Muslim Scholars Reach out to Pope

BBC News - London, U.K.
Thursday, October 11, 2007

More than 130 Muslim scholars have written to Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders urging greater understanding between the two faiths.

The letter says that world peace could depend on improved relations between Muslims and Christians.

It identifies the principles of accepting only one god and living in peace with one's neighbours as common ground between the two religions.

The letter coincides with the Eid al-Fitr celebrations to mark the end of Ramadan.

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One of the signatories, Dr. Aref Ali Nayed, a senior adviser at the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme at Cambridge University, told the BBC that the document should be seen as a landmark.

"There are Sunnis, Shias, Ibadis, Ismailian and Jaafari schools, so it's a consensus," he said.

Professor David Ford, director of the programme, said the letter was unprecedented.

"If sufficient people and groups heed this statement and act on it then the atmosphere will be changed into one in which violent extremists cannot flourish," he said in a statement.

The letter was signed by prominent Muslim leaders, politicians and academics, including the Grand Muftis of Bosnia and Hercegovina, Russia, Croatia, Kosovo and Syria, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the former Grand Mufti of Egypt and the founder of the Ulema Organisation in Iraq.

To read the Letter:
Open letter to Pope Benedict XVI [227KB]

[picture: Lake Mapourika, New Zealand. Photo from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace]

To go to the official site, read more, read the letter in English or in its translations (Arabic, French and Italian), and to endorse the letter, click here: http://www.acommonword.com/