Dr. el-'Attar equally criticizes a comparable  phobic account of the Other (in this case, Muslims) as exhibited in the West by Professor Samuel Huntington in his book "The Clash of Civilizations  and the Remaking of World Order" where Islamic resurgence is next to China in threatening the Western interests, and asks how much are we justified - religiously, culturally and practically - in enhancing such attitudes of mutual distrust and promoting them among the masses.

To overcome this deadlock and futile outlook to the other, Dr. El-'Attar draws our attention to "a grateful West", i.e., to a different trend that is on the increase in the West which is genuinely trying its best to refine its Medieval Crusade-dated concept of Islam and Muslims, let alone other cultures. The examples he cited draw from a wider section of the Western society than that domain of Professor Edward Said - which has been highlighting and stressing the "colonial," and "missionary" motives behind interests in and "academic," study of the Orient ⁽¹⁾. In spite of an overlap in the study of the samples and sections of the Western society, Dr.El-'Attar's vision encompasses European historians of science, thinkers and philosophers, Orientalists, voyage writers, modern Western scholars and political figures, etc., who, however, enjoy the virtue of and exhibit a determination to upgrade their distorted view of the Islamic civilization and peoples, reflecting a healthy intercultural Western phenomenon.

A generous list of quotations made by these figures is examined to highlight this genuine Western tribute to Islam in the widest sense of the term - be it in their acknowledgement of Prophet of Islam ⁽²⁾, Muhammad (PBUH), Islamic tolerance to non-Muslims ⁽³⁾, Islamic contribution ⁽⁴⁾ to European Renaissance and scholarly achievements in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, medicine, geography, physics, chemistry, philosophy, art and architecture. Another list ⁽⁵⁾ of Muslim scientists that flourished in Baghdad, Spain, Sicily, Cairo and Damascus in the years 750-1100 AD when Europe was in its dark ages is equally highlighted to understand the significance of these medieval cities or gates of civilizations in passing the torch of learning and scientific spirit to Northern Spain, France, England, Italy and thus to the whole of Europe, which in turn passed it to the new world.

The audience was furthermore acquainted with fresh documented evidence from contemporary articles, books, travel literature, scholarly studies and statements by politicians that confirm this genuine Western awakening to "true Islam" and the promising future awaiting the two cultures. 

HRH. Prince of Wales' statement in 1996 ⁽⁶⁾ in which he was urging the West "to learn from Islam its wonderful synthesis of the secular and the sacred, and the necessity to learn with our hearts as we do with our heads" ⁽⁷⁾ , asking Muslim teachers to come over to Britain, in addition to declaring himself as "defender of faith" at large and not only of the Church ⁽⁸⁾, plus HRH opening of Visual Islamic & Traditional Arts Programme, (V.I.T.A) ⁽⁹⁾, is an event that has been equally echoed by Christian masses in Europe and America who since 1996 have been organizing marches of apology in each of Turkey, Syria & Lebanon (to be culminated in April 1999 in Jerusalem on the 900^th occasion of the subjugation of Jerusalem by the Crusaders) and carrying the slogan "We are sorry" on behalf of our ancestors who have used the name of Christ (PBUH) and the force of the Crusader Church to express everything but the true and tender message of Jesus (PBUH).

American University of Sharjah Professor J. Caesar in her book (Crossing Borders: An American Woman in the Middle East ) and her article⁽¹⁰⁾ on the distorted image of the Arabs in American media and literature, plus professor Mary Ann Fay's study on Lady Mary Montague, the 18^th century wife of British Ambassador to Istanbul and her objective account of the 'haramlek' ⁽¹¹⁾= women in Ottoman Turkey, in addition to many other American academics (for example, Professor Shireen T. Hunter ⁽¹²⁾, the late Norman Daniel ⁽¹³⁾ and US State-Department Counsellors ⁽¹⁴⁾ as Professor John Espesito, (see http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/espositj) who reads Islamic resurgence as "a healthy sign of Muslim people who strive, to combine wisdom, religion and the secular elements of life", all reflect, Dr. El-'Attar points out, a genuine Western humanitarian determination to overcome cultural barriers and initiate a healthy interaction among nations.

It is time, Dr. 'El-Attar concludes, that we too ought to upgrade and refine our image and interpretations of this trend in the West in the same manner cultures are refining their views to our identities and history.

