Plenary, 10 Feb 2010

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Official Report 468KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection, for which our leader is David Duncan, from the Scottish Inter Faith Council.

Good afternoon.

A number of studies show that Muslims in Scotland are very proud of their Scottishness. I would like to share some reasons that I have heard why Muslims, from Falkirk to the far east, hold our small nation so dearly. By far the most shocking reason that I have heard why Muslims love Scotland is the rain. To most people, the rain can easily be seen as a nuisance. However, throughout the Qur'an, God frequently requests us to reflect on the water cycle. Water, as vapour, is drawn up miles into the sky and stored as clouds. It then condenses, falls to earth, flows through immense mountain landscapes such as Glencoe, through underground springs to crashing rivers, and ends up pure and fresh for us to drink. Rain can be a continual reminder that we are beneficiaries of, and participants in, systems that are far grander than any feat of human engineering yet.

Why do Muslims love Scotland in particular? I see that love as going beyond geography, a border or an accent—although many Glasgow Muslims would strongly argue that "Ye cannae beat it." Mohammed tells us:

"I was sent to perfect good character."

Good character is of the utmost importance to Muslims, and it is something that the Scots as a nation definitely have. Our Scottish character has many inputs. The major religious contributor to it is Christianity, preaching a message of love. On the secular inputs, there are, of course, the great thinkers of the Scottish enlightenment, who made strong and sincere efforts to find out a true and good way to conduct ourselves. That mix of streams produces a character that loves its neighbour and that knows that we are all, in essence, the same: we are members of a world family who want to meet and help one another. That is why I would say that Muslims in Scotland find so many similarities between their religion and their Scottish culture, and why I would say that Muslims love Scotland. And God knows best.

Verse 14 of Sura Al-Hujurat, which is the 49th sura of the holy Qur'an, says:

"O mankind! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another (not despise each other). Truly, the most noble of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware."