Following the remarkable success of his interfaith dialogue initiative adopted by the UN last month, King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, called on the Muslim Ummah to initiate a dialogue in order to unify the standing of Muslims in the world and to eradicate extremist and violent ideologies. The King's call came during his speech addressing the heads of state and heads of the Haj missions at the Royal Palace in Mina Tuesday. The King reflected on the hope of the late King Abdul Aziz, founder of modern Saudi Arabia, to see a united Muslim Ummah inspired by the unity and equality of the faithful during Haj. “Dear brothers: Last Haj season, I talked to you about the importance of interfaith dialogue as the Kingdom called for discussing the idea in Makkah among Muslim scholars who welcomed it and grounded their support for it on evidence in the Islamic Shariah. Then the Madrid Interfaith Conference came into being with the participation of representatives of other religions and cultures who reviewed the declaration of Muslim scholars in Makkah, calling for a wider implementation of the idea through the United Nations which recently wholeheartedly supported the idea of dialogue in a UN assembly attended by many prominent world leaders,” the King said. “The objective of this interfaith dialogue project initiated by your brothers in the Kingdom is to strengthen the pride of Islam and serve humanity. The success and acceptance it has achieved, due to the bounty of God, makes us optimistic that it will gain more success in the future, God willing,” the King said. “Today we are in need of dialogue within the Muslim Ummah itself,” he said. The King pointed out that “division, ignorance, and extremism are obstacles threatening the hopes of Muslims. Also, terrorism is threatening the world and it is attributed to Muslims alone because of the actions of few extremists who represent none but themselves. Even if they are under the cover of Islam, Islam is innocent and not responsible for their acts. This makes dialogue among the Muslim Ummah necessary to unify the ranks, bolster moderation, remove the causes of conflict and eradicate extremism,” he said.
