CURRENT DIALOGUE
Issue 40, December 2002

“Christians and Muslims in Dialogue and Beyond”
Geneva, 16-18 October, 2002
Report on an international consultation / Challenges facing Christian-Muslim Dialogue / Reflections on the State of Muslim-Christian Relations - Perspectives from the WCC / Reports of the three working groups

An international consultation on “Christians and Muslims in Dialogue and Beyond” took place in Geneva, 16-18 October 2002, hosted by the World Council of Churches. It brought together representatives of major international Muslim and Christian organisations, scholars and people active in the work of local Christian and Muslim communities.

The consultation was very conscious of recent and current events which have impacted on relations between the two faith communities around the world, above all the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York just over a year ago, the threats of war against Iraq, and the relentless pain and suffering in Palestine, especially in our shared city of Jerusalem. Because of the globalisation of information, such events where Muslims and Christians are perceived to be in conflict are translated to other parts of the world, where they often contribute to the worsening of unrelated situations. Misunderstandings, mutual misconceptions and lack of trust are then exploited by self-serving politicians and extremists to set the communities against each other.

Together we condemn such exploitation of religious sentiment and distortion of the teachings of our two faiths which, we assert, share common principles of peace, justice and human dignity for all. In particular we join in condemning terrorism, the use of indiscriminate violence and the oppression of the weak, regardless of the source. We call on all parties to allow the city of Jerusalem to experience in reality the sanctity which all the Abrahamic faiths attribute to it.

The consultation built on many years of experience of the participants and of countless projects and experiences of Muslims and Christians working together. We affirmed the reality of dialogue and cooperation between Christians and Muslims and acknowledged the contribution that these experiences have made to reconciliation and cooperation in many places. The mutual stereotypes which still pervade many communities and cultures can often lead to mindless and collective violence by one community against the other. But in other places this has been replaced by mutual trust and working together for the common good. These experiences need to be spread more widely.

In our exchanges we were heartened to learn of the many local initiatives by Christians and Muslims, men and women, clergy and imams, to deepen the spirit of living together, to repair the physical and mental damage caused by conflict and to rebuild trust and mutual understanding. Regrettably the world does not hear enough about such initiatives in many parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States. As Muslims and Christians we welcome and affirm the fact of religious and cultural diversity as God's will. We particularly stress the role of education by and for our communities as a key arena in which to create the trust and mutual understanding which are essential to resist attempts to exploit religious differences for destructive ends. We emphasise that to achieve this end, our education must be a collaboration between Christians and Muslims in the development of curricula, textbooks and teacher training: we can no longer talk about each other but must talk with each other.

Our Muslim and Christian beliefs lead us to share a common understanding of the dignity of the human being and on that foundation we together affirm the fundamental rights of individuals and groups as expressed in the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the reciprocal duties which flow from those rights. We assert that all, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, gender or class, are entitled to full and equal citizenship rights and freedom of expression and religion in whatever country they may belong to. We especially confirm that the equal participation of religions and religious communities in public affairs locally, nationally and internationally is not only a right but also a duty which flows directly from our commitment as people who believe that our scriptures and core teachings have an essential message to society today. It follows that we also affirm the freedom of the individual to adhere to the religion of his or her choice, and that it is the function of the state to protect the full and equal right of all religious communities to organise themselves and to participate appropriately in public affairs.

Moved by developments in the world at large, as well as by recent tragic local conflicts, we, Muslims and Christians together, commit ourselves to the search for justice, the prevention of conflict and overcoming violence. We express our deep concern that globalised markets and information systems threaten to create new structures of oppression and thus feed extremism and militancy and provoke acts of violence. We call on political leaders to resist the temptation to resort to simplistic and populist assignation of blame and demonisation of whole communities and to refuse to support those who would exploit others’ conflicts for their own local ends. We resist the identification of violence and terrorism with any one particular religion or community. We call on leaders of our religions at all levels to draw attention to the social, economic and other injustices which influence their environment and to resist the exploitation of these injustices to rouse religious hatreds. In this, Christian and Muslim leaders can and must find ways of working together to promote a culture of dialogue and mutual trust.

