Editorial

2 The Review of Religions – January 2006 Being religious does not give us the sole right to judge others. If we believe that our religion is the only right path, our role is actually to be guides to our fellow beings and to show them a better way. If we are persecuted and prevented from practising our faith, then we can draw attention of others to restore our rights, but we cannot force others to adopt a certain way. The speech at the Denmark Symposium highlights this fact in the context of the growing political tension that has unfortunately been labelled as the permission to use force. Muslims should follow the example of the Holy Prophet( s a ) who set a precedent with his Madinah Charter in 622 CE to foster good relations between people of all backgrounds. He wept before God at the state of mankind and begged for help. When religious communities could not tolerate the behaviour that they saw around them such as in the town of Sodom at the time of Prophet Lot(as), their duty was to advise them of a better way and warn them over taking the wrong course, but when this went unheeded, it was God who saved the believers from the town before it was destroyed. It was God’s position to judge them, not man’s. In today’s political turmoil, whereas East and West are vying for power and wealth, the common denominator amongst larg e l y Muslims religious fundamentalists is that it is their right, or even their duty, to respond to one wrong with yet another. This is not the teaching that they have been given by their Prophet(sa) or by their Holy Book, the Qur’an. They would do well to focus on self-reformation before they try to reform others. The articles in this month’s issue should give them food for thought. Fazal Ahmad– UK EDITORIAL