It's a bit sad when the ONLY example of Islam's vaunted tolerance and
respect for other religions existed nearly 800 years ago. Where are the
contempory examples of this tolerance ?
"Abu-Alwafa" <almared_alarabi@no-spam> wrote in message
news:c0d49f12.0306220644.ec5268@no-spam
> In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
>
> West Should Heed Islam's Favor On Europe: WEF Chief
>
> By Khaled Schmitt, IOL Germany Correspondent
> http://islamonline.net/
> BONNE, June 22 (IslamOnline.net) - The World Economic Forum (WEF)
> President Klaus Schwab urged the West to acknowledge the mounting
> "geo-strategic" importance of the Islamic world, calling for opening a
> candid and all-inclusive dialogue to reach a just peace in the world.
>
> "The world Muslim population, 1.9 billion Muslims and the
> distinguished geographical position of the Islamic world, extending
> from west Africa and reaching out to the remotest point in southeast
> Asia, underscores the importance of the Muslim countries as an
> economic ally and partner that abounds in natural resources," Shwab
> wrote in the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper
> Saturday, June 21.
>
> The West is in "a dire need to hold an international dialogue with the
> Islamic world, based on new visions that cover political, religious
> and scientific fields, to exchange expertise and to link economic
> bodies with civil institutions," he added.
>
> Schwab hailed the Muslim community in the West along with leading
> Muslim bodies operating in the Islamic world as the most appropriate
> partner for holing a dialogue with the West.
>
> Respecting Islam
>
> The head of the extraordinary annual economic form further said that
> if the West "objectively" gives its policies a second reading and
> realizes the great favor done by Islam to the European cultural,
> philosophical and scientific culture, it will definitely assert its
> respect to this religion and accept it as a key partner.
>
> Schwab cited the Umayyad caliphate in Cordoba as a classic example of
> tolerance and coexistence between different communities under the
> umbrella of one society, where Muslims, Christians and Jews were
> living alongside in peace.
>
> "A lot of people nowadays are working without tiring to stereotyping
> the Islamic world and the West as two enemies lurking for one another
> politically, culturally and religiously.
>
> "This stereotype led some segments of the West to believe as if the
> social values and political culture in Islam was a fertile ground for
> conflicts, which runs against the western values. In return, many
> Muslims see the West as a peril that jeopardizes Islam," he added.
>
> 'World Disaster'
>
> Schwab said it would be "a blunder" that could spark off "a world
> disaster" that could spin out of control if people believed that the
> clash between the Islamic and western civilizations was inevitable.
>
> "Majority of Muslims and westerners share the common desire of living
> in peace, security and freedom," he said.
>
> "To that end," he continued, "common denominators between Islam and
> the West should be boosted and feelings of hatred should be rooted out
> to rebuild bridges of confidence, tolerance and mutual respect."
>
> Schwab further said that rooting out terrorism needs, alongside police
> and military efforts, "a courageous and far-fetching political policy
> that would re-draw the landscape of the Middle East ."
>
> The World Economic Forum (WEF) opened in the Jordanian capital Amman
> Saturday, June 21, with the participation of around 1,900 world
> leaders, politicians, businessmen, religious figures and academics
> will take part in the event, half of them from the Middle East.
jackkincaid <theovermind@no-spam> wrote in message
news:eb35fbed.0306241318.1f86e9db@no-spam
> almared_alarabi@no-spam (Abu-Alwafa) wrote in message
news:<c0d49f12.0306220644.ec5268@no-spam>...
> > In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
> >
> > BONNE, June 22 (IslamOnline.net) ? The World Economic Forum (WEF)
> > President Klaus Schwab urged the West to acknowledge the mounting
> > "geo-strategic" importance of the Islamic world, calling for opening a
> > candid and all-inclusive dialogue to reach a just peace in the world.
>
> Sounds fair enough.
> >
> > "The world Muslim population, 1.9 billion Muslims
>
> Whoa! 1.9 billion! It's gone from 1 billion to 1.2 billion to 1.4
> billion to 1.7 bilion to 1.9 billion in less than a month! I guess
> honesty and good accounting is out of the question, then. Not ideal
> grounds for an economic partnership.
Aren't these numbers taken from population figures? I've seen one estimate
that there are as few as 700M practicing muslims. I know there are figures
which would count me as a christian, and lord know how far from the truth
that one is.
Count 1 wrote:
> jackkincaid <theovermind@no-spam> wrote in message
> news:eb35fbed.0306241318.1f86e9db@no-spam
>
>>almared_alarabi@no-spam (Abu-Alwafa) wrote in message
>
> news:<c0d49f12.0306220644.ec5268@no-spam>...
>
>>>In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
>>>
>>>BONNE, June 22 (IslamOnline.net) ? The World Economic Forum (WEF)
>>>President Klaus Schwab urged the West to acknowledge the mounting
>>>"geo-strategic" importance of the Islamic world, calling for opening a
>>>candid and all-inclusive dialogue to reach a just peace in the world.
>>
>>Sounds fair enough.
>>
>>>"The world Muslim population, 1.9 billion Muslims
>>
>>Whoa! 1.9 billion! It's gone from 1 billion to 1.2 billion to 1.4
>>billion to 1.7 bilion to 1.9 billion in less than a month! I guess
>>honesty and good accounting is out of the question, then. Not ideal
>>grounds for an economic partnership.
>
>
> Aren't these numbers taken from population figures? I've seen one estimate
> that there are as few as 700M practicing muslims. I know there are figures
> which would count me as a christian, and lord know how far from the truth
> that one is.
I don't know of any world religious census that uses metrics I am
comfortable with. I know that some Princeton professors on world
religions tend to use numbers of about 2 billion Christians and 1.1
billion Muslims worldwide, but as you say, what is at issue is actual
practicing believers, and THOSE numbers may actually be quite modest.
For the US, I believe the CUNY survey can be taken as reliable. Their
measurement methodology seems sound, but it is not popular amongst
Muslims because it puts their US numbers as just under a million, and
falling behind the faster-growing Hindus and Buhddists.
Mike
>
>