What's Right with Islam

Speaking to the themes of his recent bestseller What's Right with Islam, Imam Feisal argues that Islamic principles support the fundamental values of a pluralistic, democratic society. Sharia, or Islamic law, is designed to "protect and further life, religion, property, family and mental well-being," according to the Imam, who points out that these tenets closely parallel the U.S. Constitution's precepts of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Imam Feisal draws many other parallels between Islam and a free democratic society, all the while emphasizing that there is little in the way of guidance for Muslims in regard to Western cultural issues. One delightful anecdote he provides as a participant in the Temple of Understanding's "Religion in a Global Context" lecture series, is the problem of language. Eskimos, he says, have close to sixty words for snow, words that mean new snow and fresh snow, for example. Muslims have only one word for snow: ice. This leads to the more complex issue of the tendency among Westerners to describe "everything Muslims do as Islamic: our art, architecture, religion, and our criminals." He notes that Westerners don't refer to their society and culture as the "Christian world."

Imam Feisal is actively developing a "dictionary" of religious terms in order to change the nature of current discourse about Islam. For instance, when a Muslim says: "This is un-Islamic," what he or she means is that "This is illegal," according to Abdul Rauf. Because Islam is a religion of law, with a strong sense of justice, he says, what Muslims mean by "This is un-Islamic" is "This is unconstitutional."

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf aspires to a "new Cordoba - a time when Jews, Christians and Muslims and all other faith traditions will live together in peace and prosperity." He is the founder and chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, which aims at enhancing relations between the Muslim world and the U.S., teaches Islam and Sufism at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York and at New York Theological Seminary, and is the founder of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, which is dedicated to the furthering of Islamic Art and Culture. Imam Feisal is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Center of New York and of the Interfaith Center of New York.