ‘ulama (schol-ars) of the eight schools of Islamic jurisprudence are
only with respect to the ancillary branches of religion(furu‘) and some fundamentals (usul) [of the religion ofIslam]. Disagreement with respect to the ancillarybranches of religion (furu`) is a mercy. Long ago it wassaid that variance in opinion among the ‘ulama (scholars)“is amercy”.
() Acknowledgement of the schools of Islamicjurisprudence (Mathahib) within Islam means adheringto a fundamental methodology in the issuance of fatwas:no one may issue a fatwa without the requisite quali-fications of knowledge. No one may issue a fatwa with-out adhering to the methodology of the schools ofIslamic jurisprudence. No one may claim to do unli-mited Ijtihad and create a new opinion or issue unaccep-table fatwas that take Muslims out of the principles andcertainties of theShari‘ah andwhat has been establishedin respect of its schools of jurisprudence.
GRAND LIST OF ALL RELIGIOUS AND POLITICALLEADERS WHO HAVE ENDORSED THE AMMAN
MESSAGE AND ITS THREE POINTS(July –July )
Total number of signatures: *from countries
⁄
§ True Islam and Its Role inModern SocietyConference,Amman (July )[ ] -
¶ ForumofMuslimUlama andThinkers,Mecca(September ) -
* Islamic Schools of JurisprudenceConference,AalAl-BaytUniversity, Jordan (November )-
∞ th Session of theCouncil ofMinisters of ReligiousEndowments and IslamicAffairs, Kuwait(November ) -
∫ rd Extraordinary Session, OIC,Mecca(December ) -
≈ Moderate IslamicThought andCulture,Amman(April )[ ] -
◊ International FiqhAcademyConference,Amman(June )[ ] -
π Muslims of EuropeConference, Istanbul(July ) -
H.E. Mr. Hamid Karzai ∫President
Amb. Nusair Ahmad Nour §AfghaniAmbassador to QatarIslamic Envoy of theGovernment ofAfghanistan
H.E. Mr. Florent Celiku ∫DeputyMinister of ForeignAffairs
Mr. Tahir Zenelhasani π
’
H.E. Mr. Abdel Aziz Belkhadem ∫Minister of ForeignAffairs
H.E. Lakhdar Ibrahimi §Special Envoy of the SecretaryGeneral of theUnitedNations;Former ForeignMinister ofAlgeria
Prof. Dr. Abd Allah bin al-Hajj MuhammadAl Ghulam Allah §Minister of ReligiousAffairs
Dr. Mustafa Sharif §Minister of Higher Education andFormerAlgerianAmbassador inCairo
Shaykh Yusuf bin Mahdi ¶Professor andMember of the FatwaCommittee inAlgeria
Dr. Sa‘id Shayban §FormerMinister of ReligiousAffairs
Prof. Dr. Ammar Al-Talibi §Department of Philosophy,University ofAlgeria
Mr. Abu Jara Al-Sultani § ≈Head of theAlgerian Peace SocietyMovement
Dr. Ammar Jaydal *BatinaUniversity
Dr. Muhammad Zurman *BatinaUniversity
Shaykh Salim ‘Ulwan al-Hassani fatwa §SecretaryGeneralDarulfatwa, IslamicHighCouncil
Ms. Maha Karim Abdo ≈
Prof. Anas Al-Shaqfa §Head of the Islamic Commission
Ayman Aly πFederation of the IslamicOrganizations in Europe,Graz
Mr. Tarafa Baghajati § πInitiative ofAustrianMuslims
H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliev ∫President
Shaykh Al-Islam Allah-Shakur bin Hemmat Bashazada §GrandMufti,MuslimAdministration of theCaucasus
H.M. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa ∫
Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Ali Al-Sutri §Minister of Justice
Dr. Farid bin Ya‘qub Al-Miftah § ¶Undersecretary of theMinistry for IslamicAffairs
Mr. Mansour Al-Jamri ≈
Dr. Ibrahim Fadil Al-Dibbo ◊Professor, Faculty of Humanities,University of Bahrain
’
H.E. Begum Khaleda Zia ∫PrimeMinister
Prof. Dr. Abu Al-Hasan Sadiq §President of theAsianUniversity of Bangladesh
Prof. Shamshir Ali ¶President of theAcademy of SciencesandUniversityVice-President
Mr. Ismail Batakli πProfessor of Islamic Studies
Mr. Mohamed Boulif πPresident, Islamic Executive Council
Mr. Ahmed Bouziane π
Dr. Karim Chemlal πPasteur Institute, Lille
Mrs. Malika Hamidi-Hosseinpour πCoordinator, EuropeanMuslimNetwork
Mr. Ibrahim Kocaoglu π
Sheikh Yacob Mahi πProfessor of Islamic Studies,Athénée Royal Léonardo daVinci
Dr. Abdelmajid Mhauchi πProfessor of Islamic Studies
Mr. Khallad Swaid πPresident, FEMYSO
H.E. Mr. Dzulkifli Salami ∫SeniorMinister of Planning, Economy andDevelopment
Shaykh Fathi Shitu ◊
Prof. Dr. Shaykh Mustafa Ceric § πHead of the ‘Ulama’ andGrandMufti of Bosnia andHerzegovina
Prof. Hasan Makic §Mufti of Bihac
H.E. Professor Enes Karic ¶Professor in Faculty of Islamic Studies
Prof. Anes Ljevakovic §Researcher andLecturer, Islamic Studies College
Dr. Ahmet Alibasic πLecturer, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Sarajevo
Mr. Amer Bukvic πIslamicDevelopment Bank
Imam Senaid Kobilica πVice President, Islamic Council of Norway
Mr. Mirnes Kovac πJournalist, Preporod IslamicNewspaper
Dr. Sukrija Ramic πUniversity of Zenica
H.M. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah ∫
Prof. Suhaili bin Hajj Muhyi Al-Din ◊DeputyMufti of Brunei
H.E. Mr. Youssouf Ouedraogo ∫Minister of State,Minister of ForeignAffairs
Dr. Abu Bakr Dakuri ¶ ◊Member of the Executive Council, ISESCO
Shaykh Ali Muhmmad Abduni §Representative of the International IslamicYouthClub inLatinAmerica; AccreditedReligious Representative of theDarAl-Fatwa of the Republic of Lebanon in Sao Paolo
H.E. Mr. Marfa Hamidou Yaya ∫Minister of State
Shaykh Mahmud Malbakri ◊Imam,GrandMosque and President of theCouncil of‘Ulama’
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani §Hanafi Scholar, Sunnipath.com
Mr. Fouzan Khan πReviving the Islamic Spirit Organization
