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Pope Benedict XVI- Apostolic Journey to the Holy Land |
"We
Understand This Visit to Be a Deliberate Gesture of Goodwill"
Welcome Speech by Muslim Prince Ghazi
Upon the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Jordan's state Mosque
May 9, 2009
[Greeting in Arabic] Pax vobis. On the occasion of this historic
visit to the Al-Hussein Bin Talal mosque here in Amman, I bid Your
Holiness Pope Benedict XVI welcome in four ways.
First, as a Muslim. I bid Your Holiness welcome today as we
understand this visit to be a deliberate gesture of goodwill and
mutual respect from the supreme spiritual leader and pontiff of the
largest denomination of the world's largest religion to the world's
second-largest religion. Indeed, Christians and Muslims make up over
55% of the world's population and so it is especially significant
that this is only the third time in history a reigning pope has
visited a mosque, the first being by Your Holiness's much-beloved
Predecessor, Pope John Paul II, to the historical remains, to the
historical [...] mosque in Damascus, which contains the remains of
John the Baptist [...] in 2001, and the second being by Your
Holiness to the magnificent Blue Mosque [...] in Istanbul in 2006.
The beautiful King Hussein mosque in Amman, Jordan, is Jordan's
state mosque and it was built and personally supervised by His
Majesty King Abdullah II in loving honor of his late father,
Jordan's great King Hussein, may God have mercy on his soul. Thus,
this is the first time in history that a pope has ever visited a new
mosque; hence, we see in this visit a clear message of the necessity
of interfaith harmony and mutual respect in the contemporary world,
as well as concrete proof of the willingness of Your Holiness to
personally take a leading role in this.
This gesture is all the more remarkable, given the fact that this
visit to Jordan by Your Holiness is primarily a spiritual pilgrimage
to the Christian Holy Land, and in particular to the site of the
baptism of Jesus Christ [...] by John the Baptist [...] at Bethany
beyond the Jordan, John 1:28 and John 3:26.
And yet Your Holiness has made time, in your intense and tiring
schedule, tiring for a man of any age, for this visit to the King
Hussein mosque, in order to honor Muslims.
I must also thank Your Holiness, for the regret you expressed after
the Regensburg lecture of September 13, 2006, for the hurt caused by
this lecture, to Muslims. Of course Muslims know that nothing that
can be said or done in this world can harm the prophet [...], who
is, as his last words attested, with the highest companion [...],
God himself, in paradise.
But Muslims were, nevertheless, hurt because of their love for the
prophet [...], who is, as God says in the Holy Qu'uran, closer to
the believers than their own selves. Hence, Muslims also especially
appreciated the clarification by the Vatican that what was said in
the Regensburg lecture did not reflect Your Holiness's own opinion,
but was rather simply a citation in an academic lecture.
It hardly needs to be said, moreover, that the prophet Mohammed
[...], whom Muslims love, emulate, and know as a living reality and
spiritual presence, is completely and entirely different from the
historical depictions of him in the West, ever since St. John of
Damascus. These distorted depictions by those who either do not know
Arabic or the Holy Qu'uran [...] or who do not understand the
historical and cultural contexts of the prophet's life, and thus
misunderstand and misconstrue the spiritual motives and intentions
behind many of the prophet's [...] actions and words are
unfortunately responsible for much historical and cultural tension
between Christians and Muslims.
It is thus incumbent upon Muslims to explain the prophet's example
[...] above all, with deeds of virtue, charity, and piety and
goodwill, recalling that the prophet himself [...] was of an exalted
nature. For God says in the Holy Qu'uran, "Verily ye have in the
messenger of God, a beautiful paten of conduct, for whosoever hopes
in God and the last day, and remembereth God much."
Finally, I must thank Your Holiness for many other friendly gestures
and kindly actions towards Muslims, since your ascension in 2005,
including graciously receiving both His Majesty King Abdullah II Bin
Al-Hussein [...] of Jordan in 2005, and His Majesty King Abdullah
Bin Ad-Al-Haziz [...] of Saudi Arabia, the custodian of the two holy
places in 2008. And also especially for your warm reception of the
historical or common word between us and you, open letter of October
13, 2007 by 138 leading international Muslim scholars, whose numbers
continue increasing to this day.
