The Economist
Jun 27th 2018
ONE of the world’s most lucrative prizes
for spiritual endeavour, bequeathed by
an American-British billionaire who was a fervent Christian, has been awarded
this year to one of the luminaries of the Muslim world, King Abdullah of
Jordan.
The Jordanian monarch, whose dynasty claims
descent from the prophet Muhammad, is only the second Muslim to receive the
Templeton Prize, worth £1.1m, since it was instituted in 1973. Its stated aim
is to honour, every year, an individual who has made an exceptional
contribution to “affirming life’s spiritual dimension”.
The prize, and the Templeton Foundation
which administers it, were established by Sir John Templeton, an American-born
investor who was a devoted Presbyterian Christian but also saw value in
learning about other religions. Previous recipients have included South
Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lord Jonathan Sacks (former chief rabbi of
Britain and the Commonwealth), and Charles Colson, a member of Richard Nixon’s
White House who went to jail for obstructing justice and then became a prison
evangelist.
By honouring the Jordanian sovereign, the
prize-givers are sending quite a subtle message about the value of patient
diplomacy rooted in strong scholarly work. King Abdullah and his Hashemite
dynasty have been responsible for some impressive initiatives aimed at curbing
extremism within Islam and at easing tensions between the leading monotheistic
faiths.
In one of these initiatives, known as the
Amman declaration, eminent figures from eight different legal schools, representing
virtually all the strains of Islam, came together. They affirmed that despite
sectarian differences they would recognise one another as valid Muslims and
hold back from branding each other with proclamations of Takfir, in other words
allegations of apostasy. That might sound trivial but it isn’t: one of the
hallmarks of murderously extreme jihadists is that they are quick to describe
Muslims less fanatical than themselves as apostates or deviants from the faith.
That is only a small step from calling them worthy of death.
Another trademark of modern Jihadis is that
they claim the right to proclaim Fatwas or judgments on religious matters,
regardless of whether they have any training in theology. So signatories of the
so-called Amman declaration (whose numbers have steadily increased, across at
least 50 countries) specified that only qualified authorities could issue
Fatwas.
Another big initiative by the Jordanian
royal house was the Common Word in which distinguished Muslims issued a
friendly challenge to bigwigs of the Christian world, inviting them to dialogue
and co-operation on the basis of two axioms which, in the signatories’ view,
were present in both religions: love of God and love of neighbour.
In recent times, religious diplomacy by
much wealthier rulers of Saudi Arabia has enjoyed more publicity than the
highbrow work sponsored by the Jordanian royals. In part this reflects a shift
in the Arab world’s centre of gravity, away from the troubled Levant and
towards the wealthy Gulf. But the newly announced prize is a reminder that in a
faith which values continuity and tradition, there is no substitute for
diligent scholarly work. In the words of H.A. Hellyer, an analyst of Islam with
RUSI, a London think-tank, and the Atlantic Council based in Washington, DC:
This news [about the award] is very
significant because of what the prize was awarded for: inter-faith work between
Christians and Muslims, initiated by Muslims, and intra-faith work among
Muslims, initiated by Sunni Muslims. For all the recent media frenzy over Saudi
Arabia’s claimed shift to the mainstream of Sunni Islam, it is difficult to
imagine any such prize being awarded to Riyadh’s rulers for this kind of work.
Source:
economist.com/erasmus/2018/06/27/a-muslim-monarch-and-religious-diplomat-wins-some-overdue-recognition?cid1
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/the-economist/jordanian-religious-diplomacy-is-more-discreet-than-the-saudi-kind,-but-may-be-more-effective/d/115665