A Progressive Muslim's View of WSCF

Last month, October 10-12 I attended wcsf’s conference on Perspectives on (im)Migration in Europe. mpv Nederland, the Dutch chapter of the global faith-based Human Rights organisation Muslims for Progressive Values, reported for the United Nations Universal Periodic Review on Muslim discrimination and xenophobia in the Netherlands, highlighting the compound and intersecting ways of discriminations Muslims face, especially Muslim women and sgn-Individu- als. As such, I was invited to discuss on how perspectives on migration intersection with Muslim Discrimination, and the implications for asylum seekers, migrants and refugees.

It was the first time I participated in a wcsf conference, and even though at times during the conference I did feel out of place, my headscarf making it extra apparent I was the only Muslim woman, I experienced it as an enriching and welcoming experience. I’ve felt greatly accepted by everyone present. I even joined the morning prayer sessions, a humbling and unifying experience. Especially when after attending a few days, other participants also joined me when I explained and lead an Islamic prayer. All differences and boundaries which are sometimes experienced when engaging with people from different faith-practises, were effectively removed through the shared spirituality and Godsense of these morning prayers. Re-parierter

Reizverschluss

Just a week earlier I had another rewarding experience, when after a few months of hard work I joined a group of progressive Muslim organisations and like-minded individuals from Muslim communities worldwide to officially establish the global umbrella organisation Alliance of Inclusive Muslims (aim), which aims to achieve Human Rights and Dignity for All, Freedom of Expression, and Freedom of and from Religion. Especially necessary now that Human Rights are deteriorating and abuses are growing, and progress on issues as Religious Freedom and Gender Equality are effectively halted on a global level. Especially now that Muslims worldwide growingly become the victim of racism and discrimination, and are deliberately portrayed as ‘the Other’ for political gains, only fueling the process of dehumanizing. Especially as our belief and experiences are growingly trivialised and marginalised. Especially now, no matter how much we’d like to see it otherwise, we need to give a signal to the world that we exist; progressive Muslims who fight against Human Rights violations in the name of Islam.

We are trying our hardest to defend Universal Human Rights, and it is not easy.

Therefore, it hurt all the more when during my workshop one participant tried to whitewash the issue. Afterwards, I was left with a nagging feeling, until Salters Stirling, one of those truly inspiring torchbearers who, with many others, united after wwii to shape the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, spoke out: “I’m scared of my generation dying out, those who know how it is to be in war and what happens when a group of citizens is deliberately made into second-range citizens. As a human being and as a Christian organisation, we have the duty to raise the alarm, and prevent this from happening to future generations”.

With him, I hold my heart for anyone currently experiencing this process, whether it is for their religion, ethnicity, race or other factors, and grow more and more deeply convinced that it is our duty to fight this. A duty that we can only observe by working together with other like minded organisations and individuals, and we hope we can continue on this path together with wcsf and many others. We simply don’t see systematic discrimination or even abuse if we focus on the ‘Otherness’ of the other. And as I don’t like being the other, I have decided that I don’t want anyone else to become the other to me, and thus can no longer describe our religions as different. What we have in common is far more important: our shared goals, our shared love for the world and the desire to do right, our humanity, and even our deepest beliefs in a Creating and Loving God.

— fenna ten berge

Fenna ten Berge is a Dutch researcher, translator and textwriter who converted to Islam in 2012, just before receiving her ma in Gender and Identity in the Middle East from the University of Exeter.

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. "

Mother Teresa

“Integration arises from intimacy with our emotions and our bodies, as well as with our thoughts.”

Sharon Salzberg,

"Marches alone won't bring integration when human respect is disintegrating."

Barry McGuire

"There will never be a day where the depth of integration, unless it was all built from the bottom ground up, will be integrated as any of us would like."

Mark V. Hurd

"Refugees are not terrorists, they are often the first victims of terrorism."

Antonia Guterres