c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Pope Benedict XVI has reiterated that he has “total and profound respect for all Muslims.” That should put to rest the anger among some Muslims over Benedict’s controversial comments last month about Islam being spread by the sword _ a statement that is certainly not entirely wrong, which is also true for Christianity.

In the backdrop of the Danish cartoons caricaturing Prophet Muhammad, the torture pictures from Abu Ghraib prison, indefinite detentions of Muslims at Guantanamo and the ongoing war in Iraq, the timing of the pope’s speech was ill-advised and undiplomatic.

Benedict could usefully make reference to another famous quote from his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, made soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks: “And given that Islam and Christianity worship one God, creator of heaven and earth, there is ample room for agreement and cooperation between them; a clash ensues only when Islam or Christianity is misconstrued or manipulated for political or ideological ends.”

But it is now time to move forward. The pope has demonstrated in word and deeds his desire to do just that. Muslims must now show their respect for Catholics and other Christians by accepting the pope’s explanation as an opportunity to open channels of communication.

Reciprocity is in order, as the pope recently told diplomats from 22 Muslim nations. He said a “more authentic reciprocal knowledge” is required between the faiths.

By that he means that Muslims must show the same respect toward Christianity, and must allow Christians living in Muslim nations the same rights that they demand for themselves from Christians and Christian-led nations.

Why should it be any other way?

Why is it that Saudi Arabia _ which did not attend the speech to Muslim diplomats because the Saudis choose not to maintain formal diplomatic ties with the Vatican _ can contribute $50 million for the construction of Rome’s Islamic Center of Italy but forbids even a modest church to open in Saudi Arabia?

Why are Muslims in the West free to seek converts openly, but Muslims in Afghanistan and other Islamic nations are subject to capital punishment should they embrace Christianity?

Why is it that Muslims bemoan the fact that all of Islam is wrongly accused of encouraging violence when Muslim terrorists strike, yet so many Muslims excuse the violence that breaks out whenever Islam’s more fanatical adherents deem themselves wronged by the Christian West?

The inequality of this relationship is not lost on non-Muslims. Yet Muslims wonder why an ever-growing number of Christians are growing increasingly impatient.

Catholic writers from both the right and left have noted that it was no accident that Benedict referred to a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who claimed the Prophet Muhammad was responsible for “things only evil and inhuman.” The pope, they explained, was seeking to express Vatican concerns that while Islam spreads across Europe, Arab and Muslim governments prohibit the growth of Christianity in Asia and Africa.

Rather than seeking to force Benedict to keep apologizing until the church is somehow made diminished, we must meet him halfway, because that is where genuine religious dialogue occurs.

When John Paul was shot by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish Muslim, angry Catholics did not take to the streets, burn mosques or otherwise take revenge by killing innocent Muslims. When John Paul recovered from his near-fatal wounds, one of his first excursions was to visit his would-be assassin in his prison cell. Tolerance and forgiveness could not have a better example.

Contrast that with the angry and sometimes violent reactions of Muslims to Benedict’s charged words about the Prophet Muhammad. Benedict has gone out of his way to make amends and make clear that he wants honest dialogue.

A catastrophic collision between Christianity and Islam, while certainly a possibility, would ultimately diminish both faiths. Frank discussion over time is the best, and perhaps the only, antidote.

It is time for Muslims to show Islam’s generosity of spirit not only toward Pope Benedict, but toward Christendom as a whole. As the Quran notes, Allah made us different so that we might get to know each other.

(M. Osman Siddique was the nation’s first Muslim ambassador, serving from 1999 to 2001 as the U.S. ambassador to Fiji, Tonga, Nauru and Tuvalu. He lives with his wife and four children in McLean, Va.)

KRE/PH END SIDDIQUE

Editors: To obtain a photos of M. Osman Siddique, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.