The consultation identified a number of specific issues which we recommend should become priorities for our joint efforts over the coming years, locally, nationally and internationally, in the fields of education, the exploration of our perceptions of our joint responsibilities in the public space, and in the struggle for justice and peace.

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David R. Smock, Editor

Interfaith Dialogue and Peacebuilding

ISBN 1-929223-35-8

United States Institute of Peace Press
Washington, D.C.

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Challenges Facing Christian-Muslim Dialogue
Introductory Remarks
Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia

It is a great pleasure and special joy to welcome you to the Ecumenical Center. The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a global fellowship of churches, which, through common reflection and action, calls the churches to closer collaboration and common witness aimed at the visible unity of the church. From its very inception, the Council has manifested a particular concern and openness towards the other living faiths. In many important meetings it has affirmed that dialogue with other religions is an integral part of its ecumenical work. The growing commitment of the WCC towards inter-faith dialogue was given concrete form in 1971 with the establishment of a department within its programmatic structure on “Dialogue with living faiths and ideologies.”

In the last thirty years the Council has played a highly significant role in promoting mutual understanding and trust between religions. The WCC has paid special attention to Christian-Muslim dialogue for three main reasons. First, Christianity and Islam share common roots and traditions as monotheistic religions; second, due to centuries of coexistence, these two religions have developed affinities and commonalties in several spheres of their life; third, in many societies Muslims and Christians live together in a common cultural, social and political life.

Globalization is spreading rapidly, pluralism is growing and fundamentalism is taking root in many societies. The critical issues and challenges that are emerging from these powerful movements make it urgent that all faiths, particularly Christians and Muslims, dialogue and collaborate. This International Conference on Christian-Muslim dialogue must be seen against the background of the WCC’s continuous commitment to Christian-Muslim dialogue and in the perspective of the renewed urgency given to Christian-Muslim relations in many parts of the world.

Today and in the coming days some of you will share with us your views concerning the present state of Muslim-Christian relations and dialogue by highlighting challenges and concerns facing these communities as they live their faith in the context of pluralistic societies. In my opening remarks I want to make the following observations to set the process and framework for our discussion:

1. Dialogue is an invitation. It is an invitation to reject ignorance, arrogance and pride. It is an invitation to break through our isolation, our self-centredness and our self-sufficiency. It is an invitation to recognize and accept the other. It is an invitation to live life responsibly. Living life responsibly implies being in dialogue with my neighbour, with the creation and with God. This is an essential element of Christian faith. According to Christian theology, revelation is God’s dialogue with humanity. The Christian concept of God, humanity and creation is dialogical. Interdependence, interaction and inter-connection are signs of a humanity moving towards unity. Dialogue is a quality of life.

2. Deepening mutual knowledge. Although significant experience has been gained in Christian-Muslim dialogue, misconceptions, stereotypes and biased attitudes still prevail.

This situation indicates that there has been something wrong in our dialogue. Knowing one another is an important component of dialogue. Mutual knowledge contributes to mutual understanding. We should not limit our knowledge about one another to only the facts of our faiths. We must take into consideration the living encounters of the people at different levels of society. Only by doing this can we deepen our mutual knowledge and face our uncertainties and fears with confidence.

3. Trusting the “other”. Religious identity is stronger than ethnic or cultural identity. It tends to build walls between people. However, we cannot allow these walls to stand. There are difficulties here. Our respective histories are full of contradictory experiences. Because of the absence of frank dialogue we have become suspicious of one another. Despite our differences, however, we are all part of one human community. We must live together and trust the other. This is the destiny of humanity. How can we do this? How can I trust the “other” and build morally sustainable communities? What are the most efficient ways of building trust in a new world context?

4. Accepting our differences. Although these two monotheistic religions have affinities, there are significant differences in their theological teachings, moral and social values and ways of life. They also have different attitudes in respect to many issues facing humanity today. We must not fall into the temptation of understating the existing differences and problems in order to effect an easy compromise. Such an approach will greatly endanger our dialogue. We must be clear in spelling out our commonalties and divergences. We must also be courageous in accepting our differences. In fact, we are different in many respects and we should remain so. We are called to make strenuous and continuous efforts to understand, accept and respect our differences. Mutual knowledge will create mutual understanding, and mutual understanding will help us to accept each other the way we are. This is the way of true dialogue.

