A Common Word: Building Global Goodwill

Abstract

A Common Word Between Us and You, an initiative, coordinated by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute of Islamic Thought in Jordan, is an invitation signed by 138 Muslim leaders from across the theological and geographical spectrum to the Pope and other Christian leaders to work together for peace, justice and harmony based on two foundational principles of both religions, love of God and of neighbour. Signatories include the main branches of Sunni, Shi’ite and Sufi Islam, the president of Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, the Grand Muftis of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Oman, Bosnia, Russia and Istanbul, and even the Jordanian director of the Muslim Brotherhood. The 138 signatories had swelled to more than 300 in little more than a year, with a further 460 Islamic organisations endorsing it. In that time, more than 60 Christian leaders have responded warmly, including Pope Benedict XVI, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, world Lutheran head Bishop Mark Hanson, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexi II and many American Protestant leaders. There have been important international conferences of Muslims and Christians at Yale University, Cambridge University, Lambeth Palace (home of the Archbishop of Canterbury) and the Vatican, and grassroots community responses across the globe. This chapter analyses A Common Word and studies both positive and negative reactions to it.