Sheikha Moza opens Islamic law centre Monday, 16 January 2012 04:55

The message of this Center must be one based on universal and established principles, ones which integrates values and principles

By Fazeena Saleem

DOHA: A centre to focus on Islamic legislation and ethical thought was inaugurated yesterday in Doha under the patronage of H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.

The Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE), is a centre specialising in both Islamic legislation and ethical thought, paying special attention to applied ethics. It is with a vision of reform and renewal in the light of the fundamental principles of the Quran and Sunna and the higher objectives of Islam.

The Centre under the guidance of renowned Muslim thinker Dr Tariq Ramadan, as the Director aims to reach out to a global audience of scholars, experts, students and ordinary people by bringing together the scholars of the ‘text’ and ‘context.

CILE also held its first conference on ‘Islamic ethics’ yesterday, with Sheikha Moza and a number of most prominent scholars and thinkers as speakers. The conference discussed the application of Islamic ethics in environment, gender, economics, education, art and bioethics.

“I have always and still am convinced, especially in light of the developments that occurred in the last decade of the third millennium, of the vital need to create a research foundation and a proficient pedagogy able to encompass the integrated system of the principles and values of central Islamic thought,” said Sheikha Moza addressing the conference.

“This in turn should be presented to us Muslims and to others in a renewed vision and systematic approach that would dispel misinterpretations, exaggerations and their consequences in the forms of preconceptions and stereotypes which are contrary to the necessity of constructive dialogue.”

She further said, “The message of this centre must be one based on universal and established principles, ones which integrates values and principles as part of the learning and the formation of individuals who can be agents of change.” The CILE is based Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies within the Education City, a member of Qatar Foundation, has Dr Jasser Auda as the Deputy Director and founding member and member of the Executive Board of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, beside Dr Ramadan.

“Islamic scholars and research centres can benefit greatly from engaging with the experts in modern fields that have been untouched by the parameters of traditional questioning,” said Dr Ramadan.

“We aim to provide not only a theoretical framework, but also concrete contributions and practical applications in areas that are current and relevant to 21st Century communities, Muslim and non-Muslim alike,” he said.

Prominent scholars including Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi, President of the International Union of Muslim Scholars and Dr Aisha Al Mannai, Dean of Shariah College in Qatar University and Vice-Chair of QFIS Board of Trustees, Yousuf Islam of the  Yousuf Islam Foundation and Prof John Esposito, Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, USA also addressed the conference on applied ethics.

Participants also included representatives of (QFIS), Applied Ethics Center Kanazawa Institute of Technology in Japan and the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies.

CILE is scheduled to host many similar conferences in the future beside its research on application of Islamic legislation and ethics on methodology, economics, environment, bioethics, arts, gender studies and education. The Peninsula

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