EGYPT: Muslim leaders discuss challenges of globalistation at Cairo conference. Keynote speaker is former Iranian president Mohammed Khatami

Islamic leaders from around the world gathered in Cairo on Tuesday (March 27) at the start of a conference to discuss the challenges facing Muslims in the age of Globalisation. The four day conference -- "Problems of the Muslim World and their Treatment in the context of Globalisation" --is set to address a number of issues related to Islam's place in the changing global environment, from the diffusion of new ideas into the Islamic world to the power of technology to shape political, social and religious life. The conference will also discuss the many crises facing Islamic countries such as the war in Iraq and the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, issues seen by many as related to globalisation. The keynote speaker at the four-day conference was former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, who said in his opening speech that globalisation could be used to enhance the position of Islam internationally. "Now there is another issue before us. We can carry out any form of globalisation provided it gives the Islamic world a better position, and in a way that conforms generally to the ideas of politicians. Globalisation can be explained as a unified system of living and a unified norm of understanding and a unified set of values," he said. Another topic on the agenda is the image of Islam in the age of instantaneous communications. The complexities of that issue were demonstrated last year by the uproar that resulted around the Muslim world over drawings of the Prophet Mohammed that were published in a Danish newspaper at the end of 2005. Also attending today's conference were Christian religious figures from around the world, including representatives from the Vatican, and, for the first time, leaders from the Russian Orthodox Church. The leader of Egypt's Coptic Church, Pope Shenouda III, also attended. Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, who spoke on behalf of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who was traveling, said that Muslims cannot wish globalisation away. "Muslims cannot ignore the reality of their international surroundings or believe that they are separate from being influenced by its changes and all that comes with it. Muslims have no choice but to interact with the innovations of the era," he said. Another theme set to be emphasised over the course of the conference is the so-called dialogue between civilisations, a subject championed by Khatami. The conference participants will take part in discussions about how to preserve what they see as an Islamic identity in the face of the trends towards westernisation that accompany the process of globalisation. Egyptian Sheikh Khaled al-Guindy said some of the challenges facing the Islamic world were a matter of life or death. "I expect that during this conference the new issues that the Islamic world is facing will be dealt with. The issues imposing serious challenges have turned with time into a matter of survival. Either we survive or we return to the margins of history, and so it is a serious matter in this regard," he said. The conference, organised by Egypt's Supreme Islamic Council, comes in the wake of a recent crisis over Israeli excavations at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem that caused outrage in Muslim-majority states. The crisis over the excavations at Islam's third holiest shrine have sharpened the focus among religious leaders who are participating in the Cairo meeting on the emotive issue of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Palestinian chief justice of Sharia -- or Islamic religious -- courts Imam Taysir Tamimi is the second highest Muslim figure in Palestine. Tamimi, who attended is attending the Cairo event, said Israel implements policy of slowly dispossessing Arabs in Jerusalem, a process also reported by human rights groups. "In the papers that we will present to this conference we will be talking about what is going on in Jerusalem and the ethnic cleansing the city is facing in a way that touches the social, economical and political aspect. Israel is trying to change the city's character in a way that interferes with the social fabric," he said. At a time when Muslim-majority states are struggling with widespread political instability and war, and the accompanying battles in the international media over the representation of Islam, the issue of how to adjust to the rapidly changing local environment is a timely one, and one that the religious leaders gathered in Cairo will spend much of this week grappling with.

ITN Source | March 29, 2007

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