H.E. Mr. Idris Derby ∫President
Shaykh Dr. Hussein Hasan Abkar §President,Higher Council for IslamicAffairs, Chad
Mr. Tijani Sabun Muhammad ◊
H.E. Mr. Kub Mohamed Lisharti ∫Deputy President
’
H.E. Mr. Hamza Salleh ∫Ambassador in Riyadh
Imam Fatih Alev πDanishAssociation of Cybermuslims
H.E. Mr. Ismail Omar Gulleh ∫President
Shaykh Abd Al-Rahman Sulayman Bashir ¶Member of theHigher JudiciaryCouncil
H.E. Mr. Mohamed Hosni Mubarak ∫President
H.E. Grand Imam Prof. Dr. MuhammadSayyid Tantawi fatwaShaykh al-Azhar
Prof. Dr. Mahmud Hamdi Zaqzuq § ∞Minister of ReligiousAffairs
Prof. Dr. Ali Jumu‘a fatwa § * ∫ ◊GrandMufti of theArabRepublic of Egypt
Prof. Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Al-Tayyib §President ofAl-AzharUniversity
Prof. Dr. Kamal Abu Al-Majd §Islamic Intellectual; FormerMinister of Information;Attorneyin theCourt of Cassation
Dr. Muhammad Al-Ahmadi Abu Al-Nur § *FormerMinister of ReligiousAffairs in theArabRepublicof Egypt; Professor, Faculty of Islamic Law,YarmoukUniversity,Jordan
Prof. Dr. Fawzi Al-Zifzaf §Chairman of the Permanent Committee of NobleAl-Azhar forDialogueAmong theHeavenly Religions;Member of theAcademy of Islamic Research
Prof. Dr. Hasan Hanafi §Researcher and Islamic Intellectual, Department of Philosophy,CairoUniversity; Fellow of theAal al-Bayt Institute for IslamicThought
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Muhammad Al-Kahlawi §Secretary,GeneralUnion of IslamicArchaeologists;Dean, Faculty ofAntiquities, FayyumBranch, CairoUniversity
Prof. Dr. Ayman Fuad Sayyid §Former SecretaryGeneral, Dar al-KutubAl-Misriyya
Shaykh Dr. Zaghlul Najjar §Head of theCommittee onTheMiraculousNature of theQur’anin theHigher Council for IslamicAffairs, Egypt
Shaykh Moez Masood §IslamicMissionary
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Al-Dasuqi *Researcher andMember of the Forum for theProximity of the Islamic Schools of Jurisprudence
Mr. Amr Khaled πIslamicMissionary
Mr. Bara Kherigi πDirector,AwakeningRecords
Dr. Heba Raouf Ezzat πDepartment of Political Science, CairoUniversity
Dr. Ja‘far Abdussalam ◊President of the League of IslamicUniversities
Dr. Shawqi Ahmad Dunya ◊Dean of the (Womens’) Faculty of Commerce,Al-AzharUniversity
Dr. ‘Umar ‘Abd Al-Kafi ≈
Dr. Huda ‘Abd Al-Sami‘ ≈
Eng. ‘Amr Faruk Farid ≈
Mr. Muhammad Al-Samman Lutfi ≈
Eng. Abu Al-‘Ala Madi ≈
Dr. ‘Abd Al-Wahhab Al-Masiri ≈
Dr. ‘Abd Al-Halim Oweis ≈
Mr. Ahmad Sha‘ban ≈
Mr. Husam Tammam ≈
Mr. Muntasir Al-Zayyat ≈
Dr. Raged al-Sirjani §
Dr. Muhammad Hidaya §
Dr. Muhammad Abd al-Mun‘im Abu Zayd ◊Professor, Faculty of Shari‘ah,Department of IslamicEconomics,YarmoukUniversity
Shaykh Prof. Dalil Abu Bakr §Chairman of the France SupremeCouncil of the IslamicReligion andDean of the ParisMosque
Dr. Husayn Rais §Director of CulturalAffairs, ParisGrandMosque
Prof. Dr. Abd Al-Majid Al-Najjar *President of the Islamic Centre, Paris
Dr. Fouad Alaoui πPresident,Union of IslamicOrganizations in France (UOIF)
Ms. Fatiha Ajbli πSociologist
Ms. Siham Andalouci πMember, PrésenceMusulman
Dr. Ahmed Bakcan πRepresentative,Milli Görüs
Mr. Abdelwaheb Bakli πPresident,MuslimYouth of France
Shaykh Khalid Adlen Bentounes πAlawiyah Sufi Order;Honorary President of the InternationalAssociation of the Friends of Islam
Mr. El Hadji Babou Biteye πPresident,MuslimStudents of France (EMF)
Mr. Laj Thami Breze πUnion of IslamicOrganizations in France (UOIF)
Mr. Haydar Demiryürek πSecretaryGeneral,The Islamic Council of France
Dr. Boubaker El Hadj Amor πTreasurer,Union of IslamicOrganizations in France (UOIF)
Shaykh Ounis Guergah πHead of the FatwaHouse, Paris
Prof. Dr. Ömer Faruk Harman πDITIP,Germany
Mr. Fouad Imarraine πCollecive ofMuslims of France
Dr. Ahmed Jaballah πMember of the EuropeanCouncil for Fatwa andReseach,France
Mrs. Noura Ben Hamouda Jaballah πPresident of Europeanwomen forum (France)
Dr. Zuhair Mahmood πInstitute for theHumanSciences (IESH), Paris
Dr. Mohamed Mestiri πDirector, International Institute of IslamicThought, Paris
Mr. Abdelmajid Najar π
Ms. Nora Rami πFreeCommunityOrganization, Paris
Shaykh Zakaria Seddiki π
Dr. Muhamad Bashari ◊President, Federal Society forMuslims in France
H.E. Elhadj Ali Bongo Awadamba ∫Minister of NationalDefence andChairman of SupremeCouncil for IslamicAffairs and Special Envoy of the President
H.E. Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh ∫President
Mr. Samba Fall ∞Minister of ForeignAffairs,Youth, Sport, andReligiousAffairs, Gambia
Prof. Dr. Omar Jah ¶ ◊FormerDeputyAssistant to the President for SpecialAssistance Programs, IslamicDevelopment Bank,Jeddah
Prof. Dr. Murad Hofmann §FormerGermanAmbassador toMorocco; Intellectual andResearcher
Shaykh Salah Al-Din Al-Ja‘farawi §Assistant Secretary-General ofWorldCouncil for IslamicPropagation
Mr. Ridvan Çakir πPresident,Turkish-IslamicUnion of Germany
Shaykh Bashir Ahmad Dultz πGermanMuslimLeague
Mr. Belal El-Mogaddedi π
Mr. Ibrahim F. El-Zayat πHead of Public Relations, Federation of IslamicOrganisationsin Europe (FIOE)
Dr. Sabiha El-Zayat πCentre for IslamicWomenStudies, Institute for theHumanSciences (IESH), Paris
Mr. Mesud Gülbahar πIGMGPresident ofYouthOrganisations,Germany
Mr. Ali Kizilkaya πHead, Islamic Council of Germany
Dr. Eyüp A. Köhler π
Mr. Michael Muhammed Abduh Pfaff πGermanMuslimLeague
Mr. Celal Tüter πIGMGPresident of UniversityOrg.,Germany
