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Muslim Statement on Nuclear Disarmament

All praise is due to God, the Lord and Nourisher of the worlds. Praise be to God for this day. Who could have dreamed that a day like this would come in our life or in the life of our generation? How wonderful it is to see the prominent religious and military leaders of this nation come together to declare that it is "morally untenable and militarily unjustifiable" to produce, acquire or continue to possess the nuclear weapons. It is nothing but the blessing of God that this nation, that is so very capable to produce more of these most powerful nuclear weapons, has some of its leaders share their insight and wisdom — to come forward to say "no" to these weapons.

Blessed are the peacemakers and blessed are those who practice what they preach. We in the United States must take lead to stop the nuclear arms race. This race is against the human race. In this race there will be no winners, only losers. It is nothing but destruction, for humans and their environment. We must say to ourselves first and then to the world that we want a total and universal ban on the possession and production of nuclear weapons. All countries, starting with those that have the largest amount of nuclear weapons, should destroy these weapons. There should be a total ban on their production and testing. Nuclear technology should be used only for humanitarian and peaceful purposes.

As a Muslim, I fully support this declaration, and I urge all Muslims of America and the world to support it. Islam stands for peace and protection of all human beings and their environment. Islam is against any war in which the innocent and the non-combatants are made to suffer. God says in the Qur'an:

"…Be not cast to ruins by your own hands. Do good. Indeed God loves those who do good." (2:195) "…Help one another unto righteousness and pious duty, but help not one another unto sin and transgression…" (5:2)

Thank you and may God bless you.

Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi is president of The Islamic Society of North America, an organization that provides educational and community support to Muslims and seeks to present a unified platform of expression for Islam in North America. He has also served as chairman of the Religious Affairs Committee of the Muslim Students Association in the U.S. and Canada, chairman of the Department of Religious Affairs at the Muslim World League Office to the United Nations and U.S.A. (1976-80), and director of the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C. At present, Dr. Siddiqi is vice president of the Academy of Judaic-Christian and Islamic Studies in California and an adjunct professor of Islamic Studies and World Religions at California State University in Fullerton.