OPEN LETTER TO POPE BENEDICT XVI

WRITTEN AND SIGNED BY LEADING MUSLIM SCHOLARS AND LEADERS IN RESPONSE TO POPE BENEDICT XVI’S REMARKS ON ISLAM AT THE REGENSBURG LECTURE ON SEPTEMBER 12, 2006

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, And may Peace and Blessings be upon the Prophet Muhammad

OPEN LETTER TO HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, Do not contend with people of the Book except in the fairest way . . . (The Holy Qur’an, al-Ankabuty 29:46).

YOUR HOLINESS,

WITH REGARDS TO YOUR LECTURE AT THE UNIversity of Regensburg in Germany on September 12th 2006, we thought it appropriate, in the spirit of open exchange, to address your use of a debate between the Emperor Manuel II Paleologus and a “learned Persian” as the starting point for a discourse on the relationship between reason and faith. While we applaud your efforts to oppose the dominance of positivism and materialism in human life, we must point out some errors in the way you mentioned Islam as a counterpoint to the proper use of reason, as well as some mistakes in the assertions you put forward in support of your argument.

THERE IS NO COMPULSION IN RELIGION

You mention that “according to the experts” the verse which begins, There is no compulsion in religion (al-Baqarah 2:256) is from the early period when the Prophet “was still powerless and under threat,” but this is incorrect. In fact this verse is acknowledged to belong to the period of Qur’anic revelation corresponding to the political and military ascendance ofthe young Muslim community. There is no compulsion in religion was not a command to Muslims to remain steadfast in the face of the desire of their oppressors to force them to renounce their faith, but was a reminder to Muslims themselves, once they had attained power, that they could not force another’s heart to believe. There is no compulsion in religion addresses those in a position of strength, not weakness. The earliest commentaries on the Qur’an (such as that of Al-Tabari) make it clear that some Muslims of Medina wanted to force their children to convert from Judaism or Christianity to Islam, and this verse was precisely an answer to them not to try to force their children to convert to Islam. Moroever, Muslims are also guided by such verses as Say: The truth is from your Lord; so whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve. (al-Kahf 18:29); an^ Say: O disbelievers! I worship not that which ye worship; Nor worship ye that which I worship. And I shall not worship that which ye worship. Nor will ye worship that which I worship. Unto you your religion, and unto me my religion (al-Kafirun: 109: 1-6).

GOD’S TRANSCENDENCE

You also say that “for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent,” a simplification which can be misleading. The Qur’an states, There is no thing like unto Him (al-Shura 42: 11), but it also states, He is the Light ofthe heavens and the earth (al-Nur 24:35); and, We are closer to him than his jugular vein (Qaf 50:16); and, He is the First, the Last, the Inward, and the Outward (al-Hadid 57:3); and, He is with you wherever you are (al-Hadid 57:4); and, Wheresoever you turn, there is the Face of God (al-Baqarah 2:115). Also, let us recall the saying of the Prophet, which states that God says, “When I love him (the worshipper), I am the hearing by which he hears, the sight by which he sees, the hand with which he grasps, and the foot with which he walks.” (Sahih al-Bukhari no.6502, Kitab al-Riqaq)

In the Islamic spiritual, theological, and philosophical tradition, the thinker you mention, Ibn Hazm (d.1069 CE), is a worthy but very marginal figure, who belonged to the Zahiri school of jurisprudence which is followed by no one in the Islamic world today. If one is looking for classical formulations ofthe doctrine of transcendence, much more important to Muslims are figures such as al-Ghazali (d.iiu CE) and many others who are far more influential and more representative of Islamic belief than Ibn Hazm.