Mr. Recep Yildirim πEuropeAssociation ofTurkishCultural Centers,Germany
Mr. Osman Yoba π
Mr. Nabil Chabib ≈
H.E. Mr. Cellou Dalein Diallo ∫PrimeMinister
Mr. Al-Husayni Diallo ¶InspectorGeneral,Ministry of Justice
Prof. Dr. Qutb Mustafa Sanu ◊Department of Usul al-Fiqh, International IslamicUniversityofMalaysia
H.E. Maulana Mahmood Madani § πMember of Parliament;General Secretary, JamiatUlema-i-Hindi
Prince Ja‘far Al-Sadiq Mufaddal Sayf Al-Din §Islamic Intellectual
Prince Taha Sayf Al-Din §Islamic Intellectual
Prof. Dr. Sayyid Awsaf Ali §President of HamdardUniversity
Prof. Dr. Akhtar Al-Wasi §Head of the Bureau of Islamic Studies,Dean of theCollege ofHumanities andLanguages;Director of theDhakirHusaynCentre for Islamic Studies
H.E. Dr. Alawi bin Shihab ∫CoordinatingMinister for People’sWelfareand Special Envoy of the President
Dr Muhammad Maftuh Basyuni ∞Minister of ReligiousAffairs
Dr. Tutty Alawiyah §President,Al-Shafi‘i IslamicUniversity
Amb. Rabhan Abd Al-Wahhab §Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to theHashemiteKingdomof Jordan
Shaykh Al-Hajj Ahmad Hashim Muzadi §Chairman, Central Board of NahdlatulUlama, Indonesia
Shaykh Rozy Munir §Vice-Chairman of theCentral Board of NahdlatulUlama,Indonesia
Mr. Muhamad Iqbal Sullam §International Conference of Islamic Scholars, Indonesia
Dr. Muhammad Masyuri Naim ¶Professor, IslamicUniversity
Prof. Dr. M. Din Syamsuddin πChairman ofMuhammadiyah
Supreme Spiritual Leader Grand AyatollahAl-Sayyid Ali Khamenei fatwa
H.E. Dr. Mahmood Ahmedinejad ∫President
Grand Ayatollah Shaykh Muhammad Ali Al-Taskhirifatwa § ¶ ◊SecretaryGeneral, Forum for the Proximity of the IslamicSchools of Jurisprudence
Grand Ayatollah Al-Sayyid Fadil Lankarani fatwa
Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Waez-zadehAl-Khorasani § ◊Former SecretaryGeneral, Forum for the Proximity of theIslamic Schools of Jurisprudence
Grand Ayatollah Prof. Dr. Al-Sayyid MustafaMohaghegh Damad §Director of theAcademy of Sciences; Justice in theMinistryof Justice;Head of the InspectorateGeneral
Hujjat Al-Islam Dr. Mahmoud Mohammadi Iraqi §Chairman of theCultural League and Islamic Relations in theIslamic Republic of Iran
Dr. Al-Sayyid Mahmoud Mar‘ashi Al-Najafi §Head of theGrandAyatollahMar‘ashiAl-Najafi Library
Dr. Muhammad Ali Adharshab §Secretary-General,Arab-Iranian Friendship Society
Mr. Murtada Hashim Bur Qadi §Secretary-General, Bureau for International Relations,GreatIslamic Encyclopaedia
Shaykh Abbas Ali Sulaymani §Representative of the Supreme Spiritual Leaderin Eastern Iran
Mr. Ghulam Rida Mirzai §Member, Consultative Council
Dr. Syed Muhammad Rida Khatimi §Political leader; FormerDeputy Speaker of the IranianParliament
Shaykh Muhammad Shari‘ati §FormerAdvisor to the President of Iran;Member of Parliament
Amb. Muhammad Kazem Khuwansari ◊Permanent Representative of Iran to theOIC
Mr. Ma Sha Allah Mahmoud Shams Al-Waithin §Journalist andWriter
Dr. Ruqayya Rustum Yurmaki *ImamSadiqUniversity
Dr. Mojgan Sakhaei *ImamSadiqUniversity
Shaykh Ahmad Mablaghi ◊Professor, QomSeminary
Dr. Gholam Reza Noor-Mohammadi ◊Director, Centre for IslamicMedical Research, Imam al-SadiqUniversity, Qom; Professor, Faculty ofMedicine,University ofTehran
Shaykh Hassan Jawahiri Zadeh ◊Professor, Religious Seminary, Qom
H.E. Mr. Jalal Talabani ∫President
Grand Ayatollah Al-Sayyid Ali Sistani fatwa
Grand Ayatollah Shaykh Ishaq Al-Fayad fatwa
Grand Ayatollah Al-Sayyid Muhammad Sa‘id Al-Hakim fatwa
Grand Ayatollah Shaykh Bashir Al-Najafi fatwa
Grand Ayatollah Al-Sayyid Shaykh Hussein Isma‘il Al-Sadr fatwa
Grand Ayatollah Shaykh Husayn Al-Mu‘ayyad § *Knowledge Forum, Baghdad
Grand Ayatollah Ahmad al-Bahadili §IslamicMissionary
Shaykh Dr. Harith Al-Dari ≈Head of Ulema organization
Dr. Muhsin ‘Abd Al-Hamid ≈
Dr. Ahmad Abd Al-Ghaffur Al-Samara‘i §Head of theDiwan of the SunniWaqf
Al-Sayyid Abd al-Sahib Al-Khoei §SecretaryGeneral, ImamAl-Khoei Benevolent Foundation
Al-Sayyid Muhammad Al-Musawi §SecretaryGeneral,World IslamicAhlAl-Bayt League
Shaykh Dr. Mahmoud Mhd. Dawud Al-Sumayda‘i ≈
Prof. Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Duri §Researcher andHistorian,Department of History,Universityof Jordan; Fellow ofAal al-Bayt Institute for IslamicThought
Prof. Dr. Bashshar Awwad Marouf § *Researcher andEditor; Fellow ofAal al-Bayt Institute forIslamicThought
Shaykh Abbas Ali Kashif Al-Ghita §College of Islamic Studies,University of al-Kufa
Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-Najdi §Islamic Intellectual
Shaykh Walid Faraj Allah Al-Asadi §College of Islamic Studies,University of al-Kufa
Shaykh Prof. Dr. Ahmad Al-Kubaysi § ≈Missionary and Islamic Intellectual
Prof. Ghanem Jawad §Director of CulturalAffairs, Khoei Benevolent Foundation
Mr. Muhammad Allawi §AssistantDirectorGeneral,World IslamicAhlAl-Bayt League
Prof. Sa‘d Al-Malla §Islamic Intellectual
Dr. Mustafa Abd Al-Ilah Kamal Al-Din §Islamic Intellectual
Prof. Dr. Adnan Ali Al-Faraji *IslamicUniversity
Dr. Aziz Rashid Al-Dayini *IslamicUniversity
Dr. Abd Al-Qadir Mustafa Al-Muhammadi *IslamicUniversity
Mr. ‘Ala’ Al-Din Al-Mudarris *Researcher andHistorian
Mr. Nooh al-Kaddo πDirector, Islamic Cultural Centre of Irelands
Mr. Yahya Sergio Pallavicini § πVice President, Islamic Religious Community of Italy(CO.RE.IS.)
