Praise the lord, Alhamdu Lillah, I am pleased to read this realization of King Abdullah “King Abdullah has realized that we Muslims have to play a part in reducing tensions across the world. It is a courageous decision.” For the last few years, we have been making attempts to define the role of Muslims in the world based in Qur’aan, and here is the sentence that makes part of the logo of this blogsite. “To be a Muslim is to be a peacemaker, one who constantly seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for the peaceful co-existence, God wants to live in peace and harmony with his creation.”
Indeed, the World Muslim Congress is driven by the Qur’aan, Surah 49:13: “O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware.
“OUR MISSION is to work for a World of co-existence through inclusiveness and participation. As a member of diverse family of faiths, our efforts will be directed toward justice and equity to attain sustainable peace for the humankind with a firm grounding in truth. We believe what is good for Muslims has got to be good for the World and vice-versa to sustain the good. We have to remember the World is a two way street.We have a monumental task to repair the World, and we will do our part in working towards a World of co-existence, one community at a time. We are committed, and now help us God. Amen
Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker, Writer and a Moderator. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing Pluralism, politics, Islam, Religion, Terrorism, India and civic issues. He is the founder of the World Muslim Congress, a group committed to building bridges and nurturing a world of co-existence. He also heads the foundation for pluralism, an organization committed to studying religious pluralism and pluralistic governance. His personal website is http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and his writings are on the above websites as well as several of the ancillary Blogs listed on the sites.
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Badea Abu Al-Naja & Siraj Wahab, Arab News
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah performs Maghreb prayer with others at the Grand Mosque in Makkah on Tuesday. (SPA)
MAKKAH, 4 June 2008 — Muslim religious scholars, media personalities, academics and intellectuals from around the globe have arrived in the Holy City of Makkah for a three-day interfaith dialogue that begins today at the request of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. The king is to open the first session this morning with a speech that will outline the parameters of discussion Muslims should be having with people of other faiths.
The Makkah Hilton lobby buzzed last night as nearly 500 delegates from 50 different countries shared their points of view. The conference follows King Abdullah’s plea in March for dialogue among Muslims, Christians and Jews.
“We are excited and looking forward to participate in this historic meeting,” said Abdul Aziz Khalidi of the UK-based Islam Channel. “King Abdullah has realized that we Muslims have to play a part in reducing tensions across the world. It is a courageous decision.”
“Whether we accept it or not, this is a global village, and we have to play a constructive part in this world,” said Syrian delegate Sheikh Abdul Qader. “This conference will show us the direction. There will be a healthy debate among our scholars to discuss the format of our dialogue with people of other faiths.”
Noted author and writer M.J. Akbar said dialogue with other faiths should be conducted not because other people want it but because it is the right thing to do.
“Whether the other side is ready or not, we should take this step and make the other side run out of excuses,” he said. “Islam has a glorious history of protecting people of the other faiths.”
Abdullah Al-Turki, secretary-general of the Muslim World League, said the conference would discuss the basis for dialogue with other faiths in the context of the teachings of the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah.
Shoura Council President Saleh Bin-Humaid is scheduled to preside over the first session, which features a number of papers on the objectives of dialogue as outlined in the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah, and historical experiences of cultural dialogue.
Sheikh Muhammad Ali Taskhery, secretary-general of the Center for Reconciliation of Islamic Schools of Thought, will chair the second session and Jordan’s Chief Justice Ahmed Muhammad Haleel will present a paper on the mechanisms of dialogue.
Bosnian Mufti Mustafa Ceric will preside over the third session, which focuses on the importance of coordination among Islamic organizations in holding dialogue with other faiths. Abdullah Omar Naseef, secretary-general of the International Islamic Council for Dawa and Relief, will present a paper and Muhammad Al-Sammak, secretary-general of the Islamic Spiritual Summit in Lebanon, will speak on dialogue with followers of divine religions.
The fourth session will be led by Abdul Rahman Sewar Al-Dahab, chairman of the board of trustees of the Islamic Dawa Organization. Mahmoud Ghazi of the College of Islamic Studies in Qatar will present a paper on the clash of civilizations and world peace. Ali Uzak of Turkey will speak on the common ground of family and morality.
The call for dialogue was welcomed by leaders of the three faiths and comes at a time of stalled peace initiatives and escalating tensions in the region.
· King Abdullah calls for better interfaith relations
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/05/religion.islam
More than 500 delegates from around the world gathered in the Islamic holy city of Mecca yesterday with the aim of fostering better relations between Muslims and followers of other faiths. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia opened the three-day conference in Al-Safah Palace, a stone’s throw from the Grand Mosque, by stressing the need for better understanding and cooperation between monotheistic religions.
The king urged his audience to promote the true message of Islam and said the Islamic world faced great difficulties in the form of extremists whose “aggressions and excessiveness” targeted the tolerance of the religion.
The event, the biannual meeting of the Muslim World League, a non-governmental organisation engaged in the propagation of Islam, has been described as an interfaith conference, although its location makes it strictly off-limits to non-Muslims. It is understood that Abdullah seeks greater unity among different Islamic schools of thought, so that summits with other religions can take place more easily. The king held talks in November with Pope Benedict XVI and in March announced plans to host a meeting between the three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam – an initiative welcomed by the president of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald Lauder.
The move is a departure from Saudi government practice, which does not allow the public practice of other religions in the kingdom.
Abdullah’s understanding of interfaith dialogue differs from the one held by the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz Al al-Sheikh, who said dialogue with other religions was a way to bring non-Muslims into Islam. The cleric, who is the highest official of religious law, told the delegates that converting people to Islam was the ultimate goal of dialogue, a point made several times. “It is the opportunity to disseminate the principles of Islam. Islam advocates dialogue among people, especially calling them to the path of Allah.”
The brochure advertising the event cites verses from the Qur’an that tell Muslims to “invite all to the way of the lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching and argue with them in the ways that are best and most gracious”.
The conference organisers have insisted that speakers will focus on religion, not politics. However the former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who shared the stage with the Saudi monarch, only touched on the need for greater respect between Sunni and Shia Muslims, preferring instead to accuse western governments of hegemony in conflict zones.
Rafsanjani, a last-minute addition to the programme, said: “Without Islam the world is nothing. We control 20% of the world’s resources. We don’t want to waste these and it is our duty not to hand over what we have. Muslims are authorised to defend themselves in a good manner.”
He told the audience to “think about Iraq”, describing the presence of US troops as a threat to all neighbouring regions. “Iraqis have a responsibility not to let the Americans impose their diplomatic mission on Islam. Iraq has a great heritage and America wants to exploit it. We should not allow this exploitation and subjugation to continue. It is unofficial colonisation.”
While Rafsanjani’s remarks may not surprise people familiar with his anti-western tirades, his address will have darkened the mood of an event designed to encourage scholars to promote dialogue with different religions. His attendance, at the invitation of the king, will also sit uneasily with the Saudi clerics who denounced Iranian Shia last Sunday.
The conference, which ends tomorrow, will also hear from Dr Ali Bardakoglu, president of Turkey’s Diyanet, the highest Islamic authority in the country, and the grand imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar mosque, Muhammad Sayed Tantawi.