You quote an argument that because the emperor is “shaped by Greek philosophy” the idea that “God is not pleased by blood” is “self-evident” to him, to which the Muslim teaching on God’s Transcendence is put forward as a counterexample. To say that for Muslims “God’s Will is not bound up in any of our categories” is also a simplification which may lead to a misunderstanding. God has many Names in Islam, including the Merciful, the Just, the Seeing, the Hearing, the Knowing, the Loving, and the Gentle. Their utter conviction in God’s Oneness and that There is none like unto Him al-Ikhlas 1 12:4) has not led Muslims to deny God’s attribution of these qualities to Himself and to (some of) His creatures, (setting aside for now the notion of “categories”, a term which requires much clarification in this context). As this concerns His Will, to conclude that Muslims believe in a capricious God who might or might not command us to evil is to forget that God says in the Qur’an, Lo! God enjoins justice and kindness, and giving to kinsfolk, and forbids lewdness and abomination and wickedness. He exhorts you in order that ye may take heed (al-Nahl, 16:90). Equally, it is to forget that God says in the Qur’an that He has prescribed for Himself mercy (alAn’am, 6:12; see also 6:54), and that God says in the Qur’an, My Mercy encompasses everything al- A ‘rafy. 156). The word for mercy, rahmah, can also be translated as love, kindness, and compassion. From this word rahmah comes the sacred formula Muslims use daily, In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Is it not self-evident that spilling innocent blood goes against mercy and compassion?

THE USE OF REASON

The Islamic tradition is rich in its explorations of the nature of human intelligence and its relation to God’s Nature and His Will, including questions of what is self-evident and what is not. However, the dichotomy between “reason” on one hand and “faith” on the other does not exist in precisely the same form in Islamic thought. Rather, Muslims have come to terms with the power and limits of human intelligence in their own way, acknowledging a hierarchy of knowledge of which reason is a crucial part. There are two extremes which the Islamic intellectual tradition has generally managed to avoid: one is to make the analytical mind the ultimate arbiter of truth, and the other is to deny the power of human understanding to address ultimate questions. More importantly, in their most mature and mainstream forms the intellectual explorations of Muslims through the ages have maintained a consonance between the truths of the Qur’anic revelation and the demands of human intelligence, without sacrificing one for the other. God says, We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and in themselves until it is clear to them that it is the truth (Fussilat 41:53). Reason itself is one among the many signs within us, which God invites us to contemplate, and to contemplate with, as a way of knowing the truth.

WHAT IS “HOLY WAR”?

We would like to point out that “holy war” is a term that does not exist in Islamic languages. Jihad, it must be emphasized, means struggle, and specifically struggle in the way of God. This struggle may take many forms, including the use of force. Though a jihad may be sacred in the sense of being directed towards a sacred ideal, it is not necessarily a “war”. Moreover, it is noteworthy that Manuel II Paleologus says that “violence” goes against God’s nature, since Christ himself used violence against the money-changers in the temple, and said “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword …” (Matthew 10:34-36). When God drowned Pharaoh, was He going against His own Nature? Perhaps the emperor meant to say that cruelty, brutality, and aggression are against God’s Will, in which case the classical and traditional law of jihad in Islam would bear him out completely.

You say that “naturally the emperor knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Qur’an, concerning holy war.” However, as we pointed out above concerning There is no compulsion in religion, the aforementioned instructions were not later at ail. Moreover, the emperor’s statements about violent conversion show that he did not know what those instructions are and have always been.

The authoritative and traditional Islamic rules of war can be summarized in the following principles:

1. Non-combatants are not permitted or legitimate targets. This was emphasized explicitly time and again by the Prophet, his Companions, and by the learned tradition since then.

2. Religious belief alone does not make anyone the object of attack. The original Muslim community was fighting against pagans who had also expelled them from their homes, persecuted, tortured, and murdered them. Thereafter, the Islamic conquests were political in nature.

3. Muslims can and should live peacefully with their neighbors. And if they incline to peace, do thou incline to it; and put thy trust in God (al-Anfal 8:61). However, this does not exclude legitimate selfdefense and maintenance of sovereignty.

Muslims are just as bound to obey these rules as they are to refrain from theft and adultery. If a religion regulates war and describes circumstances where it is necessary and just, that does not make that religion war-like, anymore than regulating sexuality makes a religion prurient. If some have disregarded a long and well-established tradition in favor of Utopian dreams where the end justifies the means, they have done so of their own accord and without the sanction of God, His Prophet, or the learned tradition. God says in the Holy Qur’an: Let not hatred of any people seduce you into being unjust. Be just, that is nearer to piety (al-Ma’idah 5:8). In this context we must state that the murder on September 17th of an innocent Catholic nun in Somalia – and any other similar acts of wanton individual violence – “in reaction to” your lecture at the University of Regensburg, is completely unIslamic, and we totally condemn such acts.

