Scheherazade Khan's Remarks at Inter-faith Service

Remarks by Scheherazade Khan, Islamic Representative

Inter-Faith Service to Launch the Inaugural Guyana Pride Festival
Catholic Life Centre - Georgetown, Guyana
May 25, 2017

Scheherazade explained that Islam is at a crossroads, as the youngest of the world's major faiths, and is currently undergoing a period of "sturm und drang" – a period of turmoil within itself to identify with changing times and a progressive world around it. 

She expressed that Muslims around the world are horrified by the violence that is being committed in the name of Islam, “The radical wahabbism ideology promulgated by countries such as Saudi Arabia is creating an intellectual void in the religion, one that is readily filled with hateful intolerance. This should not be, In his last sermon, the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) admonished is that no Muslim is superior to any other, specifically mentioning that no Arab Muslim is better than any other type of Muslim.”

She explained that the Islamic community cannot be intolerant and disavow everyone, nor can they deny that their God admonishes us to compassionate, as Muslims are constantly reminded that God is benevolent and merciful. 

“We cannot deny the human rights of others or nor can we continue to live lives filled with animosity for others. Islam was once known as a religion of intellectualism and scholarship, we Muslims must strive to bring it back to that, rejecting the narrow-minded tribalism of Wahabbi Islam.”