Forum for a progressive Islam

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The Forum for a Progressive Islam (FFI) is an association of Swiss Muslims and non-Muslims with the aim of openly discussing the relationship between Islam and Western modernity and thus contributing to an “open and contemporary Islam” as part of a larger liberal Islamic movement .

history

The association was officially founded on November 27, 2004 in Zurich at the first general assembly with similar goals as the Muslim Forum Germany or the Initiative Liberal Muslims Austria . As President was Saida Keller-Messahli chosen that was also the impetus for the creation, after the book they The Malady of Islam by Abdelwahab Meddeb had read. According to her own statements, she regularly receives threats and many sympathizers refuse to reveal themselves because they fear the threat. The only non-Muslim board member is Karl Gruber, Catholic and former youth secretary of the Pfäffikon district .

In the meantime, the association has become a fixture in public debates about Islam and is regularly featured in the Swiss media. According to the company, there are now local sections for central Switzerland , Zurich , Bern , the French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino .

In 2016, the Swiss section of the International Society for Human Rights ( ISHR) presented its annual human rights award to the founder and chairwoman of the FFI, Saïda Keller-Messahli: She has done “immense educational work” at the risk of her life, and it is important to her that the Islam is understood as a modern, human and life-affirming source. Its aim is to leave the Muslims a humane Islam.

The Egyptian-born Yemeni-Swiss political scientist and author Elham Manea is also represented on the board of the FFI .

Positions

In a position paper, the FFI calls for the courage to «question religious and traditional sources» and «would like to promote the self-critical inner-Muslim debate. The aim is to open up the Muslim perspective and to promote a Muslim self-image that knows its foundations anchored in democracy and respect for human rights. A contemporary reinterpretation of Islamic sources should be at the side of people in modern times as a way of life - instead of restricting, Islam should mobilize resources for living together. We see ourselves as part of an internal and non-European renewal process within Islam and are convinced that only a step-by-step approach will lead to the goal. "

The FFI particularly recommends the authors Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid and Mohammed Arkoun as literature on the subject of Koran exegesis .

In a statement from September 4, 2009, the FFI spoke out against the initiative to ban minarets: «The proponents of the ban are consciously or unconsciously strengthening traditionalist Muslim circles and even the vanishingly small minority of Islamists, who want nothing more than a clash of cultures . " In a statement dated November 16, 2015, after the terrorist attacks in Paris et al. a. on the Bataclan Theater, the FFI called for a fatwa against political Islam, the ban on the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland and the closure of radical mosques . A discussion with Salafists is in vain.

In the debate about a refused handshake by schoolchildren to their teacher, the FFI researched the background. According to the FFI, the children were only pushed forward by their father, an imam, in order to carry the political demands of the Islamic World League to Switzerland.

criticism

Farhad Afshar , President of the Coordination of Islamic Organizations Switzerland , “accuses Keller-Messahli of stirring up prejudices about Islam such as violence and misogyny. Your group is not anchored in the Islamic base anyway. Afshar has already made it clear that he does not consider it opportune for liberal representatives like Keller-Messahli to be present in a definitive Islam forum. ‹She represents anti-Islamic positions of the SVP. You might as well bring the SVP to the table. ›»

The national-conservative Swiss era criticized the FFI for creating the illusion of a progressive Islam. In truth, Islam cannot be interpreted in a modern way.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b statutes of the FFI dated November 27, 2004 .
  2. ↑ Karin Landolt: "This fear is relative nonsense". In: The Landbote . April 23, 2010 (interview with Saïda Keller-Messahli; archived on the FFI website).
  3. ↑ a b The forum for a progressive Islam becomes active. Encourage modern-minded Muslims. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . December 14, 2005.
  4. ↑ local sections. In: FFI website.
  5. ↑ Award. Woman from Zurich receives Human Rights Prize 2016 - she fights for a “humane Islam”. In: Limmattaler Zeitung . 20th July 2016.
  6. ↑ Gian Signorell and Peter Johannes Meier: Women want a new Islam , observer January 20, 2010
  7. ↑ Position paper. In: FFI website.
  8. ↑ Muslims in Europe have to show their colors. In: FFI website, November 16, 2015.
  9. ↑ Charlotte Theile: Debate about handshake. "Where private belief ends and political Islam begins". In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . April 13, 2016.
  10. ↑ Decision in Switzerland. Muslim students have to shake hands with teacher. In: Der Spiegel . May 25, 2016.
  11. ↑ Verena Vonarburg : The Muslims in Switzerland argue about the “right” Islam. In: Tages-Anzeiger . January 22, 2011 (archived on the FFI website).
  12. ↑ Olivier Kessler : Saïda Keller-Messahli and the fairy tale of “progressive” Islam. In: Swiss time . 29th August 2014.