Common Ground - Islam and Buddhism

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
May Peace and Blessings be upon the Prophet Muhammad
Introduction to Common Ground
By H. R. H. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad
The Religions of the World and World Peace
As of the year 2010 CE, 1431 AH, at least 80% of the world’s population
of 6.7 billion humans belong to four of the world’s many religions.
Four out of five people on earth are either Christian (32%),
Muslim (23%), Hindu (14%) or Buddhist (12%). Since religion
(from the Latin ‘re-ligio’, meaning to ‘re-tie’ [man to Heaven]) is
arguably the most powerful force in shaping people’s attitudes and
behaviour — in theory if not in practice — it follows logically that
if there is to be peace and harmony in the world there must peace
and harmony between religions as such, and in particular between
the world’s four largest religions.
On October 13 th 2007, 138 of the world’s leading Muslim scholars
and intellectuals (including such figures as the Grand Muftis of Egypt,
Syria, Jordan, Oman, Bosnia, Russia, and Istanbul) sent an Open Letter
to the religious leaders of Christianity. It was addressed to the leaders of
the Christian churches and denominations of the entire world, starting
with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. In essence, the Open Letter proposed,
based on verses from the Holy Qur’ān and the Holy Bible, that
Islam and Christianity share, at their core, the twin ‘golden’ commandments
of the paramount importance of loving God and loving one’s
neighbour. Based on this joint common ground, it called for peace and
harmony between Christians and Muslims worldwide.
That Open Letter led to a historical global peace movement between
Muslims and Christians specifically (as can be seen on www.
acommonword.com), and whilst it has not reduced wars as such between
Muslims and Christians or ended mutual hatred and prejudice,
it has done a lot of good, by the Grace of God, and has noticeably
changed the tone between Muslim and Christian religious leaders and
somewhat deepened true understanding of each other’s religions in significant
ways. The A Common Word initiative was certainly not alone
on the world’s stage in attempting to make things better between people
of faith (one thinks in particular of the Alliance of Civilizations, H. M.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia’s Interfaith Initiative and President
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