King Abdullah at the Interfaith Conference at the United Nations

Dr. Mozammel Haque


Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, urged world leaders attending a historic conference on interfaith dialogue at the United Nations to learn lessons from the past and establish justice in order to end violence. “We say today with a single voice that religions through which Almighty God sought to bring happiness to mankind should not be turned into instruments to cause misery,” the king said in his keynote speech at the Culture of Peace Conference organized by the UN General Assembly.

Meeting with Heads of Muslim states
King Abdullah began this journey of his interfaith dialogue three years ago in the Holy City of Makkah, when he called on all 57 Muslim heads of state to meet in Islam’s holiest city to ponder the issues of extremism and call for a Muslim renaissance. The King reiterated that message in words and deed. The King traveled to Vatican and met Pope Benedict offering him peace and friendship on behalf of the Muslim world. Given the long history of the Crusades and bitter relations between the followers of Islam and Christianity, that gesture by Abdullah marked a watershed. The visit heralded a new era in the relations between two Abrahamic faiths that have so much in common yet have seldom been at peace with each other. Abdullah’s mission to Vatican was perhaps the strongest message of peace and good will to emanate from Arabia since the dawn of Islam in Makkah.

Meeting with the Vatican Pope
The King reiterated that message in words and deed. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques traveled to Vatican and met Pope Benedict offering him peace and friendship on behalf of the Muslim world. The visit heralded a new era in the relations between two Abrahamic faiths that have so much in common yet have seldom been at peace with each other. Abdullah’s mission to Vatican was perhaps the strongest message of peace and good will to emanate from Arabia since the dawn of Islam in Makkah.

Interfaith dialogue at Makkah and Madrid
Earlier this year, in June 2008, King Abdullah hosted a first historic Interfaith dialogue conference of hundreds of Islamic scholars in the holy city of Makkah to discuss ways of promoting tolerance and more robust interfaith dialogue with the outside world. It was followed by a gathering in Madrid that the King hosted alongside King Juan Carlos of Spain. It was attended by representatives from Vatican, Anglican Church, Judaism, Hinduism and other faiths.

And now he has taken his battle of hearts and minds to the global center-stage at the UN. The landmark UN meeting comes on the recommendation of the World Dialogue Conference that was held in Madrid on July 16, which was attended by more than 300 leaders representing Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism

High-Level Meeting on Culture of Peace at UN
A Two-day interfaith conference titled “High-Level Meeting on Culture of Peace” was held at the UN headquarters from 12-13 November 2008 to promote the culture of peace and dialogue among the followers of various faiths.

UN General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann invited leaders of 192 member countries and observers, including the Vatican, to attend the conference. Many world leaders including US President George W. Bush, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Israeli President Shimon Peres, King Abdallah of Jordan, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference attended at the conference.

President of the UN General Assembly
Opening the Conference, the President of the UN General Assembly, Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, warned that the world desperately needs to learn the positive lessons of religion. D’Escoto said all religions included “social responsibility,” but that the world has “become contaminated by the spirit of selfishness and individualism.” “Although social responsibility is a basic law in each of the world’s religions and in all ethical and philosophical traditions, we have allowed ourselves to become contaminated by the spirit of selfishness and individualism, which are the principal values, or rather, anti-values of the globally dominant culture. This culture declares ethics and morals off limits to economic and political activity. It claims that ‘the business of business is business’ and that the concepts of justice and fairness have no place within it. The principles of justice, mercy and compassion are not applicable to economic activities and are deemed to be completely irrelevant,” said D’Escoto.

He hit out at the “unbridled greed” of the “dominant” Western culture. “Unbridled greed and social irresponsibility have thus become the main driving force of the dominant culture. The result is that we have been turned into veritable moral invalids,” said the President of the UN General Assembly.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, thanked King Abdullah for his “dynamic role” in making the UN meeting possible, and Saudi Arabia for a “truly inspiring initiative for global harmony and mutual understanding.” “In fact, the world has suffered a lot because of the lack of appreciation, the lack of understanding, and mutual respect and the differences of opinions in religions and faith and culture,” he said. “This is a good start.”

He said similar initiatives made by a number of countries in the United Nations should have “some complementary effect.” “Among them, the Saudi King’s initiative will also be very important. We also have an Alliance of Civilizations.”

“Extremist ideologies are on the rise. Societies are more polarized. Anti-Semitism remains a scourge. Islamophobia has emerged as a new term for an old and terrible form of prejudice,” the UN chief said.

The UN chief praised King Abdullah’s initiative in promoting dialogue between the followers of different religious faiths and cultures. “Dialogue will certainly bring peoples and nations closer,” he told reporters.

“What we need is dialogue that delivers,” the UN chief said. “We need new partnerships that will continue after the last delegate has gone home.” For this to work, we need to involve everyone: Government officials, grass-roots groups, CEOs, philanthropists, academics and the media. “And we especially need the world’s young people. By virtue of their youth, prejudice may not be as ingrained; in a sense, they may have less to unlearn.”

King Abdullah’s Speech at the United Nations
King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, told world leaders on Wednesday, 12 of November 2008 at a UN Conference on Culture of Peace that the time has come to learn from the unjustifiable bloodshed and destruction caused by fanaticism from religious and cultural differences throughout history, and to gather around common values “for a more peaceful, more just, and more tolerant world.”

