Deception, and Gullible Dhimmitude, Are Not “Dialogue”

The leader of the Copts surrendering, bowed, to ‘Ali amidst the scattered decapitated heads, and severed torsos of the Coptic forces. A miniature painting from a seventeenth century manuscript of Khavarnama, a poem on the legendary warlike deeds of ‘Ali.

Mark Durie explains the deliberately deceitful, Islamic supremacist agenda behind “A Common Word Between Us and You”, the much ballyhooed (by ignorant, and/or dhimmi Christian leadership) open letter from the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought of Jordan, published this past October 13, 2007.   

Addressed to the Pope, and other Christian leaders throughout the world, this statement, or “letter,” was signed by 138 Muslims leaders from around the globe.  Dr. Durie observes, the letter, ostensibly 

“…invites Christians to agree together with Muslims on principles of love for God and one’s neighbor, emphasizing justice and freedom of religion.” 

But as Durie, a scholar of Islamic culture in Indonesia, and author of the important theological treatise on Christianity and Islam, “Revelation: Do We Worship the Same God?,”  explains: 

These notes  here document how the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute has several fatwas “legal verdicts or edicts” posted on its website, which condemn people to death who have left Islam, specifically including Muslim-background Christians.  If they are not killed, then these so-called ‘apostates’ are to be treated as legal non-persons, having no rights before the law.  One of the fatwas identifies a Jordanian Christian man by name as an apostate. 

There is a contradiction in the actions of the Royal Aal al-Bayt’s.  On the one hand the Institute is inviting Christians to come together with Muslims based on principles of love and mutual respect, but on the other hand it is condemning Christians to death simply because they have changed their religious beliefs away from Islam.  This contradiction and lack of reciprocity should be pointed out by Christians in interfaith dialogue with Muslims; the Aal al-Bayt Institute should be requested to remove such hate-inciting statements from its website; and Christians who have signed letters welcoming the ‘Common Word’ letter without reservation should withdraw their signatures.