High-level Christian and Muslim leaders have gathered in Geneva for a crucial interfaith dialogue in attempts to build strong and sustainable relationships between the two groups. The meetings will also focus on how faith communities can use their common resources to transform their communities.
The four-day event is titled, “Transforming Communities: Christians and Muslims Building a Common Future,” and was inspired by the historic 2007 letter by 138 Muslim scholars called, “A Common Word.”
Dr. Muhammad Ahmed Al-Sharif, general secretary of the World Islamic Call Society, and His Royal Highness, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal of Jordan, the initiator of the letter, are both in attendance at the event which is being hosted at the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Center.
“The central theme of our conference affirms that dialogue is important but that we also need to address issues of common concern and act together – putting the common good at the heart of our joint initiative so as to promote ‘dialogue in action,” said the general secretary of the WCC, Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, in his welcome address on Monday.
There are four challenges facing Muslim-Christian communities Tveit identified as being crucial: how to build a wider sense of the understanding of the word “we” that focuses on everyone being part of one humanity rather than excluding people; how to build strong and sustainable relationships between Muslim and Christian leaders that prevent crises and address challenges together; how to transform communities through wise use of spiritual and religious resources; and how to build good and peaceful relationships between Christians and Muslims.
“My strong belief is that we are called together to become peacemakers, respecting the will of our Creator and our Creator’s love for the entire creation,” said the WCC head.
“It is our task to make sure that religion is not a synonym with conflict in the eyes of people, but a synonym for justice and peace.”
In a response address he delivered, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal of Jordan noted that while Muslims and Christians do not share the same theology, they are “all in the same boat.” The prince, who serves as personal envoy and special adviser to King Abdullah II of Jordan, said people of faith face the same problems and opportunities. He highlighted, as in the “Common Word” document, that Christians and Muslims share the common commitment to love God and love one’s neighbor.
Prince Ghazi added “for both our religions harming religious minorities among us is evil, is absolutely forbidden and is ultimately a rejection of God’s love and a crime against God Himself.”
The prince did not hesitate to point out that while Christians are “clearly severely oppressed” by Muslims in countries such as Pakistan, Iraq and Sudan, there are places where Muslims are oppressed by Christians, such as in the Philippines. There are also places where it is not clear who is oppressing who, such as along the Muslim-Christian “fault line” in Sub-Sahara Africa.
“It should be possible in most of these cases to know and agree on what and who is wrong, and what must be said and done,” said Ghazi. “This, God willing, will be the substance of the deliberations taking place here over the next three days.”
The “Transforming Communities” consultation was joined by representatives of Christian world communions, including the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Protestant Evangelical and Pentecostal traditions.
A joint statement will be issued at the end of the consultation on Nov. 4.