Harrow Inter Faith Council and Harrow Council’s contribution to National Inter Faith Week 2009

An event to celebrate the diversity

of faith in Harrow

A distinguished panel of speakers from all the faiths of Harrow will talk on ‘Religion and Law in a Modern Society’ and answer questions about faith and belief.Limited capacity. First come first served

6 pm - 9 pmCivic Centre

Council ChamberStation Road

HarrowHA1 2XF

Saturday 21st November

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Harrow Inter Faith Council is pleased to present‘Religion and Law in a Modern Society’

21st November 2009

CONTENTSProgramme 3

Letter to the reader from HIFC 4

Baha’i Edit McCathie 5

Buddhist Suzanne Rees Glanister 6

Christian Rev’d Alison Christian 7

Hindu Dr Ray Bhatt 8

Humanist Dr Julie Crow 9

Islam Ummi Merali 10

Jain Dr Vinod Kapashi 11

Jewish Rabbi Michael Hilton 12

Sikh Charanjit AjitSingh 13

Zoroastrian Ervad Rustam Bhedwar 14

Mind in Harrow Dr Natalie Tobert 15

Acknowledgements 16

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PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

6.00 p.m. Welcome and Mayoral Address Cllr Chris Mote Deputy Mayor of Harrow

6.05 p.m. Panel of Faith Speakers Chaired by Pat Stevens

7.00 p.m. Questions and DiscussionChaired by Imam Adil Farooqi

8.00 p.m. Thanks to Panel and ChairPat Stevens

8.05 p.m. Refreshments

9.00 p.m. Close

‘To the Reader

Faith terminology is full of words suchas Love, Peace, Forgiveness, Salvation,Service, Commandments, Fasting,Sacrifice, Humility, Prayer, Unity andmany more.

However media terminology is oftenreplete with words like Conflict, War,Power, Defeat, Barriers, Enforce, Exploit,Arms, Control, Law, Divisions etc.

Both Religion and man madeinstitutions are for the benefit ofhuman beings. Is there a conflict orconciliation between the two?

There are around 200 political entitiesin the world called states which havecivil laws and over 9 world religions and

their denominations have theirReligious laws. How can both bemutually reconciled andaccommodated in order to make thisworld a better place?

Harrow Inter Faith Council inpartnership with Harrow Council hastried to reflect on this issue byconvening this event on ‘Religion andLaw in a Modern Society’ to beHarrow’s contribution towards the firstever National Inter Faith Week 2009

Please give us your feedback about thisevent as it will help Harrow Inter FaithCouncil to be more productive.

On behalf of Harrow Inter Faith Council(HIFC)

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‘RELIGION AND LAW IN A MODERN SOCIETY’

Baha’u’llah revealed that:

The purpose of law is to enable peopleto live spiritually and physically healthylives and to contribute to theadvancement of civilisation. The Lawsrevealed by Baha’u’llah are valid untilthe next Manifestation either confirmsthem or abrogates them. However itwill be the Universal House of Justicewho decides when many of the lawsrevealed by Baha’u’llah are to be madebinding on Baha’i individuals andsocieties. Human laws, which addressthe immediate needs of society, can bechanged at any point. The futurecivilisation envisaged by Baha’u’llah willhave both kinds of law.

The purpose of religion is to safeguardthe interests and promote the unity ofthe human race, and to foster the spiritof love and fellowship amongst all thepeoples of the world. It must notbecome a source of dissension anddiscord of hate and enmity. ThisBaha’u’llah says is the straight path thefixed and immovable foundation.

These laws serve the manifold purposesof bringing tranquillity to humansociety, raising the standard of humanbehaviour, increasing the range ofhuman understanding, andspiritualizing the life of each and all.

As to the laws themselves, a carefulscrutiny discloses that they governthree areas: the individual’s relationshipto God, physical and spiritual matterswhich benefit the individual directly,and relations among individuals andbetween the individual and society. Asalient characteristic of Baha’i law istheir brevity. They constitute the kernelof a vast range of law that will arise incenturies to come.

In addition to revealing new laws for thisage, a number of doctrines and practiceshave been specifically abolished byBahá’u’lláh. These include: the priesthood;the waging of holy war; asceticism andmonasticism; the confession of sins.

Bahá’ís take their civic responsibilitiesseriously and uphold the authority ofestablished governments throughloyalty and obedience to the laws oftheir country.

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BAHÁ’ÍS AND THE LAW IN MODERN SOCIETY

In our school of Buddhism we areexpected to follow the law of the landwe are living in. As a minority religion,we do not interact with formal legalsystems, as the more establishedreligions must, although someBuddhists might be involved as lawyers,police, doctors etc.

