Two hands cradling a tender young plant provided the visual image for an ambitious conference last week in Alexandria, Egypt. The image aptly illustrated the underlying question: have the new beginnings that President Obama promised one year ago, in his speech to the world's Muslim communities at Cairo University, taken root? Not surprisingly, those of us who attended the conference heard a wide range of answers.
Rashad Hussain, special envoy of the U.S. President to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), waxed enthusiastic, with a long litany of changes in tone, paradigm, and approach that the Obama administration brings in its dealings with the Muslim world.
Several Arab voices, however -- for example Moroccan Mohamed Ben Saleh, representing the Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) -- were far more reserved in their judgments. In short, the shoots of excitement we witnessed a year ago are still alive, but there are plenty of doubts and a decided dampening of tone -- especially surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Ismail Serageldin, whow organized the conference and who directs Biblioteca Alexandrina, tried hard to move beyond the negatives by zeroing in on three critical topics that lend themselves especially well to positive action: education, science, and culture.
Religion found a central but not entirely easy place in the discussions. I moderated a lively session about why interfaith dialogue is needed, and why it is so difficult. Everyone had something to say, less about the merits or demerits of dialogue than about what they think is wrong.
Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzogovina commented, with some exasperation, that everyone has many complaints. What, he said, would have transpired if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had said in his speech, "I have a complaint"? What we need instead, he said, are hopes and dreams.
The conference inluded a "dialogue" between Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt, and William Vendley, Secretary General of Religions for Peace.
Evoking the promise of Obama's Cairo speech, the Sheikh admitted that turning hope into reality is not easy, but there is solid ground for mercy and peace to grow. Of over 6,000 verses in the Qur'an, he said, only 300 are related to legal matters; 97 percent are about moral excellence. Bill Vendley focused on similar themes: we need to learn together, to value together, and to act together.
Women's roles in Muslim societies were at the forefront in the Alexandria discussions and the Sheikh was challenged to comment. He tried to draw the line between what the essence of religion dictates (equal yet complementary roles), and what he termed bad customs and traditions in some Muslim societies. Interestingly, he reported a recent review he undertook of Muslim history which found over 90 women heads of state, judges, and ministers. The implication: culture, not religion, is the obstacle.
Ismail Serageldin opened the final session with an improbable joke that carried a pointed message. A man consults his doctor because he fears that his wife is going deaf. The doctor counsels the husband to check carefully. So he goes home and stands behind his wife. He asks, loudly, "What's for dinner?" No response. He moves closer. "What's for dinner?" No response. He comes a few feet from her and shouts "What's for dinner?" Responds the wife: "For the third time, spaghetti."
In the dialogue between the U.S. and Muslim societies, it's not always easy to tell who is not listening to whom. There's a common sense that "others" simply do not get and appreciate our message. Maybe that's why the same things are said over and over again.
To get beyond the complaints and to rekindle the "new beginning", the Alexandria message is that we have to sharpen our own hearing at the same time that we move forward and act (not just talk) on the open and demanding fronts of education, science, and culture.
