Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel Bin Jubeir reported enthusiastic reponse by followers of all religions and divine messages in the United States to the groundbreaking inter-faith and inter-civilizational dialogue that begins in Madrid on Wednesday. The three-day Madrid World Conference on Dialogue, convened by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has been welcomed by senior Ulema (Islamic scholars), leaders and religious organizations, Bin Jubeir said. He said that 43 religious personalities representing various religions and divine messages in the US have accepted the invitation to attend the conference, taking the total number of participants from the US to 85. In all, up to 200 religious leaders and scholars from 54 countries will engage in the ground-breaking dialogue hosted by Madrid and organized by the Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL). The dialogue was initiated by King Abdullah to promote dialogue between Muslims and followers of other faiths in an attempt to bring about world peace. “Whatever the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques does, it stems from the feeling of responsibility towards his religion, country and the whole world,” said the Chairman of the Shoura Council Sheikh Dr. Saleh Bin Humaid who will chair a panel on dialogue and its importance in human society during the Madrid conference. MWL Secretary General Dr. Abdullah Al-Turki said the conference would not interfere in religious and political issues but will focus on the common factors shared by followers of divine religions and different oriental cultures. He said King Abdullah had initiated the conference in order to solve the problems facing humanity, such as the eroding family system, the weakening of moral values, and conflicts among nations, peoples, societies and civilizations. He said the conference would seek to lay the platform for future dialogue through discussing controls and concepts of dialogue, common humanitarian factors in promoting dialogue, past obstacles of dialogue and ways to overcome them, and the impact of dialogue on human life. Last month in Makkah, a preparatory conference discussed the legitimacy, objectives, themes, and methodology of the interfaith dialogue from an Islamic perspective. Spain was chosen as the conference site because of its historic significance as the place where, between 800 to 1200 CE, Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in peace. The Andalusian civilization was the golden age of Muslim history, when invention, creativity, big ideas, tolerance, and coexistence were the central themes. In Madrid this week, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish clerics, as well as representatives of Eastern religions will gather once more after centuries of discord, to take up another set of themes, this time to discuss ways to work together for the greater common good. “We view this groundbreaking event as an opportunity for followers of all faiths to identify the moral and ethical values we hold in common and to use those values as a bridge to mutual understanding,” said Nihad Awad, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who will address conference attendees. For initiating the dialogue, CNN has described King Abdullah “as one of the most prominent advocates of peace and dialogue.” Already there are calls to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the King for his steadfast commitment to world peace. “The hand that reaches out to Christians and Jews should be greeted,” said David Rousseau, Chairman of the Committee for Dialogue among Religions, about the King's inititative. Political analyst Dr. Morris Jones said, “If one of the leaders can accomplish peace, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz is the best leader to do so.” He added that the United States “is full of hope that King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz can do much to achieve peace in the entire region.”? “The United States cannot make peace alone, it needs strong friends,” Dr. Jones said. “And despite the many difficulties facing the region, King Abdullah ... accomplished much and among these accomplishments is combating terrorism.” He said “it is very important to begin to resolve the very long-standing issue of the Middle East peace. And many of the people in the world rely on King Abdullah ... and they are optimistic about his approaches and strategies.” Algerian professor, parliamentarian and Islamic thinker La Khadar Buserarah said: “Dialogue has always been behind defusing many crises, wars and achieving peaceful coexistence not only between individuals but between opposing and divergent peoples. Buserarah, who was director of the Institute of Training Imams of the Algerian Ministry of Religious Affairs, added: “The positive impacts of the dialogue is not confined to the field of international relations, but extends to the areas of reforming the family and society and combating various forms of vice and corruption” THE DOCTRINE OF PROPHET IBRAHIM The divine religions, including the doctrine of Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh), share major principles and great values which form the concept of humanity and distinguish humans from other creatures. They are principles of truthfulness, honesty, tolerance, solidarity, equality, human dignity, and family, without which no society can emerge. I ask you and I ask whoever happens to hear me now or read my words later, to remember what brings religions, beliefs and cultures together. We should emphasize what is common. Also, we should adhere the concepts of morality and family, and to appease Allah the Almighty. So, we go beyond our differences and bridge the gaps between us, and together create a world of peace and understanding, and progress and prosperity become in our interest. – King Abdullah, addressing a gathering of heads of Haj missions last year. DENOUNCING THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS During such circumstances facing the nation including the attack targeting its entity, symbols and thought, it is the duty of its sons and thinkers, in particular, to highlight the true face of the nation; the face of tolerance, justice and moderation. They have also to explain to the whole world that what is being done by a few fanatic extremists does not reflect the spirit of the nation, its heritage and authenticity as it reflects the destructive fantasies in the minds of these criminals.?In front of these elite people of thought and opinion, I denounce the notion of a clash among civilizations and call to replace it with the idea of constructive peaceful coexistence among civilizations. I call for making the next stage in relations between countries and nations a stage of real dialogue where each side respects the other, its sanctities, beliefs and identity. – In February 2006, addressing the guests of Al-Janadriya festival CRISIS FACING MANKIND I avail myself of this opportunity to share with you what is in my mind, hoping that you listen to these short words because I want to hear from you.?Over the last two years, I have been thinking of the crisis facing mankind today. It is a crisis caused by an imbalance of reason, morality and humanity. We lost honesty, morality, trust, and sinceritytowards our religions and towards humanity. Atheism has broken out, which is not permitted by religions, neither the Qur'an nor the Torah or the Bible.?? – To the participants in the 6th Forum of Dialogue of Civilizations between Japan and Islamic World, which was held in Riyadh earlier this year. RESPECT FOR OTHER CULTURES We should realize that all human civilizations share one origin. Also, civilizations have benefited from each other. The realities of human evolution clearly prove the fact of integration among civilizations. This is what we should learn and should work on establishing between peoples, so as to ensure respect for one another's cultures and to stand against all calls for division, segregation and discrimination – In an interview with Russian News Agency Itar Tass on Feb. 21, 2007