Professor Edward Said's account now (hopefully and respectfully) belongs to a distant history and its validity is thence evidently strongly circumstantial, and it should no more cripple or hinder our interpretation of "the Western other". In Islam itself, lies a parallel package of exemplary trends and actions - that had been exhibited by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), guided caliphs and learned men - and sincere attempts to cross the borders and open a highway of (another) healthy dialogue and truly civilized encounter. The gesture of "Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-833 CE) in sending a clock (or elephant and the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (see http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/einhard.html) to the French Emperor, Charlemagne (742-814 CE), is one of these memorable instances -not to forget other instances even in turbulent times such as the friendliness exhibited by Usama ibn Munqidth ⁽¹⁵⁾ (1095-1188 CE) during the period of the Crusades - in which members of civilizations could meet in a healthy cultural encounter of the first degree - and we should have, Dr. El-'Attar concludes, no reason to doubt Charlemagne's descendants' and any other genuine Western tribute to Islamic civilization in their truly heroic march of apology to the holylands of Islam, and their candid scholarly acknowledgements of its culture and peoples.

If anything may be added to this from Beirut after two years from reading it before AUS community in the UAE - which was declared then 1998 cultural capital of the Arab world - is the timely visit of H.H Pope John the second to the Holy Lands in March 2000 and his remarkable opening of good relations between Christendom and the world at large, including his tactful handshake with Judaism and Islam⁽¹⁶⁾ , which proves the necessity to always look at those points which unite us, and forget /forgive those which do not.

In a world that has become increasingly aware of the necessities of a healthy cultural integration and interaction, I believe in the necessity of this multi-cultural endeavour whose aim is "to strive, seek, find and not to yield": an appetite to accept the Other and read World Cultures, Arabo-Islamic and Western heritages and thought including other universal cultures and heritages thus deepening one's concept of one's own identity/self and striking a comparable intellectual delight in that of the 'other' on grounds of mutual tolerance and raising one's appreciation/awareness of the basic landmarks in both cultures. This, I believe, has become a global pressing need in the 21^st century. The mutual encounter between East and West has been an ongoing theme and it seems has had two basic forms: the healthy and cultural in addition to the military, economic and confrontational. Main focuses should rather be devoted to the former, i.e., the healthy and cultural in medieval/contemporary East-West encounters, be it from the classical cultural encounter of 8-9^th CE century Arab civilization up to the visit of H.H Pope John the second and during what I call an awakening and appreciation (however little) in the West (academia) to Arabo-Islamic culture and peoples.

Themes as the Crusades, Western misperceptions of Islam in the Middle Ages, 1100-1300 Latin Rule of Muslims, Christians in Muslim society, and similarly topics as fundamentalism, Impact of Western globalization on cultural identities, etc., are worth noting as long as they strive to trace them to their background and stressing the common points which can unite and bring cultures together, to understand, forgive and compete wisely and civilizationally in all that befits them.

An illustration to the "healthy" in Early, late medieval and contemporary East-West encounters, is reflected in the chronicles: even during those military days when the Syrian prince Usama ibn Munqidh, (1095-1188 CE) witnessed the Crusaders in Jerusalem, his accounts were humanitarian and reflected cheerful friendships with the cavaliers and guardians of the temple. Similarly, around the dawning era of Colonialism and the sick man of Europe, an 18^th century wife of British ambassador to Istanbul, Lady Mary Montagu, could always express objectively her delight and respect to Islamic status of Ottoman women, despite contrary reports by male voyagers on the same.

Muslims and peoples under the 'Abbasid caliphate were not to reach one of the golden eras of Islamic civilization had they not been critically open to the intellectual heritage of the Greco-Roman, Persian, and Indian civilizations. This cultural interaction is quite cyclical and as Arabo-Islamic civilization flourished on shores of Greco-Roman and Persian-Indian legacies which expressed itself in the famous translation movement in 'Abbasid lands, the same was to be witnessed in Muslim Spain, and North-African Arab capitals of learning a few centuries later. Scholars in intercultural studies and media studies need to be reminded of those glorious and blessed eras of healthy cultural exchange and interaction, i.e., be it when the torch of civilization was welcomed by the Muslims and Arabs ànd when Arabic scholarship was translated ⁽¹⁷⁾ and introduced into Europe by men like Adelard of Bath, Michael the Scot ⁽¹⁸⁾, etc., and through main centres of transmission (Sicily, Toledo, etc.) paving the way to that undeniable impressive impact of Arabic science and culture on Medieval Europe and thence the world at large.