5. Theocentric humanity: the firm basis of our dialogue. Christian-Muslim dialogue is not merely an intellectual and theological discourse. It is deeply rooted in our common and theocentric humanity. God is the source and the protector of our common humanity. Humanity is created by God and is accountable to Him. All aspects of human life are permeated by divine presence and action. Islam and Christianity both reject anthropocentrism in all its forms and expressions. However, the two religions have different perspectives on human stewardship, accountability and autonomy. They interpret issues related to human liberty, democratic values, divine rights and human rights differently. These different approaches have concrete implications to our communities living together in one place. These issues merit deeper exploration.

6. Religion, civil society and state: an area claiming serious discussion. Islam and Christianity perceive the nature and role of religion, civil society and the state quite differently. They also differ on the nature and scope of their inter-relatedness. In light of these differences, in order to pave the future course of Christian-Muslim dialogue, we must analyze the concepts of Dhimma, co-citizenship and human rights and majority-minority relations. These are not simply academic issues; they are existential problems that deeply affect the co-existence of our communities. Hence, where Christians are a minority, there is a need to move beyond a Dhimmi mentality and to develop a system based on equal rights. Where Muslims are in a minority situation, broader spaces of creative interaction and wider possibilities of active participation in public life must be provided. Unless these issues are addressed seriously, Muslim-Christian community relations will continue to be characterized by feelings of inferiority, submission and intolerance. The fundamental question is: what does it mean to be co-citizens in a society in which Christians and Muslims live together?

7. From self-understanding to interactive understanding. Self-perception is critical in dialogue. But when it is defined and articulated in an exclusive way, it becomes a source of tension and conflict. This is true in the case of both Christianity and Islam, which have developed their self-perceptions on the basis of their understanding of divine revelation. How can we move from exclusive self-perception to an interactive and inclusive understanding of ourselves? How can we reach a level of critical self-definition? How can we see ourselves through the eyes of the other? We need to wrestle constantly with these questions.

8. Assimilation or isolation? People in western societies are either assimilated or isolated. How can a religious community preserve its identity and at the same time become integrated into a pluralistic and secular society? This is a question of the relationship between faith and culture. In Christianity culture is a product of society and it is always changing, while in Islam it is normative. This difference limits the creative interaction between minority Muslim communities and majority Christian communities. This lack of interaction isolates the two communities; this isolation breeds mistrust, intolerance and, potentially, violence.

9. Towards new patterns of dialogue. Typically, in the west, at least, Christian-Muslim relations involves a Christian West and a Muslim East, a secularized West and a conservative East, a tolerant West and an extremist East. Of course, these perceptions are erroneous. It is also erroneous to perceive Christian-Muslim relations in terms of theological dialogue only. In pluralistic societies today elements of these erroneous perceptions are found in both religions. In order to counter them, we need to explore new patterns of relations, methodologies and style of dialogue. We must restate our priorities and include all segments of society in our dialogue. Our dialogue must not be an end in itself; it must be oriented towards promoting common values and exploring common ways of working together and living together as one community. Therefore, our dialogue must be existential in its nature, realistic in its approach, and contextual in its agenda.

10. Journeying together. For many centuries, Christians and Muslims have been in constant contact with one other. The history of Christian-Muslim relations is full of ambiguities and complexities, tolerance and tensions. The world today is calling us to engage in a dialogue of life. Ethnic, religious and political tensions and conflicts may disrupt our dialogue of life, but we must journey together by building bridges of creative interaction, moving from dialogical interaction to collaboration, broadening the circle of dialogue and relation, transforming stereotypes into better understanding and mutual trust, and building community sustained by commonly accepted moral values, by justice, peace and reconciliation.

We must learn from our respective histories and move forward, assessing and re-assessing our journey, identifying our priorities, addressing our common concerns and the challenges of today’s world. This International Consultation is an important step forward in this journey.

Before I conclude my introductory remarks I would like to express my deep appreciation to Dr. Konrad Raiser, who is with us and will join us in our deliberations. My appreciation also goes to Dr. Tarek Mitri for organizing this consultation. Finally, my thanks are due to all of you who have positively responded to our invitation to be part of this journey of hope.

Let us then continue our journey with renewed faith and hope in God who is the source of our existence, the sustaining power of our life and the guiding light of our journey.

