Islam and the West: Annual Report on the State of Dialogue

attention. However, much of <strong>the</strong> impetus for Muslim-<strong>West</strong>
dialogue comes from <strong>the</strong> local level. Community responses
to tensions sparked by issues including school curricula <strong>and</strong>
<strong>the</strong> construction of places of worship can bring local leaders
toge<strong>the</strong>r to solve problems <strong>and</strong> build trust across religious,
ethnic <strong>and</strong> cultural lines.
Face-to-face iterative dialogue often has <strong>the</strong> most direct
impact on people’s lives. It rarely, however, receives much
attention from national <strong>and</strong> international media <strong>and</strong>, perhaps
more significant, from national <strong>and</strong> international leaders. A
frequent lack of Internet presence makes it all but invisible to
a broader public.
Shining more light on <strong>the</strong> grass roots can address this gap
in two ways. First, it can bring local activities to <strong>the</strong> attention
of leaders <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> media <strong>and</strong> point to reservoirs of political
support for more ambitious national <strong>and</strong> international efforts.
Second, it can facilitate a sharing of best practices about
how to convene people, set agendas, exchange views <strong>and</strong>
fur<strong>the</strong>r practical collaboration.
Both this report <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> more comprehensive database of
dialogue efforts associated with it – islamwest.org – let
people see <strong>the</strong>mselves as part of a transnational effort to
engage <strong>the</strong> perspectives <strong>and</strong> concerns of o<strong>the</strong>rs in a spirit
of openness <strong>and</strong> pragmatism.
The Politics/Religion Gap: Over <strong>the</strong> past decade, political
leaders in both <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Muslim world have increasingly
woven religion, ethics <strong>and</strong> identity through <strong>the</strong>ir rhetoric.
Sometimes this has a large dose of self-justification, more
akin to monologue than dialogue. In many situations, however,
it encompasses good faith efforts to advance intercultural
underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>and</strong> find common ground.
While such public rhetoric can help to set <strong>the</strong> tone for more
substantive efforts within <strong>the</strong> state <strong>and</strong> civil society, political
leaders often have little direct contact or interaction with
diverse religious leaders. Given <strong>the</strong> importance of Muslim-
<strong>West</strong> dialogue, political leaders would do well to reach out
more proactively to faith communities, individually <strong>and</strong>
through interfaith groupings, in order to underst<strong>and</strong> better
<strong>the</strong>ir motivations <strong>and</strong> support <strong>the</strong>ir engagement with one
ano<strong>the</strong>r around pressing policy challenges.
A common counsel also is to reach beyond “comfortable”
agreements to draw in groups that tend to perceive issues
outside <strong>the</strong> dominant paradigm. A radical secularism opposed
to religious discourse <strong>and</strong> actors in politics may oppose
such engagement in principle, pointing to <strong>the</strong> danger of
injecting <strong>the</strong>ology into politics. But in an era when religion
shapes politics <strong>and</strong> society, whe<strong>the</strong>r we like it or not,
openness to faith communities is more productive <strong>and</strong> far-
sighted than ignoring or stifling <strong>the</strong>m.
The work of <strong>the</strong> World Economic Forum’s Community on
<strong>West</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Islam</strong> Dialogue (C-100), which brings toge<strong>the</strong>r
political <strong>and</strong> religious leaders, is one example of a way forward.
The UN’s Alliance of Civilizations is ano<strong>the</strong>r major initiative.
The Business-Professions Gap. Business people <strong>and</strong>
practitioners of <strong>the</strong> long established professions, including
education, law <strong>and</strong> medicine, are among <strong>the</strong> most respected
<strong>and</strong> influential actors in today's world. Business prides itself
on discipline, delivery of results, <strong>and</strong> innovation; <strong>the</strong> professions
on high st<strong>and</strong>ards of ethics <strong>and</strong> excellence. This is as true in
<strong>the</strong> Muslim world as it is in <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>.
Over <strong>the</strong> past decade, dialogue <strong>and</strong> debate about corporate
social responsibility <strong>and</strong> educational, legal <strong>and</strong> medical ethics
have intensified, at <strong>the</strong> local, national, <strong>and</strong> international
levels. To date, however, conversations in both business <strong>and</strong>
professional circles have rarely been linked to <strong>the</strong> parallel
<strong>and</strong> active Muslim-<strong>West</strong> dialogue addressed in this report.
Religious leaders have engaged one ano<strong>the</strong>r <strong>and</strong>, to some
degree, political elites. The media <strong>and</strong> public opinion have
played an important role. But structured interaction with
business <strong>and</strong> professional leaders has been quite rare.
If Muslim-<strong>West</strong> dialogue is to move effectively beyond
<strong>the</strong>ological <strong>and</strong> ideological questions towards practical
efforts to address global economic <strong>and</strong> social challenges,
leaders across civil society must be engaged more fully.
Here, <strong>the</strong> World Economic Forum’s C-100 has <strong>the</strong>
opportunity to play a catalytic role.
<strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>: <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on <strong>the</strong> State of Dialogue Conclusions <strong>and</strong> Paths Forward
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