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

<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
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Religion, Ethics <strong>and</strong> Ideology
“deeply sorry” for <strong>the</strong> response to his speech.
“These in fact were quotations from a medieval
text,” he insisted, “which do not in any way
express my personal thought.” Benedict received
several groups of Muslim leaders in <strong>the</strong> weeks
immediately after <strong>the</strong> speech <strong>and</strong>, during a
historic trip to Istanbul in November 2006,
underscored his respect for <strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> for Muslims
through words <strong>and</strong> gestures, including a visit
to <strong>the</strong> Blue Mosque.
Just as significantly, <strong>the</strong> Vatican altered <strong>the</strong>
initial, provisional official English translation of
<strong>the</strong> speech. Benedict now noted that <strong>the</strong>
emperor’s remark was made not just “somewhat
brusquely” but with a “brusqueness that we
find unacceptable.” He added an explanatory
footnote: “In <strong>the</strong> Muslim world, this quotation
has unfortunately been taken as an expression
of my personal position, thus arousing under-
st<strong>and</strong>able indignation. I hope that <strong>the</strong> reader of
my text can see immediately that this sentence
does not express my personal view of <strong>the</strong>
Qur’an, for which I have <strong>the</strong> respect due to <strong>the</strong>
holy book of a great religion.”
“ Dialogue can be a way to
reach out to, <strong>and</strong> potentially
transform, extremists…
But such efforts come with
significant risks.”
Thomas Banchoff
Some Muslim leaders rejected <strong>the</strong>se overtures
<strong>and</strong> called for an unambiguous apology. O<strong>the</strong>rs
have seized upon <strong>the</strong> controversy as a means
to deepen interfaith dialogue. For example, 38
leading clerics <strong>and</strong> academics endorsed an open
letter in October 2006 in which <strong>the</strong>y noted that
Christianity <strong>and</strong> <strong>Islam</strong> toge<strong>the</strong>r “make up more
than 55% of <strong>the</strong> world’s population, making <strong>the</strong>
relationship between <strong>the</strong>se two religious
communities <strong>the</strong> most important factor in
contributing to meaningful peace around <strong>the</strong>
world.” They called <strong>the</strong> Pope “arguably <strong>the</strong>
single most influential voice in continuing to
move this relationship forward in <strong>the</strong> direction
of mutual underst<strong>and</strong>ing.”
The signatories rejected any connection between
<strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> illegitimate violence, <strong>and</strong> insisted
strongly on <strong>the</strong> compatibility of <strong>Islam</strong> with
reason. They supported <strong>the</strong> Pope’s call for
“frank <strong>and</strong> sincere dialogue” <strong>and</strong> acknowledged
his apology. The letter concluded: “We hope
that we will all avoid <strong>the</strong> mistakes of <strong>the</strong> past
<strong>and</strong> live toge<strong>the</strong>r in <strong>the</strong> future in peace, mutual
acceptance <strong>and</strong> respect.” Muslim efforts to
engage <strong>the</strong> Pope in direct dialogue continued
in 2007 with <strong>the</strong> release in October of a letter
signed by 138 leaders, ACommonWord
Between Us <strong>and</strong> You, thatproposed<strong>the</strong>ological
<strong>and</strong> ethical commonalities across between
<strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> Christianity as a basis for far-reaching
dialogue <strong>and</strong> engagement.
Both letters raised <strong>the</strong> question: Who speaks
for <strong>the</strong> Muslim world? The Pope does not
speak for all Christians, <strong>and</strong> his views on
interreligious questions are contested within
<strong>the</strong> Catholic Church itself. At <strong>the</strong> same time,
<strong>the</strong> papacy does represent an official Christian
voice <strong>and</strong> interlocutor. In an effort to counteract
fragmentation within <strong>the</strong> more decentralized
Muslim world <strong>and</strong> to isolate extremists, King
Abdullah II of Jordan supported <strong>the</strong> proclamation
of <strong>the</strong> Amman Message in November 2004.
Developed with <strong>the</strong> input of leading <strong>Islam</strong>ic
scholars, <strong>the</strong> Amman Message recognized
established schools of law, forbade charges of
apostasy among Muslims <strong>and</strong> set forth <strong>the</strong>
preconditions for authoritative legal rulings or
fatawa. Over<strong>the</strong>nexttwoyears,<strong>the</strong>Amman