Aram I Catholicos of of Armenian Apostolic Church (Cilicia) is Moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches.

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Reflections on the State of Muslim-Christian Relations
Perspectives from the WCC
Konrad Raiser

1. To begin with, I would like to re-affirm the words of welcome which have already been expressed by His Holiness Aram I as Moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches. It gives me great pleasure to greet all of you and in particular the eminent Muslim representatives as General Secretary of the World Council of Churches. We are grateful to you for having accepted our invitation to this high-level international consultation on “Christians and Muslims in Dialogue and Beyond”. Your presence honours us and we see it as a recognition of the efforts of the World Council of Churches during more than thirty years to promote Christian-Muslim dialogue. Some of you have been participants for many years and have already contributed actively to the encounters sponsored by the WCC. For others, this is the first opportunity to participate in a consultation under the auspices of the WCC. Allow me, therefore, to introduce briefly the WCC and its approach to Muslim-Christian dialogue.

2. The WCC is a “fellowship of churches” and only in the second place an international organization. Its members are more than 340 Christian churches from all parts of the world. They have accepted a commitment to one another in the search for unity and common witness. They live in very different social, cultural and political contexts and cooperate in the effort to build just, peaceful and sustainable communities. Most of them are exposed to the situation of growing religious plurality and acknowledge the need to develop ways of harmonious living together with neighbours of others faith traditions. The World Council of Churches as a fellowship does not aspire to creating a unified global Christian organization, nor do its governing bodies have any authority over the individual member churches. Thus the guidelines of the WCC for interreligious dialogue are meant as an encouragement for the churches “to assist each other (as the Constitution puts it) in their relationships to and with people of other faith communities”. Most of the efforts of the WCC have therefore been directed at accompanying and facilitating interreligious dialogue and cooperation in given local or national situations rather than focusing on high-level academic or institutional encounters. From the perspective of the WCC, Muslim-Christian dialogue, like all interreligious dialogues, is based on mutual respect and seeks to further mutual understanding. It is motivated for both partners in dialogue by a profound faith conviction and the acknowledgement of religious values. For Christians, the engagement in dialogue is a response to the teachings of the Bible which presents the commandment of love of neighbour as the supreme expression of God’s will.

3. Muslims and Christians share a long history of strained and often confrontational relationships as well as of experiences of mutual enrichment. Both communities have been engaged in spreading their faith and have contributed to the emergence of religious plurality in hitherto homogeneous societies. While there are many examples where Muslims and Christians have lived alongside each other for generations or centuries, sharing each other’s lives and cooperating with each other for a common good, attention today is focused on contexts, especially in Asia and Africa, where Muslims and Christians have found each other locked in with communal conflicts which are aggravated by religious differences and rivalries. The experience of interreligious councils involving Muslim and Christian leaders especially in West Africa show that interreligious dialogue can have a mediating influence on communal conflicts building on the common religious commitment to peace and justice. On the other hand, we witness increasingly examples of active discrimination of Muslims and Christians in countries where they are a minority in traditionally Muslim or Christian communities. The mobility of people as refugees, migrants or in search of better opportunities has opened up hitherto homogeneous communities, giving rise to attitudes of xenophobia and exclusion.

4. The process of globalization has further aggravated the situation. After the end of the period of European colonialism to which many of the Muslim nations were subjected, new nation states were established based on the western understanding of the secular state. Christians whose churches, for centuries, have learned to adapt to the secular understanding of the state, of citizenship and of the principles of religious liberty have actively shared in the process of nation-building. Through the process of globalization, the role and authority of the new nation states has been seriously weakened. Less and less they can deliver on the expectations of their citizens. In search for a meaningful common identity and for a viable order of community life, more and more people, Muslims and Christians, turn to their religious traditions. Islamism and Christian fundamentalism can be understood as responses and as ways of resisting the influence of the secular spirit of modernity and its global impact. Religion has begun to return forcefully into the public space and some are predicting that we are bound to witness a “clash of civilizations” based on religious differences.

