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Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Shaikh Abdul Aziz Al Shaikh has denied press reports that he had invited Jewish rabbis to a forthcoming inter-faith reconciliation conference in Riyadh.
In a press statement, the Mufti, who is also chairman of the Senior Scholars' Commission and Ifta, clarified that what has been published in some newspapers, quoting some news agencies, are "reports which are absolutely baseless and have no grain of truth." Citing a verse from the Quran, the Mufti called for verifying baseless news that might cause harm to others, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
Al Shaikh made the remarks in reaction to an Israeli newspaper report on Monday that two Israeli rabbis have received invitations to attend the Riyadh event during telephone talks initiated by the Grand Mufti to offices of the Israeli-Arab Friendship Society.
"The mufti extended an invitation to Israeli religious representatives to attend an inter-faith conference in Riyadh," the newspaper reported.
A week ago, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz stressed the need for holding such a conference in what appears to be the first attempt at dialogue between the three monotheistic religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
The king said the major faiths shared a desire to combat the "disintegration of the family and the rise of atheism in the world."
He referred to his groundbreaking talks in Rome last November with Pope Benedict XVI.
There has been a tremendous response from across the Muslim and Christian world to King Abdullah's initiative, while American media hailed the unprecedented inter-faith initiative launched by King Abdullah. The king has made history with his call for dialogue among religions, CNN reported on Tuesday.
Protection of humanity
In a report in its main bulletin, CNN highlighted the king's call for dialogue among the three monotheistic religions for the protection of humanity from frivolousness and his role in supporting the peace process in the Middle East.
Responding to the call, the World Council of Churches (WCC) urged its members to open a dialogue with Muslim scholars.
The Geneva-based WCC said it wanted to organise discussions on theology and ethics with signatories of A Common Word, a call for Christian-Muslim dialogue issued by 138 Islamic scholars last October and welcomed by many Christian churches
Prominent among the Muslim leaders that have supported King Abdullah's proposal for interfaith dialogue is the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. "All of humanity needs the dialogue that has been suggested by the king with the objective to save the nations," he said.
Dr Abdullah Al Turki, secretary general of the Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL), is of the view that the king's proposal is capable of "teaching that Islam is a religion that brings with it a message of goodness, love, justice and peace."
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