Wednesday, 07 December 2011
Rachid al-Ghannouchi, who heads Tunisia’s al-Nahda Party, says that Islam in his country is moderate.
“Islam in Tunisia is moderate,” Rachid al-Ghannouchi was quoted as saying in a speech he gave at the Brookings Institute in Washington D.C. The London-based Asharq al-Aswat published his comments.
“People think that Islam is about punishing people, but what we care about is eliminating crimes and offences before they take place,” he said.
Ghannouchi explained that he and his party study the Holy Quran and the Sunnah (the prophet’s teachings) for the main aims of Islam and not for the details of specific Quranic verses or prophet sayings.
When asked if citizens who choose to leave Islam are to be punished, Ghannouchi replied in the negative.
“Everyone is free to choose his or her faith,” he said.
Regarding the formation of the new government, Ghannouchi said that his party is in negotiations with several secular parties in Tunisia.
“This proves that Islamists are willing to cooperate with liberals,” he said.
The new constitution of Tunisia, Ghannouchi explained, would not have any articles that condemn Israel or any other countries.
“The Tunisian constitution is not going to mention any country other than Tunisia,” the party leader said.
When asked about earlier statements he made about rejecting the existence of Israel and praising military resistance in Palestine, Ghannouchi refused to comment.
“I am only focusing on Tunisia and not any other country. Our problems are serious and we have a million unemployed citizens,” he said.
As for the sweeping victory of Islamists in Egypt, Ghannouchi said that including them in the government is quite promising for the country.
“Allowing them to take part in politics will naturally make them less extremist and over time they will become more and more realistic and realize it’s not just about slogans and abstract ideas.”
Ghannouchi advised the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to form a government made up of secular parties and Copts.
“The most important thing is to make sure the Algerian scenario of the 1990’s is not to be reenacted,” he concluded.
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)
URL: http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/12/07/181226.html
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