American Muslims Must Champion Principles of Human Dignity and Freedom

Salam Al-Marayati is the president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

Updated October 9, 2014, 11:53 PM

People look to the Middle East to judge the standards of Islam. Unfortunately, the Middle East has become a breeding ground for fanaticism and despair, and there is no reason to expect it to change soon.

So when change arises, it will be from the West, and in particular the United States, where Muslims are free to worship without coercion by religious authorities or state power. Here, we Muslims must form independent religious and political thinking from those who have created an unholy alliance between mosque and state in the Middle East. We must demand respect for an independent religious understanding of Islam while remaining connected to the Muslim peoples worldwide.

When change arises, it will be in the West, and in particular the United States, where Muslims are free to worship without coercion.

Western Muslim thinkers like Khaled Abou El Fadl, Sherman Jackson, Fathi Osman and Tariq Ramadan have written frequently about reform. They’ve championed ideas like principles of Islam that respect human dignity and equality as an obligation in monotheism. They’ve made clear that Abrahamic understanding of faith demands respect for the rights of other religions and that Islamic law makes Muslims responsible to protect life.

The U.S. government must bring American Muslims into the fold. We are America’s greatest asset in responding to extremism and are ready to take a leading role in this response. But President Obama has not met with American Muslim thinkers and leaders to be a part of the administration's long-term or short-term strategy.

American Muslims must create safe spaces in mosques for conversations with young people about an array of issues, including reform, policy failures of our own government, dealing with anti-Muslim public opinion, countering religious and political extremism and civic engagement. That’s what our group’s Safe Spaces Initiative is about -- creating conversations with young people and community leaders to develop healthier communities that will create a new future for Islam.