ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

53 to Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim, professor of law at the University of Khartoum, (Su- dan) "The first Muslims interpreted the di- vine sources in light of the historical con- text in which they lived in order to create a coherent and practicable system, which achieved significant improvements on the level of human rights vis-à-vis previous and contemporary systems; it is the right and responsibility of Muslims today to do the same thing, to give life to a modern Islamic shari'a, destined for the radically changed current context. Muslim radical way frustrates the divine purpose. And yet In their historical context Muslim religious laws represented an improvement over the systems in force at that time "(12). The Egyptian Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz, along with a hundred other intel- lectuals and politicians, founded an asso- ciation in August 1992 to consolidate na- tional unity following the religious violence that was unleashed against the Copts. The founding president is Ibrahim Nafie, Pre- sident of the Al-Ahram Publishing Group. The main objective of the association is to combat religious fundamentalism and to promote equality among all citizens, both Muslim and Christian. According to the association's spokesperson, religious violence began in Egypt when Nasser re- sorted to Islam to consolidate his power in the country and in the Arab world. Funda- mentalist groups then used religion to sei- ze political power, which is their real goal. A prominent Islamic professor, Ahmed Kamal Abul-Magd, former Egyptian Infor- mation Minister, called on Islamic theolo- gians to rethink the spirit of the Koranic message in light of the challenges of the contemporary world, correcting the di- storted image that Muslims give today of their religion. This problem is so felt by the highest civil authorities that at the fifteen- th summit of the six Gulf countries (Gulf Cooperation Council) held in Bahrain in December 1994, the proposal of Oman to "abandon extremism and religious fanati- cism that distort the image of tolerance of the shari'a which promotes non-violence and coexistence with all religions ". 9. Towards what future? What will be the rules that will guarantee Muslims and non-Muslims living in Isla- mic territories tomorrow? Will it be possible for a non-Muslim to be a full citizen in a state where Islam is the official religion? How to regulate relations between the Islamic state and the international com- munity, modeled on pluralist principles? The shari'a is currently the inspiring crite- rion for the constitutional papers of Islamic countries. Can Muslims ever conceive a democratic state order that guarantees freedom of religion and worship for all ci- tizens, equal before the law, regardless of religion or ideology? Some Muslim researchers are inclined to affirm that the Islamic faith is not only re- concilable to human rights but can contri- bute to their promotion with the redisco- very of the original meaning of the shari'a of ethical guidance and not to consider it a rigid codification of legal norms. (9) These are some questions that must be answered. This is why the time has come for the monotheistic religions to find to- gether the way to translate commonly the ethical norms into practice. Religious freedom of thought and expres- sion is the cornerstone of the entire structure of human rights, as stated by John Paul II. The restrictions that Catho- lics face in many Muslim-majority coun- tries must be denounced and condemned. Receiving the Pakistani bishops visiting Limina in audience, the Pope claimed the right to freedom of worship for believers of all faiths.