Add your voice in affirming the Freedom of Faith

Assalamu alaikum.

Freedom of faith is essential to Islam. Prophets and Messengers of Allah along with their communities had to struggle for their freedom of faith. That Islam is by choice is unambiguously stated in the Qur’an and reflected in the Prophetic legacy. However, throughout history, the issue has been clouded due to mixing the issue of apostasy with treason. Now one of the biggest tools of anti-Islam/anti-Muslim propaganda is based on the issue of apostasy, claiming that Islam does not uphold the freedom of faith. Even our own children are getting confused and many are not quietly disavowing our wishy-washy position on as fundamental issue as freedom of faith.

While many contemporary Muslim scholars have expressed their views affirming the freedom of faith, the collective voice of Muslims is still feeble and little known. To elevate the discourse about the freedom of faith to a more visible level and to engage Muslims in general to have impact on shaping a broader agreement, a new blog has been created sharing information on this issue. It also has a Statement affirming the Freedom of Faith (reviewed by a number of Muslim scholars and academics), which we hope Muslims, especially scholars, academics, imams, professionals, would come forward to endorse.

Please visit the blog at http://apostasyandislam.blogspot.com/ and, if you also concur that while we as Muslims believe Islam as the way to salvation, we also uphold the freedom of faith, please add your name to the signatories. Let’s affirm the freedom of faith and send a clear message in projecting understanding of Islam in accordance with the Qur’an and the Prophetic legacy.

To add your name to the list, please send an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with your name, affiliation/occupation, highest degree/field, and country of residence.

Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
Upper Iowa University, USA