“We state with a unified voice that religions through which God Almighty sought to bring happiness to mankind should not be turned into instruments to cause misery,” the King said in the first speech by a Saudi monarch to the United Nations in 51 years, which was delivered at the opening session of the General Assembly’s two-day interfaith conference titled “High-level Meeting on Culture of Peace.”

“Human beings were created as equals and partners on this planet. Either they live together in peace and harmony or they will inevitably be consumed by the flames of misunderstanding, malice and hatred,” King Abdullah said.

In his UN speech, King Abdullah said that throughout history, differences between followers of religions and cultures had engendered intolerance, causing devastating wars and bloodshed without any sound logical or ideological justification.

“It is time to learn from the hard lessons of the past and to meet together on the ethics and ideals in which we all believe. What we differ, will be settled by God on the Judgment Day,” he said.
Human denial of justice has led to the world’s misery, the King said.He called for tolerance and a renewal of family ties to overcome the scourge of terrorism and crime. “Terrorism and criminality are the enemies of God and the enemies of every religion and civilization,” he said. “Had not the principle of tolerance and the wonder surrounding the lives of many young people been absent, they would not have emerged.”

The King blamed the decay of family values for the spread of drug abuse and crime. “Drugs and criminality spread only after the collapse of family ties, which God Almighty wanted to remain strong and firm,” he said.

“The humanity is in need of people like you to guide them and make them understand the facts,” the king said and emphasized the need to preserve the family system intact. The participants representing various faiths commended King Abdullah’s efforts to promote interfaith dialogue.

“We would like to emphasize here that our interest in dialogue was inspired by the teachings of Islam and its values and because of our concern for the future of humanity,” the king said. “We’ll stretch our hands to all those who love peace, justice and tolerance.”

“Our dialogue, which will be conducted in a civilized manner, is sure to revive and consolidate noble values, among peoples and nations. There is no doubt that this would represent a magnificent victory for the best in mankind’s character over the worst in him, giving hope for a future where justice, security and noble life prevails over grievance, fear and poverty,” the king said.

The king made this comment while speaking to leaders of different faiths during a special General Assembly session on interfaith dialogue at the United Nations headquarters in New York. “I hope that this dialogue would be a good beginning for humanity ... The days and years that have passed will not come back ... We had enough of killings, enmity and rights violations,” the king said.

The King urged the participants to form a committee on dialogue to continue efforts for years to come toward peaceful coexistence.

King Abdullah lambasted terrorism. “(Those who indulge in) terrorism and (other) crimes are enemies of God and enemies of every religion and culture,” he said. “They would not have appeared in the presence of tolerance.”

King Abdullah aimed at hastening action on some of the most urgent challenges facing the world. “All the tragedies the world witnesses today is the result of its abandoning of a major principle, the principle of justice, promulgated by all religions and cultures,” said King Abdullah, who is the first Saudi king to address the United Nations in 51 years.

“If countries in the world had turned to peace and kept away from wars and conflicts and spent their time and energy to fight poverty and engage in humanitarian work we would not have seen these diseases and poverty,” the king said.

King Abdullah urged world leaders to open a new era of peace, leaving behind the bloody past, and mobilize their resources to fight poverty, provide treatment to patients and boost development.

The King concluded his speech by reminding the audience of this verse from the Holy Qur’an: “O mankind we created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you.”

United Nations Declaration
The UN on Thursday, the 13th of November 2008 acknowledged the world interfaith dialogue process initiated by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, in Madrid earlier this year, and appreciated his proposals made at the General Assembly, Wednesday, to keep the dialogue going, free from any political interference.

A statement issued by the General Assembly at the end of its 63rd session on “Culture of Peace,” which was attended by some 80 world leaders, appreciated King Abdullah’s proposals for forming a steering committee of representatives of all religions and faiths represented in the Madrid conference in July, and for allocating a trust fund to guarantee the autonomy of the dialogue process and its continuation free from any political interference. At the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, the General Assembly convened a plenary high level meeting during its sixty-third session on 12 and 13 November 2008 under item 45 Culture of Peace.

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, read out the following UN Declaration:
“At the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, the General Assembly convened a plenary high level meeting during its sixty-third session on 12 and 13 November 2008 under item 45 Culture of Peace.

“Concerned about serious instances of intolerance, discrimination, hatred expressions, and harassment of minority religious communities of all faiths, participating states underlined the importance of promoting dialogue, understanding, and tolerance among human beings, as well as respect for all their diverse religions, cultures and beliefs.

“Participating states affirmed their rejection of the use of religion to justify the killing of innocent people and actions of terrorism, violence and coercion, which directly contradict the commitment of all religions to peace, justice and equality.

“Taking note of the initiative of the King of Saudi Arabia and the World Conference on Dialogue held in Madrid between 16 and 18 July 2008 under his patronage and graciously hosted by the King and Government of Spain, the General Assembly reiterated its call for promoting a culture of tolerance and mutual understanding through dialogue, and supporting the initiatives of religious leaders, civil society, and states seeking to entrench the culture of peace, understanding, tolerance, and respect for human rights among the proponents of various faiths, cultures, and civilizations.

“Participating states expressed their commitment to strengthening and supporting existing mechanisms within the United Nations for promoting tolerance and human rights, preserving the institution of the family, protecting the environment, spreading education, eradicating poverty, and fighting drug abuse, crime and terrorism, noting the positive role of religions, beliefs and moral humanitarian principles in tackling these challenges.”


NEW YORK – King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques