Review article
Open letter of 138 Muslim Scholars to Christian Leaders
Mato Zovkić
; Catholic Faculty of Theology of Vrhbosna in Sarajevo
Abstract
The Open Letter of 138 Muslim leaders and scholars of October
13, 2007 to Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders was
preceded by three documents in which the King of Jordan Abdullah
II and some Muslim scholars adumbrated the love of God and of
neighbor as an efficient basis for Muslim-Christian dialogue: the
first issued in 2004, the second in 2005 and the third was the
Open Letter of 38 Muslim scholars of September 25, 2006 to Pope
Benedict on occasion of his speech at Augsburg. The 138 signatories of the Open Letter of October 13, 2007 quote the guidelines of the
Holy Qur’an in 3,64 on obedience to God as Creator and ultimate
Judge, 2,256 where Muslims are cautioned not to apply coercion
in matters of faith and the Prophet’s hadith: “None of you has
faith until you love for your neighbor what you love for yourself” in
presenting the love of God and the love of neighbor as two greatest
ethical commandments in Islam. They enlist a series of other
Qur’an quotations on the believers’ duty to love God and their fellow
humans, which includes absolute obedience to God and efficient
assistance to poor persons and needy ones of all kinds. In this basic
moral code of Muslims they see similarity with Jesus’ answer to the
question on the greatest commandment and they invite Christians
to dialogue in view of supporting full practice of religious freedom
in the modern world, respecting human rights and building up
a durable international peace. This author presents the answers
of Anglican, Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic individuals and
institutions. He specially depicts the first Catholic-Muslim seminar
which took place in Rome from November 4th to November 6th,
2008 as a direct answer to the Open Letter. At this seminar the
Catholic-Muslim Forum was established and the participants
committed themselves to continue their dialogue and cooperation.
Pope Benedict received them in audience where he listened to the
addresses of two Muslim participants and in his address reminded
all the participants that Muslims and Christians should hold a
dialogue and cooperate relying on the Golden Rule, although they
differ in theological justification of this universal ethical norm. In
the Open Letter and the answers of Christians published so far,
this author sees a new impulse to Christian-Muslim dialogue and
cooperation.
Keywords
love of God and love of neighbor; Qur’an; Gospel; Muhammad; Jesus; Muslims and Christians; peace in the world; human rights
Hrčak ID:
41917
URI
Publication date:
30.9.2009.
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