I welcome this wholeheartedly.
In 2005, a Saudi Minister visited Dallas and I was asked to organize an interfaith dialogue. Being a pluralist I resisted the idea of inviting the members of the Abrahamic faiths, but agreed, as they convinced me that this is the first step in their learning process to go from known to unknown. We had 20 members comprising three faiths at the Crescent in uptown Dallas, I still chose to represent all other faiths that were missing. My commitment has been and will continue to defend the divinity of each beautiful faith. No one can get away from me criticizing any religion. The meeting was productive and it was a new experience to the man.
However, Islam rose and flourished in a Pluralistic multi-faith environment. Indeed, Muhammad as a head of a religious group and the state, initiated the Madinah treaty and was a co-signatory to it along with Jews, Christians and people of other faiths. Unfortunately the Islam that flourished in Pluralistic environment veered off into a mono-faith environment and the pluralistic flavor of Islam dimmed for a few centuries then picked up back again in Spain and India and lost that charisma again when colonialism took over, the fight for freedom from the colonialists took a different form of Islam in practice. Thank God, it is going back to its roots of Pluralism again since the unfortunate tragedy of 9/11.
I am hopeful and positive that the mainstream majority of Muslims are not going to be silent any more, they have been more participative in defining the religion collectively as opposed to an oligarchy.
Mike Ghouse
CNN Lauds King’s Call for Interfaith Dialogue
Riyadh, 2 April 2008 — CNN has commended Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for his call for interfaith dialogue and said the king became a history-maker by taking this important initiative, the Saudi Press Agency reported yesterday.
In a report in its main bulletin, CNN said King Abdullah made the call for dialogue among divine religions for the protection of humanity from recklessness. Octavia Nasser, CNN’s correspondent said, “King Abdullah has made history by his initiative,” which has been welcomed by the religious quarters.
Head of the Religions Dialogue Committee David Rosen said: “Let us agree to shake hands with the hand that has been extended to Christians and Jews.”
Political analyst Maurice Jones said, “If it will be possible for a leader to attain an achievement with regard to peace, then King Abdullah is the most capable leader for doing that.”
The US television channel also underscored King Abdullah’s support for establishing a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
King Abdullah made the call for interfaith dialogue during a meeting with delegates attending a cultural dialogue between Japan and the Muslim world.
“I want to call for conferences between the religions to protect humanity from folly,” he told the delegates in Riyadh. He referred to his groundbreaking talks in Rome last November with Pope Benedict XVI, saying, “I wanted to visit the Vatican and I did, and I thank him. He met me in a meeting I will not forget, a meeting of one human being with another. I suggested this idea.”
The king said the major faiths shared a desire to combat “the disintegration of the family and the rise of atheism in the world.”
Meanwhile, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, denied press reports that a group of Israeli religious men has been invited to attend a reconciliation conference in Riyadh. “The report is totally baseless,” the mufti said.