Faithful Perspectives

I am honored to give today a keynote address about a major contemporary Islamic scholar, leader, and good friend, Dr. Taha Jaber al-Alwani. Our American Muslim community has been blessed by the distinguished leadership of a select group of dedicated American Muslims, male and female, who are no longer with us. Among them, Dr. Taha was a towering figure. He was a prolific writer, and an outstanding thought leader with an admiring international following that I often encountered during my travels.

Social media is abuzz with the story of the well-respected scholar at the Islamic institute in Elgin, Illinois, who is accused of abusing his female students. When I read the story, I got flashbacks to that painful moment in my childhood when one of my religious teachers tried to violate his boundaries with me. As soon as my family heard about the incident, the teacher was fired and disappeared from my life completely.

Today we start saying our last goodbyes to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He left us so suddenly when his turn came. In some ways, this was a fitting departure. He was a strong, resolute, and no nonsense person. He also believed that beyond this life there was a better place, for he was a man of deep faith.

Capital punishment is imposed in the United States for a limited number of reasons, such as treason and murder. Recently, all executions have been related to crimes of intentional murder, the most notable example being the approaching execution of Timothy McVeigh who caused the death of hundreds of Americans in Oklahoma City by blowing up a federal building. The basic arguments in support of capital punishment derive from two concepts: retribution and deterrence. In discussing the Islamic view of capital punishment, we shall therefore focus on the crime of intentional murder.

Almost fifteen hundred years ago, the Holy Qur’an succinctly stated in verse 49:13 that God created us from a male and a female and made us into different nations and tribes so that we get to know each other. In the Qur’anic context of this verse, it is clear that “knowing each other” means to communicate, cooperate, and celebrate each other’s differences. It does not mean to subordinate other cultures, or take a supremacist view of them.

I would like to thank my hosts for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts with you on a topic critical for the future of our Ummah. After all, the family unit is the foundation on which nations are built. This is why it is important to focus our attention on family law, especially since the Muslim family unit has been recently the subject to unprecedented challenges across the Muslim World.

The Madinah Charter was executed by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on the one hand, and the various Muslim and Jewish tribes on the other. He had immigrated to Madinah, upon the invitation of its community, because his life was being threatened in Makkah due to his religious beliefs. The Madinah community liked the Prophet’s message and wanted to give it a home in its own city. So the Prophet experienced firsthand religious oppression and knew very well the importance of religious liberty.