Opening of Centre for Islamic Law and Ethics

Doha, 15 January 2012

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am pleased to announce today the launch of the Centre for Islamic Law and Ethics. This Centre is an integral component of the Faculty of Islamic Studies, which is also a member of Qatar Foundation. Since founding Qatar Foundation we have strived and still do, for it to be a lever for human development of the nation, an enlightening incubator for our religious, moral, and social values and a beacon for free intellectual and critical thinking.

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. 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.

Today, this foundation is becoming more needed not only because of the exponential growth in information and technology which we need to take part in, but mainly because of the major changes witnessed by the Arab region recently, which herald an era of new ideas and perspectives, as well as unexpected and unforeseen challenges.

Those changes, whose inspiration and manifestations were underpinned by Islamic as well as other values, have forced people to reconsider many of their opinions about justice, rights, equality and human dignity; all universal values that transcend any nation or religion.
Faced with these changes, it is our collective responsibility to work on the revival of the science of our religion, using Abu Hamid al-Ghazali as an inspiration to bring together sects and doctrines for the benefit of society, all the while placing this development in a contemporary and appropriate context.

Accordingly, the message of this Center must be one based on universal and established principles, ones which integrate values and principles as part of the learning and the formation of individuals who can be agents of change.

I believe that this aim should be the main responsibility of the academic team of the Centre, whom I imagine are not only deeply involved in the research strategy of the institution, but are also aware of their local milieu as well as the Arab, Islamic and humanitarian ones.

I look forward to a working group which does not isolate itself in a private think tank whose benefits do not exceed the limits of the Center, a working group that does not use the necessary technical specializations as a pretext for not examining the core concerns of human development, be they in medicine, economics, society or the environment.

But instead to a team that will build bridges of cooperation, understanding and integration with all disciplines in order to develop ethical Islamic frameworks. This is an effort that requires innovative and creative thinking as well as humility and courage, so as to send out to all Muslims a message of the value of our mind and intelligence and our obligation use them.

Thank you.