(Names of most distinguished guests)

Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Allow me to begin this morning with the Islamic greeting of ‘Salaam’ – a word that means peace, harmony, and conciliation. Across the Muslim world, Salaam is used to greet friends, neighbours and strangers, constantly reinforcing the message that Islam is a faith that values peace. And in the same spirit, I am honoured today to be addressing this distinguished gathering. I thank the organizers and the Government of Austria for hosting this important conference which will, I hope, deepen our understanding of Islam and its fundamentally pluralistic nature. It is also my hope that we leave this meeting with a deeper appreciation of our common human values, and a greater acceptance of the differences.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Islam is today the faith of over 1 billion people from different social, cultural and economic backgrounds – and is one of the world’s fastest growing faiths. The Islamic world, stretching from Europe and Africa to East and Central Asia, constitutes one of the most diverse religious and cultural communities in the world. Islam promotes a sense of community as well as diversity, as it disregards all considerations of race, colour, ethnicity, class, or wealth. In Islam, members of all ethnic and racial groups are equal and are to be judged only by their deeds. One of the closest companions of Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon Him) was Bilal, a man from Africa and a former slave. The differences of racial and social background did not stop the Holy Prophet to bestow upon Bilal the great honour of being Islam’s first Mua’zin – the caller to the faithful to attend prayers. Put in the context of an era where slavery and racial segregation was the norm, Bilal was a powerful embodiment of the values of Islam.

Islam’s fundamentally tolerant and inclusive nature teaches Muslims to accept the ‘other’ – those outside the realm of Islam. The Holy Koran recognizes the pluralistic nature of humanity when it says:

We created you from a single male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other. The most honored among you to Allah is the most righteous of you. (49: 13)

Another verse of the Holy Koran says:

“To every people We have given a law and a ritual, and if God had so willed He would have made you all but one society. But it was His wish to test you by what He has given to each of you. Be emulous in good deeds.’’ (5: 48) (ELABORATION OF THE VERSES)

Islam’s tolerance is most clearly featured in its

recognition of earlier monotheistic faiths. The obligation to respect earlier religions of the Book, and their prophets is one of the basic principles enunciated in the Holy Koran. For a Muslim it is a basic tenet of faith to believe in the prophecies of Moses and Jesus, whereas their denial amounts to heresy.

As Islam spread to other parts of the world, historians attest that it was less a forced religious expansion than a meeting of cultures and civilizations. Muslim cities of the early age were the most cosmopolitan of the time, integrating different cultural and religious minorities, where thinkers, scientists and philosophers met and exchanged ideas. They provided a favourable environment for the development of sciences, philosophy, literature, music and arts .

Al-Andalus was a great example of how pluralistic societies thrived and were nurtured under Islamic rule. It was a melting pot of civilizations and a magnificent centre of culture, commerce and arts. Its capital Cordoba was the intellectual centre of Europe where scholarly works in a variety of fields were written. Muslims understood that scientific inquiry did not conflict with their faith but rather was a natural extension of it. The greatest achievement of the Muslims in Al-Andalus, and which played a decisive role in the Renaissance, was the restoration of the scientific spirit, and the determination to discover those laws that governed the phenomena of nature. It was Muslim scholars, such as Averroes, who first rediscovered and used the classical Greek tradition, and it was Muslims who translated and preserved the writings of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, before sharing the knowledge in turn with Europeans. So when, centuries later, Isaac Newton talked of seeing further because he stood on the shoulders of giants, he was referring in part to the giants of the Muslim world. One such giant is Balkhi-Rumi, the twelfth century great philosopher and poet of Afghanistan, who says:

The paths are many, but the goal is one…For some the roads starts from Rome, for others from Egypt, Persia, or China…If you are considering the different roads, the variety is immense and the differences infinite; if you consider the goal, however, they are all in harmony and are one. The hearts of each one is fixed upon one place. Each heart has one overriding attachment – a passionate love for the light – and there is no room for contradiction.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Muslims throughout the world continue to make major contributions to the progress of cultures, arts and sciences today. But it is also clear that, unlike during Islam’s glorious past, parts of the Muslim world today suffer from stagnation, violence and a weakening of state institutions which curtail their ability to address the demands of their populations.