FORCED CONVERSION

The notion that Muslims are commanded to spread their faith “by the sword” or that Islam in fact was largely spread “by the sword” does not hold up to scrutiny. Indeed, as a politic al entity Islam spread partly as a result of conquest, but the greater part of its expansion came as a result of preaching and missionary activity. Islamic teaching did not prescribe that the conquered populations be forced or coerced into converting. Indeed, many of the first areas conquered by the Muslims remained predominantly non-Muslim for centuries. Had Muslims desired to convert all others by force, there would not be a single church or synagogue left anywhere in the Islamic world. The command There is no compulsion in religion means now what it meant then. The mere fact of a person being non-Muslim has never been a legitimate casus belli in Islamic law or belief. As with the rules of war, history shows that some Muslims have violated Islamic tenets concerning forced conversion and the treatment of other religious communities, but history also shows that these are by far the exception which proves the rule. We emphatically agree that forcing others to believe – if such a thing be truly possible at all – is not pleasing to God and that God is not pleased by blood. Indeed, we believe, and Muslims have always believed, that Whoso slays a soul not to retaliate for a soul slain, nor for corruption done in the land, it shall be as if he had slain mankind altogether (al-Ma ‘idah 5:32).

SOMETHING NEW?

You mention the emperor’s assertion that “anything new” brought by the Prophet was “evil and inhuman, such as his alleged command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” What the emperor failed to realize – aside from the fact (as mentioned above) that no such command has ever existed in Islam – is that the Prophet never claimed to be bringing anything fundamentally new. God says in the Holy Qur’an, Naught is said to thee (Muhammad) but what already was said to the Messengers before thee (Fussilat 41 :43), and, Say (Muhammad): I am no new thing among the messengers (of God), nor know I what will be done with me or with you. I do but follow that what is Revealed to me, and I am but a plain warner (al-Ahqaf 46:9). Thus faith in the One God is not the property of any one religious community. According to Islamic belief, all the true prophets preached the same truth to different peoples at different times. The laws may be different, but the truth is unchanging.

“THE EXPERTS”

You refer at one point non-specifically to “the experts” (on Islam) and also actually cite two Catholic scholars by name, Professor (Adel) Theodore Khoury and (Associate Professor) Roger Arnaldez. It suffices here to say that whilst many Muslims consider that there are sympathetic non-Muslims and Catholics who could truly be considered “experts” on Islam, Muslims have not to our knowledge endorsed the “experts” you referred to, or recognized them as representing Muslims or their views. On September 25th 2006 you reiterated your important statement in Cologne on August 20th 2005 that, “Inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue between Christians and Muslims cannot be reduced to an optional extra. It is, in fact, a vital necessity, on which in large measure our future depends.” Whilst we fully concur with you, it seems to us that a great part of the object of interreligious dialogue is to strive to listen to and consider the actual voices of those we are dialoguing with, and not merely those of our own persuasion.

CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM

Christianity and Islam are the largest and second largest religions in the world and in history. Christians and Muslims reportedly make up over a third and over a fifth of humanity respectively. Together they make up more than 55% of the world’s population, making the relationship between these two religious communities the most important factor in contributing to meaningful peace around the world. As the leader of over a billion Catholics and moral example for many others around the globe, yours is arguably the single most influential voice in continuing to move this relationship forward in the direction of mutual understanding. We share your desire for frank and sincere dialogue, and recognize its importance in an increasingly interconnected world. Upon this sincere and frank dialogue we hope to continue to build peaceful and friendly relationships based upon mutual respect, justice, and what is common in essence in our shared Abrahamic tradition, particularly “the two greatest commandments” in Mark 12:29-31 (and, in varying form, in Matthew 22:37-40), that, the Lord our God is One Lord; / And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy, heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy understanding, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment. / And the second commandment is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself There is none other commandment greater than these.

