Dawud Whatnsby-Ali brought an about-turn to the ongoing debate on the middle east by telling a crowd of U of T students last week that “to look at Islam, Judaism or Christianity as separate institutions is a mistake.”
He spoke at the final lecture in the Muslim Students’ Association’s “Understanding Islam” series. An Ontario native of English-Scottish descent, he converted to Islam at 21.
“Our creator did not divide us according to these entities that we call religions,” he told the audience. “We did. We like creating clear distinctions in our world, be it between countries or languages or even our religions.”
Wharnsby’s message was clear: morality comes from only one source—God. It cannot come from family values, intuition or even rational calculation.
“I choose to believe that there is a creator to this universe who is the sole source of morality. It is hard to believe that we can rely on ourselves to judge what is good or bad when we are so small and limited.”
Wharnsby said that after adopting the Qu’ran, the religious text of Islamic people, as his guidance, he feels liberated. When asked if he feels more moral, he said: “I cannot be the judge of my moral stance—only God knows that. But the Qu’ran encourages me to challenge it with questions that nobody can answer. Once I find my answer, however, I feel fulfilled and whole.”
Rabia Khan attended the previous three lectures of “Understanding Islam” and was impressed with the final instalment.
“Warnsby brought me to realize that God implemented morality in us because we are born with a conscience of good and bad. Morality is really just like any other of our biological attributes; we are born with it. But we always need to remember that we still have to follow God’s moral code.
“The morality that he implemented in us is only a little hint of his code.”
