Ethics Newsline®

ROME
More than a hundred of the world’s most prominent Muslim leaders wrote an open letter to Pope Benedict XVI, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and other Christian leaders, appealing to shared values common to both religions and calling for better dialogue.

According to the BBC, the letter is hardly the first appeal to shared values but may be the most significant in recent years because the signatories have enormous personal and political influence worldwide, hailing from countries as diverse as Egypt, Malaysia, Russia, and Yemen.

The letter also carries a sharp warning about the consequences of a breakdown between the two faiths, reports the Economist. The letter notes that Christians account for about a third of the world’s population and Muslims over a fifth, implying that solving their faiths’ fractiousness could be key to the survival of the human species. “If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake,” the letter said.

According to an analysis from the U.K. Guardian, the scholars used quotations from the Bible and the Quran to illustrate similarities between the two faiths, such as the requirement to worship one God and to love one’s neighbor.

The London Daily Mail reports that the letter was organized by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, a nongovernmental organization based in Amman, Jordan.