THE Madrid Conference on Dialogue was attended by around 300 eminent personalities and representatives from among the followers of the three revealed religions, Islam, Christianity and Judaism, as well as by representatives of Oriental philosophies, cultures and civilizations. Among the attendees were the Secretary General of the World Jewish Congress Michael Schneider and Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, in charge of dialogue between the Vatican and Muslims and the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has recently launched his own Tony Blair Faith Foundation. I had the opportunity to take to some religious leaders who took part in the deliberation. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue at The Vatican City and an important participant, told me in an interview, “This is a very courageous initiative. It has produced a positive image. The King's speech is a very positive step. He spoke of staring a new page and I think this is effectively very good progress because we as believers have many things in common. We must work together so that the work would be more fraternal.” Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef, the former Deputy Chairman of the Shoura Council of Saudi Arabia and the Presently, Secretary General of the International Islamic Council for Relief and Dawah, said, “King Abdullah said why we don't forget about the differences and bring out the common things in our religions towards eliminating what is happening in the society and improve the positive side and work together as a team so that we do not allow people to misinterpret our religion or give the fatwas that are not applicable to us. This is the idea behind this conference and I think until now it has been a big success.” Congressman Jose de Venecia, Jr., Chairman of the Christian Democratic International Asia Pacific and Founding Chairman of International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), said, “The time has come for all of us as God's children to unite and to reason and dialogue together, as what King Abdullah is doing and as King of Spain was trying to reconcile through reasoning and dialogue with patience and creativity; see how we can reconcile various religious, cultures and civilizations; because we are all God's children and one human family under one God.” “The leaders of great religions just like King Abdullah or the leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, or the Pope in The Vatican or the Archbishop of the Church of England or the religious leaders of Buddhism, Hinduism all of them are great men of wisdom and great reasoning. It's only a few of the followers who are extremists and who are ignorant and are trying to precipitate these crisis in the world,” said the Vice President Vineciro. The Director of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, William Chapman, said, it “was a very impressive opening ceremony and the discussions have been very interesting. I think it is hugely significant that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has chosen to initiate this process and I very much hope that it will continue. “Each religion has many teachings toward common good, toward neighbours and humanity. There are many many examples throughout the history, as we know, that religion is doing good things for humankind,” said Chapman. The Human Rights activist, Jesse Jackson, observed, “We are very much moved by the welcoming attitude of the King of Saudi Arabia and the King of Spain. Our earth is in a very dangerous situation right now and this initiative is very important for world peace and for that dialogue with Islam and other religions. Is religion a foundation for world peace? Religious dialogue is a contribution to world peace, because we offered the very best that we have in our religion and at the same time we learn from the others.” Senator Larry Shaw from US said, “I think religion gets blamed a lot more for things than it is responsible.” “I believe religion has the power to contribute to peace making; it has the power to understand one another and appreciate each other; respect each other's dignity and worth. When that happens, people talk to each other, begin to know each other the way they can cooperate. It seems to me that one of the great problems that has to be solved, not just addressed, is the relationship between religion and government because if we don't get that relationship right we will keep blaming religion and in the process we will hurt not only government but also the integrity of the nation,” said Senator Shaw. Senator Shaw would like to recommend “to find a way for the people in this gathering to get together again without too much delay and we begin to know each other well enough and well we can begin to model what needs to be done among the larger community and that is the point which I think will begin to make the most difference.” Secretary General of the World Council of Religious Leaders (Of The Millennium World Peace Summit) Bawa Jain said, “This is the most significant initiative, because it has the backing of one of the most powerful people on the planet, King Abdullah, and I know that we owe a debt of gratitude to him. The courage and the boldness with which he launched this initiative and supported it makes it most extraordinary. I get lot of aspiration from this. And I think we should extend whatever support we can because it is our responsibility to see it succeed. This is the beginning, I believe, of the end of the whole notion of clash of cultures, clash of civilizations; because this initiative can be a bridge to those kind of clashes and violence and bring peace in the world.” “I think the most important is the follow-up action plan. We have to be very cautious and I am happy to contribute to that. We have to have a very clear idea about what we are going to do in the process, going forward. This is a great beginning; this is a foundation, if we lose momentum here we shall lose great opportunity. The very strategic preparation is going to be critical for the success of this conference,” Jain said. Dr. Hussain Hamed Hassan, former Vice-Chancellor of the International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan and presently Legal Adviser, Dubai Islamic Bank, said that in this life we are humans, we are brothers; we should fight against all evils. All three religions are ready to fight, in common interest. “When we reach this common code of ethics, values and principles, we will use this for building public opinion. Then it will go to the educational institutions: it will be taught to the new generations and they will be trained in love, justice, equality along with the followers of other religions and they may go to the United Nations and to other international forums to get this recognized.” National Communications Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Ibrahim Hooper, said, “I think it is a ground-breaking effort and people of all faiths need to be behind it and promote it. I hope to see more such conferences in the near future. “I think it is important to come together to discuss not only the differences but also what they have in common; because we actually have more in common than we realize.” __
