Within the framework of the Programme of religious leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, comprising twenty religious eminences from various religions, Reisu-l-ulema Dr. Mustafa Ceric gave a speech today, on the theme of "Faith in Religion", together with Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Mathieu Ricard, of the Shechen Tenny Dargyeling Monastery, and Jim Wallis, editor-in-chief of "Sojourners" magazine, which session was moderated by the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, according to MINA agency.

In answering a question as to how a religion may influence that the trend of intolerance and misunderstanding between peoples and nations can be transformed into tolerance and understanding, Reisu-l-ulema Ceric referred to two historical examples and one contemporary one, when Muslims, because of their Islamic teachings, showed how it was possible to transform intolerance into tolerance and misunderstanding into understanding.

"In the first example, said Reisu-l-ulema Ceric, a Jewish author, Stanford J. Shaw, testifies in his book "Turkey and the Holocaust" and says: Neither the people of the Republic of Turkey, nor those in Europe and America have completely understood how much Turkey, as Ottoman Empire which preceded it, served, for centuries, as the main safe haven for peoples who were persecuted, Muslims and non-Muslims, from the fourteenth century until today. In many ways Turkey played a role which, over time, the United States of America took over in the beginning of the nineteenth century.

If we keep this in mind then we can understand why Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was irritated yesterday by a speech, delivered in an elevated tone of voice, given by the Israeli president Shimon Peres who justified attacks on Gaza where the Israeli military killed hundreds of innocent civilians, among them many children, women and elderly. The example of he Turkish friendship towards the Jews is beyond comparison to any other European country, be it in the historical or contemporaneous terms, and it is therefore that Prime Minister Erdogan took that Israel ought to have taken a "tart pill" from a friend and listen to the harsh truth about Gaza. Unfortunately, Israel listens only to
"sweet friends". Nobody owns the monopoly pain and suffering, nobody owns the monopoly to self-determination and self-defence, nobody owns the monopoly to freedom and dignity.

The second example of the Muslims tolerance and understanding towards Jews dates back to 1492 when the Sephardic Jews found a safe haven in Sarajevo, following their persecution in Spain. A testament of the is the Sarajevo Haggadah which the Bosnia's Muslims saved from destruction on a number of occasions, during World War Two, as well as during the four-years siege of Sarajevo, and when , on August 25, 1992, the Serbian military burned the Sarajevo National Library, exactly five hundred years after the burning of the Cordoba Library in Spain. American author, Geraldine Brooks, published a book recently about the Sarajevo Haggadah titled "People of the Book", which tome may be a great inspiration for the future Muslim-Jewish relations worldwide.

The third example of how religion can influence the transformation of misunderstanding into understanding relates to the speech given by the Pope Benedict XVI at the Regensburg University in Germany, on September 13, 2006, about Islam and Muhammed a.s., in which he unnerved Muslims throughout the world. Since the Pope's speech was damaging to the peace and security in the world, 138 of the Muslim alims and intellectuals published, on October 13, 2007, an open letter to the Pope Benedict XVI and the whole Christian world, calling upon the values of a common word between Muslims and Christians about Love toward God and love toward neighbour. That open letter of the Muslim leaders and intellectuals was met with great support from the highest Christian leaders, first and foremost from the Pope Benedict XVI himself, the Canterbury Archbishop Rowan Williams, president of the Lutherans Bishop Hanson, president of the World Baptist Alliance Mr. Coffey, as well as the current British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Further, conferences were held last year at the Yale University in the U.S., then at Cambridge in the U.K. and in the end a three-day dialogue between twenty Muslim and twenty Catholic theologians was held in Vatican which ended with a meeting with the Pope Benedict XVI in an atmosphere of friendship and joint wish to continue the dialogue in the spirit of the common love toward God and love toward neighbour.

This would be my Muslim response to the question of how and in what manner religion can transform the trend of intolerance and misunderstanding between peoples and nations. I hope that the examples, given here, about the Muslims' tolerance would serve as an inspiration to all - Muslims, Christians and Jews so that they can comprehend that there is no other way but through dialogue, tolerance and mutual understanding so that together we can build a better world in every place - concluded Reisu-l-ulema Dr. Mustafa Ceric in his speech in Davos.

In a press conference with respect to the events in Palestine, Reisu-l-ulema has, among others, made these comments:

Following the events in Gaza it is clear to everybody, and it ought to be especially clear to Israel, that there is no military solution to the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation. Also, nothing can justify the killings of children, women and elderly in Gaza. Only through dialogue and respect for the fundamental rights of the Palestinians - right to life, religion, freedom, possessions and dignity - and peace and security of Israel is the lasting peace in the Middle East, and in the world, possible. Those were the concluding words of Reisu-l-ulema Dr. Ceric.

www.bosniaks.net