In this talk I want to introduce afundamental Buddhist teaching.... thatof the “oneness of the person and theenvironment” as a way of exploring therelationship between Buddhism andthe law.  This oneness leads to anunderstanding of the presence inourselves, society and our world, ofthree poisons - greed, anger andstupidity.  Our task as Buddhists is totransform these three poisons into thethree great attributes of the Buddha -courage, compassion and wisdom.

If as a society we set the possession ofwealth and power as the mostimportant achievements, it is obviousthat many will not be able to reachthese goals, and they may stay in the

region of these three poisons, living inthe suffering of chaos and despair.  Ifhowever, the transformation tocourage, compassion and wisdom ismade, there will be the potential to usethese attributes to improve theenvironment for all - in law, education,housing, health etc. We can strive forthis just because of the understandingthat the person and the environmentare inseparable.

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BUDDHISM AND THE LAW IN MODERN SOCIETY

Synopsis of talk from the Christianviewpoint

The law in the United Kingdom isbased on Christian law but it didn’tarrive ready made. Much that we takefor granted today was born of goodpeople persevering for many years forwhat they believed was right. A greatmany of these people were Christianswho did not see that their so called‘Christian’ country was living up toChrist’s commandment to love Godwith all your heart, soul, mind andmight and to love your neighbour asyourself.

The whole point of the Christian faith isthat it has at its centre relationship, notlaw. It is relationship with God thatchanges our hearts. Basic Christiantheology teaches that law condemnsbecause human beings are so waywardthat we can never manage to keepGod’s law. So Jesus came to preach agospel of forgiveness, that all whoturned to him and repented would besaved, not by keeping God’s law (thatwould come later) but knowing thatGod had taken away the terribleburden of sin once and for all.

Ironically, however, our theologyteaches that we need law. Until we hadlaw we didn’t know we sinned. So Godgave us law in order to recognise thatwe sin, in order in turn to recognisethat we can do nothing about our sin,in order to turn to God and say, “Help!”

It is perhaps this constant reliance onGod that changed a few peoples’ heartsin the past so that they strove to pressthe law of the land to follow the law ofGod. As society changes so law mustadapt but the love and care of God forhis world never does. So we ask whatthe past can teach us as we address thequestion of religion and law in amodern society.

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CHRISTIANITY AND THE LAW IN MODERN SOCIETY

The Original Dharma

Understanding the divine laws of theuniverse and the natural qualities oftruth, non-violence, purity, love andrespect and abiding by them humanbeings were completely righteous,prosperous and civilized.

When the original was forgotten webecame addicted to scriptures, ritualsand ego such that Religious Rivalryenslaved us making us intolerant,unfaithful, greedy, peace-less, divisiveand violent.

Currently, the external laws of theworld have failed to stem all oppressionin the world.

Respecting and observing again thecaring compassion of natural laws ofthe soul will alleviate current emotionalbankruptcy and renew once moreUniversal Happiness.

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HINDUISM AND THE LAW IN MODERN SOCIETY

Humanists do not believe in any godsor other supernatural beings and feelno need to abide by religious creeds orlaws. We believe that people can haveindividual responsibility to lead ethicaland moral lives without having to betold how to behave by ancient religioustexts or dogmatic leaders. Whetherpeople have been born in the UK orchoose to reside here, they shouldabide by the national (andinternational) laws and shouldacknowledge the equal rights of allindividuals. If individuals disagree withany particular laws, there are legitimateways to demonstrate this and work toget them changed.

Humanists accept that religious beliefsmay make some people happy and wedo not oppose religions, as long as theydo no harm, nor advocate harm toother people. However, if any of thereligious laws are in conflict with thelaw of the land then we will find themproblematic. This includes any form ofdiscrimination on the basis of gender,sexual orientation, religious belief orlack of religious belief and anything elsewhich infringes the Human Rights Act.Possible problem areas for Humanists

include religious/cultural demands thatwomen must dress in certain ways ormarry against their will, religiousobjections to Coroner’s autopsies andinquests and the ritual killing of animalswithout previous stunning. We abhorany form of violence carried out in thename of religion. We are also concernedabout religious discrimination by faithschools in relation to staff employmentand student selection and about theproposed running of particular socialservices by religious groups which mayinvolve religious coercion of vulnerableindividuals.

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HUMANISM AND THE LAW IN MODERN SOCIETY

The Arabic word for Islamic Law isSharia meaning ‘way of life’. The onlineencyclopedia – Wikipedia states that‘Islamic law is now the most widelyused religious law, and one of the threemost common legal systems of theworld alongside common law and civillaw. During the Islamic Golden Age,classical Islamic law may haveinfluenced the development ofcommon law, and also influenced thedevelopment of several civil lawinstitutions.’