However, the challenges of building a pluralistic world today are not confined to the Muslim world, nor in fact should faith or culture be blamed when states and societies fail to become tolerant and pluralistic. Today, the real challenges to pluralism are rooted in unprecedented levels of population growth, poverty, unemployment, organized crime, environmental degradation, and so on. On top of these, there are challenges that emanate from the legacy of colonization, foreign interference and regional rivalries driven by narrow definition of national interest and, of course, in today’s world, the challenge of international terrorism which is affecting innocent people from all cultures and faiths.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

At this point, allow me to elaborate on the link between foreign interference and extremism by sharing with you the experience of Afghanistan, where for centuries the Afghan people lived in tolerance and moderation; but a combination of interferences and invasion brought destruction and pain to our country and disrupted our drive towards development and democratization.

In Afghanistan, we witnessed – and greatly suffered from – the dire consequences of policies of other states based on the narrow definition of national interest. Before the invasion and interferences, Afghanistan was a country at peace with itself and the world. Our country was steadily developing by building infrastructure and modern institutions. All this changed in 1979 when the Soviet Union, in an attempt to expand its Communist empire and impose an alien ideology on our people, invaded our country, unleashing a calamitous war that left much of our country in ruin and millions of our people killed, disabled and displaced. The invasion also set in motion the radicalization and fragmentation of our society.

In response to the invasion, much of the rest of the world helped us for which we are grateful. But some of that help came with an agenda, namely to strengthen religious radicals and extremists among the resistance forces in a bid to create zealots who would fight the Soviet forces more vehemently.

Indeed, some of the well-known terrorists today and their followers were brought into our country because they suited the policies of others at the time, without consideration of the dire consequences for the Afghan people, and other innocent people around the world. After we repelled the invasion, rather than helping us to rebuild our country, the world turned away and left. As a result, Afghanistan fell into the hands of extremists who turned it into a land of oppression and a haven for international terrorism, the horrible consequences of which we all witnessed.

On the other hand, Afghanistan’s experience over the past four years illustrates that, where co-operation replaces interference, and where the pursuit of narrow interests is replaced by the vision of peace and co-existence, the differences of faith and culture can hardly be obstacles to building a just and pluralistic society.

In fact, Afghanistan’s accomplishments over the past four years show that both our Islamic faith and our Afghan traditions promote pluralism, and have been our greatest assets as we have tried to rebuild the foundations of our state. Today in Afghanistan, we have a progressive constitution that is based on Islam and, at the same time, guarantees the fundamental and equal rights of women and men. Our constitution recognizes our social and linguistic diversity by granting official status to all of our languages, and provides framework for democratic and inclusive governance. The Afghan people have exercised their rights under this constitution through participation in the political and social life of the country. Most recently, we held our first parliamentary elections in more than three decades in which nearly 6,000 Afghans – men and women – campaigned as candidates. It is significant that even though the National Assembly allocates special seats for women, a substantial number of Afghan women were elected on their own. Afghanistan today also has a civil society, characterized by a strong and diverse media and a wide plethora of civic organizations.

In short, Afghanistan is both a poor and deeply religious country, but it is also a country that has embraced democracy and pluralism as a way to the future. Afghanistan shows that, in this age of globalization, the scope of our political visions and the breadth of our policies must be broader than our national boundaries. It shows that there can no longer be corners of violence and suffering without consequences to the peace of the world and, therefore, peace and progress in our countries are dependant on conducive conditions across the world.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today, globalization is bringing peoples and cultures closer to each other more than ever before. Thanks to advances in technology, news and ideas travel at an extraordinary speed to all corners of the world. People in the farthest villages of Afghanistan can watch the same television programmes together with those in cities like Vienna, Tokyo and New York. This shrinking of the world, on the one hand, necessitates that we recognize and respect the differences in our cultures and ways of life, while on the other hand, requires us to face our common challenges. We must do so by adhering to our common values and universal principles, and by promoting dialogue among cultures and civilizations, as my honourable friend, President Khattami, would agree. The principles of great religions, the Charter of the United Nations, the principles of human rights, and our collective need to fight the politics of violence and terrorism, are the foundations upon which we can build a just, peaceful and pluralistic world.

It is also necessary that both our visions and our policies must be guided by moral principles and values shared by humanity. After all, we are all members of one human body, as the great Persian poet Sa’adi reminds us:

Human beings are members of one body,

Who in creation are of the same source.

When one member is in pain,

Other members will not remain unaffected.

You, unmoved by the suffering of others,

Are unworthy of the name human!

Thank you.