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The “Common Word” initiative gained worldwide prominence with the letter sponsored by Prince Ghazi of Jordan and signed by 138 Muslim scholars from more than 40 countries, which was sent to Pope Benedict XVI and to other Christian leaders on 13 October 2007. The letter has subsequently prompted serious responses from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Secretary General of the World Council of Churches, and various Orthodox patriarchs, and has engendered academic conferences in universities such as Yale, Cambridge, and Georgetown and at a seminar in Vatican attended by Pope Benedict.

By comparison, the more recent “Makkah Appeal” has received relatively little attention, even though this Saudi initiative has the potential to exert broader influence within the Islamic umma than the “Common Word” project, which is better known in Christian circles. The Makkah [Mecca] Appeal was first announced in a speech made in March, 2009, by King Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz al-Sa’ud at the Sixth Forum for Dialogue of Civilizations between the Muslim world and Japan. In his religious role as Protector of the Two Holy Mosques [in Mecca and Madina], the King announced:

“For the last two years, I have been concerned about the crisis that has overwhelmed humanity in our time, a crisis that has unbalanced minds, morals and the essence of humanity.  It has become clear to me that I should call the representatives of the heavenly religions to meet as brothers who have in common their conviction and sincerity toward their respective religion and their approach to one God for the sake of looking at how humanity might be saved from its suffering.”

The King then made his intention clear:

“As soon as possible, there will be a conference to take the opinion of Muslims from around the world, after which we will meet with other brothers from among the followers of the religions that I have mentioned, as well as others who are known for their humanitarian and ethical approach and who agree on what can safe­guard humanity from wrongdoing committed even by the followers of these religions.”

It is interesting to note that Abdullah’s project was to be carried out in two steps.  Firstly, he would call together Muslims from around the world to exchange views related to the legitimacy for Muslims to engage in interreligious dialogue.  The purpose was obviously to achieve a consensus among the scholars that could form a sound basis on which the King could confidently move to the next step of his program, that of inviting representatives of other religions to a dialogue encounter.

It is also worth noting that already at this earliest mention of the initiative, the King’s intention was not limited to the three “Heavenly Religions” of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but extended as well to the followers of other religions who are concerned about humanitarian and ethical issues.  In this sense, the Makkah Appeal is broader in scope than the “Common Word” initiative, which consciously chose to limit its appeal to Christian leaders and called on their Christian counterparts to recognize with them the basic elements of love for God and neighbor that characterize the two religions.

Here I will focus on the first step of King Abdullah’s dialogue project, the International Islamic Conference for Dialogue, held in Mecca on 4-6 June 2008, and on its final declaration, the “Makkah Appeal.”  More than 600 participants from 50 countries took part.  King Abdullah delivered the opening address, calling on his fellow to “commence our dialogue with the confidence we derive from our belief in God and with knowledge taken from the tolerance of religion, that we debate in the best and most gracious way.  What we agree on, we hold fast to and place in our hearts, and what we disagree on, we refer to God.”

Just as the “Common Word” initiative was characterized by an internal dialogue that transcended historical Sunni-Shi’i antagonisms, so also the Mecca conference aimed at broad consensus by inviting the prominent Shi’i scholar and leader, Ayatollah Rafsanjani, to deliver a major address at the opening session.  Also speaking at the inaugural session were the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Aziz bin Abdullah Al-Shaykh; Dr. M. Sayyid Tantawi, the Shaykh al-Azhar; and the Secretary General of the World Muslim League, Dr. Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Muhsin al-Turki.

The Makkah Appeal, which appeared in the form of the confrence’s Final Statement, summarizes these opening addresses, and then takes up the four major points discussed during the conference.  These are:

A. The Islamic legitimacy for dialogue,

B. The methodology, guidelines, and means of dialogue,

C. The partners in dialogue,

D. The bases and themes of dialogue.

A. On the first point, the conference concluded that the cause of differences between nations and peoples, as well as their religious and cultural distinction, are the will of God.  Since this divinely willed diversity demands that people of various backgrounds know one another and work together for what is good, dialogue must be seen as an authentic Qur’anic methodology.  The society of Madina in the time of the Prophet is held up as a model of positive coexistence, and the Constitution of Madina, which regulated relations between Muslims, Jews, and pagans, can be emulated even today as the basis for civilized coexistence.

