An Idea Whose Time Has Come: ‘Islamic Declaration Against Religious Police’
Mustafa AkyolOn January 4, theMuslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a non ‐profit organization founded by a group of American Muslims in 1988, released an important document: “Islamic Declaration Against Religious Police. ”It began by explaining why such a declaration is necessary:The distressing events transpiring in the Islamic Republic of Iran impress upon us the need to issue a clear and declarative statement against the institution of religious or morality police in particular, and the ideology of compulsion in general. We do so not from a political or partisan perspective but from a deeply held sense of moral and religious obligation flowing from our Islamic faith and sincere commitment to God.Then the declaration noted that “religious police” is a grave problem not just in Iran, but also “Afghanistan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan.” It added that in some other Muslim‐majority countries, such as Egypt and Pakistan, regular police forces also engage in “moral or religious policing.”Why was that wrong? The answer must be obvious to anyone with a sense of human liberty. But the MPAC also made a specifically religious case against religious coercion:The institution of religious or morality police violates a core tenet of the Quranic message: “Let there be no compulsion in religion; truth stands out clearly from error” (Q 2:256). This verse can be understood as a universal decla...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Mustafa Akyol Source Type: blogs
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