Another point which should be mentioned is a display of this Western promising gesture, this time exhibited by H.H. Prince Claus of the Netherlands in his "broad and dynamic approach to culture" and appreciation of cultures other than those of the "colonial and neocolonial institutions". ⁽¹⁹⁾ Moreover, The Observer , on February 18^th, 2001, referred to an exhibition by HRH Prince Charles's "Paintings and Patronage", which included other British artists as James Hart Dyke and Christopher Le Brun at a ceremonial banquet in Riyadh which also hosted him as a guest of honour to another art exhibition by HRH Prince Khaled al-Faysal, - if not reflecting that common thread amongst civilizations - was read by the Observer as "the largest-ever cultural exchange between Britain and Saudi Arabia." ⁽²⁰⁾

Academically, one should not undermine international and global efforts (among many others not listed below which must be researched out and highlighted) as Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Rockefeller Foundation fellowships in the humanities addressing Scientific Communications and Exchanges Between Islam and Europe: The Making of the Modern World 1300-1800 at the University of Oklahoma's Commission on History of Science and Technology in Islamic Civilization at http://www.ou.edu/islamsci/ , University of Chicago Sawyer Seminar fellowship "From Medieval to Modern in the Islamic World," at http://humanities.uchicago.edu/sawyer/islam, the Archimedes Project-history of mechanics at Harvard University, http://www.dli2.nsf.gov/internationalprojects/intlprojects.html, Fordham's University efforts ⁽²¹⁾, the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences ⁽²²⁾, California, USA, at http://www.ctns.org/Course_Program/course_program.html, and http://www.meta-library.net/rjr/inter-body.html, Center for Global Peace at American University, Washington DC at: http://www.american.edu/academic.depts/acainst/cgp/diversity.htm, Center for Islam and Science at: http://www.cis-ca.org ⁽²³⁾, St. Andrews' Department of Mathematics (see: http://www.history.mcs.standrews.ac.uk/history/), Edinburgh's Institute for the Advanced Study of Islam and the Middle East, the University of Birmingham Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations, the Warburg Institute (at http://www.sas.ac.uk/warburg), Western sites highlighting Arabo-Islamic scientific scholarship and achievements, e.g., Alchemy in Islamic Times at http://www.levity.com/alchemy/islam.html , Classic Islamic Biomedicine, (rich source) http://www.mic.ki.se/Arab.html from Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; effect of Avicenna, (article in Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02157a.htm, Ghent Centre for Islam in Europe (CIE), Ghent University, Belgium, at http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~hdeley/CIE_English_frame.htm ⁽²⁴⁾ , Leiden University's Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM), at http://www.isim.nl , Saint-Joseph University's Institut d'études Islamo-Chrétiennes at http://www.usj.edu.lb/form/srel/fsre/ieic/accueil.htm , University of Balamand's Center of Christian-Muslim Studies at http://www.balamand.edu.lb/CCMS/CCMS.htm, Al-Makased's Institute of Islamic Studies, (in Lebanon, see http://www.makassed.org.lb ), Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies in Jordan, at http://www.riifs.org ⁽²⁵⁾; Islamic Area Studies in Tokyo, at http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/IAS , Australia National University's exemplary sketch of Architecture of Islam (Spain to Syria at: http://rubens.anu.edu.au/islam2/Part6.html, Morocco to Spain at http://rubens.anu.edu.au/islam2/Part5.html), not to forget in this intercultural scan, UN's most welcome efforts towards dialogue among civilizations and Intercultural dialogue, ( http://www.unesco.org/culture/dialogue ) and the impressive UNESCO cultural collection of the history of civilizations and humanity ( http://www.unesco.org/culture ).

All of these centres and efforts point to my thesis that the West and World Cultures and Civilizations are paying a genuine tribute to Islamic civilization, and exhibiting keen ambition to read Islam, its culture and peoples in a healthy way that need not be tied to the spirit of colonialism or post-colonialism, and thus should be read in a humanitarian and equally grateful appreciative spirit.

