Are there any official, organized Muslim organizations with the sole purpose of advocating peace and tolerance among all people?
I’ve done an internet search and can’t find any. I’ve found Muslim organizations that help Muslims and Muslim organizations that promote peace and tolerance for themselves from non-Muslims. I don’t mean for this to be controversial. I am just wondering.
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Just curious: Have you done a search for other religions and found that they have organizations solely for the purpose of promoting peace and tolerance among all people?
Muslim Bridges is such an organization:
“This is your site, where you build Bridges and spread the Peace with “People of the Book” (Jews, Christians, Muslims), and others who are also our brethren in humanity.
You find content here that unites all of us in the Love of the same God of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed (pbut). Find out the truth about Islam and the Muslim perspective on many subjects ranging from the environment to terrorism, and from human rights to animal rights. Find simple yet frank analyses in comparative religion, promoting better appreciation one to another.” Source
Not exactly what you are looking for, but Seeds of Peace is an organized effort to allow young Arab and Jewish people to spend time together and discuss issues, promoting peace and understanding. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeds_of_Peace
Apart from the organizations listed above, I doubt you will find such an organization that solely focusses on advocating peace and tolerance for everyone. You may want to expand your search to organizations in general which promote peace and tolerance, not just one given religion or belief movement.
I can see why @janbb would make the above statement: the very fact that you are asking this question is stereotypically-loaded, unfortunately. It’s like you are suggesting they need to form such an organization.
Maybe what you are looking for is a Muslim organization that condemns hostile and violent acts? I would love to see that. The same way I love when I see a priest or Christian minister speak out in favor of separtion of church and state.
“This new people was made of communities that had escaped official state purges and wanted a lay state, a secular state that opened the possibility for all confessions and all form of religious exercise,” he added. “Therefore it was a state that was intentionally secular. It was the exact opposite of state religion, but it was secular out of love for religion and for an authenticity that can only be lived freely.” – Pope Benedict XVI on the United States
@mattbrowne Unfortunately we don’t see much of that here in America, what I mean is we don’t see it in the media, and that is what I am looking for, a message that gets out there among the public. I do however have many many Catholic friends (I have no idea about the Priests) who are staunchly in favor of the separation of church and state. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about the Evangelical Christians, they seem to always try to pull out some quote or historical fact that supports putting religion into the government. Just recently I was in a discussion where they were talking about how back in the day there were Christian churches set up by the government in America (I have no idea if that is true). It would not surprise me that mainstream Muslims are in support of the separation, in fact I think most minority religions in the US get it.
@JLeslie: I think that is another discussion entirely —whether America or any other country for that matter, should separate religion from state affairs.
According to muslims I know, their religion and holy book addresses and dictates how their community (and by extension country) should be run, so state/religion is one and the same.
@Siren It is a separate subject, I don’t want to hijack the thread. I do think American born Muslims for the most part appreciate that in America they have religious freedom, and get it like the rest of us. For that matter the Muslims I personally know who left, many times fled their countries to come to America wanted to get away from religious rule.
@JLeslie: Yes, those individuals who don’t agree with the religion and it’s practices would undoubtedly and understandably want to leave. Some leave, some move there, some move back. There are other religions in those muslim countries too, because they are older and have been around longer, like Judaism and Christianity. So, each muslim country actually has a significant percentage of other practicing religions there.
@Siren Yes of course. And, I did not want to make it sound like all Arab countries, I’ll include Iran in the generalization, are alike. Of course each country is just that a separate country. I have Palestinain friends who are Muslim, and ones who are Christian. Every Lebonese person I know is Christian/Catholic. My Pakestani friend is Muslim, but really not religious at all. The Iranian man who has made curtains for two of my homes works in a very Jewish area in Boca Raton FL, and no one thinks twice about it.
I once had a Lebonese man say to me, “everyone in the middle east should have to live in America for 5 years, so they can see how it can be.” He had been here for about 7 years at the time. That made me feel good, like even though I am often annoyed with how some people in the US seem intolerant, somehow his experience had been acceptance and tolerance.
@JLeslie – On the global level evangelical Christians in the US are a rogue movement we need to watch very carefully. They are also quite active in some Southern American countries. They do exist in Europe too but on a much smaller scale.
About 60% of the Muslims in Turkey want to keep the separation of church and state and are quite proud what their country has achieved. I think they are the only large Muslim community worldwide organizing large demonstrations with hundreds of thousands of people fighting against Islamist theocracies. There is a growing number of Turkish Muslims who prefer a Iran-style theocracy, but they are a very large minority in the Turkish army which seems to be the number one force keeping the separation of church and state in place.
@mattbrowne Interesting. Thank you for that information.
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