Prince Charles calls for understanding and tolerance between Islam and the West

At the start of the Holy Month of Ramadan, the Prince of Wales has underlined the urgent need for greater understanding and tolerance between Islam and the West. In his global address he stressed the need to work harder for mutual understanding to get rid of danger of suspicion and fear so as to create a better and safer world for future generations.

Prince Charles referred to his speech he made in Oxford some eight years ago where he spoke of the dangers of ignorance and misunderstanding between the Islamic world and the West, and of the need for these two worlds to understand better the beliefs and values which can bind them together more powerfully than they divide.

His speech culminated with pointing out of common beliefs and values:

“For we share as Muslims and Christians a powerful core of spiritual belief - in One Divine God, in the transience of our earthly life, in our accountability for our actions, and in the assurance of life to come. We also share many key social values in common; including a respect for knowledge and justice, compassion towards the poor and the underprivileged, and a respect for the importance of family life”.

He regretted to point out that in spite of the fact that the West and Islam have a history, which has often been closely bound up together, “the tragedy - and the reality - is, that both sides have so often seen the history as one of conflict and cruelty”. He noted that “both sides have suffered in their understanding because ignorance and prejudice, the extreme and the superficial, have hijacked our view of each other - and often for good reasons”.

“The point is not that either side has a monopoly of the truth, or can lay claim more exclusively to a picture which is more true. But the dangerous result of each side failing to understand the other is that misunderstandings are perpetuated, and can so easily degenerate into suspicion and hatred. We need, above all, therefore, to appreciate how others look at the world, its history and our respective roles in it”, he stressed.

“Just as we in the West need to understand the Islamic world better, so we must also understand - as part of that knowledge - the extent to which many Muslims genuinely fear our own Western materialism and mass culture as a deadly challenge to their own Islamic culture and way of life”.

He concluded for greater need for understanding and tolerance between Islam and the West, not only because of the threatening international circumstances, “but also because of the worries and concerns which exist within Britain between different communities”.