Jamal El-'Attar, Ph.D., (Edinburgh, 1996)
Arabo-Islamic and Civilizational studies

NOTES

1. Professor Edward W. Said says: "by Orientalism I mean several things, all of them, in my opinion, interdependent. The most readily accepted designation for Orientalism is an academic one, and indeed the label still serves in a number of academic institutions. Anyone who teaches, writes about, or researches the Orient and this applies whether the person is an anthropologist, sociologist, historian, or philologist either in its specific or its general aspects, is an Orientalist, and what he or she does is Orientalism". (From Orientalism, by Edward W. Said, page 2). Edward Said adds: "To speak of Orientalism therefore is to speak mainly, although not exclusively, of a British and French cultural enterprise, a project whose dimensions take in such disparate realms as the imagination itself, the whole of India and the Levant, the Biblical texts and the Biblical lands, the spice trade, colonial armies and a long tradition of colonial administrators, a formidable scholarly corpus, innumerable Oriental "experts" and "hands", an Oriental professorate, a complex array of "Oriental" ideas (Oriental despotism, Oriental splendour, cruelty, sensuality), many Eastern sects, philosophies, and wisdoms domesticated for local European use; the list can be extended more or less indefinitely". (From Orientalism , by Edward W. Said, page 4). On the pseudo-academic side of Orientalism, Said adds: "a great deal of what was considered learned Orientalist scholarship in Europe pressed ideological myths into service, even as knowledge seemed genuinely to be advancing." (From Orientalism, by Edward Said, page 63), see Professor Edward Said's book Orientalism, in http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D039474067X/104-0120739-3295137.

2. See http://cyberistan.org/islamic/quote1.html

3. See http://cyberistan.org/islamic/toleran1.html>

4. See on Muslim Scientists, Mathematicians And Astronomers Before European Renaissance, 700 - 1500 C.E. http://cyberistan.org/islamic/: "The web page on Muslim contribution to humanity and Islamic Civilization. This page is dedicated to those Muslims whose multi-disciplinary contributions sparked the light of learning and productivity and without whom the European Renaissance would not have begun and come to maturity. As you will find in the biographies included here, their contributions to our basic understanding of sciences, mathematics, medicine, technology, sociology, and philosophy have been used without giving proper credit to them. The subject has largely been left to few obscure intellectual discourses on world history and human development. It is rarely mentioned in formal education, and if at all mentioned their names are Latinized or changed with the effect of obscuring their identity and origin, and their association with the Islamic Civilization. This is a partial list of some of the leading Muslims. Major Muslim contributions continued beyond the fifteenth century. Contributions of more than one hundred other major Muslim personalities can be found in several famous publications by Western historians."

5. See for instance a spectrum of famous Western quotations on Islamic Civilization in http://cyberistan.org/islamic/quote1.html  , http://cyberistan.org/islamic/quote2.html  and quotations from famous historians of Science in http://cyberistan.org/islamic/intro11.html , and impact of Islamic civilization on Western Renaissance in: http://cyberistan.org/islamic/ghazi1.html . In this last reference a list of some of the medieval European scholars who were influenced directly or indirectly by the writings of Islamic scholars includes: Adelard of Bath, Peter Abelard, Robert Grossetteste, Alexander of Hales, Albertus Magnus, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventura, Duns Scotus, Roger Bacon, Marsilius of Padua, Richard of Middleton, Nicholas Oresme, Joannes Buridanus, Siger of Brabant, John Peckham, Henry of Gant, Williams of Ockham, Walter Burley, William of Auvergne, Dante Aligheri, Blaise Pascal, and numerous others. The well-known early 12th century Englishman, Adelard of Bath, often proudly acknowledged his debt to the Arabs - "trained (as he says) by Arab scientists....I was taught by my Arab masters to be led only by reason, whereas you were taught to follow the halter of the captured image of ancient authority[i.e., authority of the Church]" (Tina Stiefel, The Intellectual Revolution in Twelfth Century Europe; St. Martin's Press, N.Y., 1989; pp.71, 80).

6. See "A Sense of the Sacred: Building Bridges Between Islam and the West", The Wilton Park Seminar, Wilton Park, West Sussex, December 13, 1996 at: http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/speeches/religion_13121996.html, and "Islam and the West", HRH Visit to the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, October 27, 1993, at http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/speeches/religion_27101993.html; and http://www.islamweb.net/english/islam_and_thewest/relationship/Building1.htm .