5. The relationship between church and state as well as between law and morality has become one of the sources of conflict, in particular in countries with both Muslim and Christian populations. Both communities seek to impose on the whole of society their understanding of the foundations and principles of a viable public order. Muslims, in faithfulness to their tradition, cannot separate the order of the state and of the legal system from the principles of the religious community. Ultimately, the whole of society should be transformed into an Islamic state governed by Islamic law. While certain exceptions for the adherents of other religious traditions, in particular Christians and Jews, have traditionally been made, they prove more and more difficult to maintain under the present conditions of power confrontation. For the Christian side, on the other hand, the very aim of enabling Christians and Muslims to live peacefully and in mutual respect as neighbours in the same society requires a religious neutrality on the part of the public authorities of the state and a distinction in the legal order between the general principles applicable to all citizens and those with specific validity for the different traditional communities. Can the notion of co-citizenship and the recognition of basic human rights help us to move beyond this impasse? The efforts to reach a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Sudan as well as in northern Nigeria and in the Moluccan province of Indonesia will only bear fruit when the unreconcilable positions regarding the relationship between state and religion can be overcome.

6. The events of 11 September 2001 and the subsequent efforts of the USA to form an international coalition in the “war on terrorism” have placed Muslims and Christians in a very uneasy relationship. Originally local conflicts involving Muslim and Christian communities are now being interpreted as expressions of a global confrontation where both communities feel threatened in their integrity and called upon to assist their affected brothers and sisters in their struggle for survival. Both faith traditions have an ambivalent relationship to violent conflict and can be misused as a source of legitimation of unscrupulous political leaders. Since 11 September we have seen many efforts on the international level to bring together religious leaders, especially from Muslim and Christian communities, with the aim of proclaiming a message of peace, of tolerance and the rejection of violence in view of the many conflict situations with religious dimensions. The WCC has participated in several of these events but has deliberately not taken any initiative of its own, except the letter written to the leaders of the Muslim community to mark the end of the month of Ramadan in December 2001.

7. The high-level interreligious meetings have probably given too peaceful and harmonious an impression of the relationship. The climate of confrontation which has developed in the year since 11 September has brought to the surface ugly sides in both communities. Both have succumbed to the temptation of bearing false witness against the other, allowing distorted presentations of positions and convictions of the other community to go unchallenged. In both communities, religious sentiments have been mobilized and instrumentalized in order to unite forces in what is perceived to be a sacred struggle. Arguments from Holy Scripture and sacred tradition have been used by both Muslims and Christians which present a one-sided picture of the other community. It is therefore of utmost importance, as has been pointed out before, that the internal dialogue within the Muslim and the Christian communities be promoted, confronting the undeniable ambiguities in the respective traditions, e.g. regarding the ethics of war and violence. Ultimately, it is only from within that the fanatics and fundamentalists can be challenged and the legitimacy of their position be called into question.

Now, a year after the events of 11 September 2001 and with a clearer appreciation of their consequences, including the crisis around Iraq, the WCC has taken the initiative to call this high-level international consultation in order to assess the objectives and the fruits of Muslim-Christian dialogue and to face together the challenges of this new situation at the beginning of the 21st century. What can we do together to foster equal citizenship and to uphold basic human rights? What are the ways to work together for establishing justice and overcoming violence? As Christians and Muslims, we share a religious obligation to work for the common good of all people and to resist the forces of disintegration and exclusion. It is my hope and my prayer that our consultation will provide guidance for the future cooperation of Muslims and Christians in the pursuit of peace and justice.

Dr Konrad Raiser is Secretary General of the World Council of Churches.

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Michael Von Brück

WIE KÖNNEN WIR LEBEN?
Religion und Spiritualität in einer Welt ohne Maß

ISBN 3 406 49334 3

Verlag C.H. Beck, München, 2002
www.beck.de

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“Christians and Muslims in Dialogue and Beyond”
Reports of the three working groups

Group 1: Reciprocal listening and working together in education and interpretation

Present situation
As Christians and Muslims, we were heartened to learn of many imaginative, local initiatives involving imam and priest, women and men, seeking to rebuild trust and mutual understanding, as well as to engage with sensitive issues, not least gender equality. Such shared action has often taken place in the most difficult situations, from Bethlehem to Kaduna. It was also evident that such welcome developments have to battle against multiple resistance: suspicion or indifference from religious and academic institutions; national contexts where one religion still aspires to hegemonic control of public space or where policy makers remain opposed to making space for any participation of religious actors, situations where the emancipatory potential of religions and inter-religious relations is neutralised by entrenched religious and cultural conservatism.

