Star Telegram
Texas Pastor witnessed Muslims uniting for religious tolerance.
About 300 address the rights of religious minorities in Muslim.
Leaders emerged from summit with Marrakesh Declaration.
A North Texas pastor said he recently witnessed a “historic” moment in religion: A gathering of almost 300 Muslim leaders focused on protecting the rights of religious minorities, including Christians, in Muslim majority nations.
“It’s not just good news, it’s historic,” said Bob Roberts, senior past at NorthWood Church in Keller.
Roberts has been active in the fight “Islamophobia” in the United States, including having joint services with Muslims at his church. He was recently among several Christians invited to a summit in Morocco where they witnessed the unveiling of the Marrakesh Declaration — a framework to be used to build more religious tolerance, Roberts said.
“We feel it is extremely significant,” Alia Salem, executive director Council On American-Islamic Relations-DFW, adding that the effort brought togehter hundreds of leaders throughout the Muslim world and affirmed what the Muslim religion teaches.
“There has been terrorist activity that persecuted religious minorities — that is something that goes against the teaching for our religion,” Salem said. “We are delighted that our leaders have come together in such an important and concrete way to do something like this.”
Peace Catalyst International, an organization that promotes peace between Christians and Muslims, stated that the declaration is based on the Charter of Medina, which was a contract between Muhammed and Jewish tribes of Medina. Roberts said the charter outlined how Muslims were expected to relate to Jews.
Roberts said while fighting terrorism remains a top issue in the West, not much attention was given to the declaration by mainstream media. The declaration is drawing reactions on Twitter, where some skeptics have weighed in while others promote the news using #MarrakeshDeclaration.
The rights of religious minorities in Muslim majority countries was discussed at a conference in Morocco in January.
“It’s a first step,” Roberts said. “It doesn’t mean everything is going to go away.”
Travis Wussow, director of international justice and religious freedom for the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, was also present for the summit. He said it is the first time he has seen a gathering of religious leaders from such a broad theological and geographical background address this issue.
“Nobody has heard of something like this ever happening before,” said Wussow, who is based in Cypress, an island country located in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
The declaration sends a message against extremism and terrorism, Wussow said, adding that whenever violent acts — tied to radicalized terrorists or the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) — make headlines, people are quick to ask Muslim leaders to take a harsh stance against terrorism.
This is an example of the Muslim world taking a stance for peace, he said.
“This is a declaration based on Islamic law,” Wussow said. “It doesn’t use Western language.”
In 2011, about 90 percent of Christians lived in countries where they were the majority; about 10 percent of Christians worldwide lived as minorities, according to the Pew Research Center.
Roberts, who last year stood up for Muslims after evangelist Franklin Graham said they should be stopped from immigrating to the United States, said it is imperative that people of different religions live peacefully together.
“There has to be tolerance, respect and space for other religions in a world where every religion is present,” he said.