Muslims thus appreciate the following words from the Second Vatican Council:

The church has also a high regard for the Muslims. They worship God, who is one, living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has also spoken to humanity. They endeavor to submit themselves without reserve to the hidden decrees of God, just as Abraham submitted himself to God’s plan, to whose faith Muslims eagerly link their own. Although not acknowledging him as God, they venerate Jesus as a prophet; his virgin Mother they also honor, and even at times devoutly invoke. Further, they await the day of judgment and the reward of God following the resurrection of the dead. For this reason they highly esteem an upright life and worship God, especially by way of prayer, alms-deeds and fasting. Nostra Ae tate, 28 October 1965)

And equally the words of the late Pope John Paul II, for whom many Muslims had great regard and esteem:

We Christians joyfully recognize the religious values we have in common with Islam. Today I would like to repeat what I said to young Muslims some years ago in Casablanca: “We believe in the same God, the one God, the living God, the God who created the world and brings his creatures to their perfection” (Insegnamenti, VIII/2, [1985], p.497, quoted during a general authence on May 5, 1999).

Muslims also appreciated your unprecedented personal expression of sorrow, and your clarification and assurance (on the 17th of September) that your quote does not reflect your own personal opinion, as well as the Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone’s affirmation (on the 16th of September) of the conciliar document Nostra Aetate. Finally, Muslims appreciated that (on September 25 th) in front of an assembled group of ambassadors from Muslim countries you expressed “total and profound respect for all Muslims”. We hope that we will all avoid the mistakes of the past and live together in the future in peace, mutual acceptance and respect.

And all praise belongs to God, and there is neither power nor strength except through God.

© 2006

SIGNATORIES

(listed in alphabetical order)

1 . H.E. Ambassador Dr. Akbar Ahmed

Professor of Islamic Studies, American University in Washington DC. ; Former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain

2. Dr. Abdul-Karim Akiwi

Professor, Ibn Zahr University, Agadir, Morocco

3. Dr. Ahmad Mahr azi Al-Alawi

Professor, Qadi Ayad University, Marrakesh, Morocco

4. Dr. Batool bint Ali

Professor, Faculty of Arts, Rabat, Morocco

5. Dr. Salwa El-Awa

Department of Theology, University of Birmingham

6. Dr. Abdullah Mohammad BaHaroon

Head, Ahqaf University, Yemen

7 . Dr. Maimon Barish

Professor, QadiAyad University, Marrakesh, Morocco

8. H.E. Dr. Issam al-Bashir

Former Minister of Religious Affairs; Secretary General of the International Institution for Moderation, Sudan

9. H.E. Allamah Abd Allah bin Mahfuz bin Bayyah

Professor, King Abd Al-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia Former Vice President; Minister of Justice; Minister of Education and Minister of Religious Affairs, Mauritania

10. Dr. Ali Benbraik

Professor, Ibn Zahr University, Agadir, Morocco

11. Dr. Abdul-Fattah Al-Bizim

Mufti of Damascus, Director of the Fath Institute,

12. Dr. Roger Boase

Queen Mary & Westfield College, Uni. of London, UK

13. Dr. al-Arabi Al-Buhali

Professor, Qadi Ayad University, Marrakesh, Morocco

14. Shaykh Muhammad Hisham al-Burhani

Faculty of Shari’a, University of Damascus, Syria

15. Professor Dr. Allamah Muhammad Sa’id Ramadan Al-Buti

Dean, Dept. of Religion, University of Damascus, Syria

16. Professor Dr. Mustafa Çagrici

Grand Mufti of Istanbul

17. H.E. Shaykh Professor Dr. Mustafa Ceric

Grand Mufti and Head of Ulema of Bosnia and Herzegovina

18. Dr. Jill Cressy

Department of Education, University of Birmingham

19. Dr. Ahmad Fakir

Professor, Ibn Zahr University, Agadir, Morocco

20. Sayyid Abdullah Fidaaq

Islamic Missionary, Saudi Arabia

21. H.E. Shaykh Ravil Gainutdin

Grand Mufti of Russia

22. Dr. Buthaina al-Ghalbzuri

Professor, Faculty of Arts, Rabat, Morocco

23. H.E. Shaykh Nedzad Grabus

Grand Mufti of Slovenia

24. Professor Abdul-Haqq Ismail Guiderdoni

Director, Institut des Hautes Etudes Islamiques, France

25. Ahmad Bin Abdul-Aziz al-Haddad

Mufti, Department of Islamic Affairs, Dubai, UAE

26. Shaykh Al-Habib Ali Mashhour bin Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafeez

Imam of the Tarim Mosque and Head of Fatwa Council, Tarim, Yemen

27. Shaykh Al-Habib Umar bin Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafeez

Dean, Dar AI-Mustafa, Tarim, Yemen

28. Shaykh Abdul-Razzaq Al-Hallabi

Religious Instructor at the Umayyad Mosque, Head, Fath Institute in Damascus, Syria

