Muslim moderates: The Amman Message

People sometimes complain that they don't hear from moderate Muslims. They are right, of course: the US Press gives almost no space to moderates of any stripe. Eunice points out that on-line one can find interesting discussions and materials. One of the most important is The Amman Message, based on discussions sponsored by the royal family in Jordan. The initial Amman Message was an attempt to bring different Muslim factions together, and may be of interest mainly to those interested in Islamic internals. But they later produced the Amman Interfaith Message, an effort to reach out to Christians.

The full and rather lengthy but very interesting texts are at http://ammanmessage.com; the "Interfaith Message is reached by a button in the left column on that page.

It is long. Eunice has prepared the following one page summary:

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
A Common Word between Us and You
(Summary)
Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population.
Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world. The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians. The basis for this peace and understanding already exists. It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God, and love of the neighbour.
In A Common Word Between Us and You, 138 Muslim scholars, clerics and intellectuals have unanimously come together for the first time since the days of the Prophet to declare the common ground between Christianity and Islam.

LOVE OF GOD AS THE FIRST AND GREATEST COMMANDMENT IN THE BIBLE
The Shema in the Book of Deuteronomy (6:4-5), a centrepiece of the Old
Testament and of Jewish liturgy, says: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is
one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your strength.

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ said: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other
commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)

LOVE OF THE NEIGHBOUR
There are numerous injunctions in Islam about the necessity and paramount importance of love for—and mercy towards—the neighbour. Love of the neighbour is an essential and integral part of faith in God and love of God because in Islam without love of the neighbour there is no true faith in God and no righteousness. The Prophet Muhammad said: “None of you has faith until you love for your brother what you love for yourself.”
However, empathy and sympathy for the neighbour—and even formal prayers—are not enough.
They must be accompanied by generosity and self-sacrifice. Without giving the neighbour what we ourselves love, we do not truly love God or the neighbour.
It remains only to be noted that this commandment is also to be found in the Old Testament:
“You shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:17-18)
Thus the Second Commandment, like the First Commandment, demands
generosity and self-sacrifice, and On these two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets.
Thus the Unity of God, love of Him, and love of the neighbour form a common ground upon which Islam and Christianity and Judaism are founded.
In the Holy Qur’an, God Most High tells Muslims to issue the following call to
Christians and Jews—the People of the Scripture:
Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to a common word between us and you. (Aal ‘Imran 3:64)
If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace.
Let us vie with each other only in righteousness and good works. Let us respect each other, be fair, just and kind to another and live in sincere peace, harmony and mutual goodwill.

( From The Amman Message. More information at //ammanmessage.com )