[Dialogue] Muslim letter in BBC

Thu Oct 11 23:14:21 EDT 2007

This may be the most important piece of news of the year.

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Emerging voice of mainstream Islam
By Robert Pigott
Religious affairs correspondent, BBC News

A total of 138 of the world's top Muslim leaders, clerics and  
academics have written an open letter to the Pope, the Archbishop of  
Canterbury and other leaders of the Christian world.

It warns that world peace depends on better dialogue between them,  
and points to the fundamental beliefs each have in common.

But the real significance of the initiative lies in the creation of a  
powerful new lobby in world politics.

It is certainly not the first time that Christian and Muslim leaders  
have referred to their shared values and traditions.

In the years of tension since 9/11 it has been a frequent  
accompaniment to inter-faith meetings and projects aimed to mend the  
fractured and suspicious relationship between some Muslims and  
Christians.

But the letter, written by ayatollahs, muftis, sheikhs, sultans,  
professors and ministers, has taken this assertion of cousinly - even  
brotherly - relations to another level.

That is partly because the signatories have a considerable personal  
influence, in countries as diverse as Russia, Egypt, Nigeria, Saudi  
Arabia, Malaysia and Yemen.

Scripture

"Looking down the list of signatories, there is one person after  
another with large followings, often numbered in millions," said  
David Ford, professor of divinity at Cambridge University.

"The fact that they've signed it means it will be taken seriously at  
the grass roots."

Now finally there is a platform, a mode, for the moderate,  
mainstream, traditional Muslim leaders to come together and find  
consensus
David Ford, professor of divinity at Cambridge University
Just what are the revelations that this impressive cast-list has  
signed up to?

The letter contains a clearly written account of the passages in the  
Koran and the Bible that illustrate close similarities in the most  
fundamental doctrine of Christianity and Islam.

For example each of them insists that followers worship only one God,  
and requires them to love their neighbours as themselves. Other  
passages strike a note of conciliation, even humility.

For example, there is the Koran's acknowledgement that the truths  
revealed to the Prophet Muhammad - the founder of Islam - had already  
been shown to the prophets of the Old Testament (the Jewish Torah)  
and the New Testament, including, of course, Jesus himself.

The document also picks out the verses in the Koran which tell  
Muslims that they should treat the followers of these Jewish and  
Christian prophets with particular friendship and respect.

It also cites the Koran's specific instruction that these "people of  
the Scripture" worship the same God as Muslims.

But the real significance of this gesture, is that it is the first  
act of a group that intends to become the "international voice" of  
mainstream Islam, missing for so long.

It's easy to see how dangerous it is for there to be so little  
understanding
Professor Aref Ali Nayed

It has been one of the problems of dialogue between Christians and  
Muslims that Islam has lacked a coherent mainstream view.

It has little of the hierarchies that characterise Churches, headed  
by leaders who can credibly represent the faith.

Not only is there no Muslim pope, but there is barely a single voice,  
or even group of voices, generally acknowledged to speak for "global  
Islam".

It has produced a vacuum into which it has been easy for extremists  
to move, whether locally in a town or city, in a country or in whole  
regions.

Extremists, from maverick imams to the leaders of al-Qaeda, have  
found it easy to claim to speak for Islam.

Response

"So often the extremists have been able to use the modern media,"  
says Professor Ford.

"Now finally there is a platform, a mode, for the moderate,  
mainstream, traditional Muslim leaders to come together and find  
consensus."

Moderate Muslims have often been criticised for what is perceived to  
be their failure to speak out on more difficult issues than the  
shared basics of faith.

As well as Muslim terrorism, they include the lack of democracy in  
Muslim countries and the often violent treatment of Christian  
minorities, especially converts to Christianity.

One of the authors of the letter, Professor Aref Ali Nayed, says: "We  
can't solve all of Islam's problems with a single document."

However he agrees that what the 138 have begun with their statement  
is a powerful new voice in world politics in the making.

"Now we have the mechanism of getting all these scholars together to  
speak with one voice really worked out, we shall build upon it," says  
Professor Nayed.

"You shall see more scholars and more documents, and we shall address  
other issues, issues that are more difficult. But we must have the  
courage to face them."

By going back to fundamentals - the authors hope to undermine the  
fundamentalists themselves.

Reiterating the shared view of a single God and the command to "love  
thy neighbour", the letter strips away the baggage of history and  
culture and produces a blank sheet for a new relationship.

In a sense there is a greater potential for agreement across the  
religious divide than there is for healing the fractures within each  
religion, because no-one is asking or expecting the other for  
concessions.

However some have questioned the letter as the basis of dialogue.

The Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, himself born into a  
Muslim family, pointed out that Christians' view of God - containing  
Jesus in a divine trinity - is very different to that of Muslims.

Dr Nazir-Ali said: "Dialogue should be on the basis of that  
difference. They appear to be saying 'this is what Muslims believe...  
if you agree, then let's have a dialogue'."

Christian leaders do now plan a response to the letter.

Professor Nayed insists that the dialogue must at least take place,  
arguing that world peace, even the survival of mankind, might depend  
on it.

He said: "Christians and Muslims make up more than half the world's  
population... and when you look at the weapons in the hands of those  
people... and the violence of terrorism, it's easy to see how  
dangerous it is for there to be so little understanding."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7040774.stm

Published: 2007/10/12 02:33:28 GMT

© BBC MMVII

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