29. Professor Dr. Farouq Hamadah

Professor of the Sciences of Tradition, Mohammad V University, Morocco

30. Dr. Mustapha Bin Hamza

Professor, University of Mohammed I, Morocco

31. Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson

Founder and Director, Zaytuna Institute, California, USA

32. H.E. Shaykh Dr. Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hassoun

Grand Mufti ofthe Republic of Syria

33. Shaykh Seraj Hendricks

Former Chair, Muslim Judicial Fatwa Committee, South Africa

34. Dr. Mawlai al-Hussayn Al-Hian

Professor, Qarawiyin University, Morocco

35. Dr. Abdul- Aziz Al-Hifadhi

Professor, University of Mohammed I, Morocco

36. H.E. Dr. Saeed Abd al-Hafidh Hijjawi

The Mufti of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

37. Dr. Abdul-Razzaq Hurmas

Professor, Ibn Zahr University, Agadir, Morocco

38. Shaykh Yasmin Mahmoud Al-Husari

Head, Husari Islamic Foundation, Egypt

39. Dr. Shaykh Izz Al-Din Ibrahim

Advisor for Cultural Affairs, Prime Ministry, UAE

40. Professor Buthayna Al-Ibrahim

Director, Centre for Women’s Leadership Training, Kuwait

41. Dr. Abdul-Rafi’ Al-Ilj

Professor, Wait Ishmael University, Meknes, Morocco

42. Shaykh Muhammad Naiem Al-Irqsusi

Preacher, Iman Mosque in Damascus, Syria

43. H.E. Professor Dr. Omar Jah

Secretary of the Muslim Scholars Council, Gambia Professor of Islamic Civilization and Thought, University of Gambia

44. Dr. Haifaa Jawad

Department of Theology, University of Birmingham

45. Shaykh Al-Habib Ali Zain Al-Abideen Al-Jifri

Founder and Director, Taba Institute, UAE

46. Sayyid Umar Hamid Al-Jilani

Islamic Law scholar, Hadramawt, Yemen

47. H.E. Shaykh Professor Dr. Ali Jumu’ah

Grand Mufti of the Republic of Egypt

48. Dr. Larbi Kachat

Director, Islamic Cultural Centre, Paris, France

49. Professor Dr. AbIa Mohammed Kahlawi

Dean of Islamic and Arabic Studies, Al-Azhar University (Women’s College), Egypt

50. Dr. Ibrahim Kalin

Director, SETA Foundation, Ankara, Turkey Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies, College of the Holy Cross, USA

51 . Dr. Salah ul-Din Kuftaro

Director, Sheikh Ahmad Kuftaro Foundation, Syria

52. Professor Dr. Mohammad Hashim Kamali

Dean, International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC), Malaysia; Professor of Islamic Law and Jurisprudence, International Islamic University, Malaysia

53. Dr. al-Munsif Al-Karisi

Professor, Qadi Ayad University, Marrakesh, Morocco

54. Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller

Shaykh in the Shadhili Order and Senior Fellow of Aal alBayt Institute for Islamic Thought (Jordan), USA

55. H.E. Shaykh Ahmad Al-Khalili

Grand Mufti of the Sultanate of Oman

56. Dr. Mohammad Kharabut

Professor, Qadi Ayad University, Marrakesh, Morocco

57. Dr. Muhammad bin Kiran

Professor, University of Ibn Tufail, Qunaitara, Morocco

58. Shaykh Dr. Ahmad Kubaisi

Founder of the Ulema Organization, Iraq

59. Dr. Karima Laachir

Dept. of French Studies, University of Birmigham

60. Sayyid Ahmad Alawi Al-Maliki

Lecturer, King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia

61. Dr. Al-Jilani Al-Marini

Professor, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abd Allah University, Fez, Morocco

62. Allantah Shaykh Muhammad bin Muhammad Al-Mansouri

High Authority (Marja’) of Zeidi Muslims, Yemen

63. Dr. Yousef Meri

Scholar -in-Residence, AaI al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Jordan

