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FOLLOWING
IS THE full text of His Majesty King Abdullah's speech at
the opening session of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference
extraordinary summit in Mecca:
In the name of God, the most Merciful, the Compassionate
And praise be to God, the Lord of all the worlds,
And prayers and salutations on our master Mohammad, and the
righteous and sincere members of His House,
Your Majesties, your Excellencies,
your Highnesses, Kings, Presidents and Emirs of Muslim States,
Peace be upon you, God's
mercy and His blessings,
The convening of this extraordinary
summit, in Mecca, by a gracious invitation from the custodian
of the two sacred mosques King Abdullah Ben Abdulaziz, comes
at a time when the Muslim ummah (nation) is facing several
challenges that cannot be confronted or overwhelmed except
through casting aside the differences within the ummah, through
enhancing cooperation and complementarity among them and through
unifying their word, their ranks and their stances towards
these different issues and challenges, with a unified vision
and rules based on the essence of Islam — Islam that
brings people together and does not divide them, and that
calls for the unity of Muslims irrespective of differences
in colour, gender or madhab (school of thought).
In spite of our conviction
of the importance and vitality of the subjects and topics
listed on the working agenda of this summit, and the draft
of the ten-year programme for action for the Organisation
of the Islamic Conference, we still reaffirm anew, in the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, that the subject that should
have priority over all these subjects is the consensus among
us as Muslims on who is a Muslim and on the conditions of
ifta. The absence of consensus on these two issues has led
to divisions and differences, accusations of apostasy (takfir)
and internecine fighting. It is not plausible for us to talk
about cooperation and complementarity among Muslims or about
uniting our ranks and stances in facing the challenges of
our age or our relations with other nations and peoples, before
we agree among ourselves that an adherent to any madhab is
a Muslim, and on the conditions of ifta which regulates relations
among us and unifies our stances towards the issues and challenges
of this age.
With Almighty God's praise,
and with the success that He granted us, we convened in the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan the International Islamic Conference,
in Amman from July 4-6, 2005, in which more than 170 scholars
participated. The scholars hailed from different Muslim countries
and were adherents to the eight Islamic schools of jurisprudence
(madhahib). These scholars, in accordance with the fatwas
issued unanimously by all the Muslim religious authorities,
approved the following:
First, whosoever is an adherent
to one of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence (Hanafi,
Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali), the two Shiite schools of jurisprudence
(the Ja`fari and the Zaydi), the Ibadi school of jurisprudence,
and the Thahiri school of jurisprudence, is a Muslim. Declarations
proclaiming any one of their followers an apostate is invalid.
Verily his (or her) blood, honour and property are sacrosanct.
Moreover, it is not valid to declare whosoever subscribes
to the Ashari creed or whoever practices true Sufism an apostate.
Likewise, it is not valid to declare whosoever subscribes
to true Salafi thought an apostate.
Equally, it is not valid
to declare as apostates any group of Muslims who believes
in Allah (God) the Almighty and Sublime and His messenger
(may peace and blessings be upon him) and the pillars of faith,
and respects the pillars of Islam and does not deny any necessary
article of religion.
Second, between the various
schools of jurisprudence, there is more in common than there
is difference. The adherents to the eight schools of jurisprudence
are in agreement as regards the basic principles of Islam.
All believe in Allah the Almighty and Sublime, the One and
the Unique; that the noble Koran is the word of Allah revealed
and that our master Mohammad, may blessings and peace be upon
him, is a prophet and messenger unto all mankind. All are
in agreement concerning the five pillars of Islam: The two
testaments of faith (shahadatayn); the ritual prayers (salat);
almsgiving (zakat); fasting the month of Ramadan (sawm); and
the pilgrimage (Hajj) to the sacred house of Allah. All are
also in agreement about the foundations of belief: Belief
in Allah, His angels, His scriptures, His messengers, and
in the Day of Judgement, in divine providence — good
and evil. Disagreement within the ulama is only with respect
to the ancillary branches of religion (furu) and not the principles
and fundamentals (usul). Disagreement with respect to the
ancillary branches of religion is a positive thing. Long ago,
it was said that variance in opinion among the ulama “is
a good affair.”
Third, acknowledgement of
the schools of jurisprudence within Islam means adhering to
a fundamental methodology in the issuance of fatwas: No one
may issue a fatwa without the requisite personal qualifications
which each school of jurisprudence defines. No one may issue
a fatwa without adhering to the methodology of the schools
of jurisprudence. No one may claim to do absolute ijtihad
and create a new school of jurisprudence or to issue unacceptable
fatwas that directs Muslims away from the principles and certainties
of the Sharia and what has been established in respect of
its schools of jurisprudence.
We presented the recommendations
of this conference to Mecca's Forum of Muslim Scholars and
Intellectuals, which was convened in Mecca by an invitation
from the custodian of the two sacred mosques. The participating
scholars in the forum, especially the Committee for Islamic
Thought, Culture and Education, adopted these recommendations,
in order to facilitate their presentation to this summit.
On this basis, we reaffirm
our stance that it is necessary to include the text of the
above mentioned recommendations and decisions of the International
Islamic Conference, convened in Amman, in the final communiqué
of this summit; and to designate these recommendations and
decisions as a term of reference and a basis to settle differences
among Muslims, and to close the door on some of those who
practice ifta without having the right to do so, declaring
some Muslims apostates and killing them in the name of Islam,
when Islam disavows illegitimate practitioners of ifta.
This is the essence of the
Amman Message, which is in complete harmony with the Civilisational
Islam (Islam Hadari) project which was submitted in Malaysia.
Finally, I would like to
extend deep gratitude and appreciation to the custodian of
the two sacred mosques King Abdullah Ben Abdulaziz, the brotherly
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Secretariat General of the
Organisation of the Islamic Conference for hosting this conference,
and for the meticulous arrangements and preparations for this
summit.
Peace, God's mercy
and His blessings be upon you.
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