7. See also: http://www.islamweb.net/english/islam_and_thewest/relationship/Building1.htm .

8. See on the New Millennium Experience - Dome's Faith Zone at: http://www.princes-foundation.org/foundation/ed-vita-dome.html.

9. (V.I.T.A), which was "founded under the auspices of The Prince's Foundation, is now taking more students and more specialised staff and winning wide recognition for its work. V.I.T.A. was founded to specialise in the arts and architecture of Islam in particular, but has extended its interests to include the traditional arts of other civilisations. One of the principal aims of V.I.T.A. is to encourage an appreciation of the universal values that are fundamental to the art of the great traditions of the world. V.I.T.A. encourages an awareness amongst its students "that the beauty of form, pattern and colour are not simply aesthetically pleasing or demonstrations of good design but are representatives of a more profound universal order", see http://www.princes-foundation.org/foundation/ed-vita.html.

10. See Judith Caesar, "Arabs in contemporary American Literature: Cultural Violence and Brand-Name Bigotry" in North Dakota Quarterly, Vol. 61:3 (Summer 1993), pp.79-91. Another American traveller and New Yorker writer, Milton Viorst, expresses his "fondness for the Arabs" in his account of the guiding lights he finds shining in the shadow of the Prophet; his book "In the Shadow of the Prophet: The struggle for the Soul of Islam" , ( 1998), one Amazon.com reviewer, adds: "his book spreads the light a little further".

11. See Dr.Mary Ann Fay's article submitted kindly as manuscript, "Ottoman Women through the eyes of Mary Wortley Montagu- Travellers in the Middle East", pp.1-10, to appear in Ithaca Press, 1999. Dr.Ann Fay rightly observes that the writings of Mary Montagu "are free of Edward Said's "essence of orientalism": the distance between Western superiority and oriental inferiority", that is, the discourse in which women in Islamic societies were represented as the dominated Other", p.9 of article.

12. See her book The Future of Islam and the West , in which "contrary to Huntington's thesis, (she) finds that the reality of modern Islam offers room for hope, i.e., that an accommodation between Islam and the West is possible, will be cooperative and non-conflictual". Moreover, whereas Huntington sees human history declining, Fukayama asserts it is marching towards inexorable victory. See Francis Fukayama's book: The End of History and the Last Man, 1993.

13. See his book Islam and the West: The Making of an Image; and see Shattering The Myth-Islam Beyond Violence , 1998, by Islamic studies scholar Bruce.B.Lawrence,

14. It is reported that Zbigniew Brezinski, director of the National Security Council during the Carter Administration, has called America to be guided by globally relevant virtues, including the moral reservoir of Islam.

15. On Usama Ibn Munqidh, the Muslim warrior who fought against the Crusaders with Saladin, yet had a chance to befriend a number of them as a resident of the area around Palestine, see: Medieval Sourcebook: Autobiography, Excerpts on the Franks, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/usamah2.html, Muslim and Christian Piety in the 13^th Century, http://www.humanities.ccny.cuny.edu/history/reader/13thcpiety.htm, Islam and European Piracy, http://www.humanities.ccny.cuny.edu/history/reader/islamonpiracy.htm  .

