An Open Letter and Call from Muslim Religious Leaders

[petros]

Introduction

To mark the end of Ramadan this year "An Open Letter and Call from Muslim Religious Leaders" was published, dated 13th October 2007. The letter was addressed to Pope Benedict XVI and 26 other named heads of Christian denominations as well as to "Leaders of Christian Churches, everywhere..." It is ostensibly a presentation of Islamic teaching on love for God and love for one`s neighbour.
(The text of the open letter is available at: 29pp pdf -
http://www.acommonword.com/lib/download ... -10-07.pdf).

The letter was organised by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, a non-governmental organisation based in Amman, Jordan, supported by the Jordanian Royal House. It has been trying to forge a united scholarly Muslim leadership that could speak for the whole global Muslim community and become the international voice of mainstream Islam.

Following a year after a letter to the Pope signed by 38 Muslim signatories (October 2006), the "Open Letter and Call" seems to signal some urgency. Does it indicate a fear that the West is finally awakening to the reality of Islamic intentions and therefore needs to be lulled, even anesthetised, to the prospects of deliberate Islamic expansion into the West? Or does it indicate a growing Muslim confidence and self-awareness of Islamic power, the letter itself being part of a strategy of Islamisation of the "Christian" world? Furthermore, did the lack of response by Pope Benedict to the letter from 38 Muslims prompt the new letter with 100 more names at the end?

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Reading between the lines

On the surface the letter looks like a well intentioned and urgent plea for a better understanding between Muslims and Christians, so as to avert an apocalyptic war between the two largest religious blocs in the world.

If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace... the very survival of the world itself is at stake... So let our differences not cause hatred and strife between us.

However, the letter goes on to lay the blame for all wars in which Muslims and Christians are involved on the actions of Christians.

As Muslims, we say to Christians that we are not against them and that Islam is not against them - so long as they do not wage war against Muslims on account of their religion, oppress them and drive them out of their homes. [emphasis added]

This implies that the war against Islamist terrorism is a global war of Christianity against Islam, and that Christianity is the aggressor against Islam (which is the radical Islamist view). There is no sense of sorrow or remorse for the wrongs inflicted by Muslims on Christians historically, or indeed currently in many Muslim lands. There is no recognition that in many places things may be the opposite, with Muslims oppressing Christians and driving them from their homes (e.g. in Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, Indonesia and Pakistan). There is no mention of the Christian communities in Muslim lands suffering other kinds of persecution and discrimination. There is no admission that Muslim actions could have played any part in the alienation between Muslims and Christians. Furthermore Islam, in its capacity as colonial power, seeks to justify its conquest of non-Muslim territory (past and present) as fath (opening). Gibraltar was thus called "The Mountain of Fath", and when Muhammad II conquered Constantinople in 1453 he became known as Muhammad Al-Fatih (the opener). However, if Muslims later lose territory they have conquered, they consider it "occupation" of a Muslim land.

Continues here: http://www.barnabasfund.org/News/archiv ... _items=342