On 13 October 2007, 138 leading Muslims signed a document called A Common Word between Us and You . They invited the worldwide Church to a dialogue with Islam. Christians have since then responded in many different ways to this document. Without going into the details of these responses, we present some of those to you here.
The Islamic leaders suggested what the basis for this dialogue should be: ‘come together with us on the common essentials of our two religion, that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside God…’ (Qur’an 3:64)
The first formal reaction to A Common Word between Us and You was the publication of an advertisement in the New York Times of 18 November 2007, titled Loving God and Neighbor Together: A Christian Response to A Common Word Between Us and You. The advertisement was an initiative of some professor from Yale University. An impressive array of Christians, many with an active involvement in mission in the Muslim World, signed this rather positive reaction.
It is interesting to see whether more serious dialogue between Muslims and Christians will materialize. For now, it seems that the major impact of the Islamic initiative has been rather divisive among Christians. Both the Muslim initiative and the advertisement in the New York Times had been strongly criticized by many Christians. Many circumspect or outright negative reactions have been published.
One of the first formal responses from the Protestant side to the Muslim initiative and the advertisement in the New York Times came on 29 November. The Barnabas Fund from the United Kingdom published a very critical response, called Response to Open Letter and Call from Muslim Religious Leaders to Christian Leaders .
The Roman Catholic response has been very guarded until now. Here, we like to refer you to A Common Word Between Us and You: Some Initial Reflections by, published by Daniel A Madigan SJ, and Benedict XVI’s Improbable Dialogue with 138 Muslim Scholars, written by Samir Khalil Samir, SJ. These two Roman Catholic reactions were both published in January 2008.
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue was quoted in an interview with a French newspaper. He pointed out that Muslims do not accept the sort of inter-religious dialogue that Christians have come to expect. For example, he said, Muslims ‘will not allow in-depth discussion of the Qu’ran’, since they believe that the words were literally dictated by Allah, and any questioning of the text borders on blasphemy. Because Islamic leaders refuse to discuss the fundamental basis of their beliefs, the French cardinal said, ‘it is difficult to discuss the content of their faith’.
Cardinal Tauran was quoted in the media saying that insofar as talks with Muslims can be pursued, Christian leaders should insist that Islamic societies respect religious freedom, in the same way that the western world respects the rights of Muslims. Specifically, he said, ‘if they can have mosques in Europe, it is reasonable to expect them to allow churches built in their countries’.
Again from the Protestant side, in January 2008, the Rev. Mark Durie from Australia wrote a very critical response, titled Notes for Christians on Understanding A Common Word Between Us and You Together with Reflections on the Yale Response , and in February Durie als wrote The Apostasy Fatwas and ‘A Common Word Between Us and You’. Also in February 2008, the Rev. Bassam Madany published The Debacle of the “Common Word” Initiative .
When similar serious responses follow, we will continue to make them available here. If you come across some, please let us know!