Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Ocalan sent a message to the 1st Ordinary Congress of the Mesopotamia Islamic Research Federation, held under the slogan “From Democratic Islam Toward Peace and a Democratic Society.”

 

Message of Abdullah Ocalan reads: “To the Congress of the Mesopotamia Islamic Research Federation,

 

Islam, at its core, is a religion of freedom, justice, and equality. Official state Islam, transformed by capitalist modernity into an instrument of power and plunder, as well as communitarian structures, have lost this essence. Democratic Islam, however, means returning to the spirit of the Medina Charter. That charter was a contract of coexistence, without oppression, based on the free will of different beliefs, peoples, and cultures.

 

It must be known that true jihad is the struggle carried out through constant self-criticism against the ego and against oppression. The concept of shura in Islam signifies collective reason and democratic decision-making.

 

Let us not make Islam a political instrument of the state or of any group, but rather place it at the service of a free life of society organized from the grassroots. Democratic Islam is a civilizational alternative that places women’s freedom, ecological balance, and the brotherhood of peoples at its center. Only this democratic interpretation can heal the bleeding wounds of the Middle East. In this framework, I hope your discussions will serve the democratic society process we have initiated. With endless love and greetings…

 

Abdullah Öcalan

 

Imrali.”