Mohammed Salam Madkoar explainsthe theoretical assumptions of IslamicLaw:  In order to protect the five importantindispensables in Islam (religion, life,intellect, offspring and property), IslamicLaw has provided a worldly punishmentin addition to that in the hereafter. Islamhas, in fact, adopted two courses for thepreservation of these five indispensables:the first is through cultivating religiousconsciousness in the human soul and theawakening of human awareness throughmoral education; the second is byinflicting deterrent punishment, which isthe basis of the Islamic criminalsystem....”

Many people, including Muslims,misunderstand Sharia. It’s oftenassociated with the amputation oflimbs, death by stoning, lashes andother medieval punishments. There isfar more to Islamic law than deterrentcapital punishment.

One example where Islamic law isgrowing at an estimated 15 percentannually is Islamic banking and finance.Central to this field is riba, the chargingor payment of interest, banned underIslamic law. CA 2008 report by theGeneral Council for Islamic Banks andFinancial Institutions estimates theIslamic banking industry to stand at$442 billion. The industry is small incomparison to the global market, butmay grow as some non-Muslims areturning to sharia-compliant services.Some of the ethically minded are alsoswitching over to sharia-compliantinvestments.

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ISLAM AND THE LAW IN MODERN SOCIETY

There are laws and there are rules butwhen it comes to Religious beliefs, howcan we make sure that what we term ordefine as a Religious Law has anybinding influence on a person whobelongs to that particular religion?People do have set of beliefs and ideas.

Religious people go one step furtherand take the scriptural guideline as theLaw within the parameters of theirreligion. Jains are very strict as far astheir code of conduct is concerned.They have got a very strict guideline forbehaviour, diet practices and rituals.Even the distribution of temple fund isstrictly governed. It is interesting tostudy how the modern Jains take someof the old principles and try toimplement them. Vinod Kapashiwill briefly explain this topic and willelaborate on Jain values as seen bypeople of other faiths.

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JAINISM AND THE LAW IN MODERN SOCIETY

Judaism has a unique perspective basedon 2,500 years of Jews living as minority groups in other societies.“Pray for the peace of the country in which you live” said the prophetJeremiah,” and our rabbis taught “The law of the land is the law.” Thisvery important statement indicates a belief that God is not theonly authority for law. Secular law also has its place. What are itsessential requirements? Civil law has to safeguard human rights,particularly the right of equality before the law. When we see through historyhow often legal systems based on one religion have discriminated againstthose of other faiths, we could formulate a modern Jewish view in thewords of Rabbi Dr Norman Solomon, that “God believes in seculargovernment.”

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JUDAISM AND THE LAW IN MODERN SOCIETY

Over the last forty years, there havebeen situations where the observance ofSikh religious codes and the civil lawhave created difficulties both for theadherents and for the public and privateenterprises. For example, the wearing ofthe five articles of faith usually referredto as the Five Ks which are - Kes,Kanga, Kara, Kirpan and Kachhehra/kachha. These are the essentialrequirements for an initiated Sikh maleor female. Men also wear a turban,though some females do it too. Thewearing of all these have a specialmeaning; i.e. the keeping of the sanctityof hair - not to cut it, wearing a smallcomb in it for keeping the hair tidy. Thesteel bangle-the kara is a reminder ofthe divine, who has no beginning andno end, it is mainly worn on the righthand to remind us of our covenant todo good and not to engage in immoralpractices, the kirpan, a small steeldagger or sword, a symbol of protectionand blessing and the last one, especiallydesigned and tailored shorts, a symbolof chastity and commitment.

For the Sikh family, a Sikh weddingceremony is essential but not allgurdwaras are registered for the civilceremony, which may mean two eventsand additional costs to comply with

both civil and religious laws. Civilmarriage registration has importance inthe law of the land. ‘ A Sikh shouldmarry a Sikh’ is not always possible in asecular society.

The three Sikh principles of nam japna,meditation and prayer, kirat karni-earning an honest living throughhardwork and wand chhakna- sharingwith others and service to othersenable a Sikh to be a better citizen.There in lies the compassion andresponsibility towards the divine, usand society at large.

Guru Granth Sahib, the Holy Scripturepoints to the way of life in these words’:‘Truth is uppermost but moreimportant than the truth is truthfulliving.’

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SIKHISM AND THE LAW IN MODERN SOCIETY

During His meditations, Zoroasterthought out the five main principles ofLife.

