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Transcript of Interview with Rabia Terri Harris
Rabia Harris is founder and coordinator of the Muslim Peace Fellowshipand
serves as associate editor of "Fellowship" magazine, the bimonthly publication
of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the oldest, largest, interfaith peace and
justice organization in the world. Harris graduated from Princeton University
in Religion in 1978 and received her graduate degree from Columbia University
in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures in 1985. She has published translations
of several key medieval Arabic religious texts. She is a senior member of the
Jerrahi Order, a three-hundred-year-old Muslim religious sodality headquartered
in Istanbul.
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Kristin: For our faith tradition focus on Islam, we are speaking with Rabia
Terri Harris. Rabia Terri Harris is founder and coordinator of the Muslim Peace
Fellowship, an influential forum for progressive Islamic thought. Welcome, Rabia.
We're honored to have you as a participant in this Faith in Action Online Event.
Rabia Terri Harris: Thank you very much, Kristin. I'm very glad to be here.
K: Great. Thank you. Let's begin by having you provide us with an idea of how
we might look at the death penalty from an Islamic perspective.
R: Well, the death penalty as an American phenomenon and the death penalty
as an Islamic phenomenon are two completely different stories. And in Islam, for
a verified murder, the death penalty is one of three options. One may ask for
life for life, one may ask for a fine, or one may ask for forgiveness. All of
these three have equal religious merit in and of themselves, except that the Qur'an
and the Prophet both validate forgiveness as being superior to the other options.
K: Okay. So are there specific texts in the Qur'an that we might look to that
would give us an idea of how, how we should look at the death penalty from that
perspective or whether or not it's something that Islam would endorse or oppose?
R: Yes there are. I can give to you a bit later what those verses are. I didn't
prepare that for this interview, but it's specifically given in the Qur'an that
these are the three options. And the point is that the choice is supposed to fall
with the family of the victim; it's not supposed to fall with the state. And so
any situation in which the state is the decider about what the penalty for this
kind of violation should be is against the Islamic principle, which is that the
victims' families are the first people who need to be consulted in the affair.
Secondly, there cannot be any doubt. There cannot be any doubt. If there's
any doubt in the commission of a murder, then the death penalty, according to
the Islamic scholars, the Sharia, cannot be instituted. So that's two principles
by which the death penalty as it's understood in America has to be looked at with
a rather [inaudible] from anyone who's pulling an Islamic perspective.
The third is there has to be justice in its application. You cannot have some
people who are more likely to be administered the death penalty than others, and
again in the United States, we know that that's not the way things work.
K: So would you say that there is an official position on the death penalty
or that it's largely a matter of interpretation?
R: Well in the Islamic world there are no such things as official positions.
That's something that outsiders are not really aware of. We are a community of
scholarly debate. And so while there are scholars who might argue that the state
imposition of the death penalty is acceptable, there are also scholars who would
argue that it is not even remotely acceptable. And this conversation goes back
and forth.
K: Well, given that, what role might the Muslim community in the United States,
particularly Muslim leaders and teachers, play with regards to the death penalty
issue?
R: I believe that the Qur'anic standards of justice are sufficiently strong
that Muslims of good conscience should take a position against the death penalty
as the United States understands it at present, because it takes over for itself,
the American death penalty takes over for the state the prerogative of the bereaved,
which is to make the decision about the treatment of the perpetrator of such an
act. First of all, that's not acceptable. The principle of restorative justice
as it's understood in the United States today is much closer to the Qu'ranic standard
than what we presently see in force.
Second of all, as long as there's any racial disparity, the standard of justice
is not met. And third of all, there is no provision whatsoever for forgiveness
in the American system. And because these are all so essential to the Islamic
understanding, I believe that American Muslims are called upon to take a position.
K: Well, in addition to people of the Muslim faith, how do you think we can
encourage all people who are active in faith communities to become involved in
the death penalty abolition movement?
R: We need to understand that people in prison for crimes and people who are
not in prison for crimes are not two different kinds of human beings. That it
could happen to anybody. Just as anybody could be a victim of murder, anybody
could find himself or herself in a position in which he or she may be accused
of murder.
And once we understand that it's not them who are going through this, but us,
the situation becomes a moral priority, a moral imperative, and consequently I
think that any serious persons of faith should take seriously what the situation
is of our brothers and sisters, our alter egos if you will, who are being dehumanized
under the current treatment of these cases.
K: Well, Rabia, I want to thank you again for taking the time to share your
important perspective on this issue with us. Before we finish, do you have any
parting words for the people who are listening to this recording today, particularly
where they might find more information about this subject?
R: Well I would recommend that you check out the Muslim Peace Fellowship website,
that's www.mpfweb.org, where you can find links to other organizations that deal
with such issues.
K: Okay. Anything else?
R: No, thank you for inviting me. I wish you well.
K: Thank you again, Rabia.
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Activists demonstrate
against the execution of Gary Graham in Huntsville, Texas, June 22, 2000.
(© Scott Langley) |
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