Leading African Muslim scholar talks to Anadolu Agency

By Hossam Bedawi

KHARTOUM (AA) - The ongoing European campaign against Turkey is not only due to Turkey’s economic and military strength but also to the “strength of its Islamic history”, according to Sheikh Said Bourhane, head of the Union of African Muslim Scholars (UAMS).

In exclusive comments to Anadolu Agency from Khartoum, Bourhane said that, despite Europe’s desire to see Turkey fail, the country had distinguished itself “through its history derived from Islamic Sharia".

A Comoros national and one of Africa’s most prominent Muslim scholars, Bourhane went on to assert that pious Muslims should pray for Turkey’s wellbeing, “because we as Muslims store great hope in Turkey’s success”.

He added: "The [European] campaign is now directed against certain countries, the most important of which are Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which -- if they joined forces -- would constitute a great power."

“Muslims are seeking a superpower,” he said. “Not to attack anyone, but to protect ourselves."

-Moderation

Bourhane also stressed the importance of moderation in Islamic discourse.

"Moderation does not come without knowledge and a good understanding of religious matters,” he said.

“That’s why the UAMS is training Muslim preachers how to use modern methods and technology to promote a moderate Islamic discourse,” he added.

Bourhane urged young people to approach religion through “reliable sources and reputable scholars”.

“Young people must refer to the scholars and the scholars must refer to the young people," he said, stressing that “enthusiasm without knowledge leads to extremism”.

“The Muslim world is now subject to numerous tribulations -- tribulations about which our Prophet warned,” Bourhane added.

Regarding growing extremism among Muslim youth, he said: “Many of our young people suffer from scientific and religious illiteracy”.

“Due to this religious ignorance and high rates of poverty and unemployment, some Muslim youth suffer negative psychological circumstances,” he said. “These are the ones the extremists prey on.”

This problem can only be resolved, he asserted, through “knowledge and understanding of religion”, which, he said, is brought about “by bringing together the individual, the household, the extended family and society”.

“Muslims in the past used to teach their children the science of religion and made them memorize the Quran,” he said. “Then they would learn the other life sciences before becoming active in the public sphere.”

He added: “This practice must be restored because it can protect our young people from the scourge of extremism.”

-Europe’s right

Bourhane went on to attribute the rise of the extreme right in Europe to "the conflict between truth and falsehood”.

“It’s an old conflict that takes different forms,” he said.

"In the past, Europe hoped to turn Africa into a Christian continent," he said. "Now, religious schools and mosques are increasing [in Africa] and the number of converts to Islam is growing each day. How could they not be angry?"

He added: "Muslims are partly responsible for the rise of the extreme right in Europe as they should be the ones explaining and defining Islam [to the Europeans], not leaving it to the extremists who misrepresent it."

Regarding a European court decision to ban wearing headscarves in public places, Bourhane condemned the development as a "violation of freedom of belief”.

Such a decision, he said, “allows one to follow half of one’s religion while failing to practice the other half”.

"If the person in question is Muslim, let him go to work in the clothing that his religion prescribes," he said. "If he is a Jew, he will wear his little hat [Kippah]; if he is a Christian, he will wear a cross."

Bourhane went on to urge Muslims in Europe to "look to the Muslim scholars who live among them [the Europeans], because the scholar who issues a religious edict [Fatwa] should understand the society in which he lives”.

Based in Malian capital Bamako, the UAMS was established in 2011 and currently includes more than 220 Muslim scholars from 40 sub-Saharan African states.