Imam of Nîmes: a faithful translation of the Koran against hatred and extremism

Hocine Drouiche urges a revision of Muslim doctrine. The hadiths added at a later stage, which have become a source of hatred and fundamentalist propaganda, must be removed. To counter this drift, "humanity, objectivity, rectitude" and "courage" are needed. 

Nîmes (AsiaNews) - Today, an update of the "corpus" of Muslim doctrine appears ever more urgent. Moreover, a faithful translation of the Koran into French is even more indispensable and necessary. All the translations circulating today, the work of Islamic experts of the past and with a more radical imprint, do nothing but sow hatred among Muslims and non-Muslims.

These translations available today are not faithful to the original texts and have generated an inhuman Islam, full of rancor and aggression. While waiting for an urgent and important [translation] work, our Muslim elites continue to fight among themselves to organize the rise to power within the Council of Imams of France!

Thousands of hadiths [anecdotes about the Prophet Muhammad's life] added later must be annulled and withdrawn from the original corpus of Islam, if we really want to change behaviors and fight the hatred generated by these texts, whose originality is false. To undertake this fight requires not only courage, but also a certain amount of humanity, objectivity and rectitude.

Thousands of people have been killed and massacred in the name of these texts marked by revenge. Not to undertake this project of immense magnitude is both a heavy betrayal and complicity with murderers and terrorists.

Extremist groups use these hateful and misleading hadiths to justify their terrorist acts, to torture and to sow death. Under no circumstances should we allow them to use these dangerous weapons to turn us against each other, and to spread terror.

This is the work that our Muslim institutions must undertake: that of opposing those who fight each other with the sole objective of gaining power, and while they do so, the terrorists have a free field to prepare for their sacred struggle aimed at sowing hatred, death and destruction among men.

Finally, I want to appeal to the Council of Imams of France to work together as soon as possible, to initiate this reform that has become indispensable today. And I urge them to devote themselves with renewed commitment to the promotion of concord and harmony within the national community.

*Islamologist specializing in political Islam. Former vice president of the Conference of Imams of France and candidate for the leadership of the Grand Mosque of Paris.

• France
• Islam
• Koran
• Muhammad
• Muslims
• fundamentalism
• reform
• politics
• religion
• human rights
• violence