16. On Papal Apology for Church errors over the past 2000 years issued in Rome, Sunday, March 12^th, 2000 see http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/religion/jan-june00/apology_3-13.html , and http://asia.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/03/12/pope.apology.02/index.html#1 . His Holiness' pilgrimage visit to Greece-Syria-Malta (May 4-8^th , 2001), which described Islam ensuing from Damascus to the furthest shores of the Mediterranean (Andalucia) in positive words similar to those described by King Juan Carlos I of Spain before Syrian president during the latter's visit to Cordova (May 4^th 2001), are memorable gestures as powerful to those uttered to Greek Orthodox Church as- according to CNN - Pope John Paul II has asked God to forgive Catholics for sins committed against Orthodox Christians during the 1,000 year split between the two traditions. The Pope made the appeal on the first day of a controversial six-day pilgrimage following the steps of Saint Paul to Greece, Syria and Malta. Vatican officials say the trip is intended to improve relations with Orthodox Christians and Muslims. "For the occasions past and present, when the sons and daughters of the Catholic Church have sinned by actions and omission against their Orthodox brothers and sisters may the Lord grant us the forgiveness we beg," the Pontiff said in an address to Greece's Orthodox leader Archbishop Christodoulos; see http://asia.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/05/04/pope.greece.04. His Holiness, according to the Vatican Information service, said: "It is important to create opportunities for dialogue with our contemporaries," the Holy Father continued, "using the example of St. Paul and the first communities, especially where the future of man and mankind is at stake. In this way, decisions will not be guided only by political or economic interests unaware of the dignity of persons and the obligations deriving from that dignity. ... I encourage you to be present in the world." After recalling that St. Paul was also "the defender of unity," John Paul II affirmed that: "Passion for the unity of the Church must be a mark of all Christ's disciples. Unhappily, as we cross the threshold of the new millennium, we take with us the sad heritage of the past...there is still a long way to go", see http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/dinamiche/b2_en.htm, and on the joint Catholic-Greek Orthodox declaration signed by Bishop of Rome, and Christodoulos, Archbishop of Athens see: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/dinamiche/b1_en.htm. HH's greeting address in Syria included according to Vatican information service: "My heartfelt greeting," he added, "goes to all the followers of Islam who live in this noble land." He wished them peace in both English and Arabic. He said that, with the present pilgrimage, "my mind and heart turn to the figure of Saul of Tarsus, the great Apostle Paul, whose life was changed forever on the road to Damascus." He highlighted the "magnificent contribution of Syria and the surrounding region to the history of Christianity". The Pope added that he was also "thinking of the great cultural influence of Syrian Islam. ... Today, in a world that is increasingly complex and interdependent, there is need for a new spirit of dialogue and cooperation between Christians and Muslims."  In concluding remarks, John Paul II stated: "We all know that real peace can only be achieved if there is a new attitude of understanding and respect between the peoples of the region, between the followers of the three Abrahamic religions. Step by step, with vision and courage, the political and religious leaders of the region must create the conditions for the development that their peoples have a right to, after so much conflict and suffering. Among these conditions, it is important that there be an evolution in the way the peoples of the region see one another, and that at every level of society the principles of peaceful coexistence be taught and promoted..." see: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/dinamiche/b3_en.htm.

More interestingly, CNN reports on May 6, 2001: Pope pleads for Muslim, Christian forgiveness - at: http://asia.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/meast/05/06/pope.syria.03/index.html, by saying: "Pope John Paul II has become the first pontiff to enter a mosque during his groundbreaking pilgrimage to Syria. He marked the historic event by issuing a plea for Christians and Muslims to forgive each other for the past. Speaking inside the Great Omayyad mosque in Damascus, he also said religious conviction was never a justification for violence. "For all the times that Muslims and Christians have offended one another, we need to seek forgiveness from the Almighty and to offer each other forgiveness," he said in his address to Muslim leaders, including the Grand Mufti of Syria. "Better mutual understanding will surely lead...to a new way of presenting our two religions, not in opposition as has happened too often in the past, but in partnership for the good of the human family." "Never more communities in conflict," he said in the mosque, which contains a memorial to St John the Baptist. Outside lies the tomb of Saladin, who drove out the Crusaders." On message of forgiveness and means of bridging Abrahamic and Islamo-Christian religions, Vatican Information Service describes HH's entrance to Umayyad Mosque in http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/dinamiche/c4_en.htm by saying: "Historic Visit: John Paul II Is First Pope To Enter A Mosque: After leaving the sacred enclosure, John Paul II met with the region's Muslim representatives in the courtyard of the mosque, telling them: "Our meeting today in the Omayyad Mosque will signal our determination to advance inter-religious dialogue between the Catholic Church and Islam. This dialogue has gained momentum in recent decades, and today we can be grateful for the road we have travelled together so far." "It is important," he continued, "that Muslims and Christians continue to explore philosophical and theological questions together, in order to come to a more objective and comprehensive knowledge of each others' religious beliefs. Better mutual understanding will surely lead, at the practical level, to a new way of presenting our two religions, not in opposition, as has happened too often in the past, but in partnership for the good of the human family." In conclusion the Holy Father affirmed that "the positive experiences" between Christians and Muslims, "must strengthen our communities in the hope of peace; and the negative experiences should not be allowed to undermine that hope. For all the times that Muslims and Christians have offended one another, we need to seek forgiveness from the Almighty and to offer each other forgiveness."