It was as a result of this initiative, which, based on the Holy
Qu'uran and the Bible, recognized the primacy of the love of God and
love of the neighbor in both Christianity and Islam, that the
Vatican, under Your Holiness's personal guidance, held the first
seminar of the international Muslim-Catholic forum [...] 2008.
We will shortly be following up [...] with the very able Cardinal
Tauran, the work initiated by this meeting, but for now I would like
to cite and echo your words from the speech Your Holiness gave on
the occasion of the end of the first seminar, and I quote, "The
theme which you have chosen for your meeting, Love of God, Love of
the Neighbor, the Dignity of the Human Person, and Mutual Respect,
is particularly significant. It was taken from the open letter,
which presents love of God and love of the neighbor as the heart of
Islam and Christianity alike. This theme highlights even more
clearly the theological and spiritual foundations of a central
teaching of our respective religions. I am well aware that Muslims
and Christians have different approaches in matters regarding God,
yet we can and must be worshippers of the one God, who created us
and is concerned about each person in every corner of the world.
There is a great and vast field in which we can act together, in
defending and promoting the moral values which are part of our
common heritage" end quote.
Now I cannot but help remember God's words in the Holy Qu'uran,
[...] "yet they are not all alike." Some of the people of the
Scripture are a community upright, who recite God's verses in the
watches of the night, prostrating themselves. They believe in God
and in the last day, enjoining decency and forbidding indecency,
vying with one another in good works. Those are of the righteous,
and whatever good they do, they shall not be denied it, and God
knows the God-fearing. And also God's words, "and you will find, and
you will truly find, the nearest of them to those who believe, to be
those who say, verily we are Christians. That is because some of
them are priests, and monks. And because they are not proud [...]
Second, as a Hashemite, and a descendant of the prophet Muhammed
[...] I also bid Your Holiness welcome to this mosque in Jordan
remembering that the prophet [...] welcomed his Christian neighbors
[...] to Medina, and invited them to pray in his own mosque, which
they did in harmony, without either side compromising their own
spiritual beliefs. This too is an invaluable lesson which the world
desperately needs to remember.
Third, as an Arab, and a direct descendant of Ishmael Ali-Salaam
[...], of whom the Bible says God would make a great nation, Genesis
21:18, and that God was with him, Genesis 21:20. I bid Your Holiness
welcome.
One of the cardinal virtues of the Arabs, who traditionally have
survived in some of the hottest and most inhospitable climates in
the world, is hospitality. Hospitality is born of generosity, and it
recognizes the needs of the neighbor and considers those who are
far, or who come from far, as neighbors, and indeed this virtue is
confirmed by God in the Holy Qu'uran with the words, "And worship
God, and associate man [...] with him, be kind to parents, and near
kindred, and to orphans, and to the needy, and to the neighbor who
is far and to the neighbor who is near, and to the neighbor who is a
stranger, and to the friend at your side. And to the wayfarer, and
to what your right hands [...] possess, surely God loves not the
conceited and the boastful. Chapter [...] 4,36.
Arab hospitality means not only loving to give and help, but also
being generous of spirit, and thus appreciative. In 2000, during the
late Pope John Paul II's visit to Jordan, I was working with the
Jordanian tribes, and some of the tribesmen were saying that they
really liked the late Pope. Someone asked them, "Why do you like
him?" since he was a Christian and they were Muslims. They smiled
and said, "Because he visited us." And of course, the late Pope John
Paul II, like yourself, Holiness, could have easily gone to Israel
and Palestine, but instead chose to start his pilgrimage with a
visit to us here in Jordan, which we appreciate.
Fourth and finally, as a Jordanian, I bid Your Holiness welcome. In
Jordan, everyone is equal before the law, regardless of religion,
race, origin or gender, and those who work in the government are
responsible to do their utmost to care for everyone in the country
with compassion and with justice. This was the personal example and
message of the late King Hussein, who over his long reign of 47
years, felt for everyone in the country as he did for his own
children. It is also the message of his son, His Majesty King
Abdullah II, who accordingly has made it the singular goal of his
life and reign, to make the life of every Jordanian and indeed every
person in the world that he can reach, as decent, dignified, and
happy as he possibly can, with Jordan's meager resources.
