A Common Word from Jordan to The Vatican Calling Muslims and Christians to Unite
I’m very interested in the issue of interfaith between our global Muslim community and those of other religions around the world. In 2010, there are almost as many Muslims in the world as there are Christians, and the religions are full of similarities and parallels. Some would say it’s time Muslims and Christians recognized just how similar we are, and that the fate of the world depends on it.
This was in fact the subject of an open letter signed in 2007, and launched from Jordan to the Vatican by 138 Muslim leaders and scholars.
First Class from Jordan to The Vatican
The 29-page letter — entitled A Common Word between Us and You was organized by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Amman, Jordan.
The letter was addressed to Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and 25 other named Christian leaders. It emphasized that world peace depends on greater understanding between the two faiths. This powerful message for mutual understanding represented the first time so many high-profile Muslims united to make such a public call for peace.
A Call for Mutual Understanding
A Common Word between Us and You was first signed in Jordan on the morning of October 11th 2007, then in other countries throughout the course of the day. It was finally unveiled at a Muslim-Christian press conference in Washington, D.C., by Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti of Bosnia, and John Esposito, director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.
This positive call for world peace detailed the similarities between the Bible and the Koran, and between Christianity and Islam. It reached out to Christian leaders to “come together with us on the common essentials of our two religions.”
High profile Muslim signatories included Sheik Mohammed Nur Abdullah, vice president of the Fiqh Council of North America; Sheikh Salem Falahat, director-general of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan; Hasan Shariatmadari, head of the Iranian National Republicans party; and Sheikh Ikrima Said Sabri, former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Finding Common Ground in the Name of World Peace
According to an article in Time Magazine, the letter notes that whilst the faiths are clearly different, both require believers to believe in only one God, and it’s the same God. Both religions are founded on goodwill, not violence, and many of the fundamental truths that were revealed to Muhammad — such as complete devotion to God, the rejection of false gods, and the love of fellow man — are the same that form the basis of Christianity.
Because of this, the letter says, Muslims are bound by the Koran to treat believers of other faiths with respect and friendship — and that Muslims expect the same in return. Finding common ground is essential for the survival of humanity.
“The relationship between these two religious communities [is] the most important factor in contributing to meaningful peace around the world. If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace. No side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half of the world’s inhabitants. Thus our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake.”
