Role of Muslim Communities and Islamic Institutions
in Highlighting the Image of Islam
Conditions of Muslim Minorities and Communities
Certainly, the general conditions of Muslim minorities differ from one country to the other and from one continent to the other. However, in spite of this legal and constitutional distinction, there is a great degree of uniformity as to what ought to be done towards these Muslim communities; standing up to their affairs, showing concern about their conditions, providing them with cultural, educational and scientific support, helping them preserve their identity and protecting their civilizational entity. The aim is to keep them aloof from the problems they face by and large, providing them with objective solutions to deal with these problems in the right way.
The fact that people are jolted awake to the necessity of showing concern about the general conditions of Muslim minorities, all over the world, was part of the large-scale awakening movement which spread throughout the Islamic world as early as the Muslim peoples started to free themselves from the chains of the European colonizer. The extent of this concern differed from one stage to the other, depending on the dimensional continuum of the general orientations in the Islamic world and their political, cultural and intellectual evolution. The interest in Muslim minorities became part and parcel of the joint Islamic action through its official and popular channels, in several aspects, and on account of the impact of the various problems wearying these minorities, particularly during the last decades which witnessed an upsurge of racial, intellectual, cultural, doctrinal and political tendencies hostile to Islamic faith, culture and civilization.
Muslim minorities, in most European and American countries in particular, have developed a legal entity offering possibilities of integrating the societies in which they live without losing their particularities and in such a way as not to affect their social structure which draws on their peculiar civilizational identity. Hence, the fact that these minorities integrated the general life of their societies of residence does not affect the intrinsic civilizational characteristics of any Muslim society growing and developing in any surface area. This is what makes these minorities more capable of dialogue and coexistence with all the other components of their host societies, which enables them to better cope with the surrounding circumstances, taking their own decisions with a great degree of autonomy.
On the one hand, the relations Muslim minorities establish with non-Muslim people in places where they live together, stem first of all from the peculiarity of the Islamic culture which is unprejudiced towards the other cultures. It is a culture which shows tolerance towards the people following other religions and faiths and adopting other cultures and civilizations; a culture that stands out firmly for cooperation under the banner of human brotherliness; gathering all the people regardless of their different belief, doctrine, race or sex.
On the other hand, these relations are the indispensable product of the exigencies of coexistence which has become the characteristic of the new world. They are also dictated by the necessities of modern life societies and imposed by the definite interest of nascent Muslim groups in non-Muslim countries. Moreover, these relations are rather more than a pressing need; since the continuation of Muslim minorities in such a way as to ensure stability and self-sustained progress and development within a natural and secure environment, enjoins upon these minorities to build up stronger relations of cooperation, at all levels, with all the components of the society of which they are members. The purpose is to enable these minorities to participate in and to effectively and influentially integrate their general environment at a large scale.
Regardless of the circumstances surrounding each of the categories that constitute Muslim minorities, there is no doubt that the relations established with non-Muslims are the criterion that puts to the test the civilizational entity of Muslims in non-Muslim countries. So long as these relations persist in the right direction following the correct principles, the stability of Muslim minorities strengthens and their role in public life becomes greater in such a way as to accumulate advantages and benefits achieved and gained.
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