Common affirmations
As Muslims and Christians, we commit ourselves to the recognition and affirmation of the social fact of religious diversity as God-given. Humility requires of us the recognition that the other is bearer, too, of truth to which we must attend if our own understanding of God is to be deepened and enriched.

This recognition and affirmation must inform all levels of education, formal, non-formal and informal. In our religious formation, in our schools and colleges, in mosque and church, we affirm our determination no longer to speak or write about or for the other without the full participation of the other. We affirm the need to work collaboratively on producing joint textbooks on Christian-Muslim relations, as well as to examine religious and history textbooks in an effort to identify and remove prejudicial and stereotypical characterisations.

We affirm the need to move from general statements of intent to specific collaborative actions, which can make a difference in localities. Christian-Muslim relations have to be rendered visible and concrete: we need to engage the imagination and interest of a range of people outside our usual circles, male and female - especially mothers and teachers - young and old, working people and professionals, as well as actors in civil society. To this end we affirm the need to map good practice in our regions, and identify available materials whether websites, TV soaps, village dramas, collections of sermons and so forth. We need in our joint educational initiative to engage a range of issues which matter to people: environment, poverty and crime.

A critical question which requires further exploration
The critical question this raises for all is whether there is the intellectual, imaginative and institutional space in our respective religious traditions for the "other"? Post 9/11 all religious traditions are being scrutinised: their claims to enable human flourishing, to be custodians of ethical traditions essential for the common good will sound increasingly hollow if we do not demonstrate such active collaboration at many different levels of our respective educational projects.

Two priorities for common action in the next five years:

The creation (or strengthening where such already exist) of structural mechanisms for ensuring dialogue especially in the field of education - religious formation, schooling and at tertiary level - where dialogue is understood as training in living together as a crucial horizon informing both the ethos and content of such educational centres.

The creation (or strengthening where such already exist) of centres to train and equip with appropriate materials dialogue facilitators including imam and priest, social activists and professionals - especially women.

Developing appropriate mechanisms
Holland furnishes a suggestive example of mechanisms developed to enable good relations between imams and priests in that country, through the inclusion in the conversation of imams and priest from Indonesia. We would urge a multiplication of such bilateral arrangements: for Britain this might be Pakistan as a partner, for Germany, Turkey. For other contexts multilateral dialogue will be appropriate.

In addition, we would like prestigious religious centres - Vatican, WCC, Al-Azhar, Madina University - to develop protocols whereby mutuality and collaboration in training about the other be developed. Such initiatives could then lead to regional or national consultations which would further legitimise and encourage such actions.

Group 2: Fostering co-citizenship and upholding human rights

Since the establishment of modern nation states, Christians and Muslims alike have been challenged to balance the relation between religious, cultural and national identity.

In terms of legal rights, the question of national identity corresponds to that of equal citizenship. The question of citizenship must be dealt with in the light of the specific historical experiences of different nations. In Christian-Muslim dialogue, there should be a greater deal of sharing of different national experiences.

Citizen rights are also related to but must nevertheless be distinguished from human rights. Universal human rights must not be violated but are rather supposed to be protected by states. But nation states may add certain conditions and lay down specific regulations for how to obtain citizenship and the full political rights that come with it. More important, however, are the positive rights that should accompany any notion of citizenship, such as equality, political participation, the right to be consulted, and resource sharing. The right to citizenship should also be regarded as a human right that must be respected once the formal requirements of citizenship are met, instead of being left to the unqualified discretion of the state authorities.

As Christians and Muslims, we affirm the fundamental value of human dignity that is central to our scriptural and theological traditions and underlies our various perceptions of human rights. As Muslims and Christians, we therefore affirm the fundamental rights of persons and groups that are stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the subsequent conventions adopted by the United Nations. These fundamental human rights range from the rights of subsistence and democratic representation to rights such as freedom of religion, expression and association. We also reiterate our common conviction that in both a moral and legal perspective, rights must always be supplemented by duties. For instance, citizenship rights correspond with the duty to observe the rules of the state, to support the community and to defend the nation.