Dr. Ali Abu Shwaima πHead, Islamic Centre ofMilan
H.M. King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein ∫
Prof. Dr. HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad § πPersonal Envoy and SpecialAdvisor toHMKingAbdullah IIbinAl-Hussein; Chairman of the Board ofTrustees of theAalal-Bayt Institute for IslamicThought
Shaykh Izzedine Al-Khatib Al-Tamimi §IslamicAffairsAdvisor toHM theKing; Chief Justice
Prof. Dr. Abdul-Salam Al-Abbadi § ¶ ∞ ◊FormerMinister of IslamicAffairs; President,Aal al-BaytUniversity
Prof. Dr. Shaykh Ahmad Hlayyel § ≈Advisor toHM theKing and Imamof the Royal Court
Shaykh Said Al-Hijjawi § ≈GrandMufti of theHashemiteKingdomof Jordan
Mr. Akel Bultaji §Advisor toHM theKing
Prof. Dr. Khalid Touqan §Minister of Education;Minister of Higher Education andScientific Research
H.E. Shaykh Salim Falahat §DirectorGeneral of theMuslimBrotherhood in Jordan
H.E. Shaykh Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Khayyat § ◊FormerMinister of ReligiousAffairs
Shaykh Nuh Al-Quda §FormerMufti of the JordanianArmedForces
Prof. Dr. Khalid Al-Karaki §Deputy-Chairman of the Board ofTrustees,Aal al-BaytInst. for IslamicThought; President, Jerash PrivateUniversity
Prof. Dr. Ishaq Al-Farhan §President of Zarqa PrivateUniversity;FormerMinister of Education
Prof. Kamil Ismail Hamdan Al-Sharif § ¶SecretaryGeneral, International Council for IslamicPropagation andRelief
Dr. Abd Al-Latif Arabiyyat §Former Speaker of the LowerHouse of Parliament;Chairman of theConsultative Committee of the IslamicAction Front
Shaykh Abd Al-Karim Salim S. Al-Khasawneh §GrandMufti of the JordanianArmedForces
Prof. Dr. Adel Al-Toweisi § *Former President,Aal al-BaytUniversity;Minister of Culture
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Al-Ghaydhan §Dean of theUniversity Faculty of Religion, Balqa’AppliedUniversity
Shaykh Hasan Al-Saqqaf §Advisor to theChairman of the Board ofTrustees of theAal al-Bayt Institute for IslamicThought;Director of ImamAl-Nawawi Publishers andDistributors
Eng. Marwan Al-Faouri § ≈Chairman, Forum forModeration inThought andCulture
Mrs. Nawal Al-Faouri § ◊Educator and Islamic Intellectual
Prof. Dr. Abd Al-Nasir Abu Al-Basal § ◊FormerDean of the Faculty of Islamic Law,YarmoukUniversity
Mr. Bilal Al-Tal § ◊Editor-in-Chief, Liwa’Newspaper
Prof. Dr. Azmi Taha Al-Sayyid §College of Jurisprudential andLegal Studies,Aal al-BaytUniversity
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Hisham Sultan *Vice-President for Islamic Studies,Aal al-BaytUniversity
Prof. Dr. Ziyad Al-Daghamin *Dean of theCollege of Jurisprudential and Juridical Studies,Head of the PreparatoryCommittee of the Internal IslamicConference
Dr. Rashid Sa‘id Shahwan ◊Faculty of Islamic Propagation and the Fundamentals ofReligion, BalqaAppliedUniversity
Prof. Dr. Qahtan Al-Duri *Aal al-BaytUniversity
Prof. Dr. Sharif Al-Shaykh Salih Al-Khatib *Aal al-BaytUniversity
Prof. Dr. Abd Al-Majid Al-Salahin *Dean of theCollege of Islamic Law,University of Jordan
Dr. Hayil ‘Abd Al-Hafiz ≈
Shaykh ‘Abd Al-Karim Al-‘Akor ≈
Mr. Haytham Al-‘Amayreh ≈
Dr. Muhammad Al-Khatib ≈
Mr. Hatim Al-Manasir ≈
Dr. Malik Al-Moumini ≈
Dr. Muhammad Al-Qada ≈
Dr. Fayez Al-Rabi‘ ≈
H.E. Mr. Askar Mussinov ∫Ambassador in Riyadh and Special Envoy of the President
Shaykh Abdullahi Abdi πChief ExecutiveOfficer,NorthernAid
H.H. Shaykh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah ∫PrimeMinister
Dr. Abdullah Matuq al-Matuq ∞Minister ofAwqaf andReligiousAffairs, Kuwait
Prof. Dr. Abdullah Yusuf Al-Ghoneim §Head of theKuwaiti Centre for Research and Study
Dr. Adel Abdullah Al-Fallah §Undersecretary of theMinistry of ReligiousAffairs
Dr. Mohamed Abdul Ghaffar Al-Sharif ◊Secretary-General, SecretariatGeneral of ReligiousAffairs
Dr. Muhammad Abd Allah Ja‘far Al-Sharif ¶Undersecretary ofWaqf Foundation
Dr. Khaled Madhkour Abdallah Madhkour ◊Professor, Faculty of Shari‘ah,University of Kuwait
Mr. Mutlaq Rashed Al-Qarawi ≈
Shaykh Dr. ‘Ajil Jassim al-Nashami ◊Professor, Faculty of Shari‘ah,University of Kuwait
Dr. Ahmad Raja‘i al-Jundi ◊Islamic Organization forMedical Sciences, Kuwait
H.E. Mr. Dastan Sarygulov ∫Secretary of State
H.E. Mr. Fouad Sinoura ∫PrimeMinister
Prof. Dr. Hisham Nashabeh §Chairman of the Board of Higher EducationDean of Education atMakassedAssociation
Al-Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah fatwa
Shaykh Muhammad Rashid Qabbani ¶GrandMufti, Republic of Lebanon (Mufti of the SunniMuslims)
Prof. Dr. Hani Fahs § ≈Member of theHigher Shi‘i Council
Shaykh Abdullah al-Harari fatwa §Head of theHabashiOrder
Prof. Dr. Ridwan Al-Sayyid §Faculty of Humanities, LebaneseUniversity;Editor-in-Chief,Al-IjtihadMagazine
Prof. Muhammad Al-Sammak § ¶Secretary-General of theNational Council for Islamic-ChristianDialogue; Secretary-General for the Islamic SpiritualSummit
Ja‘fari Qadi Shaykh Asad Allah Al-Harashi §Higher Islamic Shi‘i Council
Shaykh Khalil Al-Mays § ◊Mufti of Zahleh andWestern Beqa‘
Shaykh Abd Al-Emir Qublan §DeputyHead of theHigher Shi‘i Counci
Prof. Dr. Zakariyya Abd Al-Razzaq Al-Misri *ImamAl-Awza‘iUniversity
Prof. Dr. Ahmad Al-Sahmarani *ImamAl-Awza‘iUniversity
Dr. Muhammad ‘Assaf ≈
Dr. As‘ad Al-Sahmarani ≈
Shaykh Abd Al-Naser Jabri ≈
Shaykh Jamil Muhammad Husseini fatwa §
Mr. Hasan Farhat §
’
H.E. Mr. Abdel Rahman Mohamed Shalqam ∫Minister of ForeignAffairs
Prof. Ibrahim Ali Abu Al-Qasim Al-Rabu § ¶Secretary of theOffice of Conferences, International IslamicPropagation Society
Dr. Al-Ujaili Farhat Al-Miri §Official forDialogue in the International Islamic PopularLeadership
Dr. Muhammad Al-Ziyadi ◊President, International Islamic CallUniversity
Prof. Dr. Hamzah Abu Faris *Al-FatihUniversity
Mr. Abd Al-Salam Muhammad Al-Sharif Al-Alim *Al-FatihUniversity
Mr. Rufat Sherifi π
H.E. Dato’ Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi ∫PrimeMinister
Dr. Anwar Ibrahim § πFormerDeputy PrimeMinister
Dato’ Dr. Abdul Hamid Othman §Minister in theOffice of the PrimeMinister
Prof. Dr. Kamal Hasan ¶President, Islamic InternationalUniversity, Kuala Lumpur
Prof. Dr. Mohammad Hashim Kamali § πDean of the International Institute of IslamicThought andCivilisation
Mr. Shahidan Kasem §FirstMinister of Perlis State,Malaysia
Mr. Khayri Jamal Al-Din §DeputyChairman for theYouth Sector, theUnitedMalaysNational Organisation
Dr. Salih Qadir Karim Al-Zanki *International IslamicUniversity
H.E. Mr. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ∫President
