Bearing Witness: Muslim Understandings of Justice and Suffering

About this event

Using verses from the Qur’an and our own experiences and perspectives, we will explore themes in Islam that often come up during times of devastation such as endurance, perseverance, the notion of bearing witness, survival and hope. The central questions guiding this discussion are: How can we keep faith that justice will prevail for all oppressed people, and what is our role as Muslims in establishing just systems for those suffering?

Agenda

6pm: Arrive

6.10pm: The facilitators will introduce the event and we’ll go through a community agreement and housekeeping.

6.20pm: The facilitators will provide a short talk to kick off a wider conversation involving attendees in-person and online.

6.30 – 7.20pm: Group discussion

7.20pm: Concluding thoughts and summary from the facilitators with a du’a to end.

7.30pm: Isha prayer and food

8.00pm: Close

Who is this event for?

This event is for Muslims who want space to talk about the ways our spirituality is impacted when we see atrocities. It’s for people who want to have a mature discussion about difficult often misused concepts within Islam as well as inspiring and useful concepts within Islam. This event will be useful for Muslims who are isolated from Muslim communities. This is a Muslim-only event because we face unique challenges including how to survive physically and spiritually while fielding questions from non-Muslims about our beliefs, our actions and our religion. Inclusive Mosque is providing space for Muslims to process these challenges and resist the Islamophobia we face, even from our loved ones.

Code of Conduct

We’re carrying out this event knowing the risks our organisation and our community face at this time. We are asking all attendees to commit to showing up in a way that doesn’t put Inclusive Mosque or the people who attend at further risk. This means we will not make room for name-calling, racism of any kind, or incitement towards hatred or violence. As a charity, we cannot discuss political parties but we can critique government policy and mobilise towards changes to government policy that would address injustice. We will be sending a community agreement out to everyone who signs up to attend this event and we expect everyone to read and respect it.

Accessibility

This event is in-person with an option to join online. For those joining online, a link will be sent to you a few days in advance and we will have auto-captions enabled. For those attending in-person, please wear masks and take covid tests on the day of the event. We consider wearing masks a necessary act of care towards disabled and immunocompromised people. Windows in the room will be open to allow ventilation to prevent the spread of Covid so please dress warmly. The venue is wheelchair accessible. We’re asking all attendees to purchase tickets if they can as this helps Inclusive Mosque to sustain our work. If you need a free ticket, use promo code free1532 when checking out and remember to click ‘apply’ when you enter the promo code.