The question of human and citizen rights is also related to the wider issue of religion, state and society. Here, sweeping generalisations still need to be challenged. It is often said that in Islam, there is no separation between religion and state, whereas secularism is often supposed to be the underlying premise of the Western distinction between religion and politics. Reality is more complicated. In Islam, a full identification of state and religion has neither been agreed upon nor practiced universally. Also in states with a Christian majority, there are in fact many modalities of church-state relations (both in the West and worldwide). Furthermore, there is a need to distinguish between secularism as an anti-religious ideology and the principle of the secular (i.e., non-confessional) state.

Although a clear distinction (but not necessarily a full separation) between religion and state should be made, we also affirm our conviction that religion must be regarded as a matter of public importance and not merely as a private matter. The moral formation of the individual and the values of society need to be supported and nourished by religion, and the moral values that religions uphold should never be separated from politics.

As for the concept of citizenship, some would contend that being a citizen means belonging to a community which is not defined by religion but rather by geographical area and political government. Others would affirm the right of the state to define itself by reference to a specific cultural and religious heritage, provided that the state does not in any way violate the rights of the others to full political participation and freedom of religion. The implications of these two different approaches to state and religion need further discussion both between Muslims and Christians and within the ranks of both communities.

The question of state, religion and citizenship entails also the question of how individual rights and group rights should be balanced. In the Islamic tradition, certain political and religious rights were granted already in the classical period to the People of the Book (the ahl al-kitab). In Western societies, the principle of religious freedom was only applied at a much later stage. Once introduced, however, it was linked with the inviolable right of the individual rather than with group rights. But group rights have played a role also in the cultural and political practices of modern Western societies, while certain individual rights have been laid down right from the beginning of Islam (e.g., as reflected in the right of the individual to choose his or her madhab).

The relation between individual and group rights needs further consideration by both Muslims and Christians, in dialogues and deliberations that need to be sensitive to context. In some contexts, a system of group rights and affirmative action towards minorities has helped to protect Christians, Muslims and other vulnerable groups from discrimination on the part of the majority group. But in many cases, group rights have only been granted to certain religious communities whereas others have not been recognised and have hence been discriminated against. When associated with political representation (for instance, by way of reserving seats in parliament for certain religious minorities) a system of group rights may also lead to a general marginalisation of minorities. In light of this problem, many would say that group rights should only be applied in the cultural field, whereas political rights should refer to the individual only. In the cultural field, religious communities should (as a general rule) enjoy the freedom to organise themselves according to their own values and convictions, as long as their practices do not threaten public order or the life and health of the individual.

Although different arrangements of individual and group rights may be justified in different contexts, group rights will always have to be balanced by the right of every individual to opt in and out of religious communities. In this sense, religious rights are different from the rights of ethnic groups or national minorities. As adherents of missionary religions with a universal message, Muslims and Christians together should affirm the right of every person to change his or her religion, without sanctions of any kind regarding citizenship and political rights. This common affirmation takes away nothing from the mutual obligation and right to avoid and resist any kind of manipulation of religious identities.

Citizenship is not merely a legal issue: it has to do with social virtue, a vibrant civil society and a true political democracy. In our common support for equal citizenship rights in the legal field – without any discrimination based on gender, race, caste, social status, ethnicity or religion – we also affirm the necessity of fostering a spirit of co-citizenship through civic education, neighbourly interaction and active political participation.

PROPOSALS FOR COMMON ACTION IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS:

Formal recognition of the right to citizenship and sharing of national experiences

Further exploration of the relation between religion, state and society

- Muslims and Christian should join efforts in exploring how religion can be recognised as matter of public importance without being relegated to the private sphere or misused for political purposes
- We should further explore whether the alleged differences between Islamic and Christian approaches to religion, state and society correspond to reality or rather constitute a shared challenge
- To enable such sharing and exploration, inter-religious bodies should be established on the local levels – in addition to the existing national and international ones.

