This
declaration was announced at the Peace for Humanity Conference, organized by Minhaj-ul-Quran International and held under
the auspices of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, at the Wembley
Arena in London, on 24th September 2011, and endorsed by the Grand Shaykh of
Al-Azhar Dr Ahmad Muhammad Al-Tayyib, The World Association of Al-Azhar
Graduates and religious representatives of all faiths, scholars, politicians,
and 11,000 participants present from all around the world.
Preamble
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We, the signatories
to this ‘London Declaration for Global Peace & Resistance against
Extremism’, affirm that all humans everywhere possess inherent dignity and
immutable rights: these including freedom from poverty, oppression, fear and
prejudice and freedom of belief, worship and expression.
Declaration
1. We the signatories to this declaration send a message of
peace and fraternity to all of humanity’s innumerable states, nations,
communities and individuals along with a call for respect, dignity, compassion,
equality, solidarity and justice for, and between, all people.
2. We address our call for peace, tolerance and respect to all people
everywhere, but especially to political and religious leaders and
decision-makers as well as to scholars, teachers and journalists.
3. While we recognize the unique differences between faiths, cultures and
communities, and we recognize that all people gain happiness and identity from
what they consider to be unique, we declare that all humans everywhere possess
immutable rights and values that transcend all political boundaries and
philosophies and are inherent and important in all religious faiths and creeds.
4. Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and those of other religions,
along of course with all people who do not identify with any faith, must enjoy
the same civil and legal rights and freedoms and be able to live in peace and
harmony and must pursue peace only through mutually respectful engagement and dialogue.
5. We reject unequivocally all terrorism because at the heart of all religions
is a belief in the sanctity of the lives of the innocent. The indiscriminate
nature of terrorism, which has in recent years killed far more civilians and
other non-combatants than it has combatants, is UN-Islamic, UN-Judaic,
UN-Christian and it is indeed incompatible with the true teachings of all
faiths. Because of its manifestly indiscriminate and therefore murderous
nature, we condemn all terrorism in all forms and in all countries regardless
of any claimed religious and political intentions.
6. We unequivocally reject, disown and condemn all
terrorism committed in the name of Islam, just as we reject and condemn all
terrorism committed in the names of other religions or causes. Terrorism is
never a legitimate and honorable act of war but is always a cowardly act of
indiscriminate murder.
7. We reject as mistaken and spurious any assertions made by both Muslims and
non-Muslims that the world is currently locked in an inexorable struggle
between Islam and the West and we commit ourselves, through positive and
mutually respectful engagement and dialogue, to oppose any and all claims of
clashes of civilizations or the incompatibility of the values in various
regions, states and communities.
8. We support efforts by international agencies, governments and communities to
protect the world’s citizens from terrorism; we commit ourselves to assisting
in the De-radicalization of those groups and individuals who might mistakenly
believe that their religion tolerates indiscriminate and wanton violence.
9. Whereas we do not overlook the real or perceived grievances that may serve
as a causative fuel for terrorist violence — and we call upon all national and
local governments to address those grievances with haste and resolve — we
commit ourselves to the non-violent resolution of those issues as well as to
the removal through education and dialogue of conspiracy theories that seem to
blinker some peoples’ worldviews.
10. We welcome the wave of popular and generally peaceful uprisings against
tyranny and oppression known as “the Arab Spring” and we recognize that it is a
rights-based, not religion-based, movement which is compatible with the
universal human rights and aspirations mentioned above.
11. We call on all international agencies and governments to support with
clarity and resolve the liberty-motivated Arabs, Berbers and other Muslims and
we call upon them to do so in a non-martial, impartial, transparent and
well-communicated manner that will enhance trust and establish bonds of good will.
12. We the signatories to this declaration believe that the too-long-running
conflict between Israel and Palestine needs to be resolved urgently and with
scrupulous fairness.
13. We affirm the necessity urgently to resolve this conflict so as to provide
both the Palestinians with a sovereign pluralistic and representative state and
the Israelis with national and local security. If it is to be permanent and
durable, the peace agreement between Israel and Palestine must be fully and
actively supported and protected in a non-partisan fashion by the international
community and its terms must be equally beneficial to the citizens of both
states who have for so long feared and mistrusted each other.
14. We call for the promotion of human rights, fundamental freedoms, equality between men and women, and the cardinal values of humanity such as reconciliation, forgiveness, generosity and solidarity.
15. We declare that there is no difference between an Arab and a Jew, between a
Muslim and a Christian, between a Hindu and a Sikh, between a black person and
a white person, or between a man and a woman. All humans are equal and must be
treated with equal respect, dignity, compassion, equality, solidarity and justice.
16. We unequivocally condemn antisemitism (including when sometimes it is
disingenuously clothed as anti-Zionism), Islamophobia (including when it is
sometimes disingenuously dressed up as patriotism) and all other forms of
racism and xenophobia.
17. We call on all Muslims and other minorities living in the West to respect
all the laws of the country in which they are living whether they possess the
status of citizen or resident.
18. We call on the Muslims, the governments and the elites of the West to
promote integration and citizenship, the only solution for peaceful
co-existence and cohesion.
19. We call on all governments to protect minorities against all hatred,
intimidation and violence, especially from ultra-nationalism or religious
intolerance.
20. We call for increasing aid for Africa, and other impoverished regions and
nations of the world, in order to improve their living conditions, provide
socioeconomic and political stability, and realize the objectives of true
democracy.
21. We call on the financial powers to introduce more humanity
in their economic considerations. After both world wars, the stability of the
European states is crucial for the world.
22. We call on the world governments to increase efforts for the alleviation of
poverty, to combat illiteracy, proliferation of weapons, and threats to our
natural environment.
23. 11,000 participants at the Peace for Humanity Conference support this
London Declaration for Global Peace & Resistance against Extremism.
24. Finally, we the signatories to this declaration call upon all people
everywhere to express their agreement with our beliefs, expectations and
aspirations by adding their own signatures to the declaration, which will be
found online on www.peaceforhumanity.co.uk & www.londondeclaration.com
Click this picture and Sign the Declaration