Dr. Mahmud Al-Shawqi §Minister of Education
Shaykh Mohamed Rasheed Ibrahim ◊President of the SupremeCouncil for IslamicAffairs
H.E. Mr. Amadou Toumani Toure ∫President
Mr. Sidi Mohamed Youssouf Djire ◊General President of the Islamic Foundation for Production
H.E. Mr. Al Ould Mohamed Fal ∫President
H.E. Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyah fatwa πFormerVice President ofMauritania;Vice President of the InternationalUnion ofMuslimScholars
Mr. Al-Hajj Wuld Al-Haji Ahmad ¶Advisor to theMinister of Education and IslamicGuidance
Mr. Cheikhna Bin Bayyah π
Shaykh Ghulam Muhammad §Chairman and SecretaryGeneral of the BlueCrescent Society
Mr. Abdulraheem Aljabari π
H.M. King Mohammed VI ∫
Prof. Dr. Abbas Al-Jarari § ¶Advisor toHM theKing
Prof. Dr. Abd Al-Hadi Bu Talib §FormerAdvisor toHM theKing
Amb. Al-Makki Kawan ∞Ambassador of theKingdomofMorocco toKuwait,representingDr.AhmadAl-Tawfiq,Minister of ReligiousAffairs, KingdomofMorocco
Prof. Dr. Abdelhadi Al-Tazi §Fellow of the RoyalMoroccanAcademy; FormerAmbassador
Prof. Dr. Mohammad Farouk Al-Nabhan §FormerDirector of DarAl-HadithAl-Hasaniyya
Prof. Dr. Ahmad Shawqi Benbin §Director of theHasaniyya Library
Dr. Hamdati Chbihanna Malainine ◊Member, SupremeConstitutional Council;President, Regional Scientific Council,Al-Qunaitra
Prof. Dr. Najat Al-Marini §Department ofArabic Language,MohammedVUniversity
Dr. Abdul Filali Ansary §Director, Institute for the Study ofMuslimCivilizations,AgaKhanUniversity
Dr. Abdel-Kabeer Al-Madghari ◊FormerMinister ofWaqf and IslamicAffairs
Dr. Maryam Ayat Ahmad ≈
Mr. Muhammad Al-Amin ≈
Mr. Muhammad Tullabi ≈
Dr. Sa‘d Al-Din Al-‘Uthmani ≈
H.E. Mr. Aris Ali ∫Minister of Education andCulture
Mr. Zakaria Hamidi πDirector,NewHorizon
H.E. Mr. Hama Amadou ∫PrimeMinister
H.E. Mr Ibrahim Mousa Kazawari ∫Ambassador in Riyadh
H.H. Prince Haji Ado Bayero §Emir of Kano
Mr. Sulayman Osho §SecretaryGeneral of the Islamic Conference forAfrica
Dr. Ahmad Limu ¶Head of theOrganization of the Islamic Endowment forEducation andGuidance
Dr. Al-Khidr Abd Al-Baqi Muhammad *Researcher andWriter
Mr. Brahim Belkilani πJournalist, ITRI
Dr. Lena Larsen πCoordinator,TheOsloCoalition onFreedom of Religionor Belief, NorwegianCentre forHumanRights,Uni. of Oslo
H.H. Al Syed Asaad bin Tareq Al Said ∫Special Envoy of the Sultan
Shaykh Ahmad bin Hamad Al-Khalili fatwa § ¶ ◊GrandMufti of the Sultanate of Oman
Shaykh Ahmad bin Sa‘ud Al-Siyabi § ◊General Secretary in theOffice of theGrandMufti
Dr. Abd Allah Mubarak Al-Shanfari ¶University Professor,University of Dhofar
Shaykh Dr. Kahlan bin Nahban Al-Kharusi * ≈JurisprudentialAdvisor in theOffice for the Issuance ofFatwas
Mr. Aflah bin Ahmad Al-Khalili *Researcher in theOffice for the Issuance of Fatwas
Abd Al-Latif Al-Humaym ≈
H.E. General Pervez Musharraf ∫President
H.E. Ambassador Muhammad Aslam ∞Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan toKuwaitrepresentingDr.Muhammad I‘jazAl-Haqq,Minister ofReligiousAffairs, Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Shaykh Mufti Muhammad Taqi Uthmani fatwa ¶ ◊DeputyChairman, Islamic FiqhCouncil, Jeddah;Vice President,Dar al-Ulum,Karachi
Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri § πDirectorGeneral, Centre for Islamic Research, Islamabad
Prof. Dr. Zafar Ishaq Ansari §DirectorGeneral, Centre for Islamic Research, Islamabad
Dr. Reza Shah-Kazemi § πResearcher and Islamic Intellectual
H.E. Ambassador Arif Kamal §Ambassador of the Republic of Pakistan to theHashemiteKingdomof Jordan
H.E. Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmad Ghazi §President of the IslamicUniversity, Islamabad;FormerMinister of ReligiousAffairs, Pakistan
H.E. Mr. Ahmed Qorei ¶PrimeMinister
Shaykh Dr. Ikrimah Sabri § ≈ ◊GrandMufti of Jerusalem andAll of Palestine;Imamof the BlessedAl-AqsaMosque
Shaykh Taysir Rajab Al-Tamimi § ≈Chief Justice of Palestine
Dr. Mustafa Mahmud Yusuf Abu Suway ¶Lecturer in theDepartment of Philosophyand Islamic Studies inAl-QudsUniversity
Dr. Muhammad Ali Al-Salibi *Al-NajahUniversity
Dr. Marwan Ali Al-Qaddumi *Al-NajahUniversity
Dr. Samir Ismail π
Mr. Abdool Magid Vakil § πChairman, Banco Efisa
Mr. Sohail Nakhooda § πEditor-in-Chief, IslamicaMagazine
H.E. Shaykh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani ∫FirstDeputy PrimeMinister andMinister of ForeignAffairs
Prof. Dr. Shaykh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi fatwa § πDirector of the Sunna and Sira Council;Vice President of the InternationalUnion ofMuslimScholars
Shaykh Thaqil bin Sayer Zayd Al-Shammari ◊Justice, Court of Cassation,Member of the Supreme JudicialCouncil
Prof. Dr. Aisha Al-Mana‘i §Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Law,University of Qatar
Shaykh Abd Al-Rahman bin Abd Allah bin Zayd AlMahmud ¶Member of Prominent PersonsCommittee,Organization of the Islamic Conference
Dr. Ali Muhyi Al-Din Qaradaghi ◊Professor, Faculty of Shari‘ah,University of Qatar
Dr. Ali Ahmad Al-Salus ◊Professor, Faculty of Shari‘ah,University of Qatar
Shaykh Mohammad Haj Yusuf Ahmad ◊Imam,DohaMosque
Shaykh Rawi Ayn Al-Din §Mufti; Head of theMuslimReligiousAdministration
Prof. Dr. Said Hibatullah Kamilev § ¶Director,Moscow Institute of Islamic Civilisation
Dr. Murad Murtazein §President, IslamicUniversity,Moscow
Mr. Rushan Abassoof §Director of ExternalAffairs, Dept. of Council ofMuftis, Russia
Mr. Yakupov Valiulla πAssistant to theChiefMufti ofTatarstan
H.M. King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz Al Saud ∫King of SaudiArabia; Custodian of theTwoHolyMosques
Dr. Abd Al-Aziz bin Uthman Al-Touaijiri § ¶DirectorGeneral,The Islamic Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization (ISESCO)
H.E. Shaykh Abd Allah Sulayman bin Mani‘ ◊Member, Council of Senior ‘Ulama’ of SaudiArabia
Dr. Hassan bin Mohamed Safar ◊Professor, Islamic StudiesDepartment, Faculty of HumanitiesKingAbdulazizUniversity, Jeddah
Mr. Abobakr Abdelfatah π
Shaykh Ali Baddahdah π
Dr. Salih Al-Wuhaibi ≈
Shaykh ‘Abd Allah Yahya ≈
Mr. Nabil Abd Al-Ilah Nassif ◊Assistant to the President forAssistanceAffairsIslamicDevelopment Bank, Jeddah
Dr. Muhammad Jabr Al-Alfi ◊Professor,Higher Judiciary Institute,Departmentof Comparative Jurisprudence, Riyadh
Dr. Muhammad bin Yahya bin Hasan Al-Najimi ◊Associate Professor, KingFahdDefenceCollege
Dr. Ahmad Abd al-Alim Abd Al-Latif ◊Researcher,Department of Studies,The InternationalIslamic FiqhAcademy, Jeddah