The section concludes by enumerating nine benefits that Muslims can derive from dialogue with others.  Through dialogue, Muslims can:

1) introduce the principles and humane qualities of Islam, so that Muslims can make an effective contribution to the progress of civilization,

2) refute unjust allegations against Islam,

3) help confront challenges and offer solutions to the problems facing humankind,

4) support and defend just causes and help form international public opinion,

5) show the inadequacy of “clash of civilization” theories,

6) become acquainted with people of other faiths and their cultures and establish common principles for peaceful coexistence,

7) resolve problems between Muslims and others that may arise in various places,

8) enable Muslims to join multi-civilizational efforts to protect world peace, and

9) foster communication among Muslims to achieve the unity of the umma.

B. The second broad topic studied was the methodology of dialogue, the dos and don’ts of interreligious encounter.  As always, it is the practice of the Prophet that is seen as guiding model for forming the behavior of Muslims.  The conference affirmed two basic principles of dialogue.

1)    Dialogue should aim at objectivity and be carried out with rational argumentation, without ridiculing the beliefs of others.

2)    The purpose of dialogue is not to compromise principles or to seek to merge religions. Dialogue, rather, aims at cooperating for the common good, preserving human dignity and rights, opposing injustice, and securing a decent life for all.

This section concluded with some concrete proposals for promoting dialogue, urging that a specialized team within the Muslim World League be given the task of animating Muslims in dialogue activities, that a King Abdullah Center for Civilizational Dialogue be set up, that a King Abdullah Dialogue Award be given to persons who have made a significant contribution to dialogue, and that symposiums and meetings of research teams be organized.

C. The third point concerns the partners in dialogue.  Participants reviewed various efforts at dialogue that have occurred within the past 50 years and concluded:

1) Dialogue should be held on political, academic, and media topics and not confined to religious discussions or limited to religious authorities.

2) The offer of dialogue should be extended also to those who have expressed openly anti-Islamic views.

3) The World Muslim League should publish guidelines for dialogue and convene a conference on the dangers of the theory of “clash of civilizations.”

4) International organizations like the United Nations should confront the culture of hatred and sectarian calls for hatred against others.

5) Muslims living as minorities are especially urged to enter into dialogue with co-nationals.

6) Islamic organizations should unite to protest incidents of Islamophobia to the U.N.

D. The final area of study was the basis and themes of dialogue.  The Qur’anic basis for dialogue is the common unity of the origin of humankind and a hadith-based rejection of sectarianism, fanaticism, and hegemony.  Moreover, the Qur’an teaches that God has created humans with a natural instinct to love peace, hate evil, accept justice, and reject injustice, and that human suffering arises from people’s rejection of God’s guidance.

The conference held that the following topics were suitable for interreligious study and discussion.

1)    defense of moral values against the degeneration brought about by unrestrained individual liberty,

2)    the root causes of violence and terrorism,

3)    injustice, oppression, exploitation of the poor,

4)    destruction of the environment,

5)    problems of the family and threats to marriage and reproduction,

6)    the media, with both its potential for promoting harmony and that of fostering hatred and moral collapse,

7)    human rights and their violations.

The conference concluded with a declaration of principles to “Peoples, Governments and Organizations.”  In all, one must say that this document is a quite comprehensive affirmation of the legitimacy and importance of interreligious dialogue from an Islamic perspective.  Some Muslims or non-Muslims can disagree with one or another point or prefer to see issues phrased differently, but on the whole the document is a very welcome statement of the Islamic approach to dialogue.

It is tempting to compare this broad commitment to dialogue on the part of the Muslim community to the Nostra Aetate document issued by the Catholic Church’s Second Vatican Council in 1965.  There are two significant differences, however.  Even a conference with over 600 Muslim scholars convened by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques does not have the same binding, authoritative character among Muslims that an Ecumenical Council has for Catholics.  Secondly, the Meccan conference was more of ad hoc nature in that the Saudi king was seeking an Islamic consensus on dialogue as a basis on which to pursue his desire to convene a truly interreligious encounter.  This encounter was in fact held in Madrid less than two months after the Mecca conference.

The Madrid meeting, held on 16-18 July 2008, was entitled the “World Conference on Religion” and appeared to some observers as an event comparable to Vatican II’s commitment to interreligious dialogue.  Reuters reported one participant, the Rabbi Burton Visotzky of New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary as stating: “to see King Abdullah come and sit in a room with Christians, Jews, and other religious leaders is a moment in Islam much like what Vatican II was for Catholic theology.”

The Makkah Appeal has another similarity to Nostra Aetate, in that both have to be “received” by their constituencies in order to effect a change of thinking and practice.  If either document is allowed to become a “dead letter,” it will be of no more interest than an historical footnote.  At this moment, many are waiting to see how King Abdullah of the House of Sa’ud, the World Muslim League, and the scholars from over 50 countries who took part in the Mecca Conference will make the Makkah Appeal a living force for promoting dialogue within the international Muslim community.