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Muslim-Christian Summit in Rome in Attempt to Stop War
CAIRO, Oct 1 (IslamOnline) - The Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio will host the first Muslim-Christian summit since the deadly September 11th attacks in Washington and New York
The meeting, scheduled to take place on October 3-4, is set to discuss ways to spare the world the negative repercussions of the attacks and the scourges of an imminent all-out war.
Before his flight Monday to Vatican City to take part in the summit, Egyptian Islamic scholar Mohammad Selim el-`Awa told IslamOnline that the meeting of Christian and Muslim leaderships aims at formulating a clear vision of the U.S. attacks and the war threatening Afghanistan, in the context of world justice and protection of human rights.
He added that the summit would call on all devout Muslims and Christians worldwide to remain committed to the sublime values of their faiths.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is scheduled to meet with a number of Vatican leadership officials and Muslim scholars.
El-`Awa also said numerous Muslim scholars and thinkers (both Sunni and Shi`ite) would take part in the upcoming summit, including Sheikh Yussef el-Qaradawi, Egyptian Islamic scholar; Ahmed Kamal aboul-Magd, Egyptian writer and journalist; Fahmi Howeidy; Sheikh `Abdullah bin Beih, from Mauritania; Ayah Sa`id al-No`many from Iran; Egypt's Mufti (top scholar) Nasr Fareed Wassel; and Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahayan's advisor, Ezz el-Din Ibrahim.
The Christian side at the summit el-`Awa told IslamOnline would be headed by Cardinal Marteeny Monseignior on behalf of Pope John Paul II, a number of Cardinals from the United States, Europe and Africa and would include representatives of the Orthodox Church and the Protestant Church in the U.S.
IslamOnline was informed that Muslim scholars will exert all possible efforts to reach a resolution of the current crisis by proposing an international trial for alleged suspects in terrorist attacks, and would advocate international inspection of the alleged terrorist bases - a solution on which hinges the success of the summit.
The announcement of a Muslim-Christian summit coincides with Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa's call Sunday for the formation of a council of Arab and Muslim scholars to counter the numerous accusations flung by several ruling circles in the West against Islam. Mussa's initiative will be discussed at the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Foreign Ministers meeting in Doha in October.
On Thursday, Mussa demanded an apology from Berlusconi for racist and anti-Islamic statements in which he claimed that Western civilizations were superior to Islam - statements Berlusconi later apologized for, saying he was "misinterpreted".
Muslim communities in the West have recently been subjected to a wave of hate crimes and oppression following the deadly U.S. attacks blamed by Washington on Osama bin Laden and his al-Qa'eda group - accusations bin Laden has "categorically" denied.
Observers expect the upcoming Muslim-Christian summit to discuss the accusations hurled against Islam, and to emphasize the urgency of stopping hate campaigns against Muslim minorities in the West.
Observers further expect the summit to secure a joint declaration reflecting both parties' viewpoints on means by which to block the U.S.'s imminent war on already war-ravaged Afghanistan.
On September 12-16, the Community of Sant'Egidio sent two representatives to take part in the meeting focusing on "Christians and Muslims in Europe: Responsibilities and Religious Commitment in a Pluralist Society," which was held in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Nearly one hundred experts on Islamic-Christian dialogue, and Orthodox Catholics and Muslims took part in the meeting.
On the second day of the meeting, a joint press release on the terrorist attack on New York and Washington was issued.
The Community of Sant'Egidio began in Rome in 1968, in the period following the Second Vatican Council. Today it is a movement of lay people and boasts more than 40,000 members dedicated to evangelization and charity in Italy and in more than 60 countries throughout the world.
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