64. Shaykh Abu Bakr Ahmad Al-Milibari

Secretary-General of the AhlAl-Sunna Association, India

65. Dr. Jawid Mojaddedi

Assistant Professor, Rutgers University, USA

66. Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore

Poet and author, USA

67. Mr. Shafiq Morton

Voice of the Cape Radio, South Africa

68. H.E. Dr. Moulay Abd Al-Kabir Al-Alawi Al-Mudghari

Director-General, Bayt MalAl-Qods Al-Sharif Agency; Former Minister of Religious Affairs, Morocco

69. Dr. Ibrahim Rashed al-Murikhi

HeadoftheShari’a Court, Bahrain

70. H.E. Shaykh Ahmad Hasyim Muzadi

General Chairman of the Nahdat al- Ulema, Indonesia

71. Mr. Sohail Nakhooda

Editor-in-Chief, Islamica Magazine

72. H.E. Professor Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr

University Professor of Islamic Studies, George Washington University, Washington D.C, USA

73. Dr. Aref Ali Nayed

Former Professor at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI), Rome; Advisor to the Cambridge Interfaith Program, Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge, UK

74. Professor Sulayman S. Nyang

Howard University, USA

75. H.E. Shaykh Sevki Omerbasic

Grand Mufti of Croatia

76. Dr. Yahya Sergio Pallavicini

Vice President, Comunità Religiosa Islamica, Italy

77. Dr. Eboo Patel

Founder and Executive Director, Interfaith Youth Core, Chicago, USA

78. H.E. Dr. Muhammad Rashid Al-Qabbani

Mufti of the Republic of Lebanon

79. Dr. Salina Al-Rahuti

Professor, Faculty of Arts, Rabat, Morocco

80. Shaykh Osama Abd al-Karim Al-Rifai

Scholar and preacher at the Abdul-Karim al-Rifai Mosque, Damascus, Syria

81. Shaykh Sarya Abdul-Karim Al-Rifai

Imam, Mosque of Zayd bin Thabit Al-Ansari, Syria

82. Al-Habib Muhammad bin Abdul-Rahman Al-Saqqaf

Scholar of the Islamic Sciences, Saudi Arabia

83. Dr. Muhammad Hasan Sharhabili

Professor, Qarawiyin University, Morocco

84. H.E. Dr. Mohammad Abd Al-Ghaffar Al-Sharif

Secretary-General, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Kuwait

85. Dr. Muhammad Alwani Al-Sharif

Head of the European Academy of Islamic Culture and Sciences, Brussels, Belgium

86. Imam Zaid Shakir

Lecturer, Zaytuna Institute, California, USA

87. Dr. Al- Arabi Bu Silham

Professor, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco

88 Dr. Milodah Shem

Professor, School of Law, Rabat, Morocco

89. Shaykh M. Iqbal Sullam

Vice General-Secretary, Nahdat al- Ulema, Indonesia

90. Shaykh Dr. Tariq Suwaidan

Director-General ofthe Risalah Satellite Channel

91. H.R.H. Prince El Hassan bin Talal

Chairman, Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, Jordan

92. Professor Dr. H.R.H. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal

Chairman of the Board of the Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Jordan

93. H.E. Ayatollah Muhammad Ali Taskhiri

Secretary General of the World Assembly for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thoughts (WAPIST), Iran

94. H.E. Shaykh Naim Trnava

Grand Mufti of Kosovo

95. H.E. Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Uthman Al-Tweijri

Director-General ofthe Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), Morocco

96. H.H. Justice Mufti Muhammad Taqi Uthmani

Vice President, Dar Al-Ulum, Karachi, Pakistan

97. H.E. Shaykh Muhammad Al-Sadiq Muhammad Yusuf

Grand Mufti of Uzbekistan

98. Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad Winter

Shaykh Zayed Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Divinity School, University of Cambridge, UK; Director of the Muslim Academic Trust, UK

99. Dr. Wahbah Mustapha Al-Zuhayli

Head, Department of Fiqh and its Schools, Faculty of Shari’a, University of Damascus, Syria

100. H.E. Shaykh Muamer Zukorlic

Mufti of Sanjak