Prince Charles visited Egypt on an interfaith mission

Language: 
English
Sent On: 
Sun, 2021-11-21
Year: 
2021
Newsletter Number: 
36



From left to right Grand Imam Dr. Aḥmad al-Ṭayyib, HRH Camilla, HRH Prince Charles and HE Archbishop Sāmī Fawzī Shiḥāta

 

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla visited Egypt for a two-day visit for the first time in 15 years on a mission centred on inter-faith co-existence and the battle against climate change. The royal couple has met with President al-Sisi [ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ al-Sīsī], Grand-Imam Dr. Ahmed al-Tayib [Aḥmad al-Ṭayyib] and Archbishop Samy Fawzy Shehata [Sāmī Fawzī Shiḥāta], head of the Anglican Province of Alexandria.

 

Prof. Dr. Hassan Wageih [Ḥassan Wajīh] wrote a reflection on the Prince’s visit for Arab-West Report and quotes Prince Charles “I believe wholeheartedly that the links between these two worlds matter more today than ever before, because the degree of misunderstanding between the Islamic and Western world remains dangerously high, and because the need for the two to live and work together in our increasingly interdependent world has been greater.“ And “we shall need to work harder to understand each other, to drain out any poison between us, and to lay the ghost of suspicion and fear top rest.”

Toxic people deploy what is called “semantic inflation,” Prof. Ḥassan Wajīh wrote. These toxic people have “attempted to synonymize the term “Human Fraternity” with extremely negative conspiracy-oriented  meanings.  The aim, from a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) perspective, is to portray to the public, especially in the Arab world, that such a term is a cover up term to frame those who are honestly enthusiastic about achieving real human fraternity as agents for implementing masonic or imperialistic and Zionist designs.”


Pope Tawāḍrūs and Shaykh Aḥmad al-Ṭayyib

 

James Arthur wrote in Policy Futures in Education (Volume 9, Number 1, 2011) “Intercultural dialogue, as currently theorized and practiced by the Council of Europe, is limited in its capacity to contribute to social cohesion in and among religious communities who differ fundamentally from each other.

 

Adherents of the major religions believe that their religion is uniquely true and consequently feel that their religious beliefs and values are misrepresented if public bodies in the name of ‘neutrality’ or secular principles imply or affirm the equal truth of all religions. They conclude from this approach that there is no real respect for religious difference.”

 

Prof. Ḥassan Wajīh concludes “that we need to assert more what we may call the open religious discourse that really helps us all in the four geographical directions in our planet to face collectively unprecedented challenges.”

 

For the full text of Prof. Dr. Ḥassan Wajīh please click here.​

 

 

November 21, 2021

 

Cornelis Hulsman,

Editor-in-Chief Arab-West Report