We are Muslims, who profess the religion of Islam, from various societal backgrounds in the Muslim world. We are believers brought together by a great struggle, not between the West and Islam, but between the truth and falsehood.

We affirm the inviolable freedom of individual conscience tempered by the Qur’an and as-Sunnah. We believe in the equality of all human persons before the Shari’ah.

We insist upon Islam as a way of life and hence the concept of separation of religion from state is an alien concept which has no place in the Muslim world. We affirm the observance of the universal Islamic human rights.

We find traditions of liberty, rationality, and tolerance in the rich histories of the Islamic world and Islamic societies. These values clearly belong to the common moral heritage of the Semitic religions.

We see colonialism, racism, and Islamophobia exist when Islamic practices are subjected to intense insult, ridicule or perjury, when it is clear they do not violate human reason or rights.

We call on the governments of the Muslim world to:

• accept Shari’ah law and its courts, and to impose Islam in all their forms in government; enforce the hadd for blasphemy and apostasy;
• eliminate un-Islamic practices such as female circumcision, honour killings, forced veiling, and forced marriages that furthers the oppression of Muslim women;
• reform the religious education system by introducing comparative religion studies as a component subject so that it can be utilized as a tool for da’wah and outreach towards non-Muslims;
• foster an open public sphere in which all matters related to the above may be discussed without coercion or intimidation.

We enjoin academics and thinkers everywhere to embark on a fearless defense of the origins and sources of Islam, and to promulgate the ideals of Islamic philosophy and thought through cross-cultural translation, publishing, and the mass media.