TOPICS
WHAT IS ISLAM?
EIGHTY-THREE per cent of Britons know "little or nothing" about Islam
Authors: Maximillien de Lafayette, T. Winters, David Waines, A. Jones, Malist Rhatveen, J.D. Lacroix.
It is primordial to address the issue of the dangers of ignorance and misunderstanding between the Islamic world and the West, and to elucidate the need for these two worlds to understand better the beliefs and values which can bind us together more powerfully than they need divide us. " Islam and Christianity evolved around similar and convergent social, philosophical and ethical values from the dawn of Islamic conquests by Mou'Awiya, Tarek Bin Ziyad, Khalifah Haroun Al Rashid to the most recent speeches given by the Pope in his worldwide tours. Both religions are similar in so many ways at so many levels." said Monthly Herald's J.D. Lacroix in a conference given to delegates from the United Nations in London.
A message from HRH The Prince of Wales
"We share as Muslims and Christians a powerful core of spiritual belief - in one divine God, in the transience of our earthly life, in our accountability for our actions, and in the assurance of life to come. We also share many key social values in common; including a respect for knowledge and justice, compassion towards the poor and the underprivileged, and a respect for the importance of family life. The West and Islam have a history which has often been closely bound up together. The tragedy - and the reality - is that both sides have so often seen that history as one of conflict and cruelty. Both sides have suffered in their understanding because ignorance and prejudice, the extreme and the superficial, have hijacked our view of each other - and often for good reasons. The point is not that either side has a monopoly of the truth, or can lay claim more exclusively to a picture which is more true.
But the
dangerous result of each side failing to understand the other is that
misunderstandings are perpetuated, and can so easily degenerate into suspicion
and hatred. We need, above all, therefore, to appreciate how others look at
the world, its history and our respective roles in it. Just as we in the West
need to understand the Islamic world better, so we must also understand - as
part of that knowledge - the extent to which many Muslims genuinely fear our
own Western materialism and mass culture as a deadly challenge to their own
Islamic culture and way of life. I spoke eight years ago of the urgent need
for understanding and tolerance between Islam and the West, which seemed even
at that time to be at something of a crossroads in their relations. That need
is even greater now, not only because of the threatening international
circumstances in which we find ourselves, but also because of the worries and
concerns which exist within Britain between different communities. We need,
therefore, to work ever harder on all sides to understand each other, and to
lay this ghost of suspicion and fear if we are to create a better and safer
world for future generations. I very much hope that this supplement will help
that process."
The article continues on the following pages.