Dr. Abd Al-Qahir Qamar ◊Researcher,Department of Studies,The InternationalIslamic FiqhAcademy, Jeddah
Shaykh al-Habib Muhammad bin Abdurrahman al-Saqqaf §
Dr. Mohamed Ali Al-Bar ◊KingFahdCentre forMedical Research
H.E. Mr. Abdoulaye Wade ∫President
Mr. Al-Hajj Mustafa Sisi §≈SpecialAdvisor to the President of Senegal
Prof. Abdallah Bah §President of theUnion ofVolunteers in Islamic Education andCulture
Prof. Abadir Tiyam ¶University Press and President of theNational Society,Dakar
Prof. Ahmad Mukhtar Embo ¶FormerDirectorGeneral, UNESCO, Paris
Prof. Rohan Mbaye ◊Director, Islamic Institute,Dakar
H.E. Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah ∫President
Dr. Yaqub Ibrahim §Minister of the Environment andWater Resources, andMuslimAffairs
H.E. Mr. Abdullah Youssef Ahmed ∫President
Shaykh Ibrahim Gabriels §Head of SouthAfrican ‘Ulama’
Mr. Mansur Escudero πSpanish Islamic Commission
Mr. Ali Boussaid πIslamic League forDialogue andConviviality
H.E. General Omar Hassan Al Bashir ∫President
Abd Al-Rahman Sawar Al-Dhahab §Former President of the Republic of Sudan
Al-Imam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi ≈Former PrimeMinister of SudanHead ofAnsarMovement
Dr. Isam Ahmad Al-Bashir § ¶Minister of Guidance andReligiousAffairs
Mr. Tariq Ali Bakhit ¶Director in theGeneral Secretariat andHead of Cultural and IslamicThought Committee, Khartoum
Prof. Dr. Izz al-Din Umar Musa §Lecturer in theDepartment of History,Malik SaudUniversity, Riyadh
Dr. Muhammad Mahjub Harun ¶Journalist andUniversity Professor,University of Khartoum
Dr. Ahmad Ali Al-Imam ¶Advisor to the Sudanese President
Dr. Mustafa ‘Uthman Isma‘il ≈Former ForeignMinister of SudanSpecial Envoy of the SecretaryGeneral of theArabLeague
Dr. Ibrahim Ahmad Uthman ◊SecretaryGeneral, Supreme JudiciaryCouncil
Dr. Ahmad Khaled Babacar ◊SecretaryGeneral of the Islamic FiqhAcademy of Sudan
Mr. Mahmoud Khalfi Driri π
Prof. Tariq Ramadan § πIslamic intellectual
H.E. Mr. Farouk Al-Sharaa’ ∫Minister of ForeignAffairs
Shaykh Dr. Ahmad Badr Hasoun §GrandMufti of the SyrianArabRepublic
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Sa‘id Ramadan Al-Buti § ≈Head of the ReligionDepartment, Faculty of Law,Universityof Damascus
Prof. Dr. Shaykh Wahba Mustafa Al-Zuhayli § ≈ ¶Head of Department of Islamic Jurisprudence and its Schools,Islamic LawFaculty,DamascusUniversity
Dr. Salah Al-Din Ahmad Kuftaro §DirectorGeneral, ShaykhAhmadKuftaroAcademy andIslamic Intellectual
Dr. Muhammad Tawfiq Sa‘id Al-Buti §Professor of Shari‘ah atDamascusUniversity
Dr. Mahmud Al-Sayyid ¶Academic Researcher in theCentre of Islamic Studies,School of Oriental andAfrican Studies,University of London
Shaykh Abdallah Adhami § πIslamicmissionary and scholar
Dr. Muhammad Habash ≈
Dr. Muhammad Abd al-Latif Saleh al-Farfur ◊SecretaryGeneral, International ScientifiAcademy
Prof. Dr. Abd Al-Sattar Abu Ghuddah ◊President of theUnited Shari‘ahCouncil of the BarakaGroup, Jeddah
H.E. Mr. Imam Aly Rahmanov ∫President
Mr. Wan Muhammad Nur Matha §Advisor to the PrimeMinister
Amb. Wiboon Khusakul §Ambassador ofThailand in Baghdad
H.E. Mr. Zarifou Ayéva ∫Minister of ForeignAffairs
Mr. Mohamed Al-Ghanousi ∫PrimeMinister
Prof. Dr. Al-Hadi Al-Bakkoush §Former PrimeMinister ofTunisia
Dr. Abu Baker Al-Akhzuri §Minister of ReligiousAffairs
Prof. Dr. Ali Al-Shabi §Chairman of theHigher Islamic Council;FormerMinister of IslamicAffairs
Prof. Ibrahim Chabbouh §Advisor to theHigher Chairman of theAal al-Bayt Institutefor IslamicThought;Director of theAal al-Bayt Institute forIslamicThought
Shaykh Dr. Mohammad Al Habib ibn Al Khojah ◊Secretary-General, Int. Islamic FiqhCouncil, Jeddah
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Al-Bashir Al-Buzaydi ¶Director of theHigher Institute for the Fundamentals ofReligion, ZaytunaUniversity
Mr. Ahmad Al-‘Ujaymi ¶Advisor in theOffice of the SecretaryGeneral of theOrganization of the Islamic Conference
Shaykh Dr. Rachid Ghannouchi πLeader of Ennada
Prof. Habib Shaybub §Writer andHistorian
Dr. Amir Al-Zamali §Advisor of IslamicWorldAffairs, International Committee forthe RedCross
Dr. Shaykh Mohieddine Gadi ◊TheHigher Islamic Council,Tunis
Dr. Taieb Salama ◊TheHigher Islamic Council,Tunis
H.E. Mr. Bulent Arinc ∫President of theGrandTurkishAssembly
Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu § π ◊Secretary-General, Organisation of the Islamic Conference
H.E. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Aydin πMinister of State,Government ofTurkey
Prof. Dr. Ali Bardakoglu ¶Head of ReligiousAffairsDirectorate
Prof. Dr. Ali AuzakHead of the Endowment for Islamic Scientific Studies,Istanbul
Prof. Dr. Mualla Saljuq §Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Law,Ankara
Prof. Dr. Mustafa Çagrici § π ≈GrandMufti of Istanbul and Professor of Islamic Philosophy
Prof. Ibrahim Kafi Dönmez §Professor of Islamic Jurisprudence at theUniversity ofMarmara
Dr. Ali Ihsan Bala *YüzüncüYilUniversity
Mr. Ufuk Gökçen πAdvisor to the SecretaryGeneral of theOIC
Mr. Mustafa Akyol πWriter and journalist
Dr. Muhammet Aruçi πTurkishReligious Endownment (DiyanetVakfi)
Prof. Dr. Akif Aydin πMarmaraUniversity
Mr. Kurtulu Aykan π
Dr. Savas Barçin π
Ms. Selin Bölme πMarmaraUniversity
Prof. Ali Dere πForeignAffairsDepartment, Presidency of ReligiousAffairs,Ankara
Mr. Muammer Dumanli π
Mr. Ahmet Hakan π
Dr. Ibrahim Kalin πAssistant Professor of Islamic Studies, College of theHolyCross,USA;Director, SETAFoundation,Ankara
Prof. Recep Kaymakcan πAssistant Professor of Religious Education, SakaryaUniversity
H.E. Ambassador Fazli Kesmir πCounsellorTurkish Embassy and Permanent RepresentativeofTurkey to FAO,Rome
Dr. Abdülhamid Kirmizi π
Mr. Fehmi Koru πJournalist,Yeni Safak
Dr. Ali Köse πLecturer, Faculty ofTheology,MarmaraUniversity
Mr. Talha Köse π
Prof. Talip Küçukcan πCentre for Islamic Studies, Istanbul
Ambassador Ömür Orhun πOCSEPersonal Representative onCombating Islamophobia
Mr. Taha Özhan π
Prof. Mehmet Paçaci πFaculty ofTheology,AnkaraUniversity
Mr. Ali Sarikaya πPresident, Islamic ConferenceYouthForum forDialogue andCooperation
Prof. Bülent Senay πProfessor of Comparative Religion,UludagUniversity, Bursa
Dr. Nazife Sisman π
Dr. Ismail Taspinar πFaculty ofTheology,MarmaraUniversity
Mr. Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu πSETA,Anakara
Dr. Nuri Tinaz πCentre for Islamic Studies, Istanbul
Mrs. Ümare Yazar π
Professor Ali Murat Yel πLecturer in Sociology andAnthropology, FatihUniversity
H.E. Mr. Rashid Mirdov ∫Minister of ForeignAffairs
Mufti Shaykh Ahmad Tamim §Mufti of Ukraine
Mr. Anas Abdunnoor Kalissa ◊Director of Research and Shari‘ah
H.H. Shaykh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan ∫President
H.H. Ambassador Nasir bin Abd Allah bin Hamdan ¶
Mr. Ali bin Al-Sayyid Abd Al-Rahman Al-Hashim §Advisor to the President for Judiciary andReligiousAffairs
Shaykh Muhammad Al-Banani §Judge in the SupremeFederal Court
Dr. Saleh bin Zabin Al-Marzuqi §Secretary-General, International Islamic FiqhAcademy,Jeddah
Muhammad Abdulrahim Sultan Al-Ulama ◊Deputy-Dean of Scientific ResearchAffairs, UnitedArabEmiratesUniversity
Dr. Hamad bin Al-Sheikh Ahmad Al-Chibani ◊Secretary-General, Bureau for IslamicAffairs andCharitableWorks,Dubai
Shaykh Mansur ‘Etah al-Minhali ◊Director, IslamicAffairs andAwqaf
Dr. Ahmad Abdul Aziz Al-Haddad ◊ChiefMufti, Bureau of IslamicAffairs andCharitableWorks,Dubai
Shaykh Talib Muhammad Al-Shehi ◊Preacher,Ministry of Justice and IslamicAffairs
Dr. Mahmud Ahmad Abu Layl ◊Professor, Faculty of Shari‘ah,Al-‘AinUniversity
Dr. Khalid Sulayman Al-Fahdawi ≈
Dr. Ali Muhammad Ujla ◊
Dr. Muhammad Al-Zahili ◊Dean, Faculty of Shari‘ah,University of Sharjah
Dr. Abbas Mahajarani §Member of the ImamAl-Khoei Benevolent Foundation
Dr. Hassan Shamsi Basha ◊Expert,The International Islamic FiqhAcademy, Jeddah
Mr. Shams Vellani §Director, Special Studies,The Institute of Ismaili Studies
Dr. Farhad Daftary §AssociateDirector,The Institute of Ismaili Studies
Shaykh Yusuf Islam §IslamicMissionary
Dr. Fuad Nahdi §Editor-in-Chief, Q-News International
Shaykh Wanis Al-Mabrouk *Representative,Union ofMuslimOrganisations of UK&EIRE
Mr. Sharif Banna πCo-Founder,AwakeningRecords;President,Union ofMuslimStudents in theUK
Mr. Sami Yusuf § πIslamic singer
Mohamed Abdul Aziz πDirector, Faithwise
Dr. Manazir Ahsan πDirector,The Islamic Foundation
Mr. Khurshid Ahmed πBritishMuslimForum (BMF)
Mrs. Fareena Alam πEditor, Q-News International
Dr. Anas Shaikh-Ali πDirector, International Institute of IslamicThought, London
Mr. Ahmed Al-Rawi πPresident, Federation of IslamicOrganisations in Europe
Mr. Ismail Amla π
Mr. Iqbal Asaria πFinanceDirector,MuslimCouncil of Britain
Dr. Mehmet Asutay πDepartment of Economics,DurhamUniversity
Mr. Yasar Çolak πCounsellor forTurkishReligiousAffairs in London
Mr. Said Ferjani πMuslimAssociation of Britain
Dr. Sophie Gilliat-Ray πCardiff University
Mr. AbdelRahman Helbawy π
Mr. Dilwar Hussain πThe Islamic Foundation
Mrs. Sarah Joseph πEditor, EmelMagazine
Mr. Wakkas Khan πPresident, FOSIS
Mr. Mustafa Köker πChief Editor,HaberNewspapers (Turkish)
Ms. Maleiha Malik πDepartment of Law,King’s College
Ms. Unaiza Malik πMuslimCouncil of Britain
Mr. Ahmed Sheikh Mohamed π
Dr. Mohamed Mukadam πAssociation ofMuslimSchools
Mr. Ahmed Musawi π
Prof. Farhan Nizami πDirector, OxfordCentre for Islamic Studies
Mr. Habibur Rahman π
Sir Iqbal Sacranie πFormer SecretaryGeneral of theMuslimCouncil of Britain
Shaykh Haytham Tamim πUtrujj Institute
Mr. Ahmed Versi πEditor,TheMuslimNews
Mr. Shaukat Warraich πCommunity leader
Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad / Tim Winter § πLecturer,University of Cambridge
Mr. Haider Ali πBook distributor
H.E. Prof. Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr §Author and Professor of Islamic Studies at theGeorgeWashingtonUniversity
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson § πPresident of the Zaytuna Institute
Shaykh Faisal Abdur Rauf §Imamof NewYorkCityCentralMosque
Prof. Dr. Ingrid Mattson §Professor of Islamic Studies,Hartford Seminary;President of the Islamic Society of NorthAmerica (ISNA)
Prof. Dr. Suleiman Abdallah Schleifer §Director Emeritus of theAdhamCenter forTelevisionJournalism
Mr. Nihad Awad § ≈ExecutiveDirector, Council onAmerican-Islamic Relations
Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller § πIslamicMissionary and Intellectual;Fellow of theAal al-Bayt Institute for IslamicThought
Sheikh Suhaib D. Webb πIslamicMissionary
Dr. Caner Dagli πSpecialAdvisor for InterfaithAffairs, RoyalHashemite Courtof Jordan; Professor of Islamic Studies, RoanokeCollege,USA
Prof. James Morris § πUnivesity of Exeter
Mr. Radwan Al-Masmudi ≈
Prof. Joseph Lumbard §Former SpecialAssistant toH.M.KingAbdullah II forInterfaithAffairs
H.E. Mr. Shawkat Sirdayev ∫PrimeMinister
Shaykh Muhammad Al-Sadiq Muhammad Yusuf §GrandMufti of the Republic
Prof. Yusufov Ortoqbek §Islamic Intellectual
H.E. General Ali Abdullah Saleh ∫President
Shaykh Muhammad bin Muhammad Isma‘il Al-Mansur fatwa
Shaykh Humud bin ‘Abbas al-Mu‘ayyad fatwa
Shaykh Ibrahim bin Muhammad Al-Wazir fatwa §SecretaryGeneral of the IslamicUnification andWorksMovement
Shaykh Habib ‘Umar bin Muhammad binSalim bin Hafiz §Principal, Dar al-Mustafa,Tarim
Shaykh Al-Habib Al-Jifri §IslamicMissionary and Intellectual
Shaykh Muhammad Abduh Umar ◊Head, Bureau of Direction andGuidance, PermanentCommittee of theGeneral People’s Conference
Prof. Dr. Husayn Al-Umari §Member of theConsultative Committee,Member of theUNESCOExecutive Committee; Professor ofModernHistory,University of Sana‘a’
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
. How does Islam function?Islamhasno central authority or church. It has beenheldtogether over the centuries and generations, across geo-graphic, juridical and intellectual diversity, by texts andby established, authoritative interpretations of thesetexts—starting with the Holy Qur’an itself. Misinter-pretation of these texts, and misunderstanding of themethodologies of their interpretation canhave very dan-gerous consequences andcan lead to anentirelydifferentcivilization from that of traditional orthodox Islam.
. What are the greatest challenges facing Islamtoday?Islam today as a religion facesmany challenges andprob-lems. Perhaps one of the greatest of these is misunder-standing and confusion about the true nature of the reli-gion of Islam amongstMuslims and non-Muslims alike.This misunderstanding has led to erroneous interpreta-
tions of Islamic texts and thus illegitimate religiousedicts (fatwas) by people who are intellectually andmorally unqualified tomake religious edicts. Correctingthis situation through proper understanding of the tra-ditional Islamic texts in all theirdiversity andcomplexityis thus of profound importance to the future of IslamandMuslims.