Group 3: Striving together in seeking justice and overcoming violence

Assessing the current situation, the participants agreed that the ongoing prevalence of violence and counter violence, which often involve Muslim and Christian communities, are mostly the product of unequal distribution of power and injustices in political, economical and social conditions, at both the global and the local levels. The unconstrained forces of globalisation, the widening economic and social gaps and inequalities, lack of real democracy within many countries and, in the context of international relations, double-standards on the part of world powers, the growing pressure on cultural identities due to the continuing process of globalisation, the failure of many countries to institutionalise the principle of equal citizenship in their political and social structures, the growing use by international powers of military means to achieve political goals, the denial of the legitimate rights of people under military occupation, such as the Palestinians striving for independence and self-determination, the unconditioned support by the United States of Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territories - these and other factors breed common frustration and despair, which in turn feed extremism, militancy and therefore violence.

The participants also observe that what is described as a "global war against terrorism" is often used by some local regimes as a pretext for further oppressive measures and policies. This, in turn, provokes more violence. The critique of terrorism, as an intensified form of indiscriminate violence, should not overlook state terror and violence.

Although violent conflicts are mainly caused by political, economic and social factors, for several various reasons they are often made to take a religious and sectarian character and articulated in religious terms. Among these reasons is the deliberate use of religion by certain powers to serve narrow self-interests and political end. This situation has been reinforced by the 'clash of civilisations' theory manipulated by global powers to disguise structural sources of conflict under a cultural and religious mask. In these global and local contexts religion may then become an intensifier of violent conflicts whose real causes are to be found outside religion. Due to the pressures created by the forces of globalisation, the shrinking role of the traditional national state in meeting the needs of its people is paralleled by the increase in its oppressive measures.

Both aspects help drive many people to fall back on their traditional structures and identities which may extend beyond their national borders. These factors reinforce a current tendency to globalise conflicts with an apparent religious character whereby conflicts in one place with its specific causes and character is conceived of as a global one dividing people along religious and cultural boundaries, so that it spills over into other regions with grave consequences.

In response to this current situation of growing violence, the participants, Christians and Muslims made the following common affirmations:

Drawing on their common religious values and principles, Muslim and Christian participants affirm the sanctity of human life and dignity against any form of indiscriminate violence that threatens innocent people. This must include forms of state terror at both the local and international levels.

Countering violence entails addressing, in concrete terms, its causes grounded in grave political, economic, social and cultural injustices. The participants assert their deep belief, rooted in their religious traditions, that justice is a universal value which should apply across the categories of religion, race, ethnicity, caste, gender and class. They therefore take a united common stand against all forms of oppression and injustice regardless of the religious identity of either the oppressor or the oppressed.

The participants affirm the necessity for maintaining a clear distinction between oppressor and oppressed and between indiscriminate violence and the legitimate right of resistance to occupation.

As conflicts and violence taking an apparently religious dimension often feed on misconceptions, misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the other, the participants affirm the continuous need for joint efforts by both Christians and Muslims to promote a culture of dialogue at the grass roots levels, and to foster mutual respect for difference, diversity and plurality as an inherent part of the human condition and manifestation of divine wisdom.

The participants also affirm that the institutionalisation of the principle of equal citizenship and the promotion of civil society institutions represent major pre-conditions for equality and social peace.

The participants also assert the urgent need for unified efforts by both Muslims and Christians to de-globalise conflicts, especially those given a religious character. Instead of globalising such conflicts and divisions, Muslims and Christians should work together to globalise the successful experiences of co-existence and shared living in certain parts of the world.

As the situation in Palestine has proven to be a major source of conflict and violence, Muslim and Christian participants affirm the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and independence, and calls for the end of occupation which has caused so much suffering and grief.

In view of the above assessment and affirmations, the participants agree that one of the major priorities for common action is to work jointly in order to defend our respective religions against their abuse by political powers seeking to serve their political ends and narrow material gains, thus creating division along religious lines to mask their hegemony and exploitation as the major source of conflict and division. This should be done by drawing on our religious traditions and common values to address the real causes of conflict and to strive together for justice for all humanity of which we are but part.

This entails drawing on all our resources to offer guidance and education through available means including the media and the educational systems. In this context, it is important to encourage networking, co-ordination and collaboration, among organisations and institutions of similar concerns and interest. Inter-cultural exchange should be fostered to promote a global culture of diversity, pluralism and dialogue, grounded in our religions, to combat false interpretations that feed into exclusivism, militancy, extremism and violence.

Next article: Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) European Meeting
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