Agan Khan's interview

Aga Khan's interview to Deutsche Welle > > > In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, the > hereditary imam of Shiite Ismaili Muslims, argues that today's Middle > Eastern terrorists are fueled by political motivations and not religion. > > > Your majesty, the world is shocked by terrorist attacks that are carried > out by people who claim to be fighting for Islam. You, as a prominent > Muslim > leader, have claimed that Islam is a religion of peace. Does that mean > that Islam has two faces? > > Prince Karim Aga Khan IV: No, I don't think so. For one thing, you have to > think about the fact that this is just represents a very, very small > minority of the world's Muslim population. Also, these people are > primarily driven by political and not religious motives. It would be > wrong to > consider them representative of Islam. The Western world has to take a > close look > to see which forces are in play in order to differentiate between belief > and > things that have nothing to do with belief. We as Muslims could also ask > the same things: like what's happening in Northern Ireland. If I as a > Muslim > came to you and were to say: What's happening in Northern Ireland reflects > Catholic and Protestant beliefs, then you would say: you're uneducated.In > many western countries, including Germany, more and more people have the > opinion that Islam and democracy are irreconcilable. If that's > true, then a mutual understanding and effective cooperation between > Muslims and the Western world would be practically impossible.That's > true, but I > don't see a conflict between Islam and democracy. There's absolutely no > conflict if you look at the original form of the Muslim > community.Tolerance and pluralism are at the top of your agenda for > improving conditions for all humans. > > Is that because your own followers, the minority Ismaili Muslims, are > discriminated against? At times, other Muslims have even gone so far as to > describe you as a heretic. > > Prince Karim Aga Khan IV: In every religion there are differences of > opinion about the interpretation of the religion. But I don't think the > Ismailis > are still discriminated against today. To the contrary, we're building > bridges > to the representatives of other directions of Islam. Because the idea of > pluralism is tightly anchored in Islam. Of course there are many different > interpretations. But the differences in interpretation is not a problem in > Islam. I would even go so far as to say that Islam is a very broad > religion. > There's a very famous line by Allah in the Quran: "I have created you from > one soul." With that line, he meant all of humanity. Since the end of > 2001, the West has been seeking a dialogue with the Muslim world. But > more and > more people are frustrated because no real answer is coming from the > Muslim side. They're waiting for the voices of moderate Muslims who will > vocally > and clearly speak out against terrorism in the name of Islam. Why aren't > we hearing these voices? I think you can hear these voices more often > now. We > have to consider that there are forces inside the Islamic world that do > not promote freedom of opinion -- especially in regards to religion. Is > there > hope that we can some day stop terrorism? Firstly, I'd say this: Let's > remedy the causes of terrorism. Generally that's political frustration and > not a question of religion. The situation in the Middle East was not > created by Islamic beliefs. The situation in Kashmir was not created by > Islamic > belief. The situation in Afghanistan was not created by Islamic beliefs. > So we have to identify the core of the problem, and that is political in > nature. And when we know the real causes of what drives people to > desperation, then we can get a grasp on it. > > > > Author: Interview conducted by Günter Knabe