Muslims scholars address Middle East synod of bishops

(October 15, 2010) Two eminent Muslim scholars addressed an important international meeting of bishops in the Vatican Thursday afternoon on the situation of Christians in the Arab world. Sunni scholar, Muhammad al-Sammak, adviser to the chief mufti of Lebanon and secretary general of Lebanon's Christian-Muslim Committee for Dialogue; and the Shiite scholar, Ayatollah Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad Ahmadabadi, a professor at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, Iran, said that Islam promotes respect for Christians and Jews and that the entire Middle East will suffer if Christians vanish from the region. They were addressing the Oct. 10-24 Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, on the theme, “The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness.” Al-Sammak noted that the "new and accidental phenomenon" of Christians being targeted because of their faith is dangerous, and not just for Christians. By attacking Christians, he said, misguided, fundamentalist, politically manipulated Muslims are tearing apart the fabric of Middle Eastern societies where Jews, Christians and Muslims lived side by side for centuries. They also are showing "Islam in a different light than the one it truly reflects" and working against one of the fundamental teachings of Islam - that differences among people are the result of God's design and part of God's will for humanity. The emigration of Christians makes it difficult for the rest of the region's Arabs to live their identity fully, he said, adding that Christians are an integral part of the cultural, literary and scientific formation of Islamic civilization. He hoped that the synod would mark the beginning of "Islamic-Christian cooperation that can protect Christians and watch over Islamic-Christian relations, so that the East - the place of divine revelation - remains worthy of raising the banner of faith, charity and peace for itself and for the entire world." Meanwhile, Iran's Shi'ite law professor, Damad in his address to the synod, recognised the need to protect minority communities. "The stability of the world depends on the stability of the livelihood of small and large groups and societies," he said. "This stability could only be achieved when all can live without fear and threat from others. This is our duty to bring about such conditions," he said. Later on Thursday, Pope Benedict receive in private audience the two Muslim scholars.