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September
19, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 16Oakland,
CA
Jordanian king calls upon faiths to defeat extremism
WASHINGTON
— Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Sept. 13 called on Jews, Christians
and Muslims around the world to “live by a common word of faith”
in order to defeat religious extremism.
The king, in a speech at Catholic University’s Columbus School of
Law, said Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed his respect for Muslim people and
his commitment to dialogue during an audience with Abdullah on Sept. 12.
“But there are those who think there is or will be a clash of civilizations,
and ... this idea is held by far too many people, both in the West and
Muslim countries,” Abdullah said during his 15-minute speech.
“Worse, there are those who want conflict to occur and are actively
working to that end.”
“For all our sakes, we must turn away from such a path. We need
a dialogue of deeds as well as words,” he said.
The speech, titled “Traditional Islam: the Path to Peace,”
was the king’s only major address in Washington before he headed
to the U.N. General Assembly, which opened Sept. 14 in New York.
The king pointed to his own initiative to promote moderate Islam, launched
last November. The “Amman Message” on Islam, as it is known,
draws on Muslim history and sacred scripture to argue for tolerant, nonviolent
expressions of faith.
His most notable accomplishment in this vein has been the hosting of a
conference last July, which brought together senior Islamic scholars from
45 countries. The gathering affirmed that extremists cannot justify violence
against other Muslims on grounds of apostasy.
The summit also said religious edicts, or fatwas, could only be issued
by qualified scholars, not untrained extremist leaders. That declaration
prompted U.S. Muslim groups to give their most robust condemnation of
terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
The ultimate goal of the Amman message, Abdullah said, is “to take
back our religion from violent and ignorant extremists.”
“They don’t speak for Islam anymore than Christian terrorists
speak for Christianity. The real voice of faith will be and must be heard,”
he said.
Joseph Grieboski, president of the Washington-based Institute on Religion
and Public Policy, said Abdullah, and his progressive counterpart in Morocco,
King Muhammed VI, are providing key moral, academic and political support
to moderate Muslims around the world.
“There had been no support or development of that silent majority.
That’s why it was so easy for extreme fringes to take the lead they
did,” he said.
Washington’s Cardinal Theodore McCarrick closed the event by praising
Abdullah for his courage and leadership. “You have said things we
have looked forward to hearing from Muslim leaders.”
Pope Benedict greets Jordanian King Abdullah, Sept. 12,
at Castelgandolfo on the outskirts of Rome.
RNS PHOTOO/ REUTERS/Osservatore Romano
