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Saudi king calls for dialogue among different religions
"RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah has made an impassioned plea for dialogue among Muslims, Christians and Jews — the first such proposal from ultraconservative Saudi Arabia, which has no ties to Israel and bans public non-Muslim religious services.
The message from the Saudi monarch, who met with Pope Benedict XVI in November, comes at a time of tensions between followers of the three religions. Muslims have been angered by cartoons published in European papers seen as insulting the Prophet Muhammad — and the pope's baptizing on Easter of a Muslim commentator who converted to Catholicism has also raised eyebrows.
"The idea is to ask representatives of all monotheistic religions to sit together with their brothers in faith and sincerity to all religions as we all believe in the same God," the king told delegates Monday night at a seminar on "Culture and the Respect of Religions."
Abdullah's call is significant and could add weight to sporadic efforts at dialogue among religious leaders in recent years. The Saudi monarch is the custodian of Islam's two holiest shrines in Mecca and Medina, a position that lends his words special importance and influence among many Muslims. He said Saudi Arabia's top clerics have given him the green light to the idea — crucial backing in a society which expects decisions taken by its rulers to adhere to Islam's tenets."
Saudi king calls for dialogue among different religions - International Herald Tribune
"RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah has made an impassioned plea for dialogue among Muslims, Christians and Jews — the first such proposal from ultraconservative Saudi Arabia, which has no ties to Israel and bans public non-Muslim religious services.
The message from the Saudi monarch, who met with Pope Benedict XVI in November, comes at a time of tensions between followers of the three religions. Muslims have been angered by cartoons published in European papers seen as insulting the Prophet Muhammad — and the pope's baptizing on Easter of a Muslim commentator who converted to Catholicism has also raised eyebrows.
"The idea is to ask representatives of all monotheistic religions to sit together with their brothers in faith and sincerity to all religions as we all believe in the same God," the king told delegates Monday night at a seminar on "Culture and the Respect of Religions."
Abdullah's call is significant and could add weight to sporadic efforts at dialogue among religious leaders in recent years. The Saudi monarch is the custodian of Islam's two holiest shrines in Mecca and Medina, a position that lends his words special importance and influence among many Muslims. He said Saudi Arabia's top clerics have given him the green light to the idea — crucial backing in a society which expects decisions taken by its rulers to adhere to Islam's tenets."
Saudi king calls for dialogue among different religions - International Herald Tribune
