In the second of the 2022 Reith Lectures, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams, raised a challenge, is “a self styled liberal society [. . .] capable of asking itself serious critical questions.” That is, will the public square find a space for a person holding religious beliefs, beyond “lukewarm tolerance”?
Rowan Williams noted, “Modern societies have settled for [, , ,] a recognition that within reasonable limits of public order people may conduct whatever rituals they please because none of this should impinge on the way they make significant decisions or order their civic and personal lives. But this gives the unmistakable impression that religious practice is essentially a sort of leisure activity, probably harmless, but definitely marginal to the main business of society.”
There needs to be the public space where there is “the freedom to conduct yourself in a certain way, understanding your pattern of life as communicating something more than just your individual wants or feelings because it’s answerable to something more than just your own judgment or just the prevailing social consensus. And it may indeed be challenging for that consensus or majority opinion.”
In his references to religious practices, Rowan Williams noted, “people who follow a traditional religious discipline understand the whole of their human life to be tied up with the business of attuning oneself to, and communicating the nature of, the sacred [. . .] The same kind of perspective will be at work in how a Muslim understands keeping Ramadan, the self restraint and generous arms’ giving expected Ramadan display the crucial conviction about human life, and the sacred environment in which it takes place”
Rowan Williams also quoted the 19th Century historian Lord Acton – “religious freedom was the cornerstone of all political freedoms” – to make the point that ” religious freedom rested on the conviction that human beings have a nature endowed with intrinsic dignity, intrinsic qualities, a location in the world and a responsibility to something more than what existing forms of power might find convenient.”
His observations resonate with the Qur’anic verse, “Verily We have loftily honoured the offspring of Adam [. . .]”, that is, respect for human dignity is a cornerstone of Muslim societal governance.
Click here for Reith Lecture transcript.
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“WE HAVE HONORED THE CHILDREN OF ADAM”
Description: The concept of human dignity in Islam and how Islamic law supports it.
CATEGORY:ArticlesThe Holy QuranSelected Topics from the Quran
- By Sheikh Abdullah Bin Abdul-MuhsinAl-Turki (islamtoday.net) [edited byIslamReligion.com]
- Published on 25 Jan 2016
- Last modified on 26 Jan 2016
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“Truly, We have honoured the children of Adam. We carry them on the land and the sea, and have made provision of good things for them [to eat], and have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment.” (Quran 17:70)
LOGINREGISTER & WHY? All wordsAny wordExact phraseSounds like Include derivativesInclude synonyms
- Home
- The Holy Quran
- Selected Topics from the Quran
- “We have honored the children of Adam”
“WE HAVE HONORED THE CHILDREN OF ADAM”
Description: The concept of human dignity in Islam and how Islamic law supports it.
CATEGORY:ArticlesThe Holy QuranSelected Topics from the Quran
- By Sheikh Abdullah Bin Abdul-MuhsinAl-Turki (islamtoday.net) [edited byIslamReligion.com]
- Published on 25 Jan 2016
- Last modified on 26 Jan 2016
- Printed: 34
- Viewed: 20534 (daily average: 8)
- Rating: 4 out of 5
- Rated by: 7
- Emailed: 0
- Commented on: 0
“Truly, We have honoured the children of Adam. We carry them on the land and the sea, and have made provision of good things for them [to eat], and have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment.” (Quran 17:70)