(i) Unity, (ii) Goodness, (iii) Non-violence, (iv) Charity, (v) Purity.

He emphasize that Unity is Peace.Zoroaster chooses the Fire as the symbolof Enlightenment and Unity.

In the 2nd part of our Jashan ritual, webless the ruler of the land for protectingand looking after his people with his wiselaws. In this way religion, acknowledgethe civic laws of the land.

Living in British society it is inevitablethat we will pick up what it has to offerbut we must make sure we balance thiswith what religion has to give. Everyculture has something special to offer us.It is extremely important to give properreligious education to our children. Thereis nothing worse than our children growup with conflicting feelings as to whothey are. Children need to have pride intheir religion, history and culture so theydo not shy away from it.

From Zoroastrian point of view onemight ask is the Zoroastrian culture sovery different from the British culture we

find ourselves in. Certainly, our religion isdifferent. So too are the various customsand ceremonies we perform; the food weeat and the dress some of us wear oncertain occasions. It is these things willmake the difference.

Civil Laws in Modern Society are therefor the protection of citizens but in mostof the laws there are always someloopholes by which guilty persons canwalk away and nothing can be doneabout it... In contrast, religious laws basedon truth, righteousness, justice alwaysshine out.

I conclude with one of ProphetZoroaster’s cardinal laws given to Hisfollowers:

Happiness comes to him who givesHappiness to others. Only through loveand service for others can one gainDivine strength and fulfil God’s plan.

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ZOROASTRIANISM AND THE LAW IN MODERN SOCIETY

Religious practice and religiousexperience are given different values bysociety. Religious practice isubiquitously considered a virtue,whereas religious experience may befeared or misunderstood.

There are examples where religiousexperience was respected, for examplein 1837 when Florence Nightingaleheard the voice of God, telling her toset up hospitals for the sick, shelistened. Or over 3,000 year ago, whenMoses saw the Angel of God in aburning bush, who gave him a strategyfor helping his people out ofoppression. This is accepted, as arevisionaries like Saint Bernadette, whosaw the Virgin Mary at Lourdes in 1858,in a place which has now become acentre of pilgrimage and healing for sickpeople.

The University of Wales in Lampeterholds an archive of over 6000 ReligiousExperiences, and I conducted a studythere, of experiences that were said towarrant psychiatric attention. Myfindings: that responses to auditory andvisionary experiences were ad hoc, anddepended on the beliefs system ofthose around the experiencer, likefamily, religious leaders, or doctors.Religious experience was stigmatised,and people kept silent about it.

I wonder if our inability to listen, tothose who’ve had religious experiencesabout what happens in life, on deathand beyond, inhibit our understandingof justice and truth? Does oursuppressed understanding about thenature of human existence, allowmaterialism to flourish together withaggression in the name of law andorder?

Mind in Harrow is running the ‘PeopleLike Us’ project, funded by NHSHarrow.  We facilitate seminars anddiscussions with community and faithgroups, in churches, temples andmosques, and in private or NHShospitals. Why? We want to develop atwo way understanding, of culturalbeliefs about religious experience, andNHS beliefs about the benefits ofhealth care and early intervention formental health. Why should we worktogether?  We want offer a forum fordiscussion about mental well being,and explore appropriate practices in amodern society. Let us talk about wayswe can collaborate with each other.

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MIND IN HARROW

Harrow Inter Faith Council (HIFC) wishes to acknowledgeall those who contributed towards this booklet.

Special thanks are due to our panel of speakers - Edit McCathie,Suzanne Rees Glanister, Rev’d Alison Christian, Dr Ray Bhatt, Dr Julie Crow, Ummi Merali, Dr Vinod Kapashi, Rabbi Michael Hilton, Charanjit AjitSingh,

Ervad Rustam Bhedwar, Dr Natalie Tobert.

HIFC members, executive committee members Chairman Imam Adil Farooqi,Treasurer Michael Carmody, Secretary Martha Besser and Reehan Mirza from Harrow

Council for presenting ‘Religion and Law in a Modern Society’

The partnership team for organising and funding the event.

Harrow Inter Faith Council, Harrow Council, and, all Faiths for publicising this event.

Michael Carmody Martha Besser and Mihiri Kotalawela for organising refreshments

Cllr Chris Mote Mayoral address

Chairpersons Pat Stevens and Imam Adil Farooqi

Thank you all for attending this event and taking time to read this booklet.

For further information on HIFC activities please contact the HIFC Secretary Martha Besser Tel: 020 8863 3424 or e-mail: mbesser1@hotmail.com

This publication was compiled by Martha Besserand edited by all faith speakers

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS