Makkah Charter Calls for Religious Tolerance and Pluralism

The conference of the Muslim World League (MWL) held at Makkah in Saudi Arabia recently has issued a declaration calling for co-existence, pluralism and religious tolerance in the world. Hussein Madavoor, state vice president of the Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (KNM), who attended the meeting, said the ‘Makkah Charter’ issued at the conference is a historical document as it addresses almost all the issues concerning the Muslims world over. “Modelled on the Medina Charter drafted by Prophet Muhammad, the Makkah Charter underlines the need for religious freedom and exhorts to stop the hate campaign in the name of the religion,” Madavoor said. “There are 30 articles in the Charter that deal with issues like Islamophobia, protection of places of worship and ending harassment of women,” he said.
Most important among the articles is the one on Islam and pluralism. “Plurality of faith is a reality and we need to accept it. There is no point in living a utopian world. There are different schools of jurisprudence in Islam and there are other systems of faiths too. How all these can co-exist with any confrontation is a topic discussed at the meeting,” Madavoor said.
Another issue discussed at the meeting is teaching the middle path of moderation of Islam to the young generation who does not have a comprehensive understanding of Islam. “The lack of proper knowledge is the reason for dangerous practices like doing hijra to Syria,” he said.
The meeting also decided to come out with a proper interpretation of the verses in Quran in the backdrop of widespread misreading of the holy text. “In Kerala also, we have seen some discussions along these lines. There are attempts to take the verses from out of the context and spread hatred,” Madavoor said.
The MWL conference also discussed the ways to counter the rising Islamophobia in the world. “The meeting felt that that the wrong notions of the religion stems from gross misunderstanding. MWL decided to spread authentic knowledge of Islam,” he said.
Similar meetings will be held in different the countries with the participation of all the Muslim groups to spread the message of the Makkah Charter to ground level. MWL will take the lead in organising such meetings.
(Extracted from newageislam.com)