Today, Christians in Jordan enjoy, by law, 8% of the seats in
Parliament and similar quotas at every level of government and
society, even though their numbers are less than that in actual
fact. In addition to their own personal status laws and church
courts, their holy sites, and their legal educational institutions
and other needs are safeguarded by the state. And Your Holiness has
just seen this in person, at the new Catholic university of Madaba,
and will, God willing, soon see the new Catholic cathedral and the
new Melkite church at the baptism site. And so Christians prosper
today in Jordan, as they have for the last 2,000 years, in peace and
harmony, and with good will and genuine brotherly relations between
them and their Muslim neighbors. This is, in part of course, because
Christians used to be more numerous in Jordan percentagewise than
they are today, but declining Christian birthrates and conversely,
high levels of education and prosperity which have led to their
being in demand as immigrants to the West, have reduced their
numbers. It is also, however, due to the fact that Jordan
appreciates that Christians were in Jordan 600 years before Muslims.
Indeed, Jordanian Christians are perhaps the oldest Christian
community in the world, and the majority have always been Orthodox,
adherence to the Orthodox patriarchate of Jerusalem in the Holy
Land, which, as Your Holiness knows better than I, is the church of
St. James, and was founded during Jesus' own lifetime [...].
Many of them are descended from the ancient Arab [...] tribes, and
they have, throughout history, shared the fate and struggles of
their fellow Muslim tribesman. Indeed, in 630, during the prophet's
own lifetime, they joined the prophet's own army, led by his adopted
son, [...] and his cousin [...] and fought against the Byzantine
army of their fellow orthodox, at the battle of Mechtar [...]. It is
because of this battle, that they earned their tribal name [...],
which means "the reinforcements," and Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal
himself comes from these tribes.
Then, in 1099, they were slaughtered by Catholic crusaders, at the
fall of Jerusalem alongside their Muslim comrades. Later from 1916
to 1918, during the Great Arab revolt, they fought against Muslim
Turks, alongside Arab-Muslim comrades. They thereafter languished
for a few decades, along with their Muslim fellows, under a
Protestant colonial mandate, and in the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948,
1967, and 1968, they fought with their Muslim-Arab comrades against
Jewish opponents.
Christian Jordanians have always not only defended Jordan but have
also tirelessly and patriotically helped to build Jordan, playing
leading roles in the fields of education, health, commerce, tourism,
agriculture, science, culture, and many other fields. All this is to
say, then, that whilst Your Holiness may believe them to be your
fellow Christians, we know them to be our fellow Jordanians. And
they are as much a part of this country as the land itself. We hope
that this unique Jordanian spirit of interfaith harmony, benevolence
and mutual respect, will serve as an example to the whole world, and
Your Holiness will carry it to places like Mindenau and certain
parts of sub-Saharan Africa, where Muslim minorities are
hard-pressed by Christian majorities, as well as to other places,
where the opposite is the case.
Now, just as we welcome Your Holiness today in four ways, we receive
Your Holiness today in four ways.
First, we receive Your Holiness as the spiritual leader, Supreme
Pontiff, and Successor of St. Peter, for 1.1 billion Catholics, who
are neighbors of Muslims everywhere, and who we greet through
receiving you.
Second, we receive Your Holiness as Pope Benedict XVI, in particular
whose reign has been marked by the moral courage to do and speak his
conscience, no matter what the vogue of the day, who is personally
also a master Christian theologian, responsible for historical
encyclical letters on the beautiful cardinal virtues of charity and
hope, who has refacilitated the traditional Latin Mass for those who
choose it, and who has simultaneously made intrafaith and interfaith
dialogue a top priority of his reign, in order to spread goodwill
and understanding throughout all peoples of the world.
Third, we receive Your Holiness as a Head of State, who is also a
world and global leader on the vital issues of morality, ethics, the
environment, peace, human dignity, the alleviation of poverty and
suffering, and even the global financial crisis.
Fourth and finally, we receive Your Holiness as a simple pilgrim of
peace who comes in humility and gentleness to pray where Jesus
Christ the Messiah [...], may peace be upon him, was baptized and
began his mission 2,000 years ago.
So, welcome to Jordan, Your Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. God says in
the Holy Qu'uran to the prophet Muhammed .... "Glory be to your
Lord, the Lord of might," above what they allege, "and peace be to
the messengers, and praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds." [...]
[Transcription by Vatican Radio]
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