Friday Nasiha

The World of Associations

In the course of their settlement in the West, Muslims have passed \r\n through several stages in the creation of associations. In the first \r\n period, it was a question of gathering together either on the basis \r\n of common origin (by creating organizations for people coming from \r\n the same country) or, more often with the aim of carrying out a project \r\n such as the establishment of a mosque. These were the two axes that \r\n most attracted new arrivals. Slowly, new kinds of structures came \r\n into being, more oriented toward education, social work, and more \r\n specialized activities (e.g. for young people, students, women) or \r\n toward Muslim representation at local and national levels.

These organizations are essential, and they must remain present and \r\n active in Western countries because they help to normalize the presence \r\n of Muslims in the West. However, it is important, at least in those \r\n countries where the Muslim presence is the most long-standing, to \r\n consider embarking on a new phase in the type of organizations invented \r\n and founded by Western Muslims. This \r\n third stage of associational structures for Muslims should \r\n make it possible for them to create new organizations that, while \r\n complementing what is already being done in the field, will be set \r\n up around shared values, social projects, and causes and will not \r\n be based simply on the Muslim identity of its founders. \r\n These will not be partnerships with other associations but, taking \r\n one step further, will represent shared commitments within one association. \r\n

This type of involvement is more complex on the ethical level because, \r\n in a situation where we are not \"among our own,\" we must \r\n sometimes face situations or behaviour that are not in harmony with \r\n our values or codes of conduct. By making time for dialogue and explanation, \r\n by defining clearly the boundaries of commitment, it is possible to \r\n find areas of agreement.

Many Muslims, still unsure of their identity and of what people think \r\n of them, are afraid of going too far in this direction, but in the \r\n end this is the direction in which the Islamic association landscape \r\n in the West is bound to evolve - Muslim citizens distributed among \r\n cultural networks, working in specialized \"Islamic associations,\" \r\n and ultimately participating in bodies that unite those with pluralistic \r\n beliefs and common values. In the end, this is the universal dimension \r\n of Islam, integrating pluralism and human diversity.

Source:
\r\n \"Western Muslims And The Future of Islam\" - Tariq Ramadan, \r\n pp. 157-158