By , Grand Mufti of Egypt We welcome President Barack Obama's visit to Egypt and his long anticipated address to the Islamic world. We hope this visit brings further improvement in mutual relations, which I believe can only be accomplished through better policies. In my opinion, policies can only be improved by adopting a collection of actions and attitudes that intellectuals and religious scholars in the Islamic world hope will govern mutual relations. I have summed up such actions and attitudes in the following points: - We want to open permanent channels for sustained scientific, cultural, economic and technological dialogue between the US and us. Such channels can only function properly in an environment characterised by respect for international legitimacy and UN resolutions. I refer specifically to those pertaining to the Muslim people's central concern: Palestine and the aggression against the Palestinian people, as exemplified by the occupation, barriers and settlements, and by such flagrant acts of belligerency as mass detentions and killing, and the consequent deprivation of this people's fundamental rights to water, freedom of movement, work, education and life. We believe that the US has the power to intervene positively in order to help right prevail over the extremist voices that urge perpetual conflict and that seek to fortify the concepts of foreign occupation, oppression and the abuse of human rights. - It is important to stress that Islam is capable of existing in all ages and building bridges with all civilisations, a fact that has been substantiated by history and confirmed by Islamic sources of authority at all levels. This obliges dialogue with voices of Islamic moderation, which should be used as a frame of reference for the advancement of mutual understanding between the Islamic and Western worlds, so as to usher in a brighter future and pave the way for equitable cooperation in which both the Islamic world and the US can attain their interests in a continually just manner in which no party transforms itself into an executive instrument for actions that ultimately conflict with their own interests. It follows that the application of this principle will put an end to disciplinary campaigns that excite bitterness and rancour and that only complicate matters further in the long run. Occupation can never be consistent with the defence of rights or with the type of true and equitable partnership that should prevail between the Islamic world and the US in order to eliminate poverty, disease and ignorance, and to safeguard the future of humanity. - The foregoing principles are grounded in many Quranic verses, among which is the following: "Say: Oh People of the Book! Come to the terms in common between us and you: that we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partner with him; that we shall not erect, from among ourselves, lords and masters other than Allah. If then they turn away, say ye: Bear witness that we (at least) are they who have bowed to Allah's will." (Surat Al-Imran: 64) - For the sake of the pursuit of peace in the region and in the world, there must be an end to the campaigns of defamation against Islam and the Muslim people, the aim of which was to fabricate and disseminate a false image of Islam and Muslims as the enemies of Western civilisation. These campaigns of defamation were spearheaded by certain research centres that still spout antiquated Orientalist clichés and fail to heed a very important truth, which is that reform policies must be indigenous not exogenous. For any reform process to sustain itself and prove truly effective on the ground, it must emanate from the realities of a given society and its culture, and emerge with frameworks of the convictions of its people; their perceptions of the universe, mankind and life; their inherited beliefs; and their religions. Those research centres should bear in mind that the principle of diversity, which all modern democracies uphold, must be applied in practice. It follows that they should respect Islamic traditions and refrain from suggesting direct intervention in all that pertains to the properties of this religion. We pray to God, may He be exalted, that this visit will mark an auspicious beginning of a new era of relations, characterised by a fresh understanding of realities, sincerity in the intention to realise a more stable and cooperative future, and a partnership in the building of human civilisation.
