Raisu-l-ulama`s speech at the opening of Doha Research Center

OPENING
OF DOHA RESEARCH CENTER
FOR ISLAMIC LEGISLATION AND ETHICS

(Doha, 15.01.2012)

Islamic Ethics
By
Raisu-l-ulama Mustafa Cerić, Ph.D.
Grand Mufti of Bosnia

The Holy Qur'an teaches us about two fundamental principles of the existing universe: 1) the principle of motion (حركة); and 2) the principle of check and balance (توازن). Thus, we read in the Qur'an:

لَا الشَّمْسُ يَنبَغِي لَهَا أَن تُدْرِكَ الْقَمَرَ وَلَا اللَّيْلُ سَابِقُ النَّهَارِ وَكُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ.

- Neither may the sun overtake the moon, nor can the night usurp the time of day, since everything is floating through space [in accordance with God's laws]. (36:40).

الَّذِي خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ طِبَاقًا مَّا تَرَى فِي خَلْقِ الرَّحْمَنِ مِن تَفَاوُتٍ فَارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ هَلْ تَرَى مِن فُطُورٍ. ثُمَّ ارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ كَرَّتَيْنِ يَنقَلِبْ إِلَيْكَ الْبَصَرُ خَاسِأً وَهُوَ حَسِيراً.

- Allah is the One who has created seven heavens in full balance with one another: no fault will you see in the creation of the Most Gracious. And turn your vision [upon it] once more: can you see any flaw? Yes, turn your vision [upon it] again and yet again: [and every time] your vision will fall back upon you, dazzled and truly defeated (67:3-4).

In the Sura el-Rahman we read:

وَالسَّمَاء رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ. أَلَّا تَطْغَوْا فِي الْمِيزَانِ . وَأَقِيمُوا الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ. وَالْأَرْضَ وَضَعَهَا لِلْأَنَام. فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ وَالنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ الْأَكْمَامِ. وَالْحَبُّ ذُو الْعَصْفِ وَالرَّيْحَانُ. فَبِأَيِّ آلَاء رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ.

- And the skies has Allah raised high, and has devised [for all things] a balance, so that you [too, O men,] might never transgress the balance [of what is right]: weigh, therefore, [your deeds] with equity, and cut not the balance short! And the earth has Allah spread out for all living beings, with fruit thereon, and palm trees with sheathed clusters [of dates], and grain growing tall on its stalks, and sweet-smelling plants. Which, then, of your Sustainer's tow signs can you deny? (55:7-13).

Raisu-l-ulama with Tariq Ramadan, John Espozito
and sheikh Kardaghy

Hence, the Holy Qur'an tells us that the universe and all what is in it is in a permanent motion as well as in an unbroken balance. The tow sings that are repeated in the Sura Al-Rahman are like the two wings by the way of which the birds are flying and the airplanes are delivering us from one to another distance. Without the balance of the two wings the birds would not be able to fly and the airplane would not be able to carry. This is the law of physics which we take for granted because it is just a gift of God that we enjoy and for what we are asked to be grateful to Almighty God. That is the macrocosm in which the microcosm of man lives with the same two principle of motion and balance and with the tow wings that make him capable to fly from one stage to another in his personal life as well as in his cultural and civilizational development from one to another level. That is the law of spirit that has been put into the substance of man as God's gift so that man can fly, move and walk in the balance of the two wings of faith and reason, the two wings of heart and mind, the two wings of wisdom and courage, the two wings of law and morality, the two wings of peace and security and the two wings of East and West.

Indeed, today more than ever before humanity needs the right motion forward because our eyes are placed in such a way that we must look forward not backward; and today more than ever before humanity needs the right balance of faith and reason as a basis for a sustainable, happy and successful human life. "Man has been called a rational being, but rational is matter of choice - and the alternative his nature offers him is: rational being or suicidal animal. Man has to be man - by choice; he has to be hold his life as a value - by choice; he has to learn to sustain it - by choice; he has to discover the values it requires and practice his virtues - by choice. A code of values accepted by choice is a code of morality" .

And the source of a code of morality is faith in God, is a moral authority that is beyond and above man's ability to touch it, to corrupt it, and to play with it in an immoral manner. It is here that I see the significance of the Doha Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics as the two wings of law and morality that the modern world needs in order to fly, move and walk toward a sustainable, stable and peaceful future of humanity.