On the other hand, the Pope's visit and actions have been viewed differently and criticized by some East-Western secular and religious masses (Jewish, non Catholic and Muslim communities; on how Papal visit sparked Greek protest see http://asia.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/05/04/pope.greece/index.html ). The media covering and evaluating His Holiness visit has also references to its shortcomings, e.g., as no "recent" blunt apology made for example to Muslims on the Crusades, no visit to Saladin's tomb neighbouring that of John the Baptist, that he did not go far enough to many parties, and that something more substantial should happen than asking for "forgiveness", etc. The outcome of the Papal visit is also criticized as "planting the seeds for a religious war", see: MID-EAST REALITIES © - http://www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 5/08. 

In my view, it is really unexpected that such reconciliatory, civilizational and memorable actions be expected to work miracles overnight and it is unfortunate or phobic to see them a priori as laying a war, i.e, that the Pope is extending a new Crusade, as Harun al-Rashid had invited one, by virtue of his gesture to the Frankish emperor which was seen by M.M.Pickthall "the cause of nearly all the ill feeling which ever existed between the Muslims and their Christians Dhimmis."  See M.M.Pickthall's 1927 lecture on Tolerance in Islam, at http://users.erols.com/gmqm/toleran1.html, where he said: "The great Abbasid Khalifah Harun ar-Rashid had, God knows why, once sent the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre among other presents to the Frankish Emperor, Charlemagne. Historically, it was a wrong to the Christians of Syria, who did not belong to the Western Church, and asked for no protection other than the Muslim government. Politically, it was a mistake and proved the source of endless after trouble to the Muslim Empire. The keys sent, it is true, were only duplicate keys. The Church was in daily use. It was not locked up till such time as Charlemagne, Emperor of the West, chose to lock it. The present of the keys was intended only as a compliment, as one would say: 'You and your people can have free access to the Church which is the center of your faith, your goal of pilgrimage, whenever you may come to visit it.' But the Frankish Christians took the present seriously in after times regarding it as the title to a freehold, and looking on the Christians of the country as mere interlopers, as I said before, as well as heretics. That compliment from king to king was the foundation of all the extravagant claims of France in later centuries. Indirectly it was the foundation of Russia's even more extortionate claims, for Russia claimed to protect the Eastern Church against the encroachment of Roman Catholics; and it was the cause of nearly all the ill feeling which ever existed between the Muslims and their Christians Dhimmis."

17. On Translations ff Muslim Scientific Books Into Latin And Other European Languages see http://Users.Erols.Com/Gmqm/Latintr1.html . See also the Bodleian Tribute in Oxford, in 1981, at: http://users.erols.com/ameen/bodley.htm,"to mark the opening of the l5th Islamic century, Oxford University's Bodleian Library scanned its collection of Arabic manuscripts - one of the world's largest - and mounted a display of 50 choice works to tell one of the great stories in the history of ideas: the flowering of philosophy and science in the medieval Muslim world and the transmission of that tradition - the doctrina Arabum, the teachings of the Arabs - to Europe. With the influence of Islam again spreading and growing, and its intellectual traditions being revived, 1981 - which is 1401 on the Muslim calendar - was an especially appropriate year to open the Bodleian display. As Colin Wakefield, curator of the collection and organizer of the exhibit, said at the opening, "... the exhibition... by focusing attention on the debt of medieval Europe to the scholars of the Muslim world, may shed an interesting sidelight on the long and turbulent history of relations between Islam and the West."

To display its Arabic treasures, Bodleian experts chose Oxford's Divinity School, built 500 years ago for the teaching of theology, then "queen of sciences." A splendid example of craftsmanship in the final flowering of the Gothic age, the Divinity School and the library above it - built by Duke Humfrey of Gloucester, brother to King Henry V - were a part of the outburst of building that occurred after the year's of conflict with France and the civil strife known as the Wars of the Roses; this period produced the perpendicular Gothic unique to England and such structures as the new "College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed," a war memorial to those killed in the Hundred Years War and, not far away, the Bell Tower of Magdalen College.

18. See on Translators of Scientific Knowledge in the Middle Ages: http://cyberistan.org/islamic/intro13.html

20. On the Prince of Wales viewing a painting entitled "Asir Beauty in the Painting" and on the Patronage Exhibition opened by himself and Prince Khalid Al-Faisal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, see http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/gallery/latest/saudipainting.html, the Prince of Wales has 35 watercolours in the exhibition, alongside 26 oil paintings by Prince Khalid. Other artists whose work is in the show include James Hart Dyke, who accompanied The Prince of Wales on his last visit to Saudi Arabia, and Christopher Le Brun, 17th February, 2001-The exhibition was first shown in London in June 2000. See also on the Prince of Wales with Prince Khalid Al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia, at the opening of the Painting and Patronage Exhibition which includes paintings by them both, in http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/gallery/latest/SaudiKhalid.html.

21. See for example on Charlemagne and Harun al-Rashid: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/einhard.html ; Richard the Lion Heart makes peace with Saladin in 1192 at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/christ-muslim-debate.html, and on Islamic Political Philosophy, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/arab-y67s11.html

22. Dr. Robert John Russell, addresses at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, California, USA, the necessity of bridging faith and science at http://www.meta-library.net/rjr/dialo-body.html, by saying: "The impact of issues at the interface of science and religion reverberates world wide and across disciplines. The forces driving this impact are diverse: accelerated development of science and technology; globalization of scientific culture; religious responses to new scientific visions of the universe; and ethical concerns prompted by biotechnology and environmental threats. Scientists and religious intellectuals must tear down the remaining cultural walls that have served to quarantine their respective disciplines and address these challenges together. The Science and Religion Course Program draws scientists, theologians, philosophers, ethicists, historians and religious leaders into a single community of scholars. As in bridge building, each community, the religious and the scientific, must find bedrock in its own world, yet each must venture out toward the other, hoping that one day the two will meet at the keystone." On inter-religious dialogue with science, Dr. Russel adds at http://www.ctns.org/Course_Program/course_program.html, how contemporary faiths are cementing their relations with modern science, and at http://www.meta-library.net/rjr/inter-body.html, he states on Inter-religious Dialogue with Science: "Recently, issues raised by science have been introduced into ongoing programs in inter-religious dialogue. One example is Buddhist-Christian dialogue, where discussions of physics and cosmology have taken place, sponsored by Ryokoku University. A second example is the "Science and the Spiritual Quest" program (SSQ) which brings distinguished scientists who are practicing Jews, Christians and Muslims into private workshops and public conferences. Here the conversations take place explicitly across religious traditions with common concerns drawn (sic) the scientific expertise in physics, cosmology, biology, computer science and artificial intelligence. Each of these scientists has found at least one way in which science and spirituality are related in their own life and work: they include: (sic) there are at least six distinct ways in which science and spirituality are related: i) science as a spiritual journey; ii) science as discovering the wonders and purposes of God's creation; iii) science as an ethical activity; iv) science as reading the mind of God; v) science as reading the Book of Nature; and vi) science as repairing and healing the world."

23. The Center for Islam and Science (CIS) has embarked upon a major undertaking: CIS plans to complete the first phase of its project on the development of web-based resources on Islam and science. The new resources are accessible at http://www.cis-ca.org and the site is being updated on a weekly basis; the deadline for the completion of the first phase of this two-year project is December 31, 2001. The whole project will be completed by December 31, 2002. This project is supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, http://www.templeton.org.

24. See http://www.flwi.UGent.be/cie/englintro.htm on the Centre's non-ethnic and healthy attitude to Islam and Muslims, and how it "works at giving Islam in our secular society a respected academic status, while developing scientific and educational tools for combating present-day islamophobia and racism", at http://www.flwi.UGent.be/cie/englishome.htm , and the article by Director of CIE, Professor Herman De Ley, entitled "Imagining the Muslims in Belgium: 'Enemies from Within' or 'Muslim Fellow-Citizens'?" in http://www.flwi.UGent.be/cie/CIE/deley3.htm.

25. On Christian-Muslim Relations & Interreligious Dialogue see http://www.uio.no/~leirvik , and Links to Christian-Muslim and Interreligious Dialogue, internationally, see: http://www.uio.no/~leirvik/Chrismusint.html .

• Address: "Pearls of Civilizations" (attar1.htm)
• "el-Jahiz's Original View of Arabic in Relation to the Holy Qur'an" (attar2.htm) (to be viewed with MSIE)
• "Melodious Messages from Mountains of Light" (attar4.htm)
• "Perpetuators of the Power of Peace: When Languages, Arts & Literature Cross-Culturally Unite & Altruistically Please!" (attar5.htm)