BRUSSELS, Jan 10 (KUNA) — Representatives of about 400 Islamic organizations in Europe signed an historic document here Thursday evening to enhance cooperation among Muslims in Europe and to correct the distorted image of Islam.
The “European Muslims’ Charter” aims to define a number of principles in accordance with the common understanding of Islam within the European context.
The 26-point document underlines that “despite the ethnic and cultural diversity and their affiliations to various schools of Islamic law and thought Muslims of Europe constitute one religious entity within the framework of Islamic principles.” “We worked for six years on the Charter and today we have signed it,” Ayman Aly, General Secretary of the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe (FIOE), told KUNA in an interview.
FIOE, which had organized the signing event in a Brussels hotel, is the umbrella organisation which groups 29 large Muslims organizations and over 1, 000 smaller groups.
“Islam today stands accused by many non-Muslims after September 11. So we have to correct the image of Islam and secondly we want to show that there is no contradiction between being a European and a Muslim,” explained Aly, who is an Egyptian but lives in Austria.
Moreover, Muslims in Europe also want to play the role of a bridge between Europe and the Muslim world, he said.
Over 50 million Muslims are living in Europe including about 20 million in the European Union, noted Aly.
Munzir Ahmad who represented the Arab-Islamic Centre for Culture and Civilisation in Athens, Greece, said the signing of the charter was a great step towards promoting the understanding of Islam in Europe.
“Most Europeans do not know the way of living of Muslims, their tradition, their culture, their religion,” he told KUNA.
“This is a message to the European nations and government to undertake serious contacts with Muslims in Europe, and the Muslims should feel that they are real citizens of Europe,” he added.
The Charter underscores that “Muslims of Europe respect the laws of the land and the authorities that uphold them and as European citizens Muslims of Europe consider it their duty to work for the common good of society.” During the signing ceremony of the Charter, representatives of the Muslim organisations spoke in the language of the country they represented.