. What is The Amman Message?The Amman Message started as a simple but detailedstatement issued in Ramadan /November inAmman, Jordan byKingAbdullah II of Jordan andsenior Islamic scholars. It described what Islam is andwhat it is not, and what actions represent it and whatactionsdonot. Its goalwas to clarify to themodernworldthe true nature of Islam and the nature of true Islam. It is amessage of devotion to God, love of the neighbor, good-will,moderation andpeace.
. What are The Three Points of The AmmanMessage?In order to give more religious authority to the AmmanMessage and in order to tackle the root problemofmisin-terpretation in Islam, in KingAbdullah II sent thefollowing three critical questions to of themost senior
religious scholars from all around the world represent-ing all the branches and schools of Islam:
. Who is aMuslim?;. Is it permissible to declare someone an apostate(takfir)?; and
. Whohas the right to undertake issuing fatwas (legalrulings)?
Based on the fatwas provided by these great scholars(who included the Shaykh Al-Azhar; Ayatollah SistaniandSheikhQaradawi), in July ,KingAbdullah IIof Jordan convened an international Islamic conferenceof of theworld’s leading Islamic scholars or ‘Ulama)from countries. InAmman, the scholars unanimouslyissued a ruling on three fundamental issues (whichbecame known as the ‘Three Points of the AmmanMessage’):
. They specifically recognized the validity of all Mathhabs (legal schools) of Sunni, Shi‘a and IbadhiIslam; of traditional IslamicTheology (Ash‘arism);of Islamic Mysticism (Sufism), and of true Salafithought, and came to a precise definition of who is aMuslim.
.Basedupon this definition they forbade takfir (decla-rations of apostasy) betweenMuslims.
. Based upon theMathahib they set forth the subjec-tive and objective preconditions for the issuing offatwas, thereby exposing ignorant and illegitimateedicts in thenameof Islam.
These Three Points were then unanimously adopted bythe IslamicWorld’s political and temporal leaderships atthe Organization of the Islamic Conference summit atMecca inDecember .And over a period of one yearfrom July to July , theThree Points were alsounanimously adopted by six other international Islamicscholarly assemblies, culminating with the InternationalIslamic Fiqh Academy of Jeddah (the Islamic World’sleading juridical body), in July . In total, over leading Muslim scholars worldwide—as can be seenonline (atwww.ammanmesage.com)—unanimouslyendorsed theAmmanMessage and itsThreePoints.
. Why is it so Important?The signed, universal Islamic Consensus on theAmmanMessage and itsThree Points is of the greatest importancebecause it amounts to a historical, universal and unani-mous religious and political consensus (ijma’) of the
Ummah (nation) of Islam in our day, and a consolidationof traditional, orthodox Islam.The significanceof this is:() that it is the first time in over a thousandyears that theUmmahhas formally and specifically come to such a plu-ralistic mutual inter-recognition; () that such a recog-nition is religiously legally binding onMuslims since theProphet (maypeace andblessings beuponhim) said:MyUmmah will not agree upon an error (Ibn Majah, Sunan,Kitab al-Fitan,Hadithno.), and () that it addressesone of the most critical problems facingMuslims today:lack of agreement aboutwhat constitutes Islam, and thuslack of agreement about who is a Muslim and what istruly ‘Islamic’.
. Is the content of the Amman Message somethingnew in Islam?No. There is nothing essentially new in the AmmanMessage, nor could there be for it to be truly authentic,for Islam is a religion revealed byGod, and therefore notchangeable by man. The Amman Message is merely aconcrete restatement and crystallization of the commonprinciples of traditional, orthodox, ‘moderate’ Islam—in all its traditional schools of thought and law—theIslam to which over the vast, overwhelming majority oftheworld’s approximately.billionMuslimsbelong.
. What does ‘Amman’ have to do with the‘Message’?Nothing. The name ‘Amman’ merely comes from thefact that theMessage was first launched in Jordan by thecountry’s king and scholars. The Message is a universalpan-Islamic one, as is seen in its acceptance by Muslimsauthorities from every school of thought and of law inIslam, and in its ratification by Muslims from everycountry and major Muslim community in the world.
. Will it resolve all of Islam’s problems?Will it help?No, the Amman Message will not resolve all of Islam’sproblems: no religion can be without problems on theworldly plane, especially in the modern age. The Eco-nomist (June th, ) argues that:This much is true:any of the Muslims who are drawn to jihadist violence,or to strident forms of political Islam, are indifferentto, or ignorant of, the nuances of theology; that makesthem susceptible to “amateur” fatwas. But as a Frenchscholar, Olivier Roy, points out, it doesn’t follow thatsuch people—when presented with sophisticated reli-gious arguments—would change their mind. In manycases, theyhave a general aversion to the idea of elaboratetheology.
However, what proper awareness, education andunderstanding of the Amman Message and its ThreePoints, might well do,GodWilling, is prevent .%ofMuslims from being influenced by illegitimate fatwasand sliding into takfir and terrorism, as a visceral over-reaction to poverty, injustice and mistakes in Westernforeignpolicy.After all,God says in theHolyQur’an:
O ye who believe! Be steadfast witnesses for God inequity, and let not hatred of any people make youswerve from justice.Deal justly, that is nearer to piety.Observe your duty to God. Lo! God is Informed ofwhat ye do. (Al-Ma’idah,:)
Finally, proper awareness of The Amman Message, mayalso, by exposing the illegitimate opinions of radical fun-damentalists and terrorists from thepoint of viewof trueIslam, help in preventing calls in the West for hostilityagainst Muslims as such. As George Yeo, the ForeignMinister of Singapore, declared in the th Session oftheU.N.GeneralAssembly (about theAmmanMessage):“Without this clarification, the war against terrorismwould bemuch harder to fight”. It thusmay help to pre-vent a wider conflict between the over % of theworld’s population: approximately . billionChristiansand.billionMuslims…
. What could it mean for Islam’s relations withnon-Muslims?The AmmanMessage Initiative is good news not only forMuslims, for whom it provides a basis for unity and asolution to infighting, but also for all non-Muslims. For,in safeguarding of the basic principles, texts and legalmethodologies of Islam, theAmmanMessage necessarilymeans inherently preserving traditional Islam’s internal‘checks and balances’. It thus assures balanced Islamicsolutions for essential issues like human rights; women’srights; freedom of religion; legitimate jihad; good citi-zenship of Muslims in non-Muslim countries, and justanddemocratic government, all key issues that are essen-tial toworldpeace andharmony.
. What is the next step?Inorder thatAmmanMessagenot remainmerely ahistor-ical agreement on basic principles, various steps arebeing taken to introduce it through pragmatic and insti-tutional means, such as: () inter-Islamic treaties; ()national and international legislation using the ThreePoints of theAmmanMessage to define Islam and forbidtakfir; () the use of publishing and the multi-media inall their aspects to spread theAmmanMessage; () insti-tuting the teaching of the Amman Message in school
curricula and university courses worldwide; and ()making it part of the training ofmosque Imams andmak-ing it included in their sermons.
. What can you do?Whoever you are, and wherever you live, you canhelp by adding your voice to this unique and histo-ric international Islamic consensus. Please visit www.ammanmessage.com,where you can readmore aboutthe Amman Message and find many useful documentsand links. Under the button saying: Click here to endorsethe Amman Message (or on the automatic pop-up) youcan add your name to the list of people worldwide whohave endorsed and supported the three points. Yourunderstanding of the Amman Message is in itself impor-tant goal. Your endorsement of the Amman Message isoneway to contribute towards peace in theworld.
Chairman of theAmmanMessageCommitteeJuly nd,.
And praise be toGod, the Lord of the worlds
U.S. $3U.K. £2H.K.J. JD2