It has been always the east where the light of sun rises and moves toward the west as a blessing; it has been always the east where the light of faith is switched on to enlighten the human mind. Indeed, this is the right time in our modern history that the east, here in Doha, take the initiative for a wakeup call on the human mind to comprehend that "a being who does not know automatically what is true or false, cannot know automatically what is right or wrong, what is good for him or evil. He is not exempt from the laws of reality, he is a specific organism of a specific nature that requires specific actions to sustain his life. He cannot achieve his survival by arbitrary means nor by random motions nor by blind urges nor by chance nor by whim. That which his survival requires is set by his nature and is not open to his choice. What is open to his choice is only whether he will discover it or not. He is free to make the wrong choice, but not free to succeed with it. He is free to evade reality, he is free to unfocus his mind and stumble blindly down any road he pleases, but not free to avoid the abyss he refuses to see... Man is free to choose not to be conscious, but not free to escape the penalty of unconsciousness: destruction. Man is the only living species that has the power to act as his own destroyer - and that is the way he has acted through most of his history".

In this possibility of self-destructibility of humanity I see our Muslim responsibility that comes from the fact that we are the heirs of the final testament of God entrusted in us through the Holy Qur'an and the idea of Īmān, Islām and Ihsān, the three bases for a comprehensive Islamic Ethics.

We Muslims are responsible before God and humanity to introduce and live the meaning of Īmān as a high standard of inner and outer security of man and society as well as self-confidence of human personality in terms of freedom and human rights; we are responsible before God and humanity to explain and live the meaning of Islām as a high principle of peace and security in the world; and we are responsible before God and humanity to show and live the beauty of Ihsān as a high level of human solidarity that would free us from fear and poverty.

And we Muslim scholars are responsible to support this Doha Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics to succeed in its mission for the salvation of humanity by following the Qur'anic principles of permanent motion and unbroken balance as well as by adopting the wisdom of the great Muslim mind of Ibn Khaldum (14th century), who was perhaps the first great historian to grasp the critical importance of education, scholarship and science to the fate of civilization. He attributed the rapid decline of the Arab civilization of his time to the loss of Arab scholarship in all fields, particularly in sciences. The level of education is a key indicator of a society's values and competitiveness. In modern times, science and technology have become the cutting edge of knowledge. The countries in command of these discipline will largely determine our future. Hence, we ask our truthful friend Jusuf, a.s. to enlighten us as to what should we do after seven fat centuries of Muslim civilization that were being eaten by seven hungry ones, and seven green ears of wheat appeared next to seven others that were withered.

يُوسُفُ أَيُّهَا الصِّدِّيقُ أَفْتِنَا فِي سَبْعِ بَقَرَاتٍ سِمَانٍ يَأْكُلُهُنَّ سَبْعٌ عِجَافٌ وَسَبْعِ سُنبُلاَتٍ خُضْرٍ وَأُخَرَ يَابِسَاتٍ لَّعَلِّي أَرْجِعُ إِلَى النَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ (12:46)

- You shall sow for seven years as usual; but let all [the grain] that you harvest remain [untouched] in its ear, excepting only a little, whereof you may eat: for, after that [period of seven good years] there will come seven hard [years] which will devour all that you shall have laid up for them, excepting only a little of that which you shall have kept in store - said Yusuf, a. s. (12: 47-48)

قَالَ تَزْرَعُونَ سَبْعَ سِنِينَ دَأَبًا فَمَا حَصَدتُّمْ فَذَرُوهُ فِي سُنبُلِهِ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً مِّمَّا تَأْكُلُونَ. ثُمَّ يَأْتِي مِن بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ سَبْعٌ شِدَادٌ يَأْكُلْنَ مَا قَدَّمْتُمْ لَهُنَّ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً مِّمَّا تُحْصِنُونَ.

I believe that we are in Doha today to open the third season of productive seven centuries after the harvest of the early seven centuries have been consumed by the last seven centuries of decline. It is time that we Muslims become the nation of production of goods for all nations rather than mere consumers of products of other nations.

I believe that we can do it with Allah's help and our sincere and devoted hard work, brotherhood and friendship.

So, may Allah bless Doha and the Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics.