AMI Faculty Shaykh Michael Mumisa’s article published by SOAS, University of London

On 9th May 2016 Shaykh Michael Mumisa, a research scholar at Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge article entitled ”The Problem with the Marrakesh Declaration” was published by ‘Muslimwise’ the Centre of Islamic Studies Blog of SOAS, University of London.

His article is the first critical examination of the declaration by an independent Islamic scholar since it was launched. In his detailed analysis of the contents of the Marrakesh declaration, which has since gone viral, Mr Mumisa argues that  the declaration comes in a long line of similar Muslim declarations in recent times which “have unwittingly provided PR cover to the various governments and religious establishments which signed them in the worst violations of Islamic principles and fundamental human rights.”

The Marrakesh Declaration is based primarily on a 7th century document called the Charter of Medina which is believed to be a peace code that Muhammad, the founder of Islam, and the Jewish tribes of Arabia signed.

By focusing on this 7th century document as a source of Muslim constitutional law, Mr Mumisa accuses the producers of the Marrakesh declaration of engaging in:“a selective reading of historical sources which betrays a careless approach to the Sira (biography) of the Prophet of Islam… Thus, we have the highly curious situation of a group of Muslim scholars meeting in Marrakesh to call for the adoption of the Medina Charter as a source of Muslim constitutional law in response to the brutality of ISIS, about two years after ISIS invoked the same Charter of Medina as a basis of its own constitutional proposals, producing horrific results!”

Bio: Shaykh Michael Mumisa is a PhD candidate and Cambridge special Livingstone scholar at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. He was classically trained and earned an ‘Ijaza Alimiyya’ with distinction. He also holds a BA Honours degree (with distinction) and an MPhil research degree.

To read the article click here

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