Saudi Interfaith Summit Faces Challenges

King's Ambitious Plan, However, Elicits Some Prompt and Vocal Support at Home, Abroad

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- A group of visiting Japanese scholars was making a routine courtesy call recently on King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz when the monarch raised a subject that, as he put it, had "obsessed me since two years ago."

Distressed by what he described as disintegrating family ties, a rise in atheism and "an imbalance of reason, ethics and humanity," the king announced plans for a new interfaith dialogue in which "believers of the three main religions -- the Torah, Bible and Koran -- will be of priority."

In other words, Jews, Christians and Muslims.

The proposal made headlines because of Saudi Arabia's austere, exclusivist version of Sunni Islam, which bans the open practice of all other faiths, and regards even Shiite Muslims as heretics. For the most part, this Wahhabist strain of Islam has rejected interreligious dialogue with non-Muslim "infidels."

Abdullah's stature as "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" in Mecca and Medina, however, gives him some authority in religious matters. So, if as he said, the aim of the dialogue "is to request all religions to sit together with their brothers faithfully and sincerely as we all believe in the same God," something significant has occurred.

The monarch also said that Saudi religious scholars "have agreed" to such a dialogue. "God willing, I will start this matter soon. If we meet and agree," he added, "I will then address the United Nations."

The king's seemingly ambitious proposal comes at a time of escalating violence and distrust between the Islamic world and the West, with both ensnared in a wide array of grievances, including Muhammad cartoons regarded as blasphemous by Muslims, restrictions on religious freedoms in some Islamic countries and the lack of progress in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A desire among some Western religious and political leaders to defuse these precarious relations is apparently one reason why Abdullah's proposal was widely and warmly welcomed, including by the White House.

"When you have someone like the king of Saudi Arabia and all of his stature that is recommending such a dialogue, it can only give us hope that there would be further recognition of everyone's right to . . . freedom of expression and religion," presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "So we are encouraged by it."

John L. Esposito, founding director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, said Abdullah's proposal "is potentially an important and significant move forward in terms of the king sending a signal -- not only to the world but also to the more rejectionist types who are theologically very narrow-minded -- that we're going to open up."

The dialogue proposal -- the location, format and agenda are still unknown -- is popular among Saudis who support the king's reformist agenda of slowly introducing political and social changes. "It's unprecedented . . . [for] Saudi leaders to call for dialogue between the three religions," said Khalil Al Khalil, a member of the quasi-parliamentary Shura Council.

Hard-line religious figures who might not be happy with Abdullah's plans are mute so far, and there have been only mildly worded warnings floated to the king. For example, a young cleric blogging at the Internet forum Al Saha recalled how Muslims who had engaged in past dialogues with Christians had come away disillusioned.