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THE 9/11 MOSQUETEERS TAKE THEIR PROPAGANDA ON THE ROAD…..
“Jesus Christ once said, ‘What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul?’ I believe this statement is true not only for people but also for nations,” said Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Tuesday at the 2 p.m. Interfaith Lecture.“The question that lies before us this week is: What would it gain America to win the world but lose its soul?”
During the afternoon lecture period, Rauf and his wife, Daisy Khan, addressed Week Two’s theme, “2012: What’s at Stake for the Common Good.”
In the first half of the lecture, Rauf delivered a speech titled “Moving the Mountain: A Bolder Vision for Peace in Plurality.” Following Rauf, Khan focused on the topic “Facing a New World: America’s Responsibility as a World Power.”“The question that has been discussed this week and has been raised this week is this very question: Where lies America’s soul? Where can we find it?” Rauf said.
Ethics stem from faith, and the common good must come from a common God, he said.
There are two commandments strongly held by each Abrahamic faith, and it is from those two commandments that the common good is defined, Rauf said. The first is to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself.
“In fact, it is from these two commandments that Islamic law, what is called Sharia, is built upon. Laws pertaining to love of God and laws pertaining to love of neighbor, which extends beyond just human beings to the animal kingdom, and to nature, and to our responsibility as stewards of God to take care of this Earth and develop it,” Rauf said.
The United States was built on the foundations of a social contract, which outlined that all men are equal and that all have certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness, Rauf said. Those rights, defined by the founding fathers, were not entirely original. Seven hundred years predating the Declaration of Independence, Muslim jurists defined a similar set of principles in Muslim law, or Sharia law. Sharia law can be reduced to the six principles that need protection: life, dignity, intellect, religion, family and property, Rauf said.
“We see here a great commonness between the foundational structures and worldview of Islam, of Christianity, of Judaism and of the American social contract. Which is why I say America, or the American social contract, is a very Sharia-compliant document,” Rauf said.
