IMAM MOHAMMAD TAWHIDI, IMAM INAYAT ALI SHAKIR, IMAM PAUL SALAHUDDIN ARMSTRONG, IMAM MOHAMMAD MEHDIZADE
Dec 30, 2024
Islam's authentic voice cannot be silenced, corrupted, or distorted in the interests of malign geopolitical forces or corrupt and hateful ideologies.
For too long, many of the loudest voices claiming to speak for Islam have been its worst representatives.
During Iraq’s darkest hours, when ISIS terrorists were murdering innocents and impugning the reputation of Islam on the world stage, a small group of prominent Sunni and Shia clerics in the ancient city of Najaf mobilized to fight back in an act of moral courage. They showed their followers that those who speak loudest don’t necessarily speak truest.
This principled stand against ISIS cost some of those clerics life and limb. Nonetheless, an anti-extremist clerical network was born, and has now evolved into a global movement for authentic Islamic representation, and a repudiation of all forms of extremism on religious grounds.
On Canadian streets and in online spaces, a similar dynamic is at play: distorters hijack the foundational tenets of Islam to promulgate violence.
The same bold clerical movement that was instrumental in beating back ISIS in Iraq is now poised to fight extremism here and elsewhere in the West, underscoring the difference between Islam—a noble ancient faith based on peace—and Islamism—an intolerant, extremist, and radical political ideology.
Well before Oct. 7, 2023, these clerics were the driving force behind the first, precedent-setting “Fatwa”—clerical denunciation—against Hamas, declaring it a terrorist entity and “illegitimate” under Islamic law.
They have also created and implemented an Islamic education curriculum based on the principles of mutual acceptance that will accompany the Abraham Accords. More broadly, their work in education, community building, and clerical diplomacy embodies the spirit of normalization and mutual acceptance between the Abrahamic faiths.
They are building a positive and authentic framework that shelters those within the Muslim community and elsewhere who seek to build bridges of peace rather than promote the hateful ideologies that threaten to irreparably harm humanity. Canadians must support those who seek to build bridges, normalize relations, and shelter those who reject extremism and hate.
Across the western world, extremists have been able to manipulate the political establishment and an unsuspecting public. They have branded any disagreement with certain practices, and so-called “religious expression,” as “Islamophobic”—thereby successfully insulating fundamentalist dogmas from scrutiny.
It is time for religious leaders to clearly redefine what is actually un-Islamic: hate and extremist ideologies. Only then can we strive for peace and inter-community engagement, while also remaining vigilant for true cases of anti-Muslim bigotry.
This will have profound implications for Canada, from Vancouver to Montreal, where hate and antisemitism have found fertile ground, goading Canadians into sectarian strife, glorification of violence, and fomenting societal discord and political subversion.
At a recent symposium in Ottawa, parliamentarians and representatives of faith groups, communities, and think tanks witnessed the signing of the “Ottawa Declaration” by clerics from the Global Imams Council (GIC), cementing a commitment to fight extremist ideologies and support the ethos of the Abraham Accords—building bridges between communities.
Islam’s authentic voice cannot be silenced, corrupted, or distorted in the interests of malign geopolitical forces or corrupt and hateful ideologies.
We need a new conversation about extremism. Canada and the West more broadly should no longer be a thought marketplace of who can shout loudest. Rather, our public square has been missing a clear, genuine, and truthful voice to guide both religious practice and public opinion.
The microphone is being reclaimed. Canada once boasted peaceful co-existence between faith groups. The GIC will work to not only restore that reputation, but also to strengthen it through genuine mutual acceptance and respect.
It is the true Islamic way forward, and it is the Canadian way.
Imam Mohammad Tawhidi is vice-president of the Global Imams Council. Imam Inayat Ali Shakir is with the Shareekatul Hussain Organization, and is a governing member of the Global Imams Council. Imam Paul Salahuddin Armstrong is the director of the Association of British Muslims, and the director of the Global Imams Council, U.K. Imam Mohammad Mehdizade is a member of the Conference of Imams of France, and the director of the Global Imams Council, EU.