What are The Drumlanrig Accords?
The Accords set out a new framework for engagement, built on mutual respect, dialogue, and practical collaboration. It champions the principle of disagreeing agreeably, ensuring that differences do not lead to division but instead foster deeper understanding. It is no symbolic gesture but a call to action committing both communities to working together on practical initiatives that support the most vulnerable, tackling societal inequities such as discrimination, isolation, and poverty.
The Accords commit the faith leaders to exploring the establishment of a Muslim-Jewish Leadership Council and, initially, four working committees, an Educational Collaboration Committee, focussed on issues in schools, a University and Campus Outreach Committee, a Civic Engagement and Joint Charitable Projects Committee, and a Religious Freedoms Committee.
It represents a deep and enduring commitment from the UK’s Jewish and Muslim communities to strengthen relationships, promote understanding, and work together for the common good. This initiative is not political.
The Accords begin with the shared recognition that:
“Muslim and Jewish communities around the world share a profound spiritual heritage. Both traditions are rooted in monotheism, the sanctity of life and a commitment to justice. Global tensions, particularly in the Middle East, often strain relationships between these communities leading to misunderstandings and fractures at a local level. In times of crisis, these fractures can deepen escalating Islamophobia, Antisemitism and societal polarisation.”
The Signatories of The Drumlanrig Accords are:
Muslim Leaders
• Chief Imam Dr Sayed Razawi (Shia)
• Senior Imam Qari Asim MBE (Sunni, Barelwi)
• Imam Sheikh Muhammad Ismail DL (Sunni, Deobandi)
• Head Imam Dr Sheikh Khalifa Ezzat (Sunni)
• Naushad Jivraj (President of His Highness the Aga Khan National Council for the UK, represented by Aliyyah Nasser)
• His Excellency Kinana Jamaluddin Bhai Sahib (Ismaili, Bohra)
Jewish Leaders
• Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis KBE
• Rabbi Josh Levy (Reform Judaism)
• Rabbi Charley Baginsky (Liberal Judaism)
• Senior Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg OBE (Masorti)
• Senior Rabbi Joseph Dweck (S&P Sephardi)
• Senior Rabbi Elchonon Feldman (Orthodox)