Future Prospects of Muslim-Western Dialogue

 Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri

Current situation of dialogue with the West :

Over one quarter of a century has elapsed after the start of dialogue between Muslims and the West in its novel formula on the religious and political levels, called "Islamic-Christian Dialogue" and "Arab-European dialogue". What are the benefits of such dialogue for Arabs and Muslims? What did the West itself, which called for this dialogue benefit from this dialogue?

Before attempting to answer this question, which we consider to be one of the topical questions in the course of this research, it is advisable to start with an essential question which must be answered if we want to tackle the theme of this paper accurately.

The question is : Why did the invitation to dialogue emanate from the West, and not from the Muslims although the latter's religion and ethics call for tolerance and peaceful life?

What are the motives behind the initiative taken by certain Western institutions to invite some circles in the Muslim societies to enter into dialogue?

What are the reasons which generated the idea of Islamic - Christian dialogue first, then the idea of Arab-European dialogue afterwards?

Everybody knows that the political climate which prevailed throughout the world, in general, and in the Middle-East, in particular, in the aftermath of the War of June of 1967, was the main reason behind the emergence of the idea of Arab-European Dialogue. Dialogue between Muslims and the West has made much headway on this political level, then it stopped.

It was then resumed for a short while on the morrow of the Ramadan War of 1973 and definitively halted.

The resumption of the Arab-European dialogue policy in the aftermath of the Ramadan War was ascribed to the rise of oil prices, on the one hand, and the emergence of Arabs as an influential power in international economics as a result of the stance adopted by the oil-producing Arab countries during the war, on the other.

In contrast, the reasons which led the West, in particular the Western Church, to announce the idea of dialogue with Muslims are not sufficiently clear.

The first remark which jumps to mind is the fact that the idea of Dialogue with the West has  unfolded in the church,

which gave dialogue a religious tinge. Hence the appearance of what has been called for a third of a century the "Islamic-Christian Dialogue". As a result, whenever there is a mention of dialogue with the West, it is "Islamic-Christian Dialogue" which jumps to mind to the extent that it has come to stand as a symbol of the dialogue of Muslims and the West.

The Islamic-Christian dialogue has a historical background which needs to be briefly reviewed. For the first time in the history of the Western Church, the Second Vatican Foundation (1962-1965) discussed the relationship between the Church and the non-Christian religious from the points of view of faith and doctrine. A special declaration called "mostra aetate" was released on the relationship between the church and the non-Christian religions. This foundation has attached special importance to Islam. For the first time in the fourteen centuries of the existence of Christianity side by side with Islam, a catholic ecumenical foundation has spoken positively about Islam, recognizing its distinct religious status(Islam and Christianity, Alexis Jurawski. Translated by Dr. Khalaf Muhammed, Al-Jarrad, revised and prefaced par Dr. Mahmud Hamdi Zaqzuq, "Alam, Al-Ma'arifa series", Issue 215, Nov. 1996, p. 137.). Since then, many developments occurred in the relation between Islam and Christianity, foremost of them is the speech delivered by Pope Paul VI in Amman and Al-Quds in 1964, in which he addressed a brotherly greeting to the Muslims, inviting the Ecumenical Church to pay special respect to the followers of monotheist religions, who worship the one real God(Ibid., p. 140.). In May 1964, Pope Paul VI announced the creation of a secretariat for non-Christian religious affairs, which would subsequently assume the function of running the affairs of dialogue with Muslims. In August of the same year, Pope Paul VI addressed an Ecclesiam Suan, i.e. a comprehensive church message, which emphasized the necessity of initiating dialogue with all the faithful and those infused with sincere will with a view to establishing new relations between the church and the other religions existing in the world.

The message stressed the need to achieve rapprochement and dialogue with the Muslims in particular(Ibid., p. 140.).

Although we cannot venture to make hasty forecasts about the future of Islamic-Christian relations because a mere quarter of a century of courteous dialogue cannot compare with fourteen centuries of religious dispute and discord, it must be granted that the initiatives taken by the church following that of the Second Vatican Foundation show that the call for dialogue with the Islamic religion is not, as indeed upheld by a specialized researcher in this issue, a politico-theological manœuvre dictated by temporary, circumstantial interests, but rather an integrated line of action on the long-term(Ibid., p. 153.).

In this connection, the Muslim researchers engrossed in the analysis of the dimensions of this issue is entitled to wonder about the long-term objectives of this integrated line of action designed by the Western Church for dialogue with Muslims.

If the idea of Islamic-Christian dialogue has unfolded in such a climate infused with the spirit of receptiveness and desire of rapprochement with the followers of the revealed religions, or

according to the Vatican's expression : "The non-Christian religions", what is the goal behind the emergence of this idea at origin ? At any rate, being well-intentioned and inclined to deal

with reality as it is, we, as Muslims, accept to be party of this type of dialogue even though it has not been in our opinion satisfactory in the way that we want. Some of the express stances of the Vatican Church(By Western Church, we mean the Vatican in order not to confuse it with the Eastern Church, some of whose followers are citizens of some Arab-Muslim countries.) vis-à-vis some of the issues related to the life of Arabs and Muslims lack, indeed, the spirit of equity, justice and objectivity when viewed through the prism of human principles, justice and international law, such as its position visà-vis the cause of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, which contradicts, in essence, the Arab-Islamic stance expressed in the resolutions of the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, in addition to its position with regard to the fierce war waged against Bosnia-Herzegovina, a position lacking resolve when it could have been more bold and equitable.

Up to now, about thirty rounds of the Islamic-Christian dialogue have been held in several capitals, taking the form of conferences, symposia, seminars and joint meetings, during which important issues were discussed, issues chosen mainly by the Christian side. Yet, the result reached by these rounds are not as valuable and important as we expect from a dialogue of Muslims with the Christian West.

A realistic analysis of the dialogue of Muslims with the Christian West will certainly dissuade us from aspiring to a perfect convergence of views on issues discussed by both parties during the dialogue. Even if it may occur in political matters through bilateral talks among governmental parties, this perfect convergence cannot possibly take place in cultural and intellectual issues.

This is only natural since each party adheres to its own faith, philosophy and perception of things. Nevertheless, we hope that dialogue with the West will evolve in terms of style, method and philosophy, not to tally perfectly with what we want ourselves, but to tally, in the first place, with the new spirit prevailing in the world today, with the principles of international legitimacy based on the resolutions of the United Nations, so that dialogue may become an efficient means for building new foundations of international relations.

If the insignificant impact of the Islamic-Christian dialogue is far below the hopes pinned on it, the Arab-European dialogue in its broad politico-economic framework has not achieved to date any one of the objectives set for it. Is, therefore, the idea of dialogue a barren one? Or does the idea itself need to be developed to keep abreast of the spirit of the modern epoch? Or is the reason behind this weakness and failure ascribed to the lack of the main requisites of any dialogue, namely the equality of parties of dialogue?

At any rate, the dialogue between Muslims and the West, whether at religious, political or economic level, is badly in need of a self-evaluation conducted on the bases, principles, objectives, ways and means at the same time. A minute, comprehensive assessment has to take place, analysing results and data, in order to finally redress the aspects calling for correction.