I am too old to think that numbers are creating change

To be more precise, it's ethics and liberation, and as a consequence there is an ethics of liberation.

We should not fool ourselves. When the Quran says wa la qad karamna Bani Adam ["we have honored the Children of Adam"] so yes we should all be free but this should not mean that we must act against the dignity of human beings.

There is One God. We have an epistemic center. There is meaning.

We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that is alive around us, and reconcile ourselves with our environment.

Just take Germany and the suffering of Jews during and after the Second World War. It would be legal to ridicule and to laugh at this suffering, but since it was such a trauma on the European conscience, no one is going to do it. It is an open scar, an open wound, an open reality.

I understand the need to serve the community by talking about marriage or halal food. But you should also lead with vision, wisdom and courage.